Boss - BD-2 Blues Driver 1995

WhiteKeyHole · Post by **WhiteKeyHole** » 17 Sep 2009, 04:32

Sure, as long as you don't directly post any of his documentation (scans, files, etc); however, some might consider it in poor taste. I don't think anyone should be spared, but it's up to you, really.

ibodog2 wrote:I did the WhiteKeyHole mods listed on the first page of this thread - with the exception of the germanium transistors. Sounds good! Set the gain up to about 3 o'clock and then ride down your guitar's volume control when you need less gain for rhythm parts.

Glad it worked out for you. That's exactly how I ran it, gain at three o'clock, and what the modifications were built around.

RnFR · Post by **RnFR** » 17 Sep 2009, 04:55

give up the mods. or i'll shoot!

new_anuzzerone · Post by **new_anuzzerone** » 19 Sep 2009, 20:22

Hi there,
I´ve been watchin this forum quite a long time to "learn" something bout modding pedals. I got infected by a Keeley DS1, which I bought used, 2 years ago.
I´ve bought the Monte Allums mod, to get an idea of modding the BD-2 and found the following description in a forum at "ultimate-guitar.com". So I played around with the Allums mod and the "ultimate-guitar" one, changed some diodes (I never thought, that 2, 3 or 4 parts could change a sound as much, as the diodes do

Here´s the description:

I am back once again to improve your stock Boss crap

This time a Boss Blues Driver it my bench. First impressions... No blues player would ever need the gain this unit puts out. Even the minimum gain was blowing my head off. This pedal was also a shrill dill, couldn’t use the tone control at all, way too piercing. There was also fuzziness and crap when the gain control went past noon. One thing I was impressed by was the bypass system (all Boss pedals use the same elec switching). Though not true bypass it’s still quite good, I could hardly notice the difference when I tested it using my looper pedal.

Anyways I like bright clear tones and fat tones. I am not a huge fan of gain. With this is mind I started modding the pedal.

I started with Robert Keeley's mod and went from there... I didn’t like his mod but that’s neither here nor there. If he modded the pedal like I did he would spend way too much time on an individual pedal... Anyways that being said I like my moddded tone better

A hint for removing Boss' industrial lead free (RoHs) solder... First heat up the joint so the solder melts, then heat again and apply a bit of your own lead (60/40 or whatever) solder. After this go about removing the solder with your desoldering braid or pump. I was quite proud of myself when I found this little trick out.

Here’s what went down...
R21: 2.7K (contour control almost, you could replace a 5K pot. Tames tone pot)
R34: 5.6K (lowers gain)
R38: 220K (lowers gain)

C8: 0.0047mF
C14: 0.1mF (input cap, better start beefing up the tone from the start)
C16: 0.01mF
C17, C19: 0.01mF
C18: 0.01mF (use a good quality cap)
C19: I didn't touch this cap but for a mid boost remove this cap. More mids, more gain.
C27: 0.01mF
C34: 0.082mF
C35: 0.047mF
C100: 0.047mF

C101: This cap plays a huge part in the tone of this pedal. Look at the schematic and you’ll see why... Anyways I have a SPDT switch on C101 to select between a MKT 0.033mF and a MKT 0.068mF cap. Fat switch! I am a sucker for fat tones and this switch delivers.

D3: 1N4002 (adding second order harmonics)
D6, D8, D9, D10: 3mm red LEDs (I like water clear high brightness) These are clipping diodes. LEDs make the pedal fatter, tighter and more compressed. I also find they add some dynamics to the pedal. They also clip much less than a standard diode so more headroom!

The next part of the mod is what I would call a Hi-Fi mod. No values of parts are changes. Instead the material (mainly the di-electric) of the capacitors is changed to a nicer better sounding material. Some cheap ceramic and electro caps but don’t worry they aren’t in the signal path. Don’t cheap out here and not do this part of the mod. Without this part I seriously doubt the pedal would sound so good. It may not be the most interesting part of the modifications but it's worth it.

Use all Silver Mica caps here.
C26: 220pF
C21, C23: 47pF
C20, C25: 470pF

Use tantalum capacitors here
C1, C6, C7, C12, C13, C15: 10mF (16V or higher)

This part of the mod is great. All the fuzz and fizzeyness when the gain control was turned up was gone. Clarity was increased and the pedal had more dynamics and felt like it responded better to my playing.

It's a pretty extensive mod but well worth it. If you were only going to do some parts of it I would recommend the Hi-Fi part and playing with C14, C100 and C101. Its amazing how a few changes in a capacitors value and some changes to better quality parts can make a difference.

I like a big LED indicator... I use 5mm water clear high brightness LEDs on all my pedals. If you do use a bigger brighter LED change R39 to 3K or around there.

Final impressions of this pedal...
Great pedal accomplished exactly what I wanted. It is nice and clear and warm or with a flick of a switch it is fat and compressed both ways retaining excellent clarity though. The tone control is totally useful now and much more versatile. The gain control is quite useable and I can actually have a low gain sound now.

You can set the gain so low the pedal can be used as a straight up clean boost. It can still do some great crunch/post crunch tones but no more metal. It responds to my touch and feel. I tested this pedal with three different tube amps, one solid state and two guitars and it sounded great with all of them, mission accomplished.

Anyways another cheap pedal turned into a cheap very useable pedal...

I hope someone can put this mod to use.

The BD-2 is now an overdrive, not a fuzz anymore (IMHO).

Regards
a technical newbie

floris · Post by **floris** » 20 Sep 2009, 13:58

Thanks for the mod info.
You are referring to the original factory components, right?

new_anuzzerone · Post by **new_anuzzerone** » 25 Sep 2009, 19:21

Yep! The changed parts refer to the original ones.
Actually some changes of the Monte Mod are the same, which are described here. If anyone likes to have the Monte changes, please let me know, I´ll post them.

regards

floris · Post by **floris** » 26 Sep 2009, 01:17

new_anuzzerone wrote: please let me know, I´ll post them.

Please do.

new_anuzzerone · Post by **new_anuzzerone** » 26 Sep 2009, 19:48

Here we go:

D3, D7, D8, D9: change to 1N4002 diode
D10: change to 1N34A germanium diode
C34: change to 0.047uF metal film
C100: change to 0.047uF metal film
red led changed to bright white (personal taste?!)
C10: change to 0.01uF metal film
R39: remove and add jumper (increases the light of the led - I didn´t do it

...)
C18, C35, C36: change to 0.047uF metal film
C33: change to 0.01uF metal film

The two .01uF caps are panasonic (Monte Allums) or silver mica caps (that´s what I used).
so far the Allums Mod. Take a look at his web site to have a closer look.

According to the other posting, I´ve changed D9 to a red LED and installed the silver micas / tantalum caps additionally

C26: 220pF
C21, C23: 47pF
C20, C25: 470pF

Use tantalum capacitors here
C1, C6, C7, C12, C13, C15: 10mF (16V or higher)

Next thing, I wanna try are the mods described in Brian Wamplers book. Has anybody tried the "Tweed mod" so far?

Hope it helps, regards

!

floris · Post by **floris** » 26 Sep 2009, 21:54

Thanks! I'll have a look at it.

marlow · Post by **marlow** » 06 Oct 2009, 19:23

new_anuzzerone wrote:Hi there,
I´ve been watchin this forum quite a long time to "learn" something bout modding pedals. I got infected by a Keeley DS1, which I bought used, 2 years ago.
I´ve bought the Monte Allums mod, to get an idea of modding the BD-2 and found the following description in a forum at "ultimate-guitar.com". So I played around with the Allums mod and the "ultimate-guitar" one, changed some diodes (I never thought, that 2, 3 or 4 parts could change a sound as much, as the diodes do

Here´s the description:

I am back once again to improve your stock Boss crap

This time a Boss Blues Driver it my bench. First impressions... No blues player would ever need the gain this unit puts out. Even the minimum gain was blowing my head off. This pedal was also a shrill dill, couldn’t use the tone control at all, way too piercing. There was also fuzziness and crap when the gain control went past noon. One thing I was impressed by was the bypass system (all Boss pedals use the same elec switching). Though not true bypass it’s still quite good, I could hardly notice the difference when I tested it using my looper pedal.

Anyways I like bright clear tones and fat tones. I am not a huge fan of gain. With this is mind I started modding the pedal.

I started with Robert Keeley's mod and went from there... I didn’t like his mod but that’s neither here nor there. If he modded the pedal like I did he would spend way too much time on an individual pedal... Anyways that being said I like my moddded tone better

A hint for removing Boss' industrial lead free (RoHs) solder... First heat up the joint so the solder melts, then heat again and apply a bit of your own lead (60/40 or whatever) solder. After this go about removing the solder with your desoldering braid or pump. I was quite proud of myself when I found this little trick out.

Here’s what went down...
R21: 2.7K (contour control almost, you could replace a 5K pot. Tames tone pot)
R34: 5.6K (lowers gain)
R38: 220K (lowers gain)

C8: 0.0047mF
C14: 0.1mF (input cap, better start beefing up the tone from the start)
C16: 0.01mF
C17, C19: 0.01mF
C18: 0.01mF (use a good quality cap)
C19: I didn't touch this cap but for a mid boost remove this cap. More mids, more gain.
C27: 0.01mF
C34: 0.082mF
C35: 0.047mF
C100: 0.047mF

C101: This cap plays a huge part in the tone of this pedal. Look at the schematic and you’ll see why... Anyways I have a SPDT switch on C101 to select between a MKT 0.033mF and a MKT 0.068mF cap. Fat switch! I am a sucker for fat tones and this switch delivers.

D3: 1N4002 (adding second order harmonics)
D6, D8, D9, D10: 3mm red LEDs (I like water clear high brightness) These are clipping diodes. LEDs make the pedal fatter, tighter and more compressed. I also find they add some dynamics to the pedal. They also clip much less than a standard diode so more headroom!

The next part of the mod is what I would call a Hi-Fi mod. No values of parts are changes. Instead the material (mainly the di-electric) of the capacitors is changed to a nicer better sounding material. Some cheap ceramic and electro caps but don’t worry they aren’t in the signal path. Don’t cheap out here and not do this part of the mod. Without this part I seriously doubt the pedal would sound so good. It may not be the most interesting part of the modifications but it's worth it.

Use all Silver Mica caps here.
C26: 220pF
C21, C23: 47pF
C20, C25: 470pF

Use tantalum capacitors here
C1, C6, C7, C12, C13, C15: 10mF (16V or higher)

This part of the mod is great. All the fuzz and fizzeyness when the gain control was turned up was gone. Clarity was increased and the pedal had more dynamics and felt like it responded better to my playing.

It's a pretty extensive mod but well worth it. If you were only going to do some parts of it I would recommend the Hi-Fi part and playing with C14, C100 and C101. Its amazing how a few changes in a capacitors value and some changes to better quality parts can make a difference.

I like a big LED indicator... I use 5mm water clear high brightness LEDs on all my pedals. If you do use a bigger brighter LED change R39 to 3K or around there.

Final impressions of this pedal...
Great pedal accomplished exactly what I wanted. It is nice and clear and warm or with a flick of a switch it is fat and compressed both ways retaining excellent clarity though. The tone control is totally useful now and much more versatile. The gain control is quite useable and I can actually have a low gain sound now.

You can set the gain so low the pedal can be used as a straight up clean boost. It can still do some great crunch/post crunch tones but no more metal. It responds to my touch and feel. I tested this pedal with three different tube amps, one solid state and two guitars and it sounded great with all of them, mission accomplished.

Anyways another cheap pedal turned into a cheap very useable pedal...

I hope someone can put this mod to use.

The BD-2 is now an overdrive, not a fuzz anymore (IMHO).

Regards
a technical newbie

Hey all.

First post here. I am interested in doing the mods mentioned in this quote above. Is this the best way to get the lowest gain version of the bd-2 possible?

I am forever on the quest to find the biggest most open sounding low gain overdrive with plenty of volume on tap. I hate it when the gain floor is too high for my uses.

I am interested in low gainers with good bass response and plenty of headroom. Can anyone suggest some simple builds along those lines of some schems that are on here?

Thanks

new_anuzzerone · Post by **new_anuzzerone** » 06 Oct 2009, 20:27

Hi,
I don´t know, if it´s the "lowest gain BD-2 mod" possible, but the gain pot is quite useful now. I´m not so much into clean boost sounds, though it´s possible with the modded BD.

regards

floris · Post by **floris** » 09 Oct 2009, 23:05

I think this was not posted yet:
The Brent Mason mod in a nice pdf by Brian from Wampler pedals
http://www.indyguitarist.com/temp1/bd2- ... on-mod.pdf

chris1001 · Post by **chris1001** » 10 Oct 2009, 07:37

Nice document, but several errors (C7 and C27 on page 2), and it doesnt do anything to correct the splattery decay you get on very low gain settings.

Cheers.

floris · Post by **floris** » 10 Oct 2009, 08:52

@chris1001: Can you perhaps give the corrections to these errors you mention? Thanks!

My guess is:
C7 is reduced from 10uF to 1uF to use a film cap and perhaps to reduce the low frequency content.
C27 is still 2.2nF but use a film cap.

chris1001 · Post by **chris1001** » 10 Oct 2009, 09:14

Yes, I did wonder, on page 2 we have C27, with the substuiture part listed as 0.0022uF - however this is the stock value as you point out, I doubt metal film would make that much difference, if so then there are plenty of others that you could swap out. C7, maybe not an error, but strange as its not mentioned anywhere in the very detailed description, the actual stock value for this is 10uF - connected to pin 7 of the opamp (output B). The schematic on the right side of page 3 for the BD-2 tonestack seems to be wrong, or for another pedal/amp, check out C5 - 220pf, and R11.

chris1001 · Post by **chris1001** » 10 Oct 2009, 11:46

Oh and R36 (change to 33k) should actually be R38. (R36 appears twice on the clone schematic) The BD-2 tone schem shown is indeed for the BD-2, it just has all the wrong component numbers!

solder_station · Post by **solder_station** » 11 Oct 2009, 08:29

C7 appears twice, one in the wrong place in the cut down schematic of the BD2 tone stack as a 0.047uF (should be C35), and on the official Boss schematic after the opamps as a 10uF.

solder_station · Post by **solder_station** » 14 Oct 2009, 21:09

WhiteKeyHole wrote:Here's a list of mods I did to my Blues Driver to make it the best OD I've heard, no claim to originality, these are just my values:

C100: .033uf
C101: .022uf
C36: .01uF
C35: .047uF
C34: .44uF
C14: .1uF
C17: .01uF
C19: .0047uF
C8: .33uF
C9: Removed

D1: 1N34A
D3: 1N4002

D7: 1N34A
D8: 1N4148
D9: 1N4148
D10: 1N4148
100pF Silver Mica across diodes

Q9: 2N1303 Germanium
Q12: 2N1303 Germanium

R51: 50K pot (under footswitch to adjust mids for different amps)
R34: 4.7K
R26: 3.1K

Hi,

Thanks for this, hopefully it'll be an improvement on the Keeley and Monte mods for the BD-2. Does it do anything to improve on the nasty unnatural note decay you get on fairly low gain settings? Thats one thing that bugged me about this pedal (and the OD-3), as the note tails off the gain turns into metallic fuzz as the note fades. Tried stacked opamps and all the bull, but cant get rid of it, and LED didnt help.

Thanks.

WhiteKeyHole · Post by **WhiteKeyHole** » 14 Oct 2009, 23:50

Yeah, most of those modifications were brutally aimed at removing that nasty note decay; however, they were also focused around the more driven sounds of the BD-2. May not be the best set of modifications for slightly driven tones. Make sure to read through Modman's reply to clarify a few inconsistencies.

chris1001 · Post by **chris1001** » 15 Oct 2009, 09:10

I will try these later, and increase R38 from 100K to about 180K to reduce the gain. Cheers.

solder_station · Post by **solder_station** » 15 Oct 2009, 19:28

Ignoring C34 and C35, its a more transparent overdrive, and way more natural note fade than both the usual Keeley BD-2* and the various Monte Allums BD-2 mods. Didnt bother with Q9 and Q12, and fixed R51 at 22k. Cheers.

* doesnt Keeley also do a BD-2 with germanium transistors at Q9 and 12, maybe this mod is quite similar?

Boss - BD-2 Blues Driver 1995 [schematic]