You are not seriously listening to this video using those cheap, tiny speakers in your home computer, laptop, or cell phone...are you?
If you are serious about finding pedals with good tone, I just can't emphasize this enough...USE YOUR HEADPHONES!
I know this is a bit "trebly" sounding. But that helps you to hear the difference in the pedals. Stay with it, I think you will like the ending.
Depending on which amp you use, the sound you get using effects pedals will vary. When I modify pedals, I spend a good deal of time listening to the pedal with a good set of headphones. For this sound clip you are hearing my guitar through the pedals and straight into my recorder. There are no effects or tone enhancements here, just pure pedal. Use you headphones if you have them.
This mod was partially inspired by talk...comments I heard from folks who said the Tube Screamer just isn't as mean as a Boss pedal with its asymmetrical clipping. Someone said "call it Modest Mike's Mean Ass Mod." I will probably have to change that name, but it will do for now. Feel free to email me your ideas for a name for this mod (be nice).
So when you first step on your TS-9 with this mod, you are going to hear the best sounding TS-9, period. It's got my best TS-808 Plus mod worked in there.
Of course we replace capacitors and resistors with high quality metal film resistors and caps. The op amp is replaced with a RC4558P (Mr. Keeley's favorite), unless you say give me a JRC4558D instead. We put in an IC socket, so you can easily swap out chips if you like to experiment. And of course, we put in a nice, bright (not blinding bright), clear-to-blue LED. You will have better tone, twice the gain, and your pedal will also clean up better.
But the fun has just begun! There are a couple of more options:
There is a switch for a bass boost similar to that very subtle one found on a Keeley BD-2...but you can actually hear an obvious difference with this one.
There is another boost switch...that's the mean ass switch. But you don't need that...unless you want to rock! This switch adds 2 extra 1N4148 diodes in series with the others in the clipping section. You still can use the bass boost switch in this mode also, which means these 2 switches can give you a variety of sounds... all good!
Thanks for looking, and keep rockin!
Mike
modestmike@att.net
479-270-0888
www.modestmikesmods.com
