Boss Blues Driver Mods and the Mystery of a Pedal Board

Hokay, so here's my world..chillin' without a pedal board. I love boutique pedals but they don't love my wallet and I would like to start learning how to mod pedals myself. So I thought I would start easy.

Boss BD-2

Who's got their favorite mod? What does it take?

Help a noob out!

I wouldn't bother, just get a Keeley modded BD2

Yeah I was looking to use it as a learning experience as well. The keely is really nice but I thought I would buy a used Boss BD-2 for $20 and frankenstien it..

You can go to www.machineheadpedals.com and get the "kit" version of Keith's BD-2 "Galaxie Mod" (he modded my BD-2), a fine mod in which the Gain of the BD-2 is reduced a bit, which takes the fizz (present at higher Gain settings) out of the pedal; the Gain control is more useable in its entire rotation. Same with the Tone control, the taper is more graduated as well.

The mod 'leaves alone' the most desireable attributes of the Blues Driver:

the BD-2 's clean boosting abilities (high Level, low Gain) at relatively Flat EQ

The great guitar volume knob cleanup/dynamics of the BD-2 something you don't get out of every OD)

I've tried just about every mod out there, and none of them
eliminate all the things people dislike about the BD-2.

All of them, EXCEPT ONE -

And Chico mentioned it. It's the MHP Galaxie Mod.
Over the last few years, skeptics on this forum have tried it,
and always, *always* come back with "You guys were right".

Just wait, a few more will chime in with the same answer.
Get the Galaxie mod and thank us later.

This message has been verified 100% free of hyperbole
and exaggeration.

I have the Monte Allums mod for my bd-2. It was a good pedal before the mod, but in my opinion its now a great pedal. With the gain all the way up it is very "fuzzface" sounding, but cleans up very well with your guitar volume. Its a pedal that will never leave my board.

I did the Allum Blues Stack mod to mine. It's a nice transparent overdrive. I like it a lot. Someday I'll get another BD2 and do the galaxie mod.

I have many OD's but the BD-2 is my personal fave when I want just to basically transform my Tele/Dano/Strat neck pickup > Deluxe Reverb or BJ (clean) into a ' '50's hollow body P-90' into a tweed' sound, for say swing blues,old slow blues, jazzy stuff, rockabilly or pre-Tele country sounds. There is just the right mix of dirt/sustain, still with guitar>amp clean as the foundation. It just works for me for this kind of sound- and great guitar volume cleanup.

I just signed up for tdpri and was cruising and saw this thread. Keith at machine head really does have the best bd2 mod. I have tried Keeley and analogman bd2s and Keith took some extra time finding his sweet spots because the only two modded "mass prods" on my pedal board are both machine head pedal mods.

Spending money on the Allums mod is a crap shoot.
The reason for this is that he doesn't really understand
what he's doing. So you get hi-fi op-amps that don't
perform well in dirt pedals (or compressors for that matter)
and component changes that are questionable, or have no effect
on the sound at all. Paying for capacitors that are the same value
as what they are replacing, but are an "upgrade" because of a claim
that they increase fidelity is absurd. With rare exception, caps don't
have a sound.

But hey, if someone wants to pay Allums their money, knock
yourself out. But there are better mods available for free on the
net. If you're going to spend money, then humor me while I repeat
myself - I've tried Keeley, several Wampler, and the Allums mods,
as well as a few other lesser known mods. The only mod I've found
(and more than a few people concur) that eliminates all of the things
about the BD-2 that people complain about is the Galaxie mod.

Why? Because it isn't a simple mod. It is a re-working of the BD-2
circuit. I didn't have MHP do mine. I bought the kit from Keith
and did the work myself. It is somewhat extensive involving removal
(not replacing) of diodes. Removing components and jumpering them
as well as changing caps and resistors.

Take that or leave it, my only motive is to direct others
to what I've found to be quality based on my own experience.

I've tried the Allums H2O mod, the Keeley Phat Mod, and the Wampler Brent Mason Mod. I suppose they all have their merits. I'm currently playing the MHP Galaxie Mod. It's a great sounding pedal and the entire range of each control is useful. The more I learn about pedals, the more I'm impressed with it. There's a lot of guys doing the "more or less" mods but very few doing the kind of circuit-bending you'll find inside Keith's GM.