Boss OD-1 low end.

Timi · #1 12-01-2007, 05:54 AM

So I have this Boss OD-1 that I got quite a while ago for cheap that I have started playing around with again.

It cuts a lot of low end, way more than a tubescreamer does.

I have read reviews on the OD-1 and people say it cuts lows but not as much as a tubescreamer. These reviews were by guitarists but my OD-1 cuts heaps of lows on guitar too.

Anyone else have experience with this pedal? I can't help but think mine might be faulty (faulty input or output cap perhaps?).

Entwistle · #2 12-02-2007, 05:06 AM

haha thats funny because i was playing mine today through my bass and was thinking the exact same thing. it cuts stacks of bass and sorta makes it sound phono boxy. i kinda like it on guitar its really thin which is cool with other things coz it dosent make things muddy.

Swift713 · #3 12-02-2007, 07:55 AM

I don't even like Boss overdrives on guitar. They make decent delays and phrase samplers though.

Timi · #4 12-02-2007, 03:53 PM

Cheers for that Entwistle, maybe its not broken after all.

I've been playing around with splitting my signal and using the OD-1 and an old boss limiter with the tone rolled down, then blending them back together. Getting some cool results.

BassJunkie730 · #5 12-03-2007, 08:14 AM

I just looked at the schematic and noticed a few points of interest for getting more bass response.

While the input cap is fine, the one right after the first half of the IC is not. - change this immediately!

change C3 to from a .047uf cap to .47uf (you'll change the high pass filter from 338hz to 33hz)

Change C5 to a 1uf cap (finding this one might be difficult in a non-polarized version but they are out there)

And if you still need more bass...
Change C6 to .47uf

I haven't actually tested this cap changes - but considering it's only three caps and you stand it get a substantial increase in bass response - i'd just get some desoldering braid and go for it. heck if you are worried about over soldering the board - get a socket strip and socket the caps for quick changes.

Timi · #6 12-03-2007, 07:02 PM

Cheers BassJunkie.

I knew some mods could be done to the caps so thanks for giving some advice for where to start.

The thing is, I really don't want to mess with this pedal. I have modded caps in other pedals and found that once you change the caps for more low end it changes the overdrive character, usually to a character that I no longer like. I know you can reverse the mods but this pedal is borderline "vintage" so I would rather leave it stock.

Maybe I might try and build a clone on a perf board so I can play with the caps.

bassman1185 · #7 12-04-2007, 10:10 AM

I think that the reason people have such different experiences with the same pedal is because different basses react much differently to the same effects.

Example: Say you have a Ric 4001 and a Gibson EB-0. The Ric will have a significantly thinner sound than the Gibson. If you run the two pedals through the same effect, say, a Tubescreamer, the Ric will have much less noticeable low-end loss than the Gibson, because it didn't have as much low end to begin with.