Vintage Small Stone Rehousing

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Main

This Small Stone has had quite a history of tinkering and modifications. When it arrived it had broken wires and was literally falling apart. We decided to take it on as a complete rebuild. Every single wire was removed from the circuit board and all modifications were removed so we had a reliable starting point for the restoration. Some of the mods include:

  • Complete rehousing in a 3.5″ x 4.5″ casing with new jacks and switches
  • True bypass with an LED
  • Color switch converted to a stompswitch; the LED turn blue when in Color mode, green when in regular mode, and is off when bypassed
  • Mix and Volume knobs installed
  • Aging capacitors replaced and LFO ticking removed
  • Boss style DC adapter jack installed

Overall this pedal is awesome! These vintage Small Stones just sound amazing and with the new modifications it should provide years of reliable operation.=

Posted in Favorites, Rehousings | Leave a comment

Mu-Tron III overload!

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Main

We’ve seen all sorts of Mu-Tron III variations throughout the past year. Some early models that don’t have a DC jack, some late models that didn’t have an option for batteries, some bare circuit boards in need of rehousing. These pedals really do sound amazing although their large footprint and heavy casing can be annoying for gigging musicians. My personal favorite mods so far:

1. Install a charge pump so the pedal can operate off of a single 9V battery.

2. Remove the Gain knob and install a Filter Sensitivity knob. The Gain knob adjusts the volume of the pedal both while on and when bypassed which can be a nightmare for keeping a consistent volume throughout your signal chain. Bypassing the Gain knob would set the volume to unity gain; Installing a sensitivity knob would adjust how wide the filter opens without changing the overall volume of the effect.

More info on our Mu-Tron mods can be found on the main site.

Posted in Favorites | 1 Comment

Musitronics Mu-Tron III rehousing

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Main

The Mu-Tron III has a legacy of being one of the best envelope filters ever made. Some of the big names that made this pedal so popular include Stevie Wonder, Bootsy Collins, and Jerry Garcia. The pedal sounds excellent but in it’s original state can be a disaster for a gigging musician. The original has a massive enclosure (5″ x 8.75″) and is very heavy with a steel base. It runs on a special dual polarity power supply which makes it not very pedalboard friendly. From the factory it also has a switch to turn off the power which is just one more thing to wear out or become accidentally (unknowingly) switched off.

This pedal functions 100% the same as the original but in a smaller package and a standard 9V adapter jack.

Knobs from left to right: Gain, Peak, Mode

Switches: Drive (left), Range (right)

Posted in Rehousings | Leave a comment

Boss CE-2 Restoration & Rehousing

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Main

This week we received two Boss CE-2 Chorus pedals in different states of disrepair. The first that arrived is pictured above in the left panel. It arrived exactly like that: missing parts, disassembled, and painted black. Although the original paint was beat to hell it still looks better than the faded black paint. Surprisingly the circuit board was 100% original so the restoration was mostly tracking down appropriate replacement hardware.

The original pedal was designed to run on Boss’s ACA120 adapter. This is the unregulated 9V adapter which they’ve long phased out and replaced with the PSA120 9V regulated adapter. Ibanez, Danelectro, DOD, Digitech, Voodoo Lab, Boss, and almost every other current pedal manufacturer uses a regulated 9V power supply. If you hook up a stock CE-2 to a regulated 9V adapter you’ll likely be providing slightly less voltage than intended and– while it will in no way damage your pedal– will have a dimmer LED. We modify the CE-2 and any other pedal designed for the Boss ACA120 adapter to run on a modern powder supply. This mod is also built into the cost of our Overhaul modification.

Speaking of the Overhaul modification, it also includes sonic and aesthetic upgrades. We replace key capacitors in the audio path including electrolytics with Panasonic metal film caps. Also replaced is the main audio op-amp for more headroom and a cleaner tone. Last we install a blue LED and set it to pulse to the rate of the chorus when activated. This makes a great pedal even better!

Here is another CE-2 we received as nothing more than a circuit board. The casing, jacks, footswitch, knobs, and pots are all replacements. Converted to true bypass and installed a large LED for better visibility. All fun stuff and these two exact pedals are currently (as of 9/25/2012) are listed on eBay! I’d love to see someone commission a true stereo output for their CE-2..

Posted in Modifications, Rehousings | Leave a comment

Boss PD-1 Rocker Distortion- Power Conversion

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Main

The Boss PD-1 is a distortion pedal with a treadle to adjust the amount of gain. At the toe you have a “warp” switch which is just a high gain momentary switch. It’s very basic and contrary to popular belief it bears no resemblance with the Boss DS-1. This pedal is unique because it’s one of the only Boss compact stompboxes I’ve seen that was designed to run on a 9V adapter or two C cell batteries. The current draw is under 10mA so large batteries are absolutely not necessary for the pedal to function. It uses that large black box (shown below) to increase the 3V from the battery to 10V. A quick conversion allows this pedal to be run on 9V PSA120 adapters (Boss’s current standard) or a 9V battery. Some shots of the internals before and then a shot of the 9V battery holder:

Posted in Modifications | Leave a comment

Overhauled EHX Bass Micro Synth

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Main

FXdoctor modded micro synthOne of my favorite projects from the past few months has to be this overhaul of the Bass Micro Synth. It’s just such a cool pedal. The added footswitch bypasses the Voice Mix section and sends your original guitar tone straight to the filter section of the pedal. It basically takes the pedal and gives you a great envelope filter at the press of a button; no need to fiddle with the sliders during a song. The LED was converted to a bi-color LED so it is now red when in standard mode, green when bypassing the Voice mixer, and off when the pedal is bypassed. There are also three added jacks on the back panel next to the input and output. From left to right we have an expression pedal jack for the Stop frequency (using a 100KB TRS expression pedal) and a send and return for an effects loop. Pedals in the loop are placed after the envelope detector and voice mix but before the filter. This allows you to sub in your own type of distortion/fuzz but can also be used for other effects as needed. Information should be posted with pricing on the main website in the near future.

Posted in Modifications | Leave a comment

Mesa Boogie Bigfoot+ styled footswitch

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Main

Mesa Boogie Bigfoot +The Mesa Boogie Bigfoot+ is the massive five button footswitch that monopolizes so many pedalboards.  It’s great, it does a lot, but in most cases it offers far more than needed. The Solo boost is great to have but not everyone uses it (especially on a 3-channel amp). The switchable FX Loop is cool but I can’t say I’ve ever used that feature in any of my amps that have had it. This pedal is for everyone that wants three channels in a small package using the standard DIN cable that Mesa Boogie uses. These are going to be made when ordered and are available for $100. Yeah, it’s a lot for a channel switcher but it’s a lot of work to build by hand.

A bit about the design: The original footswitch uses intelligent switching meaning when you press A it goes to channel A regardless of what channel you were on. The same goes for channel B and channel C. This is done by using digital logic switching and is not simply a passive channel switcher that the majority of amps out there have used for decades. Passive switches like an ABC box usually give you A or (B or C) which means going from Channel B, to Channel A, to Channel C requires some premeditated stomping.

Posted in Custom Shop, Prototype | Leave a comment

MXR M-101 Phase 90 Modifications

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Main

Modded MXR M101 Phase 90

I’ve posted a few times about the MXR Phase 90 “Script Logo” reissue over the past year but I haven’t mentioned the tried and true Block Logo (Model M-101) that’s been around for decades.

We’ve offered the “Script mod” for many years;  it reduces the midrange hump that the pedal has and smooths out the overall sound of the pedal. The name is due to the modifications changing the pedal to closely resemble the original MXR Phase 90 with the logo written in a Script font. In addition to that we’re now offering a standard Overhaul which also include a toggle switch to select either Phase 45 and the stock Phase 90 sound, an Intensity Knob to decrease the intensity of the Phaser, and a modification so that the LED pulses the rate of the phaser when the pedal is activated. Priced separately these mods would be $110 at the current prices, but the Overhaul bundle is now being offered for $90.

In addition to that, we have a used, premodded Phase 90 currently for sale at $130 on the Specials page.

Posted in Modifications | Leave a comment

DOD 250 Overdrive: Gray Generation Switch

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Main

DOD 250 CloneThe DOD 250 overdrive is one of those classic effects that’s been around for decades and is still highly sought after. Pedal collectors may desire it because of the rarity, but the original pedal screams when ran into a cranked amp adding plenty of sustain and punch. The original Gray edition was made for the first few years of production in the late ’70s. After that came a variety of yellow colored revisions which is how most players recognize it. While there are many Gray DOD 250 clones on the market what is often overlooked is that there were actually a few different models all inside the same Gray-colored casing.  After researching, comparing pictures, and inspecting units on my bench that were in for repairs I’ve come up with this DOD 250 design. The main differences over the years include different diodes and capacitor values leaving the original model a bit darker and more bass-heavy than it’s successor.

This DOD 250 clone has an added DC jack, true bypass, and LED for the modern updates. On top of that we have a toggle switch that switches between the two variations of the Gray model DOD 250 as discussed above. Lots of versatility and accurate vintage tone but with the benefit of covering two desirable variations of the same pedal. These are being made in limited editions at $150, check out the FXdoctor Specials page for ordering.

Posted in Custom Shop | Leave a comment

MXR CSP-026 Handwired 1974 Vintage Phase 90 Modifications

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Main

MXR CSP-026 Handwired 1974 Vintage Phase 90 Modifications

This is an update on our previous blog post for the modifications on the Phase 90 Reissue, a.k.a. “Handwired 1974 Vintage Phase 90”. We’re now bundling true bypass, install LED that pulses to the rate of the phaser, install DC jack, install Intensity control, and install switch to go from Phase 45 to the stock Phase 90 tone. Now available as a package for $120 as opposed to $160 when priced separately.

More info on the modifications available here.

Posted in Favorites, Modifications | Leave a comment