Bass Geek: Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive Pedal Rebuild
For the last few months while playing bass with Angel Vivaldi, I've added distortion to my bass tone. Try as I might to get a good clear sound to cut through the mix with two high gain 7 string guitars, it just wasn't happening. This old Boss bass overdrive had been kicking around, and incorporating it was night and day to making the bass stand out in the mix.
http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetails.php?ProductId=155
Now, this pedal has mixed reviews, seems to be a love it or hate kind of thing. It works great for my situation, and I'm especially fond of the fact that it has a blend knob, for mixing in dry undistorted bass signal in with the effected tone.
My main issue with this pedal was that I didn't need it to be a pedal. It basically stays on all of the time, and the rare instance that I would need to turn it off, doesn't justify it being on the floor. So, I've had it velcro-ed to the top of my rack. This had been working fine for me, despite looking a tad bit oddball.
However the past week or so, the pedal starting acting a little wiggy, and upon frustrated inspection, saw that the switch had come loose, and it would need to be taken apart. I joked with the guys in the band that depending on how it looked inside, I may try to make it rack-mountable.
So, I took it apart and lo and behold, it was constructed in a modular enough fashion that I decided to make it into a rack mountable unit.
First, I needed something to mount it into. Upon brainstorming and going through all of my crap, I stumbled across an old Rockford/Fosgate PA-1 car audio mixer unit that I had. It no longer worked, but it was a good approximate 1/2 rackspace size. I decided to take it apart and see if it was salvageable. You can see the guts of the PA-1, it's shell, and the dismantled pedal here:
The potentiometers for the knobs in the pedal were attached to their own separate circuit board, which meant the spacing had to be specific. However, the holes on this casing basically lined up with that spacing, thus saving me a ton of work.
So....game on!
Here's a shot of the pots on their own board, and the pedal disassembled:
I decided what would work best would be to mount the pedal's circuit board to the original pedal bottom plate, giving me a nice even template for mounting, and more importantly, a rubberized surface to protect the circuit board. Mounting was tentatively like this:
I also decided I would install a 9v adapter into the casing as well, eliminating the need for a separate wall-wart type power supply. Space was limited however, and instead of using the barrel type plug, I decided I'd wire it straight in.
I theoretically could've also used the 9v battery connector wires, but I wanted to make that connector accessible so in the event that the adapted died (because they do eventually) I wanted to be able to use the 9v battery connector as a last minute backup if need be (more on that later)
Next up, fabricating the enclosure. So I kicked about a few ideas on how to mount the circuit board to the case. Ultimately, I decided I'd drill holes and attach standoffs that you would normally use inside a computer case to mount a motherboard. I put the baseplate in place, marked off the holes, and began to drill.
I now had 4 standoffs to attach the circuit board to:
I guess my drill bit walked a little too much when I drilled as they didn't line up quite as properly as I'd hoped :-/
I was thinking I may have to re-drill, or just use 2 or 3 screws. However, by loosening them up a little, I was able to make all 4 screws usable luckily.
I reattached the velcro to the bottom (well, formerly the top, but I switched it up lol) until I actually get it in my universal rackmount and such. Here you can also see where the standoffs are mounted. I had trimmed the threads of them down, but they were still sticking out.
Ok, a mockup to see if it will all fit. It's tight, but workable.
And to my luck, no drilling necessary for the main controls :)
The guts at this stage:
Using the pedals original label plate, the controls are easily mountable, and labeled :)
So, in order to stabilize the standoffs, I decided I would JB weld them. I also decided to fill in a few of the holes with it too (I'll be doing more of that in the near future now that I have the layout of all the plugs determined)
While waiting for it to dry, I sanded down the nubs
Now came time to mount the circuit board to the backing plate. There was really no space on the board to attach screws or anything, so there was a bit of a challenge here. I wanted to be able to adjust it if need be, so something permanent like glue was out. But I also needed it to be secure when moving it around. So, I decided on binder clips :) I'd clip it down and then remove the top lever. I placed electrical tape underneath the side making contact with the board so there wouldn't be any grounding out.
Three binder clips in place, no top levers:
It's no ready to be screwed down:
Binder clips in place, screw standoffs line up, and the pots still fit through the holes :)
Double check with the control plate in place to make sure it still works....it does.
Attach the knobs for good measure :)
Main circuit board all secured.
Potential input/output jack placement (again perfectly pre drilled holes, couldn't pass up this enclosure!)
Side view of installations thus far:
I was originally going to use a standard home extension cord to attach to the adapter. That way if the adapter ever needed to be replaced, it would be fairly painless. It was too bulky to fit in the enclosure however. I was going to relinquish myself to soldering the wires directly to the prongs, when I thought of another idea....shielded female blade connectors!
Easily swappable electrical plug that doesn't take up too much space :)
How it will fit in the case:
In the near future I will velcro the adapter down. In would've done it now, but I'm apparently out of velcro. I wanted something to just hold it temporarily to test, and a bunch of electrical always works in a pinch!
This was my initial switch idea, from an old computer tower. However, it was too big and bulky to make work.
I decided on another old computer tower switch that was much smaller. However, it was square. I wanted to be able to mount it neatly into the round pre-drilled holes. I decided an old unused 1/4" jack would be a good way to mount it.
It so happened that the prong on the jack was almost perfectly suited to holding the switch in place...score!
This left the mild issue of having the button only reachable by sticking something into the jack and pressing this button:
I figured I'd devise something for it, and in the meantime, I could always use a plug from the guitar to stick in there to switch it.
Here's the current state of the internals:
Rough front panel layout:
I stuck the LED through one of the free holes for now just to be able to see it:
Temporary look of the backside:
I affixed the sticker from the bottom to the top to cover a few of the unnecessary holes, and also to still have a serial number of some sort, and I have a working front layout:
That was a pedal! Not anymore lol.
A few quick labels so I know what's what:
As I was assembling, I stumbled across an idea for the on/off switch. I had a piece of cable sitting there, and it was the perfect size of the opening for the button.
I cut away enough of it to fit around the button, and just glued it. Temporarily taped off the remaining extra holes until I fill them in. Ultimately, these are now before and after shots.
My initial test resulted in an ungodly ground hum. I had to mildly reassemble to assess it, then I regrounded everything and reassembled it. Now it works perfectly :)
Very near future mods:
-Add velcro to the adapter inside and elminate the electrical tape tie down method
-Secure electrical cable from being able to be pulled out of the back
-Fill in excess holes
-Glue down switch to input jack holder
-Paint?
Ultimately though, I set out what I had only mildly hinted at. And all in all, despite not being completely done, it's completely workable, and it all came to fruition in a matter of a few hours, and all with stuff I already had, no purchase necessary!
See, there IS a use to all that junk that I keep at my house lol.
So I now have a rackmountable Boss ODB-3 (hence my modified ODB-3_R_ model #). It also runs off an AC outlet, no need for a wall-wart adapter or a battery.
The JOYS of being a geek. A geek that happens to have a cool idea once in a while, and who happens to be good with tools. :)
http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetails.php?ProductId=155
Now, this pedal has mixed reviews, seems to be a love it or hate kind of thing. It works great for my situation, and I'm especially fond of the fact that it has a blend knob, for mixing in dry undistorted bass signal in with the effected tone.
My main issue with this pedal was that I didn't need it to be a pedal. It basically stays on all of the time, and the rare instance that I would need to turn it off, doesn't justify it being on the floor. So, I've had it velcro-ed to the top of my rack. This had been working fine for me, despite looking a tad bit oddball.
However the past week or so, the pedal starting acting a little wiggy, and upon frustrated inspection, saw that the switch had come loose, and it would need to be taken apart. I joked with the guys in the band that depending on how it looked inside, I may try to make it rack-mountable.
So, I took it apart and lo and behold, it was constructed in a modular enough fashion that I decided to make it into a rack mountable unit.
First, I needed something to mount it into. Upon brainstorming and going through all of my crap, I stumbled across an old Rockford/Fosgate PA-1 car audio mixer unit that I had. It no longer worked, but it was a good approximate 1/2 rackspace size. I decided to take it apart and see if it was salvageable. You can see the guts of the PA-1, it's shell, and the dismantled pedal here:
The potentiometers for the knobs in the pedal were attached to their own separate circuit board, which meant the spacing had to be specific. However, the holes on this casing basically lined up with that spacing, thus saving me a ton of work.
So....game on!
Here's a shot of the pots on their own board, and the pedal disassembled:
I decided what would work best would be to mount the pedal's circuit board to the original pedal bottom plate, giving me a nice even template for mounting, and more importantly, a rubberized surface to protect the circuit board. Mounting was tentatively like this:
I also decided I would install a 9v adapter into the casing as well, eliminating the need for a separate wall-wart type power supply. Space was limited however, and instead of using the barrel type plug, I decided I'd wire it straight in.
I theoretically could've also used the 9v battery connector wires, but I wanted to make that connector accessible so in the event that the adapted died (because they do eventually) I wanted to be able to use the 9v battery connector as a last minute backup if need be (more on that later)
Next up, fabricating the enclosure. So I kicked about a few ideas on how to mount the circuit board to the case. Ultimately, I decided I'd drill holes and attach standoffs that you would normally use inside a computer case to mount a motherboard. I put the baseplate in place, marked off the holes, and began to drill.
I now had 4 standoffs to attach the circuit board to:
I guess my drill bit walked a little too much when I drilled as they didn't line up quite as properly as I'd hoped :-/
I was thinking I may have to re-drill, or just use 2 or 3 screws. However, by loosening them up a little, I was able to make all 4 screws usable luckily.
I reattached the velcro to the bottom (well, formerly the top, but I switched it up lol) until I actually get it in my universal rackmount and such. Here you can also see where the standoffs are mounted. I had trimmed the threads of them down, but they were still sticking out.
Ok, a mockup to see if it will all fit. It's tight, but workable.
And to my luck, no drilling necessary for the main controls :)
The guts at this stage:
Using the pedals original label plate, the controls are easily mountable, and labeled :)
So, in order to stabilize the standoffs, I decided I would JB weld them. I also decided to fill in a few of the holes with it too (I'll be doing more of that in the near future now that I have the layout of all the plugs determined)
While waiting for it to dry, I sanded down the nubs
Now came time to mount the circuit board to the backing plate. There was really no space on the board to attach screws or anything, so there was a bit of a challenge here. I wanted to be able to adjust it if need be, so something permanent like glue was out. But I also needed it to be secure when moving it around. So, I decided on binder clips :) I'd clip it down and then remove the top lever. I placed electrical tape underneath the side making contact with the board so there wouldn't be any grounding out.
Three binder clips in place, no top levers:
It's no ready to be screwed down:
Binder clips in place, screw standoffs line up, and the pots still fit through the holes :)
Double check with the control plate in place to make sure it still works....it does.
Attach the knobs for good measure :)
Main circuit board all secured.
Potential input/output jack placement (again perfectly pre drilled holes, couldn't pass up this enclosure!)
Side view of installations thus far:
I was originally going to use a standard home extension cord to attach to the adapter. That way if the adapter ever needed to be replaced, it would be fairly painless. It was too bulky to fit in the enclosure however. I was going to relinquish myself to soldering the wires directly to the prongs, when I thought of another idea....shielded female blade connectors!
Easily swappable electrical plug that doesn't take up too much space :)
How it will fit in the case:
In the near future I will velcro the adapter down. In would've done it now, but I'm apparently out of velcro. I wanted something to just hold it temporarily to test, and a bunch of electrical always works in a pinch!
This was my initial switch idea, from an old computer tower. However, it was too big and bulky to make work.
I decided on another old computer tower switch that was much smaller. However, it was square. I wanted to be able to mount it neatly into the round pre-drilled holes. I decided an old unused 1/4" jack would be a good way to mount it.
It so happened that the prong on the jack was almost perfectly suited to holding the switch in place...score!
This left the mild issue of having the button only reachable by sticking something into the jack and pressing this button:
I figured I'd devise something for it, and in the meantime, I could always use a plug from the guitar to stick in there to switch it.
Here's the current state of the internals:
Rough front panel layout:
I stuck the LED through one of the free holes for now just to be able to see it:
Temporary look of the backside:
I affixed the sticker from the bottom to the top to cover a few of the unnecessary holes, and also to still have a serial number of some sort, and I have a working front layout:
That was a pedal! Not anymore lol.
A few quick labels so I know what's what:
As I was assembling, I stumbled across an idea for the on/off switch. I had a piece of cable sitting there, and it was the perfect size of the opening for the button.
I cut away enough of it to fit around the button, and just glued it. Temporarily taped off the remaining extra holes until I fill them in. Ultimately, these are now before and after shots.
My initial test resulted in an ungodly ground hum. I had to mildly reassemble to assess it, then I regrounded everything and reassembled it. Now it works perfectly :)
Very near future mods:
-Add velcro to the adapter inside and elminate the electrical tape tie down method
-Secure electrical cable from being able to be pulled out of the back
-Fill in excess holes
-Glue down switch to input jack holder
-Paint?
Ultimately though, I set out what I had only mildly hinted at. And all in all, despite not being completely done, it's completely workable, and it all came to fruition in a matter of a few hours, and all with stuff I already had, no purchase necessary!
See, there IS a use to all that junk that I keep at my house lol.
So I now have a rackmountable Boss ODB-3 (hence my modified ODB-3_R_ model #). It also runs off an AC outlet, no need for a wall-wart adapter or a battery.
The JOYS of being a geek. A geek that happens to have a cool idea once in a while, and who happens to be good with tools. :)