# Pedal Mods in Canada



## CMCRAWFORD (Mar 17, 2014)

I am looking to get an Ernie Ball JR Volume pedal modded to fix the tone suck with the tuner jack active. Instead of ordering something prebuilt from JHS or T1M etc. is there anything local in Toronto or within Canada for that matter? I am sure there is just unaware of any. 

Thanks!


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I picked up a modded Cry Baby from SolidGoldFX and Greg will do other mods...

http://www.solidgoldfx.com/mods


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## JCM50 (Oct 5, 2011)

The easiest mod is to get a tuner pedal with a hi-z input.


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## CMCRAWFORD (Mar 17, 2014)

Hi-z input?


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Impedance.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

there's a guy who advertises on kijiji all the time for doing pedal mods.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Worse comes to worse, I'll pick it up from you when we pass through Whitby, later this summer, on the way to the in-laws in Orillia, and drop it back off, modded, when we go home a few days later. We usually drive up Thickson from the 401 to the junction with Highway 12, by Myrtle Station.

Do you happen to know what value pot is in there now? The problem may simply be that you have it inserted in the wrong location in your pedal chain.


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## CMCRAWFORD (Mar 17, 2014)

Hi MHammer,

Not sure if I missed another posting as I am reading this one like we were continuing a conversation. . 

The volume pedal is the 250k version. I have not even used the tuner out yet and am going by the reputation of this issue. I know companies like JHS and T1M modify this our sell pre modded pedals. Just looking for a Canadian option. Quite possible I could be doing something wrong. I just traded off my Eventide H9 so I will need to get a tuner pedal. I was just anticipating an issue. I think I am going to use the volume pedal after my dirt and before my modulation and delay. 

Any feedback is appreciated. 

Thanks everyone,

chris





mhammer said:


> Worse comes to worse, I'll pick it up from you when we pass through Whitby, later this summer, on the way to the in-laws in Orillia, and drop it back off, modded, when we go home a few days later. We usually drive up Thickson from the 401 to the junction with Highway 12, by Myrtle Station.
> 
> Do you happen to know what value pot is in there now? The problem may simply be that you have it inserted in the wrong location in your pedal chain.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The thing with passive volume pedals is that they can present impedance issues, depending on where they are situated in the chain. In some instances, a 250k pot, or even a 50k pot, works well with both the output impedance of whatever comes before it, and the input impedance of what comes after it. In other cases, not so much.

And part of the reason for issues involving a pedal you'd think _ought_ to be a no-brainer is the rather varied "clients" that volume pedals have. For example, many keyboard players will use volume pedals, but the output impedance of the keyboard itself is low enough that even a 50k pot in the volume pedal won't mess things up much. On the other hand, if one is feeding a standard passive guitar to a pedal chain, with a volume pedal first in line, then a 250k pot may load things down too much, exaggerate cable tone-sucking, and something higher, like 1meg is preferable. Place that same volume pedal between the last pedal and the amp, or between two other pedals, that have high input and low output impedances, and the pot value becomes much less of an issue; especially since it is not fighting any long length of cable preceding it, either (although see Pete Cornish's views on true bypass).

The sort of all-purpose solution is a buffer in between input and the 250k pot, that has a much higher input impedance, will reduce the impact of the pot on the treble loss in the signal. It's a simple thing to make and install.


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## CMCRAWFORD (Mar 17, 2014)

Thanks very much for the info. What if you had a pedal with a buffer before the volume pedal? I should have mentioned I play a tele (passive pickups) through the following chain (as of today):

Arc Effects Klone - Diamond Compressor - Analogman SunFace 183 - Analogman King of Tone - Strymon Mobius (Basic Audio Scarab in the pre/post) - Strymon Timeline - Stereo Wet (to be replaced with a Strymon BigSky). My thought was to put the volume pedal before the Strymon chain.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I gather that all of the pedals ahead of the Strymon are true bypass and none use a buffer? If so then when they are bypassed, you're basically going from the Tele into the volume pedal. And since it's a Tele, there is enough top end that you'd notice when some is missing. The Strymon will have an appropriately high input impedance, but the 250k pot may load the guitar down when everything ahead of it is bypassed. If any of those had a buffered bypass, though, the challenge would likely be resolved. But I suppose for maximum flexibility in terms of where you feel like sticking it (because one can probably imagine a use for different pedal orders), installing a buffer is probably a good idea.

That's the thing about a lot of pedals. They are often designed in anticipation of relatively defined playing circumstances. Used for the circumstances they were planned around, they behave flawlessly. Used in different circumstances, and they can result in some nuisances.

In theory, it doesn't really matter what order effects are in, when they are used one at a time. But situating the Klone ahead of the compressor will tend to undermine the proper functioning of the compressor, since it anticipates a particular signal level, and any boost ahead of it will normally exceed that expected level. You will likely find that only compression settings below, say 10:00 tend to be discernibly different from each other, and everything above that pretty much sounds the same.

Another area of concern is that the Sunface, like pretty much any Fuzz Face derivative, "likes" the loading that the guitar provides, and normally behaves more warmly when the guitar goes straight into it. On the other hand, since the 183 is a silicon, rather than germanium, unit, this is much less of an issue.

Does this answer your question?

Addendum: Modding the pedal to have a buffer would require installation of a stereo jack to replace the mono input jack, and some means of securing both the buffer circuit and the battery (drain is minimal so even a dollar store battery would last for months). The buffer can be hardwired to the new jack, and the output wire of the circuit goes to the input lug on the volume pot. That's pretty much it.


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## CMCRAWFORD (Mar 17, 2014)

I believe it does, thank-you. I have yet to pick up a tuner to use with the tuner out so I will do that shortly and run some tone tests. I honestly was going by hype and reputation of this issue than personal experience. The Klone is buffered and the Strymons can be buffered or true bypass so I can do some testing before deciding if there is any need to modify the pedal.

Thanks very much for your helpful input!

Chris


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

I was worried about the EB Jr sucking tone when I got it, I play a Tele as well, but it turned out that putting an "always on" pedal in front of it solves the problem. I compared, had a friend disconnect/reconnect the tuner jack while I played with and without a buffered signal and it was only noticeable when the chain was bypassed. Luckily I play with a Timmy and comp that are always on so I'm sure they help but if you have nothing like that get a little standalone buffer and put it in somewhere before the volume pedal.

My chain goes like this, with the volume somewhere in the middle...
Ego to Black 65 to LunMod to Timmy to *EBJR* off shoot to the tuner, continuing signal from the volume to the El Cap to the first looper for the AD-80 to the second looper for the Flint and Blue Sky and lastly to the amp.
I'm sure I'd need a buffer if I didn't play with the always on pedals because all four of them are true bypass.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

CMCRAWFORD said:


> I believe it does, thank-you. I have yet to pick up a tuner to use with the tuner out so I will do that shortly and run some tone tests. I honestly was going by hype and reputation of this issue than personal experience. The Klone is buffered and the Strymons can be buffered or true bypass so I can do some testing before deciding if there is any need to modify the pedal.
> 
> Thanks very much for your helpful input!
> 
> Chris


If it lets me drive through Whitby faster, so I can stop off at Haugen's for a bit, on the way to the in-laws, I'm all for it! :applouse:


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