Why no mods for Digitech pedals?

[jasonled75]

DOD and Digitech are pretty much the same company, so why dont you ever see mods for the digitech side of things?
I have a Screamin Blues, and while it is a decent pedal it just needs a little something more. Unfortunately no one bothers with them.
Is it a design issure or lay out problem? Or is it the general consensus that Digitech is crap and not worth fooling with?
Sorry for the semi-rant question, but Digitech does make some decent stuff for the money. If it was Behringer I would understand.

[Philippe]

It might be one of those kinds of pedals that are so proprietary in nature (i.e. component/hardware/switching layout etc.) that it's not worth the trouble of opening-up a can of worms. Personally I have never seen their innards, let alone used one.  Overall company reputation & inherent tone(s) also have a lot to do with whether folks are willing to take the time to improve upon certain aspects/elements (e.g. few would probably waste the time hotrodding a $30.00 plastic Danelectro pedal).

Digitech certainly didn't enhance its reputation by coming out with those cheesey EC Crossroads & Brian May Red Special pedals...like who really believes one can instantly sound like Clapton or May by simply turning a knob?  

[jasonled75]

Yeah I know. It just seems to me that if someone were into building and moding pedals, and they had one of these lying around they would just naturally want to tinker with it to see if they could make it better. It makes more sense to explore with a $40 dollar pedal than and $80+ dollar pedal. Digi does have some good (in my opinion) pedals. The Bad Monkey and Grunge are the best sounding to me. I mean hey the Boss DS-1 is a $40 dollar pedal and there are mods for it. Maybe its the name game again where if its not brand X no one is gonna bother with it. I think the EC and May pedals were just an attempt to compete in the artist pedal arena, albeit a bad one. I mean look at Dunlop/MXR they got Hendrix, Eddie V, Zakk and Dimbag running out the ears. Morley has Tremonti and Vai.
Then again you may be right the layout may be so screwed up its not worth it. I have an Ibanez TS7 that I would be affraid to touch if I had an electrical engineering degree. Talk about a busy box! That thing has more PCBs that the space shuttle!
Thanks for the help
J

[jkokura]

Yeah, but the Boss DS-1 has been around much longer than the Digi pedals you're talking about, and it's so similar to the TS circuit that it's easy to take the 40 (or less) buck pedal and bring it to the point that it sounds much like a much more expensive pedal. They're everywhere, and stupid cheap.

The digitech pedals I've had experience with I had no reason to tinker with. They did their job. There aren't many pedals out there made my commercial companies that do lend themselves to mods at all. Most have them have been around for decades, or the mod has something to do with Truebypassing. The rest of them have simple circuits. Do Digitech have simple circuits? Is it easy to make them True Bypass?

Really, I imagine mods happen because people are unhappy about the sound of something, and they want to make it sound better. A DS-1 sounds better, and true bypassing feeds the 'true-bypass = better' myth out there. I've heard that Bad monkey pedal is good, sounds similar to a TS. Why mod it if it sounds good? The grunge pedal is another like that one.

Just my thoughts,

Jacob

[jasonled75]

It is probably a mixture of everything mentioned. I just wish I knew how to get a little more gain out of my Screamin Blues without eliminating the lower end subtlety. I think the SB is the Digi pedal people wind up being most unhappy with.  The DS-1 is a great pedal, but in my opinion is picky about the amp you play it through. I used to hate the sound of a stock DS-1 until my buddy played his through my old univox tube amp. They were made for each other. He was so impressed he gave me the pedal. He said he had never been able to get the pedal to sound that good in his rig. I tried to pay him for it but he wouldn't let me. Now it is my go to distortion when I play through that amp. I wouldnt even think about modding it.
Might build one to play with someday.

[philbinator1]

DOD and Digitech are pretty much the same company, so why dont you ever see mods for the digitech side of things?
I have a Screamin Blues, and while it is a decent pedal it just needs a little something more. Unfortunately no one bothers with them.
Is it a design issure or lay out problem? Or is it the general consensus that Digitech is crap and not worth fooling with?
Sorry for the semi-rant question, but Digitech does make some decent stuff for the money. If it was Behringer I would understand.

Hey Jason,

my bassist has a Screamin' Blues...he was unhappy with the sound, sent it to Waylon McPherson in NZ, and said when he got it back it was like a totally different pedal, very rich.  and indeed i've used it myself once at a gig not long ago, quite rich sounding for a digital.  Here's the website: http://www.mcphersonmusic.co.nz/  ...It's not listed under pedal mods, but if you email waylon he should be able to mod it up for you.

[wampcat1]

there ARE mods available for digitech pedals.

[composition4]

Also philbinator, the Screamin' Blues isn't digital...

Jonathan

[jasonled75]

there ARE mods available for digitech pedals.

I havent found any yet for the Screamin Blues yet. But if they are out there Im sure to run acroos them someday.

Thanks Philbinator1 I will be sure to check it out. Im in the US though and it may cost me more to ship it round trip than I paid for the pedal.

[philbinator1]

Also philbinator, the Screamin' Blues isn't digital...

Jonathan

my assumptive bad   

[wampcat1]

there ARE mods available for digitech pedals.

I havent found any yet for the Screamin Blues yet. But if they are out there Im sure to run acroos them someday.

Thanks Philbinator1 I will be sure to check it out. Im in the US though and it may cost me more to ship it round trip than I paid for the pedal.

The schem is out there. DIY mods probably won't be available much since (IIRC) the pcb is smd components.