Modest Mike's Mods
BOSS Blues Driver BD-2
Modest Mike's BD-2 Blue Dream Mod ($59.99)
In my book most of the range of the BD-2 is unusable. And what is up with that that splatty, fizzy, decay sound? This mod is the culmination of what I have learned over the years by doing everyone else's mods for everyone else. It is a little more intricate and goes a little further to eliminate sounds you don't like and to preserve the sounds you do like. With Modest Mike's Blue Dream Mod you can use more of the full range of your pedal's sound. The sound is big, fat and full. It is a tiny bit more mellow than most other mods, but with more push. And if you crank it up there is still more than enough gain when you want to rock!
NOTE:
We can mod all BD-2 pedals made before 2017.
Check here to find out when your boss pedal was made:
"I received my SD-1 and BD-2 today and had an hour or so to play with them. Man, what a difference. The BD-2 is definitely smoother and more open, for lack of a better way of putting it. It can be plenty beefy with the switch engaged and the high end fizziness is gone. Great sounding pedal just made better. I gotta tell you though, the modded SD-1 is the pedal that blows me away. Before the mod it sounded okay. Decent OD that just sounded a bit muffled. The tone was there just hidden a little. Now it is wide open and sounds fantastic, more transparent to use the cliche. I have been using an MXR Custom Badass Modiified OD and I think it may be kicked to the side, at least for a little while. And (God forbid I say it) my FullDrive 2 Mosfet may get sold ....I am impressed."
BOSS Super Overdrive SD-1
TS-808 Plus Mod ($39.99)
We put in a RC4558P opamp (or JRC4558D if you prefer), but also an IC Socket that allows you to easily try different chips for different sounds. Our hand-picked parts for resistor and capacitor changes are metal film. This helps to eliminate hiss or background noises. We top it off by replacing your LED with an ultra-bright clear/blue LED. It is clear when your pedal is off, a nice noticeable blue when on. This is a TS-808 mod, but the clipping is left as asymmetrical. This type of distortion is more of a meaner, rock sound than the symmetrical clipping on the common tube screamer. Your SD-1 will not sound like another tube screamer clone!
After this mod, our customers have said “It sounds fuller, more like a Marshall amp sound”. They also noticed the highs are more controlled now. “Even at full tone, it’s not screeching anymore!” When you are playing live and things get loud and serious, this pedal will push your guitar with some clarity. Go ahead, push it! That’s when it sounds its best. Now your lead solos have body and cut right through the loudest of music!
NOTE:
We can mod all SD-1 pedals made before 2016.
Check here to find out when your boss pedal was made:
SD-1 Sparkle Mod ($59.99)
Burrows Electronics has given us permission to market this wonderful mod. Nowadays he calls it his Sparkle Mod.This is actually a mod of a mod. We take the popular 5 Star GE Mod and crank it up a couple of notches. We do this by making the mod more Hi-Fi, improving the bypass circuit to eliminate tone bleed through, adding a bass boost switch, and fixing the "blanket over the speaker" problem this pedal has. Here is a list of what this mod offers:
1) Double the amount of distortion.
2) Two way gain switch that allows you to select between the warmer and more gain heavy Germanium mode and the LED mode which gives a volume boost, more clean headroom, and an overall thicker tone.
3) Improved bypass circuit mod for purer tone when the pedal is off.
4) Improved fidelity and clarity
5) Increased presence
6) Bass boost switch
From Bob Delilus (lead player for Eddie Money):
Hi Mike,
I tried out the SD-1 you sent. My first impression is I like it! Kurt Griffey (lead player for Creedance Clearwater Revival) tried out your SD-1, and likes the way it sounds, too. It's a hit!!!
Bob
Boss ODB-3 Mod ($39.99)
Our mod changes involve replacing cheaper factory capacitors and resistors with high quality Panasonic capacitors and metal film resistors for less noise and better tone quality. Some of the values of these components have been changed to add warmth and fullness, and to remove the shrill highs. The low mids and mids in general are improved. I have experimented with different diodes for the clipping section, and it seems (to me) LEDs are best here. Using LEDs in the clipping section yields slightly less distortion, gives more of a push, and allows more of the clean tone to come through. And of course we replaced the check LED. This one is clear when the effect is switched off, and it is a very noticeable blue when the effect is switched on.
We are not currently working on the newer model with surface mount components. Let me know when yours was made:
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