freestompboxes.org

Hey!

I just traded a DS-1 that I modded for a Digitech Grunge and a pedal called a "Vibe Distortion" by "Vibe Amplification". I don't think this is the same company that currently uses that name to make amps.

The Grunge I'm going to use to record some comparisons between stock and the fuzz mod, then I'll probably mod it and give it to my guitarist to use, she took to the one I've already modded immediately.

The Vibe Distortion is a really nice looking box with a slightly noisy but otherwise fairly average sounding distortion effect inside. I took some basic high res photos, curious if the circuit reminds anyone of anything, if it's a clone of something, that sort of thing. If there's interest in it, I'll de-solder it from the pots, jacks and switch and take proper photos of the board with everything labeled.

I might just pull the board and contents, replace the switch, and use the housing for a clone of something with 3 knobs. There's a good amount of space inside the enclosure, and it's a shame for such a nice box to go to waste. Weighs a ton.

astrobass wrote: I just traded a DS-1 that I modded for a Digitech Grunge and a pedal called a "Vibe Distortion" by "Vibe Amplification".

wrong.... it should read:
I just traded a DS-1 that I modded for a Digitech Grunge and a DS-1 clone.

The pedal is made my Daphon and is a rebranded E20DS Distortion which itself is a Boss DS-1 (v. 2) clone.

You gotta admit that's kind of funny.

No, that's kind of AWESOME.

That means I'll just mod this one the same way, and for an hour's work walk away with a much cooler looking DS-1 plus a Grunge.

How'd you figure that out? Did you recognize anything about the layout or were you familiar with the Daphon branded version? I just googled Daphon and yeah, the only difference on the exterior even is the branding. Wasn't getting ANYWHERE googling for "vibe distortion pedal".

astrobass wrote: How'd you figure that out? Did you recognize anything about the layout or were you familiar with the Daphon branded version?

I have a Daphon Distortion with exactly the same pcb inside.

And just those cool knobs worth it.

juanro wrote:And just those cool knobs worth it.

No kidding! Machined aluminum. Insanity.

Modding was a bit tricky because the labelling isn't the same, but "Q2" was identifiable by the 22 Ohm resistor connected to the emitter, so I did the phat mod easily enough. I added a red LED in series with one of the clipping diodes (the only pair of diodes oriented opposite to each other next to each other on the board), and for fun I added a super bright yellow LED where I took the red status LED from. I also stacked a TL072 onto the op amp.

The result is that it gets almost totally clean when you drop the distortion to 0. Not quite, but very, very close. The noise is now mangeable (though admittedly not 100% ideal). Considering upgrading the caps but keeping the same values.

Might go the extra distance and just plot the thing out in Eagle, pull up a schematic for the original showing the part labels, and map out which is which. Seems kind of boring but I've never tried to trace a circuit before so might be a good learning experience.

I LOVE the case. Totally different.

There's one weird thing though: When it has no power, it can't even pass signal in bypass mode. If you take out the battery and disconnect the power adapter, it kills your signal whether it's on or off. I've never had a pedal do this, but it did it before I started modding it and I haven't been able to think of ever seeing a pedal do that.

astrobass wrote: There's one weird thing though: When it has no power, it can't even pass signal in bypass mode.

I've never had a pedal do this, ...

Then you didn´t have a Boss SD-1.

Yeah, that's just how buffered bypass works. Without power to the buffer, no signal gets through.

tube-exorcist wrote:

astrobass wrote: There's one weird thing though: When it has no power, it can't even pass signal in bypass mode.

I've never had a pedal do this, ...

Then you didn´t have a Boss SD-1.

No, I had a DS-1, but only for a short time to play with modding. I didn't notice it acting that way but I use a Dunlop DC Brick so I may not have tried using it without it having power, and accordingly didn't notice if this is the case. Anyhow, that's just awful.