Boss DS-1 Mods

[nelson]

Hi folks, My first post on this forum have been lurking without registering for a while now. I  Own a DS-1 and I am sick of the trebly grating sound, I want to mod it myself.  But every peice of info I can find on it is people offering to mod boss pedals for you. Can anyone point me in the right direction for info on any Boss DS-1 mods?

Thanks in Advance.

[Dragonfly]

Hi folks, My first post on this forum have been lurking without registering for a while now. I  Own a DS-1 and I am sick of the trebly grating sound, I want to mod it myself.  But every peice of info I can find on it is people offering to mod boss pedals for you. Can anyone point me in the right direction for info on any Boss DS-1 mods?

Thanks in Advance.

if you use the "search" function on the forum here, i'm pretty sure you'll come up with TONS of info....

just search "DS-1 mods" ...

enjoy !



btw...welcome to the forum !

[nelson]

I did search DS-1 mods, but couldnt find any specifics. Perhaps my searching skills are below par. and thanks for the welcome  

[Dragonfly]

I did search DS-1 mods, but couldnt find any specifics. Perhaps my searching skills are below par. and thanks for the welcome  

heres a thread to get you started ...lots of specific part changes...

http://www.diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=29714&highlight=mids+ds1

[nelson]

Thanks, I see alot of references to fuzz central mods at one time they were free I would be interested to know what the fuzz central mods are. can only find reference to them in previous threads though. I just realised I chose the nick Nelson, its Arons surname aswell as mine, hope it doesnt cause confusion.   :?  :!:  :arrow: . I found a cool simple tremelo mod, gonna give that a try with a toggle dpdt switch. So far I have found changing D4 and D5 with 3mm LED's changing stock LED for a bright blue 3mm. I should add I want more of a bass response from the pedal, as I play both bass and guitar.

[Torchy]

I was going to post the link to Phillip Bryants Fuzzcentral mods page ... but he's selling the mod sheet now.  :?:

[nelson]

Yep, has anyone got them saved on their hard drives?

[Dragonfly]

So far I have found changing D4 and D5 with 3mm LED's changing stock LED for a bright blue 3mm. I should add I want more of a bass response from the pedal, as I play both bass and guitar.

go re-read the thread i linked to...it has lots of advice on changing bass/mid response...

[Torchy]

With the amount of sh1t generated recently Im staying away from that ... and my views on selling schems and mods remain personal.  

[nelson]

LOL I understand torchy. The details in that thread are sketchy and with constant reference to fuzzcentral mods. I will strive on and anyone who wants to remain incognito and mail me the mods can do so @ hempathy@hempathy.org.ukNOSPAM.

[Dragonfly]

LOL I understand torchy. The details in that thread are sketchy and with constant reference to fuzzcentral mods.

ummm....heres some of those "non-detailed, sketchy" mods listed in the thread i linked....they look pretty "specific" to me.....

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"scottosan, try this :
C3 to .068 rather than 0.1 for less bass "mud"
R14 leave as is, else there's toooo much distortion, from .....
......3mm red LED and 1N4001 for clipping diodes "
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


"D4 and D5 are the clipping diode pair, on the board -->l
l<--
negative side of LED connects to >l side, its the larger bit of metal inside the LED to negative side, smaller bit of metal inside is positive.
cathode and anode
On a new LED the "longer" pin in positive, shorter pin negative.
Try a pair of 3mm LED's or my favorite 1 3mm LED and 1 1N4001 diode.
If you have those switched, it wont "distort" correctly at all ! which could explain your "nasty" sounding mod ?

R14 when reduced just increases distortion"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

c1- .001uf
c3- (2).33u in series
d5- germanium 1n34a
d6- 1n4148
r2- 620k
r14- I stayed with the 2.4k

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just did a DS-1 mod. I went for:-
C1,C3, C5, C13 0.1uF
C2, C9 1uF
D4, D5 1N34A


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The picture of the board indicates that the two diodes responsible for the clipping action are D4 and D5, which are located exactly in the geographic middle of the board, smack between two big caps and an FET (Q7, a 2SK30, probably labelled K30).

For the least coloration possible, you probably want to not only lift the diodes to eliminate clipping, but also bypass the tone control since it introduces some coloration even when you try to make it as clean/normal-sounding as possible. The simplest fix here seems to be to cut the connection between C12 (0.1uf) and R16 (6.8k). I'll explain why.

The tone control is set up very much like the Big Muff Pi tone control. In the BMP, the signal is split before the tone control so it goes through a simple highpass and simple lowpass filter. The tone control then pans between the outputs of each section to produce combinations of lowpass and highpass output. Lifting the connection between C12 and R16 (while leaving R16 intact) would mean that when your tone control is turned all the way towards the bass end, it would take all the output of what used to be the lowpass filter (and which is now full bandwidth) and pass that on to the volume control. There is still a path for the highpass section via the other side of the tone pot, but for a variety of reasons, what has to pass through there will end up contributing very little to your tone when the tone pot is fully bass-wise. On the other hand, as you start to turn your tone control towards the treble side, you will keep your low end and especially your lower mids, and simply add in more high end for a bit more bite.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Torchy]

That'll be $8 please  :wink:

[nelson]

LOL torchy.


Dragonfly, by sketchy I meant they dont describe it well enough for a novice like me, I have a little experience but not enough to know the effect individual component replacements will have on the sound. I guess I will just have to try and see.

Thanks for your time. I will experiment with some of them, see (hear) what happens.

[Torchy]

Thanks for your time. I will experiment with some of them, see (hear) what happens.

Ker-ching we have a winner - we need more of that attitude  :lol:

[Dragonfly]

LOL torchy.

Thanks for your time. I will experiment with some of them, see (hear) what happens.

there ya go....

[Fret Wire]

With the amount of sh1t generated recently Im staying away from that ... and my views on selling schems and mods remain personal.  

I guess you kinda just insinuated them publicly. On one hand I can understand where you're coming from, but look at the other side.

These mods weren't completely original, granted. They were the sum of ideas from here, some Keeley stuff, and some of Phillips own work. The schematics he drew up that have every component numbered corresponding to the original pedal are great. And a lot of work. He freely aknowledged were it all came from, and shared it on his site. Anyone who can solder can do the mods. His other mods and schematics have been a help to many on this forum. He helped people save money by doing their own mods.

Then you start to see people making money off your mods, selling modded DS-1's and SD-1's on Ebay and such. And worse, they are now "guru's" that came up with these mods themselves. I'm talking about people on this forum, not lurkers or boutique builders. Some of the same ones who pm'd you for help on the mods. Maybe some of these pm's should get pasted up. I don't think people get upset when they are not credited, they get upset when someone else leaches their ideas and takes the credit.

So maybe Phillip thinks that if people are going to profit from his work, he might as well get his. And the guy who just wants to mod his DS-1 and save some money still doesn't lose out. This forum isn't as small and friendly anymore.

I surprised you feel this way. You recently were harassed and threatened by someone who had no leg to stand on legally, and you did a mass deletion and pulled your vero layouts down. At least Phillip hasn't done that. He pulled two mods down. He did it quietly without drama, or insults. You both have a lot in common. You both have contributed a lot to the DIY scene with layouts and mods for mostly other's designs. He's been doing it longer, and probably got jaded. RG's advice of "don't post it if you don't want it stolen" seems to always rear it's ugly head. Then you decide if it matters to you or not.

How are you going to feel when you find one of your vero layouts on Ebay by the latest guru? Andy is probably going to go through this too, maybe with the Sparkleboost.

Your layouts are a great help to a lot of people, but maybe you shouldn't be so quick on the gun with others.

I'm not trying to start a flame thread, just offering my .02.

Pete

[nelson]

WOW, never knew I was opening such a pandoras box. Plagerism is an issue with any intellectual property. I just want my DS-1 to sound better. Don't want to stand on any toes in the process. I will contend though, once information is released to the public domain by the author it becomes free and charging for that information after it has been released into the public domain is fairly pointless as it is then freely available.

my 2 PENNIES.    :x

[Torchy]

This forum isn't as small and friendly anymore.

It doesnt even feel like a forum anymore.

[Fret Wire]

You're right, sometimes it feels like a competition or an ego booster. Sometimes it feels like doing R & D for someone you don't even know. The newcomers who need help tend to bring it all back in focus.

Nelson.... relax, no big deal, just a little discussion. You'll probably refine that view a little after a while.

[TheBigMan]

I just did a DS-1 mod. I went for:-
C1,C3, C5, C13 0.1uF
C2, C9 1uF
D4, D5 1N34A

Oi, that's mine Dragonfly!  I demand you pay me $1 million! :wink:

Nah, do what you like with it.  Increasing the coupling caps like that gives better bass response and I much prefer the sound of the germanium diodes.  I'd also recommend changing the value of R11 to around 20K or so from 100K.  That'll give you much more range on the distortion control and compensate for the fact that the 1N34As actually clip harder and so there's more distortion available.  You'll lose a little bit of volume, but who ever runs their DS-1 at full bore?