Vertex mod that I gone and dun

joeyowen

Figured I would post this here too for anyone who uses the Boss FV500 volume pedals and has heard about the mod

Mine is the stereo FV500h!

Having changed the pedal over it isn't massssively different, but there is defo a difference, so might be worth doing if you don't use the min volume or tuner out

First you need to undo the 8 screws that hold the back plate on (after removing velcro of course!)  Ignore the centre screw that is for treadle tension

So the aim is, to remove the pcb you can see on the right (half way down the pedal)

To do this we need to remove the ribbon, so unsolder the 5 'vertical' nubs on the right of the 'pot' PCB (not really vertical, just in the pic)

You also need to undo the jack input and pot dial from the side of the pedal (external)

You'll be left with this!

Apply your soldering iron to the points and pull the cable away, you'll be left with this!

Now, as the pic suggests, join the 4 right hand points (you can jump them, I just blobbed them together)

Hopefully that will help someone somewhere should they need it

You now all owe me about £150...Don't worry I give to local charities and need to take care of a refund or 2....

stickyfiddle

And there was me thinking you were just going to goop something cheap

joeyowen

stickyfiddle said:

And there was me thinking you were just going to goop something cheap

I'm too cheap to buy goop, unlike some that are too goop to buy cheap

ICBM

It's interesting that those parts have enough capacitance to affect the tone.

On the other hand since it will suck tone to some extent even modded - no passive volume pedal can avoid that - but it doesn't at all if you run a buffer in front of it even if unmodded, why not just do that?

joeyowen

It goes guitar - tu3-volume etc..

I was just curious to see if it made a difference tbh, there is defo a lil change. Nothing massive though, you wouldn't really notice

ICBM

I think it's unlikely there is any change at all if it's after the TU-3, to be honest!

joeyowen

I'm inclined to agree honestly

When it was guitar, volume, amp there was a difference. Now it is on my board, between all the other pedals and gains you would never know, probs just in my head

It certainly wouldn't have been money well spent. I actually wanted the vertex volume prior to that saga unfolding which is what made me try myself

Maybe I needed the goop after all

Dave_Mc

LOL nice )

ICBM

joeyowen said:

I'm inclined to agree honestly

When it was guitar, volume, amp there was a difference.

Yes, definitely - with a passive volume pedal directly following the guitar, there is not only the issue of capacitive tone suck (which will be roughly halved by this mod) but also the extra loading of the volume pot itself - there's nothing you can do about this, so all passive volume pedals suck tone no matter how good they are.

So I would guess it would make a small difference like this, but it's the lesser of the two problems - it's still worth doing if you never use those functions and might sometimes run the pedal directly after the guitar, but it won't stop all the tone loss or probably even most of it. A buffer fixes both issues at the same time though.

joeyowen said:

Maybe I needed the goop after all

Of course. That's the critical part of any of these mods .

jupiter126

Hello, bringing back an old post with a few questions.

I just got my FV500L, and was about to mod it when I realised that soldering the 4 pins together might transform this pedal from stereo to something weird, as both inputs and outputs would be connected together - both channels would be mixed.

Of those 4 pins, I will connect (1 and 2) and (3 and 4), not sure if it makes any sense, but it seems to me that this way, I would keep two separate channels.  Worst case scenario, it will be easier to join (2and3) later than to desolder them.

If by any chance anyone who did the original mod could confirm? like if you plug your guitar into input 1, and your amp into output 2, it should work... maybe even if you plug guitar in input1 and amp in input2... not sure

In the high probability of no one answering by the time I get back from the market, I will try it and post my findings

Wazmeister

You ought to sell this mate, and claim it as your own....

jupiter126

Heh good idea, but I'm more of an open source fan ^^ 
Really off to the market now... 

Seziertisch

In terms of micro buffers that could be installed in a volume pedal, the Creation Audio Redeemer would be well worth checking out. Small sized,  very transparent. Have it in a couple of guitars and it nearly always sounds better with it on, and in the case of a 12-string Rick it really makes a difference, preserving the sparkle and and top end which seems to get lost more with passive cable runs.

jupiter126

I just did the mod as I thought - connected 1-2 and 3-4, 2 and 3 are not connected, and it works great in stereo.
I think applying vertex's mod as is (aka connect 1-2-3-4) would mess up the stereo

soma1975

Seziertisch said:

In terms of micro buffers that could be installed in a volume pedal, the Creation Audio Redeemer would be well worth checking out. Small sized,  very transparent. Have it in a couple of guitars and it nearly always sounds better with it on, and in the case of a 12-string Rick it really makes a difference, preserving the sparkle and and top end which seems to get lost more with passive cable runs.

What about eh foxrox wah buffer?

Seziertisch

soma1975 said:

Seziertisch said:

In terms of micro buffers that could be installed in a volume pedal, the Creation Audio Redeemer would be well worth checking out. Small sized,  very transparent. Have it in a couple of guitars and it nearly always sounds better with it on, and in the case of a 12-string Rick it really makes a difference, preserving the sparkle and and top end which seems to get lost more with passive cable runs.

What about eh foxrox wah buffer?

Haven’t used one, might be a good one if you have a fuzz with a sensitive input downstream from it.

Though the Foxrox is designed to go in a Wah pedal and be powered off that so you would probably have to mcgyver up a battery clip or similar for it.