Pimpin' The Fender Starcaster Flanger
Okay we all should have seen one of these by now. The little cheap pedals for $40 at Hastings and Best Buy, Fender Starcaster. i for some reason bought the ugly orange flanger. but when i plugged it up it sounded amazing to me, but i wanted more sounds. After letting it collect some dust (i'm not a big fan of flange) i decided to crack it open and see what makes it tick. it seems to be an almost complete copy of the boss BF-2, so most mods should work after you find the right parts on the board. I've added the vibrato mod as well as the quisi-ring mod from the instructions on this page.
http://archive.ampage.org/articles/5/fx ... _mods.html
i'll post more info and pics very soon.
http://archive.ampage.org/articles/5/fx ... _mods.html
i'll post more info and pics very soon.
Okay here is another link/cross post to some more BF-2 mods:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=307
As i have said i have performed the vibrato and the Rate speed mods then mounted them on two DPDT switches. so C27 and C28 on the boss are numbered C17 and C18 on the Starcaster the non polarized 6.5 uf
and the R28 is R55 for the dry signal lift, doesn't really matter since we don't have a schematic of the starcaster but the BF-2 we do:
http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/s ... langer.php
sorry for the blurry pics:
Here is the component side to start with:
The Copper side: and The switches: Right the rate speed selector and the other vibrato: Btw ya gotta love the ugly, orange, goofy looking, sturdy enclosure. I got room for more switches so I will post more when i mod more.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=307
As i have said i have performed the vibrato and the Rate speed mods then mounted them on two DPDT switches. so C27 and C28 on the boss are numbered C17 and C18 on the Starcaster the non polarized 6.5 uf
and the R28 is R55 for the dry signal lift, doesn't really matter since we don't have a schematic of the starcaster but the BF-2 we do:
http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/s ... langer.php
sorry for the blurry pics:
Here is the component side to start with:
The Copper side: and The switches: Right the rate speed selector and the other vibrato: Btw ya gotta love the ugly, orange, goofy looking, sturdy enclosure. I got room for more switches so I will post more when i mod more.
- Tonetweaker
- Resistor Ronker
Pedalman85 wrote:Btw ya gotta love the ugly, orange, goofy looking, sturdy enclosure.
I just bought one of the ugly, goofy looking, sickly yellow Starcaster Chorus pedals from Best Buy ($15 shipped!)... My understanding is that it's a CE-5 internally, and sound-wise, I'd certainly have to agree.
Now I've gotta look to see if I can find one of these ugly orange buggers cheap.
Cheers...
Steve
In Soviet Russia, dirt box fucks YOU!! ~ Seiche
- Dirk_Hendrik
- Old Solderhand
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oh my! This is ugliness beyond any experience I've ever had. Even makes a Vzex look good in comparison!
- Tonetweaker
- Resistor Ronker
Yes... but Zvex are ugly AND expensive. At least these things are cheap...Dirk_Hendrik wrote:oh my! This is ugliness beyond any experience I've ever had. Even makes a Vzex look good in comparison!
Cheers...
Steve
In Soviet Russia, dirt box fucks YOU!! ~ Seiche
- Dirk_Hendrik
- Old Solderhand
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- greenskull
- Resistor Ronker
Thanks for posting!! Any chance of uploading sound samples of your results with the mods? I'd really love to score one of those Flangers cheap ($20ish) to fool around with.
I just pulled the trigger on buying the chorus pedal online. Already built up a CE-2 and Small Clone to compare it to when it arrives.
Ugly? Man, I think it's a kinda cool retro seventies look actually and at least they're not plastic with flimsy pots/switches. Well, maybe that "yellow" color looks ugly in the pics, ha!
I just pulled the trigger on buying the chorus pedal online. Already built up a CE-2 and Small Clone to compare it to when it arrives.
Ugly? Man, I think it's a kinda cool retro seventies look actually and at least they're not plastic with flimsy pots/switches. Well, maybe that "yellow" color looks ugly in the pics, ha!
fuck smooth tone, fuck eric johnson - Seiche
- Tonetweaker
- Resistor Ronker
Keep an eye out at SniperCentral (aka ~ eBay)... Earlier this evening, I picked up the Flanger and the Distortion brand-new for $25 each.greenskull wrote:Thanks for posting!! Any chance of uploading sound samples of your results with the mods? I'd really love to score one of those Flangers cheap ($20ish) to fool around with.
I'm addicted to cheap-ass pedals...
...and expensive ones too...
In Soviet Russia, dirt box fucks YOU!! ~ Seiche
- greenskull
- Resistor Ronker
Thanks, Steve! I've already built up the ADA Flanger and Electric Mistress but it would be cool to mod up an already built pedal for cheap. Hats off to Pedalman85 for sharing his experience.Tonetweaker wrote:Keep an eye out at SniperCentral (aka ~ eBay)... Earlier this evening, I picked up the Flanger and the Distortion brand-new for $25 each.greenskull wrote:Thanks for posting!! Any chance of uploading sound samples of your results with the mods? I'd really love to score one of those Flangers cheap ($20ish) to fool around with.
I'm addicted to cheap-ass pedals...
...and expensive ones too...
fuck smooth tone, fuck eric johnson - Seiche
- Greenmachine
- Cap Cooler
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How come I can't find the cheap flanger on Best Buy? I've checked USA and Canada.
"[Y]ou want sketchy, dude? I breadboard on a door." -- RnFR, 2011
"This amp is freakin loud, like crazy, I'm going to kill pets loud." -- mich, 2011
"This amp is freakin loud, like crazy, I'm going to kill pets loud." -- mich, 2011
- greenskull
- Resistor Ronker
Best Buy only has the Chorus pedal, I believe. I wish that Flanger was available there for $7.99!!!Greenmachine wrote:How come I can't find the cheap flanger on Best Buy? I've checked USA and Canada.
fuck smooth tone, fuck eric johnson - Seiche
- Tonetweaker
- Resistor Ronker
Absolutely. Mike mentioned that the distortion is actually a slight variation of the Boss MT-2, so all three have decent sound to start with... and I would imagine that all of them would be pretty mod-friendly, especially considering the size of the metal footlocker they come in.greenskull wrote:Thanks, Steve! I've already built up the ADA Flanger and Electric Mistress but it would be cool to mod up an already built pedal for cheap. Hats off to Pedalman85 for sharing his experience.
That would have been great! Hell, at that price, I'd buy just about any pedal. Even bad pedals have their uses sometimes, and the Starcaster chorus is actually very good. Pretty good quality for the price of a CD.greenskull wrote:Best Buy only has the Chorus pedal, I believe. I wish that Flanger was available there for $7.99!!!Greenmachine wrote:How come I can't find the cheap flanger on Best Buy? I've checked USA and Canada.
Even if it wasn't, though, lo-fi can be fun when you just feel like making some noise. I'm exceptionally good at noise. Just ask my wife.
I've got a few old noisemakers like that I pull out every once in awhile. One of my first pedals was a crappy old Rocktek Flanger I got at a yard sale for a $1 about 20 years ago. Noisy as hell, but it could be tortured into surrendering a way-over-the-top Nirvana vibe, a la "Come As You Are." It would have made Cobain himself cringe...
And when I plugged my old Boss HM-2 into it, it would make him roll over in his grave.
PS ~ Sorry about the hijack.
In Soviet Russia, dirt box fucks YOU!! ~ Seiche