DS-1 selectable multiple clipping mod

[theblueark]

Gwarrrrrrr! Got it working after a couple of hours of debugging a short.

For those who understand the internals of clipping,

The 3 knobs on the right are exactly the DS-1 controls.
The 3 knobs on the left are 5 way rotary switches that work as follows:
Top 2 knobs:
1 - Ge
2 - Si (the original one's I pulled out from the DS-1 itself)
3 - LED (3mm red, placed at the smiley face for double seeing eyes)
4 - Tube (Sovtek 12AX7 running at 6V)
5 - Lift (open)
In opposite directions (replacing D4 and D5)

Bottom knob:
1 - 0.01uF (the original one I pulled from the DS-1 itself)
2 - 0.047uF
3 - 0.082uF
4 - 0.1uF
5 - Lift (open)
This replaces C10

How does it sound?
Not exactly as I hoped it would be. There are so many combinations, but I'll go through the ones that made the biggest impact on me.

All the testing was done with all the original DS-1 knobs at midway. With a strat direct into the DS-1 and then into a 15W SS amp.

Ge + Ge
Very buzzy/fuzzy. Think DS-1, but even grainier, and lower volume. However the Ge diodes seem to have a softer clip than the Si diodes. It is grainier, but a smooth grain unlike the harsh Si's.

Si + Si
Your stock DS-1 sounds.

LED + LED
Terrific crunch! I can see why so many DS-1 mods feature at least an LED replacing the Si diodes. The volume is a lot louder, with more clean headroom. Then when you attack the strings hard you get nice crunch. This makes the DS-1 straddle the line between overdrive and distortion. I like the crunchy power chords I can pull out with this setting.

Tube + Tube
Head room head room. On this setting it becomes a dirty booster/overdrive. The characteristics of the DS-1 remains but it's at least twice or 3 times as loud. The harsh graininess is almost totally gone. Power chords lose that nice crunch that was present on the LED settings I like the cleaner lead sounds I can get from this. Probably will be a good lead booster after another overdrive unit.

Open + Open
Almost the same as the tubes. The difference is very very slight and I had to keep switching between the two to make sure I was hearing any change at all. The main difference is that it is slightly spikey. Certain frequencies will just jump out on occasion and nail me in the ear. I guess some clipping of any form helps keep these under control.

The rest
Trying out the asymmetric clipping settings was not as fruitfull as I had thought. I had imagined there would be a big increase in the harmonics that would be produced if I paired say an LED and a Ge diode. Unfortunately, I did not encounter much of this. I will try driving this pedal with another overdrive some other time to see if there is any more pronounced difference. Right now, it takes the characteristics of the louder clipper. Pairing an LED with a Ge will provide an LED sound, with a slight hint of Ge characteristics. Pairing a Tube with an LED will... and so on.

More to come when I play with it somemore ;D

 

[rottenramone]

..

respect. 8O

 

[Mobius]

Post Soundclips! Post soundclips!

 

[MrE]

that is deep man...

kudos to you, blueark, besides ur obvious tech skills, u inspire many of the would-be DIY pedal techs here 8)

hope more softies here will take up this unique (and potentially profitable hobby of modding/making pedals)

 

[uzzo88]

i usually use 4148 diodes.. hmm never thot that led's would work too..cool stuff..post a schematic le..

 

[theblueark]

DS-1 Schemetic:
http://www.godiksennet.com/images/sch/DS1PG2.jpg

This schemetic however, is the old one with the TA7136P dual opamp chip.

My DS-1 and many newer ones use a BA728N that has a different pinout. I have the datasheet for the BA728N if you want.

Some of the resistors and capacitors are also labelled differently. D4, D5 and C10 are still the same though.


I forgot to mention, with my mod the DS-1 is now true bypass

 

[ShredCow]

Interesting...

But i think the volume discrepencies will be an issue?

Also, since some of the modes don't seem to work, you might want to consider taking the whole thing out, and making the overall circuitry smaller..

 

[uzzo88]

respect..

BTW where u get pcb's for such projects??

 

[crozzfire]

pure respect...im impressed!

 

[ShredCow]

btw, after your overhauling, did you manage to get the noise (inherent in DS1 circuitry) down?

 

[theblueark]

All the modes work. It's just that they did not sound totally as how I had imagined. Volume discrepencies should not be an issue as I did this project for 2 reasons:
1. To hear how the different diode clippers sound
2. To mod my DS-1 for better use as a booster.

I will leave my settings at a favourable boost position all the time. The other settings are there for fun and when people want to listen to how they sound.

By the way, Si + LED is the seeing eye mod (SEM). The LED eye(s) on the smiley face in the middle will light up when you play. So if you want to A/B between a SEM and stock DS, you can play through mine and all you need to do is turn a knob.

Without the mods the DS-1 totally impractical as a booster because the Si dides clip too early.

The pcb was from a DS-1. I opened it up, took out the pcb, then took out the LED indicator, made the circuitry always ON, did the mods, then put it into the new enclosure with a bypass switch and new switchcraft jacks. It was a freakin tight fit and did not have any space for batteries.

I have not tested it out extensively yet. Will get to that tomorrow and report back about the noise issues. I suspect that it is a lot quieter as BOSS did not seem to ground the enclosure, or the output jack, whereas I did. However I did not replace the capacitors with metal film ones, which Analogman and Robert Keely do supposedly to cut down on the noise. I'll go play with the volume and gain up tomorrow and we'll see :?

Sound clips maybe another time, once I get more used to the characteristics of the different modes.

 

[ShredCow]

hmmm... an interesting point to note, the analogman DS1, is noisy as a booster. Stand alone, its the best sounding modded ds1 that retains most of the ds1 vibe. As a booster, noisy, unlike a Keeley. But a keeley ds1 don;t sound like a ds1 anymore.

 

[theblueark]

Heh next time we have some DS-1 party then I try to recreate their DS-1 sounds with mine.

 

[ShredCow]

I'm afriad I only have an MIJ DS1. The analogman DS1 got thrashed by the Hellbilly fuzz. :twisted:

But yeah, possible to do a MIJ DS1 kind of tone?

 

[theblueark]

The MIJ has a totally different chip in it. Probably will not be able to recreate that one.

One thing I wish I included was a switch to add in a Ge diode on any mode. The Ge diodes help to smooth out the spikes so nicely.

 

[popeye]

As a booster, noisy, unlike a Keeley. But a keeley ds1 don;t sound like a ds1 anymore.

Man, i never understand with your statement above.
So what if modded DS1 doesn't sound like ds1 anymore? as long as it sounds good, then isn't it enough?

i'll be more than happy to own a DS1 that will sound like a RC Booster :lol:

 

[livideye]

Does anyone have any links or schematics of DOD Death Metal and Zoom Tri Metal??
Currently interested in making one but need one or two more schematics to reconfirm the connections and stuffs.

also check out this link, this guy does clones, very interesting

http://web.tiscali.it/boxsmt2clone2005home/index.htm

 

[thor666]

afaik the zoom trimetal schematic is very complex and not worth building - buying is a better option.

(uh actually isn't the schematic already on the webpage you put here?)

and imo building a hyper lead, a similar circuit with less gain, is better because even the hyper lead has goobs of distortion. (i can't even turn beyond 12 o'clock without the sound starting to mud out, and that's running on a Fender Twin Reverb, an amp with relatively lots of headroom.)

 

[ShredCow]

As a booster, noisy, unlike a Keeley. But a keeley ds1 don;t sound like a ds1 anymore.

Man, i never understand with your statement above.
So what if modded DS1 doesn't sound like ds1 anymore? as long as it sounds good, then isn't it enough?

i'll be more than happy to own a DS1 that will sound like a RC Booster :lol:

Well, the DS1 has a unique tone... its pretty much recognisable from anywhere.... so thats where its so ... sought after despite its shortcommings....

 

[theblueark]

Got my friend to twiddle between settings while I chug out riffs.

The asymmetrical clippings are much more obvious when I tried them out this time.

The tube clippers with a 0.047uF cap are great. Very nice lead boost. I kinda like the tube + Germanium combo. Just as loud, but with a little hair on the side. The LED clippers definitely give a huge ass crunch, but are kinda rough on the edges, like the silicon but slightly softer and much more headroom. The tubes and the Germaniums are the roundest but the Germaniums clip wayyyy to early. You'll probably have to have some sort of boost after it. I think it would have been nice to try putting like 3-5 Ge diodes in series.

The original silicons are awlful now when comparing to the rest. Even the Germaniums with less headroom sound better. Maybe some different silicon diodes would do better. I left the originals in so I could show people what the original DS-1 sounds like whenever I want to.

Meanwhile... I'm turning the DS-1 shell into a killswitch. It's got a normally open switch in it which is perfect. And the construcion with the spring is so well designed it's gonna take the killswitch stomping nicely too.

I know, I know, soundclips!!! I'll get to it soon I hope.