What also helps is marking the outside foil lead on the capacitor and connecting it to the lowest impedance to ground pad. This will allow you to take advantage of the shielding ability of the capacitor and further reduce noise. You can figure out which side is the outside foil lead by using alligator clips connected to a capacitor and to a guitar cable while plugged into your daw and looking at the noise level on level meter while your fingers are holding the capacitor. When the ground wire alligator clip is connected to the outside foil lead, you will see a reduction in noise on your level meter, so mark this side of the capacitor with a black marker and connect that lead to the lowest impedance to ground side of the circuit.
To my ears, It changed the sound but it wasn’t better. It went from hissing to ratty. I own one of these do is love to quiet mine down and open up the tone. I bought a cheap Behringer for $22.50 and it sounds way better, more bite and transparent compared to my muffled Boss.
It's considerably less noisy when you reduce the levers. Originally, it increased noise even then, which is not the case anymore. I actually noticed more of a difference on my amps at home than on the tonemaster of Lukas, but unfortunately, we've filmed the before on that amp where it wasn't as obvious and it wouldn't have been fair to change the test parameter. Cheers, Martin
Sorry, I don't have one to try, but as far as I know, those use SMD parts. Are you able to solder SMD parts? Because that's a lot harder than regular ones. Many professionals don't even offer to modify them. Cheers, Martin
@@LMGuitarCorner Thank you for the info. And I have no experience with the SMD boards; they look really tiny. I see the reason kits for these are scarce/non-existant. I wonder if the SMD board are better, as far as noise.
@@robertrraineyjr967 According to several sources, the new SMD versions made in Malaysia are considerably better than the previous ones. They also changed the OP amps there, which makes them draw more current than the older ones, but solves a lot of the noise issue. Some say the older modded ones are still a little bit better, but only when boosting frequencies. That's what I read about them, but I can't speak from personal experience. Cheers, Martin
No, this does not allow you to run the pedal on 18V, sorry. The components that also require to be changed for that are the Zener Diode D4, otherwise you'll burn out your LED sooner or later (probably sooner), and the filter caps C12 and C17. Also, the OP amps I've used can handle up to 22V supply, but are recommended to be run between 5-15V. So probably also not the best idea to use these. Cheers, Martin
Thank you sir, for this serious tutorial video that you made! As listed, we upgraded THESE capacitors. But, as shown on the GE-7 schematic I googled, the obviously same typed other capacitors, why don't we upgrade THOSE capacitors? May It sound better or quieter?
I think you're talking about C12 and C17, which are also electrolyte caps. If I see it right, those are filter caps for the power supply and the footswitch. They shouldn't make much of a difference if you have a good power supply. Cheers, Martin
If you just want to get rid of noise, the OP-Amps should be enough. The cap change is to get more refined and precise frequency bands for the levers. Cheers, Martin
A modded GE-7 is night and day to the stock one. I guess the XTS mod is very similar to the one I did. They probably changed the values of C11-C6, which allows you to change the frequency bands affected by the pushers. Cheers, Martin
Yeah, being too close to the amp can be an issue, but I doubt it in this case. We used it further away on the floor, and it had the exact same noise. Also, it's a Tonemaster that has been reduced to bedroom levels. This one isn't emitting even close to what a tube amp would. The lights we used are way more likely an issue than the amp. The mod certainly made it considerably better. I especially noticed it at home where I use the pedal mostly with my Kustom Defender 5W Tube Amp. I'm even considering integrating the pedal permanently in the amp. :) Cheers, Martin
Hey there, the important part are the op amps. The caps don't make much of a difference, if at all. They just change the behaviour of the levers a little. The OP amps are named the same on the japanese versions, IC1, IC2 and IC3. On the japanese circuit boards, they are all lined up next to each other, so you should easily find them. Regarding the caps, it would be a little bit complicated to explain, because there are several japanese versions and for some reason they changed the numbering of those caps every now and then. So I would need to know which one you have exactly to be sure to tell you which cap would be the equivalent of the ones I've changed. But as mentioned, the caps are not really relevant in terms of noise reduction. Cheers, Martin
Haha, yeah, unfortunately I should have checked beforehand, but that was also something I was missing in the original article. On closer inspection you see it being tilted on the pics there, but it's not obvious. Imho those are things that have to be mentioned. Cheers, Martin
@@PooNinja I should have mentioned it. The new OP amps draw more than twice the current. The original circuit was built with low power consumption in mind, so it's reliable with batteries. They sacrificed a low noise floor for that... Not something I would have done, but hey... Cheers, Martin
@@LMGuitarCorner power consumption is important but not when sacrificing audio quality, I’m an audiophile at heart so I’ll sacrifice most things size ,weight , design aesthetics and the like but not audio quality.
The Boss EQ GE-7 is the most important piece to your pedalboard, you need to understand how to dial in the pedal based on the pickups being used. This is not a plug n play pedal, some education is required!
Very true, it's a might tool, but without any mods it adds quite some noise floor with any adjustment. That's a lot better with the new ICs. Cheers, Martin
What also helps is marking the outside foil lead on the capacitor and connecting it to the lowest impedance to ground pad. This will allow you to take advantage of the shielding ability of the capacitor and further reduce noise. You can figure out which side is the outside foil lead by using alligator clips connected to a capacitor and to a guitar cable while plugged into your daw and looking at the noise level on level meter while your fingers are holding the capacitor. When the ground wire alligator clip is connected to the outside foil lead, you will see a reduction in noise on your level meter, so mark this side of the capacitor with a black marker and connect that lead to the lowest impedance to ground side of the circuit.
Good tip! Didn't think of that one, but it makes sense. Thanks for commenting!
Cheers,
Martin
Very best practice !
Hi I'm Mr. Carlson form Mr. Carlson's Lab channel, no I'm not. But I learned that from him, It's a good practice.
This was really cool. I never would have thought to do something like this.
Thanks Charles!
You can mod pretty much anything with enough dedication. ;)
Cheers,
Martin
Excellent video! Thanks.
You're welcome! Thanks a lot for taking the time to comment and letting us know you liked it!
Cheers,
Martin
I had my modded by Analogueman.
The most powerful pedal in terms of sculpting tone.
EQ pedals are an amazingly powerful tool, indeed.
Cheers,
Martin
Thanks a lot Bro :) Nice video!
Thanks a lot! You're welcome!
Cheers,
Martin
Where did you source your parts? Also, thank you for this!!!!
You're welcome. I sourced them from reichelt.at. Not sure if this is a viable option for you.
Cheers,
Martin
To my ears, It changed the sound but it wasn’t better. It went from hissing to ratty. I own one of these do is love to quiet mine down and open up the tone. I bought a cheap Behringer for $22.50 and it sounds way better, more bite and transparent compared to my muffled Boss.
It's considerably less noisy when you reduce the levers. Originally, it increased noise even then, which is not the case anymore. I actually noticed more of a difference on my amps at home than on the tonemaster of Lukas, but unfortunately, we've filmed the before on that amp where it wasn't as obvious and it wouldn't have been fair to change the test parameter.
Cheers,
Martin
@ anything to improve tone and reduce noise is a good thing especially if you can do it yourself
@tremdoctor007 100% agreed!
Cheers,
Martin
Does anyone know how to disassemble the the new Boss GE-7 EQ pedal that has NO CENTER SCREW in the board?
Sorry, I don't have one to try, but as far as I know, those use SMD parts. Are you able to solder SMD parts? Because that's a lot harder than regular ones. Many professionals don't even offer to modify them.
Cheers,
Martin
@@LMGuitarCorner Thank you for the info. And I have no experience with the SMD boards; they look really tiny. I see the reason kits for these are scarce/non-existant. I wonder if the SMD board are better, as far as noise.
@@robertrraineyjr967 According to several sources, the new SMD versions made in Malaysia are considerably better than the previous ones. They also changed the OP amps there, which makes them draw more current than the older ones, but solves a lot of the noise issue. Some say the older modded ones are still a little bit better, but only when boosting frequencies. That's what I read about them, but I can't speak from personal experience.
Cheers,
Martin
Does this mod enable you to run pedal at 18v like Analogman version ? Thank you
No, this does not allow you to run the pedal on 18V, sorry. The components that also require to be changed for that are the Zener Diode D4, otherwise you'll burn out your LED sooner or later (probably sooner), and the filter caps C12 and C17. Also, the OP amps I've used can handle up to 22V supply, but are recommended to be run between 5-15V. So probably also not the best idea to use these.
Cheers,
Martin
Thank you sir, for this serious tutorial video that you made! As listed, we upgraded THESE capacitors. But, as shown on the GE-7 schematic I googled, the obviously same typed other capacitors, why don't we upgrade THOSE capacitors? May It sound better or quieter?
I think you're talking about C12 and C17, which are also electrolyte caps. If I see it right, those are filter caps for the power supply and the footswitch. They shouldn't make much of a difference if you have a good power supply.
Cheers,
Martin
@@LMGuitarCorner Thank you, Martin! Your answer really enlightened me on some further thinking!
Thinking of giving this a go myself. Do I need to swap the capacitors too or will it be ok with the stock capacitors if I just swap the opamps?
If you just want to get rid of noise, the OP-Amps should be enough. The cap change is to get more refined and precise frequency bands for the levers.
Cheers,
Martin
After searching for 2 years I finally found a XTS modded GE-7 (Bukovac mod) and it's killer. Sadly they gooped the changed parts 😞
A modded GE-7 is night and day to the stock one. I guess the XTS mod is very similar to the one I did. They probably changed the values of C11-C6, which allows you to change the frequency bands affected by the pushers.
Cheers,
Martin
Video very interesting have a good day
Thanks a lot! Glad you found it interesting!
Have a great day as well!
Cheers,
Martin
Gostei de saber sucesso pra você
Thanks a lot, very kind of you!
Cheers,
Martin
If you moved the pedal further away from the amp, would’nt both the un-modded and un-modded noise be much less?
Correction: unmodded snd modded versions.
If, after purchasing, this pedal is too noisy, then I will follow your mod directions. Thanks.
Yeah, being too close to the amp can be an issue, but I doubt it in this case. We used it further away on the floor, and it had the exact same noise. Also, it's a Tonemaster that has been reduced to bedroom levels. This one isn't emitting even close to what a tube amp would. The lights we used are way more likely an issue than the amp. The mod certainly made it considerably better. I especially noticed it at home where I use the pedal mostly with my Kustom Defender 5W Tube Amp. I'm even considering integrating the pedal permanently in the amp. :)
Cheers,
Martin
Does anybody have the equivalent parts on the Made in Japan version?
Hey there,
the important part are the op amps. The caps don't make much of a difference, if at all. They just change the behaviour of the levers a little. The OP amps are named the same on the japanese versions, IC1, IC2 and IC3. On the japanese circuit boards, they are all lined up next to each other, so you should easily find them. Regarding the caps, it would be a little bit complicated to explain, because there are several japanese versions and for some reason they changed the numbering of those caps every now and then. So I would need to know which one you have exactly to be sure to tell you which cap would be the equivalent of the ones I've changed. But as mentioned, the caps are not really relevant in terms of noise reduction.
Cheers,
Martin
Very interesting 🤔
7:53 check for clearance Clarence! Space isn’t always available.
Haha, yeah, unfortunately I should have checked beforehand, but that was also something I was missing in the original article. On closer inspection you see it being tilted on the pics there, but it's not obvious. Imho those are things that have to be mentioned.
Cheers,
Martin
@@LMGuitarCorner it’s confusing to me why it wasn’t built that way in the first place?
Engineers 🤦🏽♂️
@@PooNinja I should have mentioned it. The new OP amps draw more than twice the current. The original circuit was built with low power consumption in mind, so it's reliable with batteries. They sacrificed a low noise floor for that...
Not something I would have done, but hey...
Cheers,
Martin
@@LMGuitarCorner power consumption is important but not when sacrificing audio quality, I’m an audiophile at heart so I’ll sacrifice most things size ,weight , design aesthetics and the like but not audio quality.
Where do I get it modded?
The idea is, that you can do it yourself with the help of this tutorial. :)
Cheers,
Martin
The Boss EQ GE-7 is the most important piece to your pedalboard, you need to understand how to dial in the pedal based on the pickups being used. This is not a plug n play pedal, some education is required!
Very true, it's a might tool, but without any mods it adds quite some noise floor with any adjustment. That's a lot better with the new ICs.
Cheers,
Martin