MXR Blue Box mod...

[hazelwould]

http://squidpaste.net/?p=27

Check this out... It's like a cool synthy octave down fuzz. Easy to do too... I MIGHT have to get one of these for this! I bet it'd be SICK for synth's and drum stuff.

[hazelwould]

I wonder how you could go about adding a switch to go from normal mode to this chaotic mode?

[TweedBassman]

if you want to add a switch, just use a simple SPST on/off switch with two wires attached; one going to the spot on the board that you removed c11 from, the other wire going to the leg on c11 that you cut. fun pedal.

[hazelwould]

I just realized when I saw your post... What I needed to do!

I did this synthy random stuttery mod to my DS-1... Similar thing.

I'm gonna have to pick one of these up, at some point.

Thanks for the response man!

[TweedBassman]

no prob. if you like ds-1 mods, there are a bunch of synth-y feedback type mods, and devi also posted a weird tremolo mod that slowed down as the note decayed. that was really cool.

[hazelwould]

So would you solder the spdt on the solder side or component side?

And yea I tried a couple of mods... I'm ok with the fat mod by Jack Orman, and the variation e circuit bent mod. I haven't tried it yet but I bet it'll work well with some lofi keys.

[TweedBassman]

you don't even need a spDt, just a spSt (the spdt will work fine but you're wasting half of it.)

just de-solder one leg of c11 so it's sticking up in the air; then you'll have a hole in the board, and the leg of c11 sticking up that used to be in that hole. the spst will only have 2 lugs; connect one lug with some wire to the hole in the board, and one lug to the leg of c11 sticking up. doesn't matter which lug goes to which part.

i'd bet that you could even wire up a pot somehow to create a 'harshness' control by blending in that c11 cap if you want to try that.

[hazelwould]

Maybe like a 100k linear? And just do the same with a wire from the pot to the hole and a wire from c11 to the pot? That could yield some seriously sick tones!!!

[laxlover_bill369]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I'm a beginer so maybe when you do it take pics thanks

[TweedBassman]

Maybe like a 100k linear? And just do the same with a wire from the pot to the hole and a wire from c11 to the pot? That could yield some seriously sick tones!!!

i'd start there, yup. one wire on the center lug of the pot, one on one of the outside lugs. depends on the circuit though, it might not work at all. for screwin around i have 1k, 10k, 100k and 1meg linear pots with alligator clips attached, every diy/bend/hacker should have a set.

[hazelwould]

If I can get it to work I'm going to put the pot on the lower left side of the pedal with a rubber cover so I can shift the sounds on the fly with my foot.

My last question is... If there is leakage with the c11 (that's what I hear anyways), is there an issue with the bypass of the pedal? And how could I solve this?

Thanks for being cool about this dude!

BTW check your fourm... I posted a couple of questions.

[TweedBassman]

yeah MXR pedals have notoriously shitty bypass. they're not 'true bypass' (which isn't always the answer to everything) but in most cases, either the input OR the output is switch only... not both. also, some true bypass methods ground the input or output in addition to bypassing both, so that high gain pedals (especially ones that oscillate or have a prominent sound, lots of volume etc) don't 'bleed' into the dry signal.

for example: if you build a true bypass box and do not ground the return when it is switched off, and you run a delay in it and send the delay into oscillation, you will still hear the oscillation in the background even though both the input and output are removed from the chain! this is because the delay is actually sending a lot of voltage and signal down the output into the looper box, and the bare wires inside conduct the oscillation through the wires even though they're not physically connected.

this is what's happening inside the blue box, where sometimes people can slightly hear the effect in the background, especially when it's cranked up or modified for more volume. the only remedy is completely re-wire the switching but unfortunately because of the circuit board, that's major surgery. i'd just live with it. same thing happened to my MXR phase 90; i modded it for feedback and it oscillated really well, but bled through when off. such are the perils of noisy fun.

[hazelwould]

Hmm... I've been meaning to build a looper box for the nanoverb. Maybe I'll do 2 loops. One for noize, and another for the crazy verbs.

So your saying there may be some leakage? From the BB in the loop?

[TweedBassman]

possibly yeah. i've never owned a blue box but i know what you mean, some folks complain about the bypass and leakage especially with the c11 mod.

if you're building a bypass box just make sure the 'send' or 'return' is grounded when switched off. it's just one extra wire, and helps pops too. you should be able to find diagrams of how to do that, but i'll dig one up if ya need.