How to mod a pedal for more gain? (answered)

[Anonymous]

• I built a black dog recently and I’m very pleased with it. I’m probably going to stack it to add some dirt but I was wondering if there’s a way to mod it or build another one with more internal gain. I can read a schematic and understand the parts but I don’t really know what each stage is doing or what components to change in order to change the signal.  What would I look at in the black dog schem to increase the gain?
• I’m interested in general in the answer so I can better understand how circuits work. I looked a lot online but I couldn’t find any tips on increasing gain or bass response or anything like that whatsoever.

 

[Barry]

Increasing the gain will increase the noise. Jimmy did not play with a lot of gain hence his mistakes when playing live being more noticeable and subject of many a conversations over the years. The best idea is what you already mentioned which is to stack it much in the same way that Jimmy put a pedal in front of his amplifier which is what the circuit emulates. If you plug into the front of a Supro you will notice there is not much gain or more accurately distortion but the amp sounds amazing and gives you the base sound that you need. If you plug a Fuzz or Boost in front of the amp then it is all there. Check out our Combo Build Guide for how we like to do these type of builds into a single pedal.

As for Bass Response a Boost in front or even better a graphic EQ are useful tools. When using pedals in series a Boost or EQ can also benefit the entire chain of Drive or Amp Sim pedals downstream. The circuit by itself is already designed to allow full Bass frequencies through which you can see by looking at the coupling capacitors which by value allow Bass frequency well below what any detuned guitar could put out. Simply put you cannot add more Bass than the full amount being allowed through without using an Active EQ or Boost. Again the best answer is to stack.

I hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I’m happy with the bass response on the black dog. I was actually looking into modding a supreaux for more bass but really I just wanted to understand in general how circuits worked and what could be tweaked.  I’ve done a lot of searching and posted in a couple places but haven’t really gotten much.

[Barry]

Well the same applies. Look at the coupling capacitors and see if they are above 100nF. If they are not you could increase the value to 220nF but that is what I call Bass Guitar Ready. I suggest if that does not help then start with the amp and work your way back. Again an EQ as outlined and explained in the above video can do wonders for your entire rig. I use a Whirlwind 10 Band EQ in my Marshall Jubilee Effects Loop and it is amazing and simply makes everything sound the way I want it to. All of that with no noise. I will never look back. All of my guitars and pedals now work the way I want them too.

 

[Barry]

Some other ideas while keeping in mind that I feel the above info is very good is that you can use our Mod Boards to add an additional Gain Stage while still fitting in the same enclosure (1590B or 125B) or larger by placing and After Blaster on the foot switch.

Additionally you can add an Active EQ to the circuit in the same enclosure by simply wiring it in series or by bypassing the passive tone control of many circuits using our Tone TwEQ which gives you 3 Bands of active EQ.

Also you can add a “Transparent” Boost inside the same enclosure wired in series (before or after) the main circuit by using a Stage 3 Booster which is only 1″x1″ in size and easy to hide.

These are additional ideas which are huge sellers for obvious reasons.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I’ve used the tone tweq before on an Acapulco gold and loved it. I’m planning on getting some more to fill out some thinner fuzzes. I have one of your boost boards too that I may stick in somewhere. I did consider putting it in the black dog but I’m going to try as is for a while and maybe see how it sounds with an external boost first.

[Anonymous]

Any recommendations on where I could learn about different gain stages and how they’re designed and work? I’m sure you’d be able to look at a random schematic and tell me what say c13 probably does to the signal and why it was included, but I don’t know how to learn that for myself. I’m getting better as I go, learning by doing is definitely good but I’d love some reading materials or videos. I watched the wampler videos and others like that which are great, but they usually describe one particular part of a particular circuit and don’t explain how to generalize that knowledge to other designs.

[Barry]

That is a loaded question as I have spent 10+ years studying under the tutelage of an Electronics Engineer and a person who worked in guitar pedal and amplifier electronics since the early 70’s. That would be Tonmann as he is known to most of us. Also I would be negligent to not mention Wilkie1 (and a few others) as well who have plenty of experience and is a partner Moderator.

Point here is developing some friendships and taking full advantage of Skype etc..

That said I am still seeking answers to questions and have many things to learn.

There are many good books available. Check Amazon etc…

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, I appreciate the thoughtful responses. I have seen some of these titles mentioned before and I don’t know why I never got around to reading them but I’ll get back on it.
Of course I don’t expect to get to expert level quickly. Or ever, to be honest, being that this is a hobby I love to spend a few hours a week with. But I do appreciate having a starting point and hope to have enough rudimentary knowledge to be a good amateur. I’m a pretty mediocre technical player and a pretty mediocre songwriter so if I can reach that same level of mediocrity with technical components it should bring me up to an overall average I can be pretty proud of, haha.

[Author]

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