Hey guys

I'm looking to do some mods to my Akai Drive3 Overdrive pedal.

I'm looking to tame the mids a little and boost the bass. Also make the tone knob more responsive as right now, it's at 9 o'clock and that's where the pedal doesn't sound too trebly. Anything above 1 o'clock is unusable and ear piercing. I know I bought a TS clone and it's expected, but I'm looking to mod it. Im looking for a mid neutral tone with a bit more low end.

So mods I want to do:

1. Reduce noise when engaged. My Laney Cub makes quite a bit of noise on full volume. Hit the pedal and I've got lots of noise. I want to cut that down. I understand the pedal amplifies the signal and thats what the resulting noise is from but if something can be done, id like to do it.

2. I want to increase bass, and make mids neutral in the circuit and make the tone knob more responsive (when knob is at 12, that's a balance of treble and bass, not at 9.

I'm looking to extend the gain range. When gain is on 0 I want it to be more clean than what it is right now. Im using this pedal mainly as a booster, but that doesn't mean i dont want some good drive out of it too

It's basically the same mods Keeley does to a TS808


I asked the manufacturer for a schematic but no can do. The pedal is a copy of the Biyang X Drive or GFS Greenie.

Here are some pics of the internals












Hope you guys can help me. Thanks for your time!

Thanks
D101

thanks for the reply!

to be honest, it really does sound great, and versatile. got 3 subtly but different tones just from the switch. The screamer mode actually sounds VERY much like a TS9. There are even youtube videos that you can hardly tell the price difference.

Im happy with the tone, im just looking to expand its tone if you know what i mean.

There are 2 popular mods to change the tone of this pedal, one of which seems to be what Keeley has done.

To get more bass out of it, changing a cap and resistor will fatten the sound and get a bit more boost.

Using a lower noise opamp will help reduce the noise, but will also change the tone! So you will need to experiment with the replacement.

Where are you located? I can help you in Jozi area.

Peter

I'm in JHB. East rand. I have 5 op amps. NE5523, JRC4558DD, JRC4558D, JRC4559, TL072. I'm lucky that the pedal has an accessible cover to the OP amps so that they can e changed really quick with no issues.

All the same so doesn't seem to be the op amps. I think it's the circuit itself.

Yea, Op Amp differences are overrated IMO. I've never heard much of a change swapping them around.

Are you playing buckers or single coils?

My recommendation would be just to buy a pedal you like. Otherwise do a whole lot of research and practice soldering some basic pcb kits from an electronics store before touching your pedal.

Did the 5532 make any difference to the noise level?

It is a really quiet opamp, when used in the correct circuit. I have not tried it in a Toobscreamer before.

No difference. Same noise. Where the difference is (and it's very slight) is the type of gain. The 5532 is slightly fuzzier, while the JRCs are slightly more smooth.

To be honest though its not the be all or end all of a pedal. The actual pedals circuit makes the biggest difference, and what they use to clip. The Akai has LED for the warm and another type of diode for screamer. Boost combines both.

My SZ has humbuckers. Pretty hot bridge and a fat warm neck.

I can do the mods for you in such a way that they are reversible, so if you hate em they can be reset.

Peter