Boss SD-1 clone into a Timmy clone

A forum devoted to mod, tips and suggestions for upgrading and rehousing your VERY CHEAP commercial stompbox to near boutique excellence.
User avatar
TubeDude22
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 131
Joined: 31 Dec 2007, 01:07
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Post by TubeDude22 »

All the recent talk about Transparent Overdrive clones roused my curiosity. So, I was looking at the Timber Reamer schematic posted here on Freestompboxes and compared it to a Boss SD-1 schematic. It looked like a conversion might not be too difficult so, I spent the afternoon tearing into a cheapo SD-1 clone from my pedal collection.

This candidate goes by many names like PSK, Brownsville and Kramer. The circuit is a replica of the Boss circuit. I was able to squeeze the new bass and treble pots inside the case and button it up easily. The original tone pot is disconnected and I left the asymmetrical clipping diode configuration alone.

This baby sounds great with my Strat and cleans up nice with the guitar controls. Very "transparent" with the guitar's natural tone intact. In the picture, you can see where the pots fit inside the case, either side of the foot switch. The SD-1 modification schematic is attached.

Now, it needs a name....

Image
Attachments
SD1 to Transparent OD mods.GIF

User avatar
analogguru
Old Solderhand
Information
Posts: 3238
Joined: 26 Jun 2007, 13:58
Been thanked: 124 times
Contact:

Post by analogguru »

After el cheapo Danelectro-clones of Paul Cochrane´s Timmy are nearly sold out, there has to be found another replacement for the poor guy who can´t even afford $ 130,-- for an original Timmy.

A possible way is to mod a cheap and existing pedal, the Boss SD-1 appears to be designated for that, and it is possible.

Who is the first to comes up with the necessary steps how to do it ?

analogguru
There´s a sucker born every minute - and too many of them end up in the bootweak pedal biz.

User avatar
moltenmetalburn
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 309
Joined: 03 Nov 2008, 14:01
Location: Indiana
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Post by moltenmetalburn »

Im pretty sure I already saw this posted somewhere... ill look


edit: found it
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4277&hilit=SD+1

hey AG you know there is a search function right? [smilie=a_madtongue.gif]
"The Humans Will Never Destroy Us"

User avatar
TubeDude22
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 131
Joined: 31 Dec 2007, 01:07
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Post by TubeDude22 »

The mod works real good, too! :twisted:

Want me to post some gut shots?

User avatar
analogguru
Old Solderhand
Information
Posts: 3238
Joined: 26 Jun 2007, 13:58
Been thanked: 124 times
Contact:

Post by analogguru »

hey AG you know there is a search function right?
1.) The mod suggestion is too young - only 2 days old, how should I have seen it ?

2.) Not all of the existing potentiometers are used. It is possible to use the 22k poti for treble and save one additional poti.

3.) and then the Danelectro Timmy-clone uses 4 diodes instead of 3.
There´s a sucker born every minute - and too many of them end up in the bootweak pedal biz.

User avatar
nooneknows
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 338
Joined: 26 Mar 2008, 21:53
Has thanked: 58 times
Been thanked: 14 times

Post by nooneknows »

I've always found the 723 Hz bass cut the best one in my rig, one more pot saved :P

User avatar
TubeDude22
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 131
Joined: 31 Dec 2007, 01:07
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Post by TubeDude22 »

analogguru wrote:
1.) The mod suggestion is too young - only 2 days old, how should I have seen it ?

2.) Not all of the existing potentiometers are used. It is possible to use the 22k poti for treble and save one additional poti.

3.) and then the Danelectro Timmy-clone uses 4 diodes instead of 3.
Re. 2 - The pots were on a daughter board, which I did not want to tear apart. :mrgreen:

Re. 3 - The Timmy has switching for different clipping diode configurations. The Dano is fixed. I kept with the Boss SD-1 config as I like lots of second harmonics and, well, I want to avoid a lawsuit by Danelectro! :lol:

User avatar
nooneknows
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 338
Joined: 26 Mar 2008, 21:53
Has thanked: 58 times
Been thanked: 14 times

Post by nooneknows »

analogguru wrote:It is possible to use the 22k poti for treble and save one additional poti
I took a look inside mine, the 22k is a W taper, this could have a strange behaviour on the treble control...

User avatar
moltenmetalburn
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 309
Joined: 03 Nov 2008, 14:01
Location: Indiana
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Post by moltenmetalburn »

1.) The mod suggestion is too young - only 2 days old, how should I have seen it ?
Just joking with you as you are the first to suggest using the search button to other members. :mrgreen:

Have you not used the "view new posts" button? ( top right corner or screen) Its pretty much how I stay on track here, the first thing I do each logon is check what's new.
:thumbsup
"The Humans Will Never Destroy Us"

User avatar
TubeDude22
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 131
Joined: 31 Dec 2007, 01:07
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Post by TubeDude22 »

You should check out this mod. I used it at band practice tonight and I think I will shelve all my other dirt boxes. I left it on all the time and just used my Stratocaster volume control and pickup selector to dial in the sounds I liked. 8)

User avatar
TubeDude22
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 131
Joined: 31 Dec 2007, 01:07
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Post by TubeDude22 »

For analogguru.... :mrgreen:

Image

User avatar
analogguru
Old Solderhand
Information
Posts: 3238
Joined: 26 Jun 2007, 13:58
Been thanked: 124 times
Contact:

Post by analogguru »

:hmmm: Lookoing at the case it appears that this was a Roque (PSK) pedal previously.....
Which makes me think, if you took photos of the guts before modding it... why ? The reason is simple:

I have here a PSK SOD-2 and a PSK SDS-5 which has also printed SDS-3 and SOD-3 on the pcb. For a reason I don´t remember, I traced both units some time ago. And by looking at the schematic now it appears that it is a Rat-clone with three diodes in the feedback loop like the SD-1.

Or described in an other way it is an SD-1 Distortion-engine with an added resistor and electrolytic followed by a Rat-tone-control (with the buffer).

That´s not far away from a Timmy except the additional gain. So not a lot to mod, especially if you don´t need the extra gain.

That´s the reason why I am so curious, what this nice piece has been before ?

analogguru
There´s a sucker born every minute - and too many of them end up in the bootweak pedal biz.

User avatar
TubeDude22
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 131
Joined: 31 Dec 2007, 01:07
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Post by TubeDude22 »

It was originally a Rogue ODV-5. A perfect SD-1 copy, circuit wise. I've seen these branded as PSK, Brownsville and Kramer, referencing the link above to my other topic. The PCB photos of the metal Daphon Overdrive on eBaY look strikingly similar.

Today, I ordered some 50K minature Alps pots from Small Bear. I should be able to squeeze them onto the power jack end of a genuine Boss SD-1 next week. (I promise photos!) In the Boss, I might replace the stock tone pot with a switch for symmetrical or asymmetrical clipping.

User avatar
TubeDude22
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 131
Joined: 31 Dec 2007, 01:07
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Post by TubeDude22 »

PS - The PSK distortion (AKA Rogue DST-5) is a Boss DS-1 clone, not a rat copy.

User avatar
paulc
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 309
Joined: 07 Nov 2007, 23:42
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 66 times
Contact:

Post by paulc »

If you want to mod your pedals to timmy specs that's fine, but calling my pedal the "timbre reamer" really kind of burns my ass. I know the OP didn't do that, but still... That name is kind of a slap to me. I've gone into the design approach i had when I made this pedal in another long winded post of mine, so I'll not go into it again. The short version is the pedal grew out of a simple opamp booster. It did not come from stripping down a screamer and modding it. Also it predates the runoffgroove tube reamer by about 9 years. Even though it was said to be a copy of that circuit by some here (hince the timbre reamer name) it is not one - it was done almost a decade before that was posted.

Please throw me a bone here and not call my work by another name that was ment to be a slam at me.

Rant off, PaulC

User avatar
analogguru
Old Solderhand
Information
Posts: 3238
Joined: 26 Jun 2007, 13:58
Been thanked: 124 times
Contact:

Post by analogguru »

Edited the title.

analogguru
There´s a sucker born every minute - and too many of them end up in the bootweak pedal biz.

User avatar
Cow4prez
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 269
Joined: 11 Jul 2008, 18:01
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by Cow4prez »

paulc wrote:If you want to mod your pedals to timmy specs that's fine, but calling my pedal the "timbre reamer" really kind of burns my ass. I know the OP didn't do that, but still... That name is kind of a slap to me. I've gone into the design approach i had when I made this pedal in another long winded post of mine, so I'll not go into it again. The short version is the pedal grew out of a simple opamp booster. It did not come from stripping down a screamer and modding it. Also it predates the runoffgroove tube reamer by about 9 years. Even though it was said to be a copy of that circuit by some here (hince the timbre reamer name) it is not one - it was done almost a decade before that was posted.

Please throw me a bone here and not call my work by another name that was ment to be a slam at me.

Rant off, PaulC
Dear Paul,
It didn't sound from my reading that the OP was saying that that the timmy followed anything before it. My understand from reading the OP is that he is referring to the timber reamer schematic that was posted here https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4065. So he is just referring to the name of the schematic for ID purpose, not to suggest any temporal order or relationship.

What do you want to call it then? We don't have the "real" schematic from PaulC yourself, only an interpretation (many) of the schematic from info you posted and from reversing. If we call it the PaulC schematic, that would not be correct. If we call it the timber reamer or whatever, then we are insinuating that predated the timmy as you trying to obviously correct. So i don't know, what makes you happy? I think most believe that the timmy is original work from you, no?

User avatar
paulc
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 309
Joined: 07 Nov 2007, 23:42
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 66 times
Contact:

Post by paulc »

Cow4prez wrote: Dear Paul,
It didn't sound from my reading that the OP was saying that that the timmy followed anything before it. My understand from reading the OP is that he is referring to the timber reamer schematic that was posted here https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4065. So he is just referring to the name of the schematic for ID purpose, not to suggest any temporal order or relationship.

What do you want to call it then? We don't have the "real" schematic from PaulC yourself, only an interpretation (many) of the schematic from info you posted and from reversing. If we call it the PaulC schematic, that would not be correct. If we call it the timber reamer or whatever, then we are insinuating that predated the timmy as you trying to obviously correct. So i don't know, what makes you happy? I think most believe that the timmy is original work from you, no?
Goop-busters Timbre reamer is what I object to. i said in my first post that the OP didn't call my pedal a timbre reamer, but it's the schematic posted by GB that bothers me. It's 100% a timmy. you DO have the real schematic. It's not a pedal made by goop buster, and yet it's called his "timbre". it's like the TOD thing. i do something, and somebody else takes the credit for it.

There are losts of reversed schematics posted here, and the people posting those did not all feel the need to rename the project, or rename it in such a way that it implys the project was taken from something else. It all started in that 1st big timmy thread from over a year ago. That's where it was said that I wasn't telling the truth about when i made my pedal because it looked to much like the 2006 tube reamer circuit. Then a reamer drawing was used and modded to make mine for posting.

Maybe I'm just overreacting, but it just sucks to see people making your stuff and calling it theirs. That goes for a big company selling it down to what may seem to be a harmless drawing. The circuit is 100% correct - I corrected the errors. All I ask is that guys give a little bit of credit by using it's name, and not one based on a semi insult.

User avatar
Cow4prez
Resistor Ronker
Information
Posts: 269
Joined: 11 Jul 2008, 18:01
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by Cow4prez »

paulc wrote:
Cow4prez wrote: Dear Paul,
It didn't sound from my reading that the OP was saying that that the timmy followed anything before it. My understand from reading the OP is that he is referring to the timber reamer schematic that was posted here https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4065. So he is just referring to the name of the schematic for ID purpose, not to suggest any temporal order or relationship.

What do you want to call it then? We don't have the "real" schematic from PaulC yourself, only an interpretation (many) of the schematic from info you posted and from reversing. If we call it the PaulC schematic, that would not be correct. If we call it the timber reamer or whatever, then we are insinuating that predated the timmy as you trying to obviously correct. So i don't know, what makes you happy? I think most believe that the timmy is original work from you, no?
Goop-busters Timbre reamer is what I object to. i said in my first post that the OP didn't call my pedal a timbre reamer, but it's the schematic posted by GB that bothers me. It's 100% a timmy. you DO have the real schematic. It's not a pedal made by goop buster, and yet it's called his "timbre". it's like the TOD thing. i do something, and somebody else takes the credit for it.

There are losts of reversed schematics posted here, and the people posting those did not all feel the need to rename the project, or rename it in such a way that it implys the project was taken from something else. It all started in that 1st big timmy thread from over a year ago. That's where it was said that I wasn't telling the truth about when i made my pedal because it looked to much like the 2006 tube reamer circuit. Then a reamer drawing was used and modded to make mine for posting.

Maybe I'm just overreacting, but it just sucks to see people making your stuff and calling it theirs. That goes for a big company selling it down to what may seem to be a harmless drawing. The circuit is 100% correct - I corrected the errors. All I ask is that guys give a little bit of credit by using it's name, and not one based on a semi insult.
Dear Paul,
I completely agree with you. Imo, a reversed schematic should say, "this is a reversed schematic is based on an actual Timmy pedal, drawn by ____, and believed to be accurate because PaulC said it was." The problem with this is that few people ever do this. Heck i dont do this. It's not to excuse it, but when literally "everyone" is unable to credit previous work, it's hard for a person to be more careful. This is my main qualms about cloning in general, even for circuits that are deemed acceptable to clone. Can you name me a boutique maker who alright says, "hey my work is based on this circuit. I made major mods to it and i think it's better and i think you will agree when you listen to it, but my ideas came from some where and i would like to credit the people who came before me because otherwise this would not be possible" ? Instead, i often hear the excuse on forums that a particular work was "invented" or "innovative" because an improvement was made. Somehow an "improvement" has been turned into an excuse to call someone else's work your own. I guarantee you that this occurs all the time. All you have to do is go to HC or TGP. I know this will sound like I'm bashing an innocent bystander in you, but how can you expected what you want to happen when your peers don't do this? Maybe these ideals should start out from more professionals like yourself and your peers, then they will trickle down to DIYers like us no? FWIW, it's been nice having you here, but i think you have a bigger problem in danelectro than some forum reversed schematic that's floating around.

User avatar
gght
Solder Soldier
Information
Posts: 187
Joined: 18 Nov 2007, 05:32
Location: Houston, Texas USA
Has thanked: 47 times
Been thanked: 10 times

Post by gght »

If I am understanding correctly, Paul would just like the schematic to be labeled as "The Timmy", perhaps with acknowledgment that some of the ARTWORK was from the Timbre Reamer. I have modified the artwork, and can upload it if all involved agree it is ok.

Post Reply