Has anyone done a volume mod to a Small Stone?

[CBA]

Hey dudes.

Have any of you ever done a self-inflicted volume-drop fix on one of these Small Stones?



I know Anal Man used to do them, but I don't wanna pay $800 for one.

Anyone tried to fix the drop with a 95.6% success rate or higher?

C

[veteransdaypoppy]

bump for a thing i was way too scared to do cuz i love the sound of my small stone.

[Mudfuzz]

I think devnulljp knows...

[devnulljp]

I did my v2 revJ ... piece of cake swap 2 resistors is all.
Which version do you have though? is that a v3 or a newer one that's all SMC inside? If it's SMC, it'll be harder.

Here's some info
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/bom/smallvlp.txt
Here's a layout: http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf ... tj_lo2.pdf

Here's my board with the changes marked



EHX Small Stone Issue J -- volume Drop mod
UNMATCHED VOLUME PROBLEM:

Many people have complained about a small volume loss when the Small
Stone is switched on. My Small Stone exhibits this behavior as well.
Here is a post from R.G. from Aron's Stompbox Forum on a possible
fix (modifications to the circuit) for this problem.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From R.G. Keen

The loss of volume when engaged is correctable in the Issue J Small Stone
by changing the gain of the two-transistor preamp at the input of the circuit.

There are two 4.7K resistors at the emitters of the input transistors. One
(R7) goes to ground from the emitter of Q1, the second (R42) connects the
emitter of Q2 to the emitter of Q1. Those two resistors set the feedback gain
of the two-transistor compound.

Increase the 4.7K between the emitters (R42) to increase the gain. Start with
10K. Be aware that this will affect the stage biasing, so the headroom may
be affected; I don't think this will really be a problem.

The silly thing *ought* to have included a JFET buffer in front of it for
buffered bypass and a bit of gain in the first place.

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

Dave Matelitz reported successfully fixing this problem by making these
part substitutions:

Changing R42 from a 4k7 resistor to a 10k resistor
Changing R11 from a 3k3 resistor to a 10k resistor

Tweak these two resistors until you get the volume right with no oscillation
in the signal.

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/bom/smallvlp.txt


EDIT:

Here's some info about the later versions, which might match yours better

http://web.archive.org/web/200712020834 ... /wp/?p=191

And here's some info on some insane mods: http://web.archive.org/web/200805240745 ... nstone.htm

[retinal orbita]

My 70's ss just crapped out on me, there was no no noticible volume drop on it, and it only cost me 40 bucks, but I'm still pissed off, it sounds like it's continually on, but like in the background alsmot, like a ghost phaser..... I'm hoping my amp tech can sort it all out for me........

[devnulljp]

My 70's ss just crapped out on me, there was no no noticible volume drop on it, and it only cost me 40 bucks, but I'm still pissed off, it sounds like it's continually on, but like in the background alsmot, like a ghost phaser..... I'm hoping my amp tech can sort it all out for me........

Try cleaning the switch (not the stompswitch, the little slider color switch). I had a muff that did that ... pull that switch apart and clean and re-tension the contacts.
But it could be the stompswitch too I guess (as well as probably about 1000 other things, but those two are the most obvious ... unless you dumped a pint on it or something).

EDIT: Open the pedal, take out the Color slider switch, open it carefully (pry open the little tabs holding the switch together…carefully don’t break them ... or stab your fingers), try to catch all the bits that fall out on your lap and all over the floor, curse loudly, find the bits that fell on the floor and clean them with a pencil eraser and contact cleaner—there should be a couple of little brass things that look a bit like staples—re-tension those (bend them a bit) and put it back together again and back into the pedal. See if that helps. Failing that, radio shack sells a replacement switch that will do the job for a couple of bucks.
Worth a shot anyway ... take you 10 min tops and costs $0.

[retinal orbita]

My 70's ss just crapped out on me, there was no no noticible volume drop on it, and it only cost me 40 bucks, but I'm still pissed off, it sounds like it's continually on, but like in the background alsmot, like a ghost phaser..... I'm hoping my amp tech can sort it all out for me........

Try cleaning the switch (not the stompswitch, the little slider color switch). I had a muff that did that ... pull that switch apart and clean and re-tension the contacts.
But it could be the stompswitch too I guess (as well as probably about 1000 other things, but those two are the most obvious ... unless you dumped a pint on it or something).

Sage advice!! I will give it a shot next time I'm at my jam space!!!

[CBA]

I don't actually have one, but I was wondering if it could be done.

Sorry... what does SMC mean? I'll most likely have to get one on eBay, so what would you suggest I axe the seller so that I can make sure I get the right one?

Thanks for the infos!

C

[kosta]

SMC stands for Surface Mounted Components, i.e. not like the stuff in DNJP's photos where each component has leads that go through the board.

[retinal orbita]

I know Anal Man

I would be really wary if "Anal Man" wanted to put his fingers in my pedals..... you don't know where they've been........

[retinal orbita]

My 70's ss just crapped out on me, there was no no noticible volume drop on it, and it only cost me 40 bucks, but I'm still pissed off, it sounds like it's continually on, but like in the background alsmot, like a ghost phaser..... I'm hoping my amp tech can sort it all out for me........

Try cleaning the switch (not the stompswitch, the little slider color switch). I had a muff that did that ... pull that switch apart and clean and re-tension the contacts.
But it could be the stompswitch too I guess (as well as probably about 1000 other things, but those two are the most obvious ... unless you dumped a pint on it or something).

EDIT: Open the pedal, take out the Color slider switch, open it carefully (pry open the little tabs holding the switch together…carefully don’t break them ... or stab your fingers), try to catch all the bits that fall out on your lap and all over the floor, curse loudly, find the bits that fell on the floor and clean them with a pencil eraser and contact cleaner—there should be a couple of little brass things that look a bit like staples—re-tension those (bend them a bit) and put it back together again and back into the pedal. See if that helps. Failing that, radio shack sells a replacement switch that will do the job for a couple of bucks.
Worth a shot anyway ... take you 10 min tops and costs $0.

Wow, this totally, totally worked!!! Truth be told I just opened the pedal and kerjiggered the colour switch first and all of a sudden I had a perfectly working phaser again!! Thanks!!!