Rogue Tremolo Mod

A forum devoted to mod, tips and suggestions for upgrading and rehousing your VERY CHEAP commercial stompbox to near boutique excellence.
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gtrgeo
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Posts: 18
Joined: 29 Dec 2009, 19:49
my favorite amplifier: My Blues Deluxe
Completed builds: Anderton TSF, ROG 3LD, booster, Bluesbreaker, Guv'nor, Cherry Buster (buffer-boost)
Location: Hillsboro, OR
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Post by gtrgeo »

I was looking to buy an affordable tremolo and found this one at MF for under $30. Word on the net is this is a copy of the Boss TR-2 which most seem to like. I thought how could I go wrong? Well after receiving the Rogue tremolo and playing through it I wasn't sure it was going to work for me. The depth and wave controls had a very limited range that provided me a useful tone. I found that the wave control needed to be between 7-8:00 anything more and it was choppy with very little change throughout the rest of the range. The depth control needed to be between 3-5:00 anything less and the effect was not noticeable. Below 12:00 it was gone. At first I thought I would send it back but then decided for $30 I would keep it and see if I could improve it.

Under the assumption that this was a TR-2 copy I thought I would look up some mods for the TR-2. When I located the TR-2 schematic and started to compare it to the Rogue, the issue became more obvious.
The TR-2 schematic showed linear taper pots for the depth and rate controls and an audio taper pot for the wave control. All three pots are 100k. The Rogue trem had linear taper pots on the rate and wave controls and an audio taper pot on the depth control. It became very obvious why the useable range was all at the top of the depth control and bottom of the wave control.

A swap of the wave and depth potentiometers made all of the difference in the world. I now get useable tones throughout the range of poth controls. Before, this pedal had limited use, now I can get a wide range of tremolo from slow throb to helicopter chop. I was so happy with the change I didn't even look for any mods.

One thing I would like to do is add an led that shows the modulation pulse. anyone have any clues for me on that?

Sorry I don't have pictures on this PC I will need to load them tonight. Here is the TR-2 schematic I used.
http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/s/tr2-tremolo.php

George

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gtrgeo
Information
Posts: 18
Joined: 29 Dec 2009, 19:49
my favorite amplifier: My Blues Deluxe
Completed builds: Anderton TSF, ROG 3LD, booster, Bluesbreaker, Guv'nor, Cherry Buster (buffer-boost)
Location: Hillsboro, OR
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by gtrgeo »

Sorry for the delay. Here are some gut shots (Looks like I need to figure out the picture thing)

with the pots removed:
[img]
RT Pots Removed1.JPG
[/img]

Pots in correct location:
[img]
RT Pots Removed1.JPG
[/img]

Back of PCB:
[img]
PCB Back.JPG
[/img]
Attachments
Pots Corrected1.JPG

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esbante
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Post by esbante »

I just applied your mod to my rougue pedal, now is a usable trem :D

thx for sharing!

User avatar
gtrgeo
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Posts: 18
Joined: 29 Dec 2009, 19:49
my favorite amplifier: My Blues Deluxe
Completed builds: Anderton TSF, ROG 3LD, booster, Bluesbreaker, Guv'nor, Cherry Buster (buffer-boost)
Location: Hillsboro, OR
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by gtrgeo »

Cool! glad I could help someone out with this.

George

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