Any mods for Digi Metal Master?

Started by Guitarfreak, November 14, 2009, 09:04:03 PM

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Guitarfreak

I've got the Metal Master but I never really use it because it's too cold and digital sounding.  Are there any possible mods for it?  I don't know anything about digital circuits and google and forum search turns up nothing.  I tried to open it up but it seems that the board is held in place by something that I can't see so I'm not even sure if it is removable.  Again search comes up with no info about how to open.

What I hope to achieve:
1.  More transparency/headroom
2.  turn 'level' control into 'gain' control, but leave level permanently maxed out
3.  True Bypass

Taylor

#1
Modding digital pedals in substantial ways is mostly not possible, because the effect is all in the code. Some things can be done, though.

True bypass is easy if you're going to rehouse the circuit in another box. Just build a true bypass looper and connect the send to the Metal Master's input, and the return to the MM's output. However, if you want to keep it in the same box, and assuming that by "true bypass" you mean a 3PDT switch, it's not going to happen.

You can do other things which are technically true bypass but which use logic circuits, such as The Tone God's Wicked Switches and RG's Pancake switches.

http://tech.thetonegod.com/
http://geofex.com

It's possible to cram those circuits into a Digitech pedal, but it won't be simple.

As far as the gain control and transparency/headroom, pretty much not possible since these are happening within the digital code.

However, if you don't like the pedal and you want to get into guitar electronics, I'd recommend building something from scratch. There are a number of metal-oriented projects around here to sink your teeth into. It's not my area of expertise, so I can't recommend anything from experience, but try searching for "metal" or the name of your favorite metal amp and see if anyone's built a stompbox soundalike - there's a good chance it exists.