SOLVED Boss DS-2 stock diode configuration? (Or, did the previous owner mess with this thing?)

[mzy12]

Hello!

I have a second hand boss ds-2 that I am converting to true bypass using a relay (there is no good reason for this - this is in all likelihood a complete waste of time) and I noticed that compared to the schematics, some of the diodes were not as they are 'supposed' to be. If you look at the gutshots of my DS-2 you can see that the diodes look different to other ones you can see online.

Spoiler: Images

On D11, there is a red 3mm led instead of what the schematics say should be a 1ss-133 glass silicon diode (same as most of the rest of the diodes). On D9, it looks like two of the 1ss-133 diodes are soldered together in series. Then, on the D4 and D5 spots, what should be 1ss-188 germanium diodes (with a fV of about 1.0V I believe), there are instead two more red 3mm leds.

My question is, are these like a stock diode configuration? Or did the person who owned this pedal before me have a go at some mods? My board revision number is 7510952000, which matches up with the schematics I have seen online.

Thanks in advance!

 

[KR Sound]

Looks like they added asynchronous clipping with that third diode and replaced the others with the LEDs. You could replace them back to stick stock if you don’t like the sound.

 

[mzy12]

Looks like they added asynchronous clipping with that third diode and replaced the others with the LEDs. You could replace them back to stick if you don’t like the sound.

Yeah I probably will return it to stock. Those LEDs have a fV of like 2V. When I actually had this working before I took it apart (ages ago at this stage) I remember it getting way louder than I was expecting. This makes sense if you have higher fV in clipping stages (obviously). I wonder if there was any rhyme or reason to this or if the person just kinda chucked random stuff into this pedal, didn't like the result and pawned it off haha. Going from symmetrical clipping to asymmetric is a big change in tone.

Thanks.