Introductions + pedal mod help!

Hello everyone, long time lurker but first time poster! My name is Rob and I live in Manchester, England. I have a couple of questions (or a dilemma) for anyone who knows about Boss pedal mods here in the UK.

I don't currently play in a band but I have been making and recording my own music for quite a few years now, changing styles dependant on my equipment - so at first it was acoustic guitar and keyboards so it was a singer-songwriter style, then I got my electric guitar and an amp and started doing melodic punk rock (more my kind of thing) before I got to now, which is 90's emo influenced rock.

My set up is:

'93 Squier Tele MIJ w/ stock pups

Blackstar HT-1 head with Palmer 1 x 12 w/ Celestion Greenback

Big Muff NYC, Joyo Vintage OD, Joyo British Sound, EHX LPB-1, Boss DS-1 and SD-1.

So onto my question. For my OD/distortion I currently use the SD-1 as a boost into the Big Muff, and sometime I put the Joyo OD in between for a more 'focused' sound. However I picked the DS-1 for £20 some months back and I've not really used it much - the usual problem of too much buzz/fizz in the top end and all a bit muddy. The SD-1 I would like to start using as a standalone OD pedal but it sounds a little bit thin on its own.

So I would like to know your thoughts - would you rather mod the SD-1 (which you use for a boost but not so much the OD) or mod the DS-1 so that it becomes more useful? Both mods cost the same, I've listened to videos and sound clips of both and still can't decide!

Any help greatly appreciated!

So I would like to know your thoughts - would you rather mod the SD-1 (which you use for a boost but not so much the OD) or mod the DS-1 so that it becomes more useful? Both mods cost the same, I've listened to videos and sound clips of both and still can't decide!

IMO, sound clips will not help. The gear, recording equipment, etc. will all yield clips that are probably just not helpful for your situation.

That said, either the SD-1 could be modded to your needs, or the DS-1 could be modded to your needs.

The more difficult part is just finding the right mod for it. IMO, the bulk of SD-1 mods attempt to either turn it into a TS808 or Fulldrive II, which aren't going to meet your needs. And IMO, the bulks of the DS-1 mods attempt to turn it into a Marshall-in-a-box/Recto-in-a-box/"distortion with clarity" BS mod.

The SD-1 can stand strong on its own without the need to sound like the TS that unfortunately overshadows it. And most of the FDII "conversions" are really crude facsimiles. But still - neither one will help you.

The DS-1 can also be "just removed of the warts," but without "neutering" it, or turning it into something that just adds more of whatever, meaning too much of it.

So that said, if what you really want is just a better sound from the DS-1 that makes it "musical AND desirable" as a standalone pedal, I would concentrate on that. As cool as the SD-1 can sound, when using an OD as a boost, the results can be very hit or miss, or a bit of a failure if just one piece of gear is swapped out.

So my vote is for the DS-1 - just get rid of the warts and experience it as you need/expect it to sound. But avoid all of the redundant/common mods for it that won't really "get you there." In other words, you are probably looking for a bit of an "outlaw approach" to altering the DS-1 that isn't a "follow the herd approach." An outlaw approach wouldn't have anything other than the warts removed, IMO. All the other mods will have claims of "extra clarity," "Marshall amp harmonics," or other sorts of non-important marketing foci.

IMO.

A lot of us here have modded the SD-1 by simply clipping C6 out of the circuit. If you do a search here, there are whole threads about this mod. It will give the pedal a little more clarity, allowing you to back off the tone control without getting muddy, resulting in a fatter tone.

Visit the Machine Head Pedals website for help with the DS-1. They have a mod that addresses the issues you mention. It's available as a $5.00 PDF.

cousinpaul: Thanks a lot for the tip! I just got rid of the C6 and it has improved it already - even the 'clean' sound (level max, no gain) sounds clearer and a bit beefier.

Will check out the DS-1 PDF - got to be worth it for £3 or so!

Glad the SD-1 is working out. I've got the DS-1 mod in one of mine. It's an easy build and definitely worth the 3 pounds or so. BTW, welcome to TDPRI.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

After all the faffing around, today I came across a Bass Big Muff in a music shop that takes part exchange, so I ended up giving up my DS-1 and Joyo British Sound pedals and £10 for it, I always fancied a Russian-style Muff!

The SD-1 mod is working well, and in fact in combination with the Bass BM it creates a really nice tone, plenty of bite and grit for a Tele w/ stock pups through my Blackstar amp.

Look forward to hanging around here and picking up some tips!

I just picked up a black Russian Muff over the weekend; my first. How are you setting yours? I'm still a bit at sea with mine.

I think the BBM is based on the green Sovtek units, however I'm generally hitting Sustain at 4 o clock, Volume about 12 and Tone about 1 for a nice drive sound. I like the difference between the Russian models and the NYC Reissue, the Russian types are a bit smoother and nicer for rhythm playing.

The cool thing with the Bass BM is that it has a Dry switch, which acts much like a 'sparkle drive' if you turn the sustain up, but turn the sustain almost the whole way down and you get a warm harmonic boost effect!

However I find boosting into the Russian Muffs make it sound less smooth and more edgy, whereas I feel the NYC Muff needs some sort of Tubescreamer style pedal into it to bring out the best of it.

I tried mine at a club tonight and had a pretty good time with it. Sustain was set around 10:30 with the volume and tone up above noon. Although it doesn't clean up all the way, I like the way the distortion comes down gradually as I back off the guitar's volume. It seems a little easier to work with than a Fuzz Face. Thanks for your reply.

I didn't want to start a new thread, but I thought I'd give everyone an update:

I ended up buying a soldering iron, all the bits and all the components I needed to mod my SD-1 a little further than just clipping the C6 cap. While I was doing that, another SD-1 popped up on Ebay for cheap so I bought it! So I now have one pedal with C6 clipped only, and I have modded the other with a sort of mix of Monte Allums, Keeley and Wampler mods!

I ended up with a LED in D4, 1n4001 diode at D5 and an OA90 germanium diode in D6 for the clipping. Along with the other mods (upgraded caps and resistors) it sounds like a new pedal - double the level on tap but all the controls seem more responsive to slight tweaks and the gain structure can go from smooth overdrive to almost fuzzy distortion (in a good way!)

Really worth the £60 total spend on soldering equipment, the pedal and new components plus a couple of hours of my time. I had not soldered anything since university in 2007 so I was sceptical, but I'm actually really pleased with the results.

Next - to snag some more Boss pedals or perhaps a Rat to mod from Ebay?