Boss GE-7 Mods

thisisguitar

Hey Guys, 

Anyone use a modded Boss GE-7 EQ pedal, how do you find it compared to stock, and do you use it with fuzz? 

Or any other eq with a fuzz for that matter?

Thanks in advance

wayneirie

Have a look at the Dan Auerbach rig rundown on you tube, he runs his shin ei into an mxr I think.

randomhandclaps

I did the Monte Allums mod to one GE-7 and it was infinitely better.  I also later purchased a Sniper Modded one and same result.  Stock it annoyed the crap out of me.  I use it solely for pushing and shaping fuzz dependant of gig volume.

ICBM

Modding them to reduce the hiss is essential. It completely baffles me why Boss haven't done this in the more than thirty years they've been making it, but for some reason they presumably think it's OK as it is.

Johnnyseven

I have a Monte Allums modded GE7 too. I've not used a stock pedal but mine has none of the noise issues I hear the stock pedal has.

Gassage

TIG- a mate of mine has been down this road loads of times and has a real view that the Monte Allum mod is fantastic.

He said it really reduces the noise and is great.

You change the 3 IC chips with high quality ICs and change out most of the caps and that there's also a chip change that supposedly gives "tone" but he couldn't hear any difference

randomhandclaps

'The Mods' that everyone selling their kits claims to be uniquely theirs is widely available in interspace.   I have it listed somewhere if you need it.

Setzer

I did the Monte Allums mod on mine and there is quite a difference in how much quieter it is after the mod, it does seem to sound better too so its definitely an upgrade thats worth doing if only to remove the noise.

thisisguitar

Thanks for the input guys, much appreciated. Looks like I'll get the stock pedal and have it modded then… pedalboard is so near completion :-)

ChrisMusic

@randomhandclaps, if you have a link to the modding info that would be fantastic, and a good place to put it into this discussion for future reference for the community too.

Good luck with finishing your board thisisguitar.  Posting pics when done?  Always curious, me  

randomhandclaps

Looked through my desk (far harder task than you might imagine) and as I thought I had actually written out what I did.  Please note these mods are exclusively mine and shall be henceforth known as the RandomHandMods.   Any of the dozens of similar versions you may find on the internet are a massive coincidence.   :-\"  :ar!

Anyway, here ye go -

• IC 1, 2 & 3 stock are JRC022Ds which I think Boss bought bulk from the MOD as they were deemed too noisy for aircraft engine management.  Swap these out for RC4559Ps.  Solder braid gets these out nice and neat - remembering how delicate some of those Boss PCBs are.
• Swap C21, C22 & C32 for 1uF metal film capacitors.
• Change out C23 for a silver mica 270pF.
• IC4 is the buffer op-amp and you can upgrade this to a TL072 - which is good enough for the Klon's buffer after all.

There are others caps you can change out but at that point you are milking a dry cow.  If any needs any more info let me know.

EDIT - Gawd knows why that bit's in red.

 

ICBM

randomhandclaps said:

JRC022Ds which I think Boss bought bulk from the MOD as they were deemed too noisy for aircraft engine management.

lol

randomhandclaps said:

EDIT - Gawd knows why that bit's in red.

Probably because Echelon triggered on the MOD and aircraft engine keywords .

randomhandclaps

ICBM said:

 

Probably because Echelon triggered on the MOD and aircraft engine keywords .

.  Maybe so.  I have noticed a transit van with a big satellite dish on top sat outside for the last 20 minutes.

thisisguitar

@randomhandclaps - Thanks for the info mate, above and beyond the call of duty! :-)

@ChrisMusic - Thanks. I will when it's done. Had to put the build on slow down due to buying a car, but it'll be done by May hopefully. It's already pretty mega though!

ChrisMusic

Thanks for that @randomhandclaps.   Bookmarked for future reference.

I am glad you chose "Mods" for your exclusivity rather than "Jobs"  

I think the red ads an air of importance and further exclusivity to your post.

Thanks for digging through your desk, if it's anything like my paperwork "systems", I can appreciate the effort involved...  

[Deleted User]

I got the Monte Allums done by Kev from the MR forum for me.

Made a huge difference and made it into a really really good pedal.