MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
Another entry in my Boss OD Pedal survey.
This is the OG one. Totally wasn't on my radar until my brother started looking into them and was looking at getting the AnalogMan mod to the original op-amp.
(Originals used a Raytheon MC4304, the current production ones use a 4558)
I got the Aion "Legacy" board which is a 1590B form factor with no 3pdt daughter board.
It comes with a couple of neat mods built in.
1) Alternate clipping mod
2) "Fat" mod that brings in a 330n cap to fatten the sound up, a lot of folks seem to think it's a little thin sounding.
I have to say, this might be my favorite so far of the BOSS OD's I've built. After listening to a bunch of demo videos comparing the old one to the new production, or comparing the AnalogMan mod to the 4558, I wasn't super impressed.
But for some reason the pedal I built sounds better than any of the ones I've seen in the video demos. I REALLY like how it sounds.
And I like the "stock" setting the best, although I did install the mods.
For the alternative clipping, Aion provides pads for just about anything you can imagine. You can do BB clipping, Zen clipping, TS clipping.
I opted for a Mosfet clipping arrangement with 2 2N7000's. The difference is subtle. I think I still like the stock silicon diode clipping the best.
The middle position is no clippers, just opamp clipping if you want to use it as a dirty boost to drive an amp. The JRC3403 Opamp clips in an interesting way. Very different from a TL072 in my opinion.
The Fat Boost is neat and I can see it helping with single coils but on hum buckers it sounds a bit muddy to me.
You can use just about any quad opamp with this board, TL074, 5514, etc but I opted to go with the OG 3403. Smallbear has the Nishimbo version in stock, the JRC3403.
I will probably run it stock 99% of the time.
I recorded a short demo of it comparing it to the BD-2 and SD-1 I've already built.
(Sorry about the "pedal stand fail"..) The clipper toggle is on the left. Top for stock 1n914 clipping, middle opamp clipping and down for mosfet clipping.
The toggle on the right is the "Fat" switch and it's an On On, up for stock down for FAT.
I've got two more BOSS OD's to build, the OD-2 and OD-3 but that may have to wait till after next week. I'm on the road again next week for work.
I might be able to squeak one more easy build in.....we'll see
I used the Gray Hammertone enclosure from over runs Smallbear made for AnalogMan.
I also did a little pickup swap on my original Semi Hollow Vela. If you recall, my solid body Vela got the Firebird neck and more recently the BIG BIRD Firebird bridge pickup. I took the original Durbano 59 PAF I had in the bridge position and put it in my Semi Hollow Vela. The results were exactly the opposite of what I was expecting! I figured with the solid mahogany body that pickup would sound pretty "old school SG-ish". It sounded great but for some reason it KILLS in the bridge position of the semi hollow. Not sure exactly why but it REALLY sounds like an SG to me. After installing it last night and testing it, tweaking the height, I got lost for like 2 hours just playing. I even found myself playing some Angus Young licks......hahahaha.
This is the OG one. Totally wasn't on my radar until my brother started looking into them and was looking at getting the AnalogMan mod to the original op-amp.
(Originals used a Raytheon MC4304, the current production ones use a 4558)
I got the Aion "Legacy" board which is a 1590B form factor with no 3pdt daughter board.
It comes with a couple of neat mods built in.
1) Alternate clipping mod
2) "Fat" mod that brings in a 330n cap to fatten the sound up, a lot of folks seem to think it's a little thin sounding.
I have to say, this might be my favorite so far of the BOSS OD's I've built. After listening to a bunch of demo videos comparing the old one to the new production, or comparing the AnalogMan mod to the 4558, I wasn't super impressed.
But for some reason the pedal I built sounds better than any of the ones I've seen in the video demos. I REALLY like how it sounds.
And I like the "stock" setting the best, although I did install the mods.
For the alternative clipping, Aion provides pads for just about anything you can imagine. You can do BB clipping, Zen clipping, TS clipping.
I opted for a Mosfet clipping arrangement with 2 2N7000's. The difference is subtle. I think I still like the stock silicon diode clipping the best.
The middle position is no clippers, just opamp clipping if you want to use it as a dirty boost to drive an amp. The JRC3403 Opamp clips in an interesting way. Very different from a TL072 in my opinion.
The Fat Boost is neat and I can see it helping with single coils but on hum buckers it sounds a bit muddy to me.
You can use just about any quad opamp with this board, TL074, 5514, etc but I opted to go with the OG 3403. Smallbear has the Nishimbo version in stock, the JRC3403.
I will probably run it stock 99% of the time.
I recorded a short demo of it comparing it to the BD-2 and SD-1 I've already built.
(Sorry about the "pedal stand fail"..) The clipper toggle is on the left. Top for stock 1n914 clipping, middle opamp clipping and down for mosfet clipping.
The toggle on the right is the "Fat" switch and it's an On On, up for stock down for FAT.
I've got two more BOSS OD's to build, the OD-2 and OD-3 but that may have to wait till after next week. I'm on the road again next week for work.
I might be able to squeak one more easy build in.....we'll see
I used the Gray Hammertone enclosure from over runs Smallbear made for AnalogMan.
I also did a little pickup swap on my original Semi Hollow Vela. If you recall, my solid body Vela got the Firebird neck and more recently the BIG BIRD Firebird bridge pickup. I took the original Durbano 59 PAF I had in the bridge position and put it in my Semi Hollow Vela. The results were exactly the opposite of what I was expecting! I figured with the solid mahogany body that pickup would sound pretty "old school SG-ish". It sounded great but for some reason it KILLS in the bridge position of the semi hollow. Not sure exactly why but it REALLY sounds like an SG to me. After installing it last night and testing it, tweaking the height, I got lost for like 2 hours just playing. I even found myself playing some Angus Young licks......hahahaha.
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