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Monte Allum Mods

gregmon79

gregmon79

Dec 20, 2012
27,397
19,561
46
Chicago IL
#1
I couldn't find a direct thread that related to this particular subject. Maybe it's the way I'm searching but if there is one, please, you guys can point me there.

Otherwise, I just ordered a boss SD1 from someone here on TB at a decent price and I read up on the pedal and it has many mixed reviews. Some people think it's awesome, some think it sucks donkeys. Anyway, I was thinking I wanted to give this pedal some umpf cause I read it has some volume drop/problems if you will with it. I'd heard there was an Allum mod for it so I checked it out on his site. Looked pretty awesome so I pulled the trigger on the stacked mod for the SD1. I'm pretty good with a soldering iron and I've repaired a couple of my pedals before so I figured I could do this as long as I take my time and do it right. Anyway, have any of you successfully completed one of these mods with any pedal, maybe even the SD1, and how did it go? Which one did you mod? Share pics, if you have them, experiences on how you did it and your general overall opinion about how happy, or maybe even unhappy, hopefully not, you are with the difference the mod made.
 
#2
I did the Allum mod on a GE7 eq that worked out really well. The instructions were clear and complete and everything went together well.

The difference was amazing. The noise level of the pedal dropped dramatically and the eq points seemed much more usable overall.

If you have any soldering skill at all you should have no problem. Just take it slow and you'll be fine.

I would definitely recommend the kit to someone.

As a bonus, my interactions with Monte were very pleasant. His communication was fast, detailed and polite.

Good luck with the mod! Enjoy it!!
 
#3
That's awesome to hear. Yeah, I emailed Monte already and he already emailed me back. I'm really excited about getting the kit and pedal. I enjoy taking certain pedals apart and looking inside let alone working on them. I'll post pics here eventually when I do mine. Can't wait! Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm very confident I can pull it off.
 
#4
gregmon79 said:
That's awesome to hear. Yeah, I emailed Monte already and he already emailed me back. I'm really excited about getting the kit and pedal. I enjoy taking certain pedals apart and looking inside let alone working on them. I'll post pics here eventually when I do mine. Can't wait! Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm very confident I can pull it off.
Click to expand...

That was the best part about it. I had never worked on a pedal before, so I had a ton of fun taking it apart and putting it back together. That was almost better then the finished product!
 
#5
Do it!
I did the Tri-gain mod on a ODB-3, did not take pics!
BUT, the instructions were very good, had a blast doing it myself, I agree with what RawOrange said.
I had some soldering experience, not quite this involved. Yes, I was a bit scared, did it anyway....worked out great.
 
#6
Man you guys are getting me even more psyched!! Wish I would've overnighted the stuff haha. I do have one question, hopefully someone can answer it. What's a good neath is or what's the best way to remove the solder?? I've never been that good at removing solder. Any tips would be helpful, thanks.
 
#7
gregmon79 said:
Man you guys are getting me even more psyched!! Wish I would've overnighted the stuff haha. I do have one question, hopefully someone can answer it. What's a good neath is or what's the best way to remove the solder?? I've never been that good at removing solder. Any tips would be helpful, thanks.
Click to expand...

The kit I got came with a copper ribbon to use. You just put it against the joint and heat it up and the solder flows into the ribbon. It worked really well.
 
#8
RawOrange said:
The kit I got came with a copper ribbon to use. You just put it against the joint and heat it up and the solder flows into the ribbon. It worked really well.
Click to expand...

Oh that's great! Thanks. I'm glad I asked because I may have gotten it and not have known what to do with it. Do the instructions that come with, if they do, tell you what all the things in the pkg are for and do?
 
#9
gregmon79 said:
Oh that's great! Thanks. I'm glad I asked because I may have gotten it and not have known what to do with it. Do the instructions that come with, if they do, tell you what all the things in the pkg are for and do?
Click to expand...

You just download the instructions from online and the one the ones I used told exactly what each piece was, what it did and where it went. Very helpful.
 
#11
So, I started the mod today!! I'm right in the middle abouts. I'm about to go at the 3 way toggle. It's going good so far. Hopefully it continues to go smoothly. One question, do I need to solder the opamps into the adapter or just let them sit in there. They're in there pretty good but I'm wondering if I have to solder them in.....
 
#12
Usually you won't need to solder op-amps into the adapters. One of the benefits of using those adapters is that you can solder the adapter in without the op-amp so you don't risk over heating and damaging it. Another benefit is the ability to swap it out for other op-amps with the same form factor later on if you should so desire.

I'm not familiar with the particular mod you're doing, but I'd say unless it says to do so, you're probably fine just seating it in the adapter.
 
#13
It's the monte Allum stacked mod. It didn't say anything about soldering them in but I just wanted to make sure. I'm following the directions to the T. I was reading the directions before I started the mod to familiarize myself with them. They looked confusing in some parts but they make perfect sense while doing it.
 
#15
After further testing I really think I messed up with the opamps somewhere. I pulled one out and it worked, still a little glitchy, but it worked sort of. I put the one I took out back in and nothing again. I may just have to reorder the opamps again, or the whole adapter plate and redo.
 
#16
i got MA mods done on 2 Boss pedals that i thot were unusable. an MT-2 & a CS-3. both had hiss, hum & just sounded bad. i tried doing the MT-2 mod myself & it was sounding really good but about half way thru i messed something up & couldnt figure out what, so i sent both in to an "approved modder". they came back sounding great. no more hiss or hum, improved clarity & tone. the MT-2 had improved gain, hamonics & growl.

neither ended my search for pedals of that type, but they are both now usable.
 
#17
The ODB-3 is nice, but I had some issues with it. There's was a problem with the High EQ adding distortion to the Pedal even if the Blend was turned fully CCW.
That issue got solved by removing on of the stacked OPAs.
Another Issue with the Tri-gain Mod was that switching from Bypass to engaged took a while. There was short sound drop, again removing the OPA solved that.

The GEB-7 Mod is pretty good though. The Noise Floor of the pedal drops and the Buffer circuit sounds better with the Burr Brown OPAs.
 
#18
I thought it would be really easy. It actually was. The thing is, I'm not the best at troubleshooting mods. This is my first. I was really disappointing to have it not work after taking my time and following the well laid out directions carefully. I hope I don't have to send it in. I'd like to do it myself. I'll probably try to make sure there is no solder touching each other. I know there was a few spots where it does. And I'm going to take the opamp out and put the old one in to see if that's it. I'll report back with progress tomorrow. Wish me luck!!
 
#19
gregmon79 said:
I thought it would be really easy. It actually was. The thing is, I'm not the best at troubleshooting mods. This is my first.
Click to expand...

same here. the circuit board in the ones i was working on were just too dense & small for my big hands & deteriorating eye sight. i'm more comfortable tinkering with larger format pcb's.

i sent a reply to your PM, hope you can find a way to get it going.
 
#20
gregmon79 said:
...I'll probably try to make sure there is no solder touching each other. I know there was a few spots where it does...
Click to expand...
I've never done one of these MA mods but I have soldered many electronics (used to fix CBs and radios back in the day). It's HIGHLY likely that's your problem. If solder from two different parts is touching, you've just make a short circuit.

Hope it works out well, bro. Please posts some pics of your project if/when you can. :bassist:
 

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