KORG DT-10 Tuner: Mod-able?

[Joe Kramer]

Hi Friends,

Would anyone who owns a DT-10 be willing to tell me if there's room inside to replace the stock stompswitch with a real hard-bypass switch?  This tuner looks decent, but I doubt my music store will let me take a screwdriver to it to check whether there's room inside.  FWIW, lately I've been using the Alpha DPDTs which are pretty small, so even if it's tight I may be able to make things fit. . . . 

Any help appreciated!

Regards,
Joe

[blanik]

actually the only reason to keep the DT-10 in your chain would be to have it's buffer driving your signal through all you true-bypass effects... otherwise just keep it out of the chain...  it's buffer is really clean and doesn't alter your sound at all...

R.

[Joe Kramer]

Hey R. thanks for your reply.

actually the only reason to keep the DT-10 in your chain would be to have it's buffer driving your signal through all you true-bypass effects... otherwise just keep it out of the chain...

To keep it "out of the chain" is why I want to add the true bypass switch. . . .

it's buffer is really clean and doesn't alter your sound at all...

"Clean" is one thing, and I'm sure what you say about the buffer in that regard is valid.  But "altering the sound" is another thing, and I beg to differ here.  Any buffer in front of a Fuzz Face is going to alter the sound and feel of that circuit.  While that's not a bad sound, it's not the sound I want.   Besides, I already have a stand-alone buffer on my pedalboard, with a hard-bypass switch, so I have that base covered.   Thanks again. . . .

Still looking for info on the DT-10's internal real estate. . . .

Joe

[Bucksears]

Why not put the Fuzz Face in front of the DT-10?
Slightly OT: I love the DT-10's ability to 'fade' from LED to LED unlike the Boss TU-2.

[Joe Kramer]

Thanks for the reply Bucksears--I must have read your mind before I read your post.  Tuner after the entire signal chain would work, though I still like the option of bypassing the buffer when I want. . . .

There's another reason I'd like to put a DPDT switch in there:  I understand the DT-10 is a little power hungry (43ma with the display going) and I like to use batteries for everything, so I would use the switch to engage power when it's in use, and disconnect power when it's not.  Might help save batteries. . . .

Regards,
Joe

[theblueark]

Short answer is: Yes.

Here's mine


If you wanna know about real estate, see where I put the LED? The whole area from under the display bar to the bottom, and from the footswitch to the left is empty space. If I recall that space is also for the battery, which I don't use.

I modded mine to be switched ON all the time, and true bypassed when I don't need it. But i'm sure you can also use the 3pdt to turn on and off the circuit. The problem i would guess is that if it's in your chain, there might be very loud popping issues when you turn it on.

[Bucksears]

Joe,
That's cool. I just suggested that because I've got a GGG Boutique Fuzz PCB that I have ready for populating and I was worried about that too. Another lousy thing about germanium fuzzes is that they don't take to active pickups well either. I've switched to all DiMarzios (they make great low-gain p'ups too!) in my guitars and I'm pretty happy with them.
- Buck

[Shed_FX]

I got one of these for christmas and faced the same dilema. I opened the box and this is what i saw 


There is quite a bit of space in there to change out the switch and put in a 3PDT the problem lies with the fact that the jacks are board mounted so you need to be carefull running wires from the jacks and then back to the board. There is plenty of space to fit it all in but you need to be quite confident and know that you can do it.

From this photo you can see that the momentary switch is just fixed into place with plenty of room to fit at standard switch in.


The next thing to remember with this pedal is that the input buffer is always on even when the tuner is engaged. This gives you constant power drain but can be remedied with the same operation and used with the 3PDT switch. You could fit pull down 1M resistors to reduce the "pop" and fit them in directly to the switch (not normally recommended but needs must!)

The route i went down didn't void my warranty (Well i did because i opened it!    )
I made this sucka which i call the super jack! (sorry i didn't dust it!)


This has a DPDT toggle fitted into the stereo jack body. This switch connect and disconnects the power and connects and disconnects the signal to the input. This works quite nicely to switch in the tuner only when i need it. The other end of this jack plugs into the tuner out on my DIY volume pedal. If you have a buffer or some other dual output pedal you could also do this.

Hope that helps
Its all do-able if you really want to, and have the experience

Shed

[Joe Kramer]

Thanks BlueArk and Shed for the replies and the pix.  Excellent!  That pretty much seals the deal!

Nice work on those mods guys.  That toggleswitch/jack is a bit of genius engineering.  You might even be able to market that. . . .

Speaking of marketing, when I first saw the DT-10 with its big footswitch, I thought "Wow, even if it's not hard-bypass, it's already 99% there.  If only they left enough room inside for a real switch."  The fact that they DID leave enough room almost makes me think they were anticipating what many musicians would do.   Korg probably would have to charge $50-100 more for the same unit with a real switch, but instead they chose to sell it cheaper and leave room for the resourceful buyer to add the extra $10 improvement.  If that's what they intended, it's a pretty smart marketing plan. . . .

BTW, you wouldn't need a 3PDT switch to do the power and signal routing, only a DPDT, like this:

Code Select Expand


       bypass out       input
                  \   /
                   \ /
                    Y
                    |
                    |
mute out -------0  0  0------ tuner in PCB

                 0  0  0----------- + volts PCB
                    |
                    |
                 + battery
               
               

Apologies for the shaky illustration. 


Thanks again guys for all your help!

Regards,
Joe

[Joe Kramer]

Hey Buck, another BTW: There's a circuit out there by "Hemmo P" (I think) called the Bazz Fuss that uses a transformer in series with the input of the fuzz to help preserve the tone when used with active pickups or buffers.  The xfrmr specified (on the version I have) is a Mouser 42TM018.  I haven't tried this to hear how it sounds, but it may be worth your while if you're using those active pickups. . . .

Regards,
Joe   

[alsercol]

How can I make the Korg DT-10 always ON ?

[Branimir]

Why not put the Fuzz Face in front of the DT-10?
Slightly OT: I love the DT-10's ability to 'fade' from LED to LED unlike the Boss TU-2.

Hehe

That's the way I'm using the DT-10, after the fuzz face...The thing is, I like it's buffer, fuzz face sounds crapier into my amp without the tuner in the chain! So I just left it in the chain. Sounds good? Who cares if it's not true bypassed!

[Joe Kramer]

Who cares if it's not true bypassed!

Me.   

[blanik]

How can I make the Korg DT-10 always ON ?

it's an old tread but i was looking for a way to make the DT-10 always ON when powered up (stock, it lights up and goes straight into "tuner off" mode) , this one never got awnsered