How To Modify A BOSS Blues Drive BD-2 Overdrive Pedal - SHORT CIRCUIT Episode 14

[@jacobbaldwin9707]

PLEASE don't stop with the mod videos... This is pure GOLD!

[@devnaldo]

I can't love this man more and more. People don't understand, but it's one of the few advantages of social media. This possibility of having a direct channel with people who do wonderful things like Josh. Big fan here. Thanks, from Brazil.

[@andrewwhiston5194]

You could but I’m not sure what Mrs Josh would say.

[@JCleggy]

Josh and the people at JHS epitomize the best of the guitar community today.

[@danielatwood3128]

I've happily been a Helix guy for several years now (my sound guys and wallet are especially happy) but JHS is making me want to go back to pedals and an amp again.

[@JoeHansRobles]

So Josh, you are dragging us to the same rabbit hole you are for the last 20+ years? This is awesome, thank you. You inspire me!!!

[@shanekelderman1457]

I'm 17 hours late for the stream. Doing my part for the algorithm. This is so valuable. All the thought and effort (new camera included) you put into these videos really shows. Thanks for all you do.

[@SuperSkully11]

"Look. Look, Ma!". Lol, a good Son is always looking for ways to please his Ma. That was my favorite part.

[@joeyskar]

Thanks again Josh for the fantastic build and to Belle for picking me out of the bunch. You guys are awesome! I love the series, keep up the great work. 👍🏻

[@darrelldourte9455]

Lucky dawg. What kind of amp are you using?

[@joeyskar]

@darrelldourte9455 a few, I suspect this will sound good through just about anything but I have a Blues Jr. and a Super Reverb that will likely be this pedal's mainstay.

[@stevelaferney3579]

This is really interesting Josh. You are teaching us how to solder. You are so smooth at this. I don’t know why someone would not want to watch this. Fascinating stuff.

[@stevedocherty1816]

Love the franken-pedal look of this with the mismatched knobs! So gonna re-knob all my pedals like this.

[@secretdaisy6484]

@@stevedocherty1816 I had the same thought. I went to art school and learned a lot about composition and avoiding the expectation of balance and symmetry. People who don’t get it will have a candle 🕯 on each side of the mantle and a big picture 🖼 in the middle. 😵‍💫

[@alangonzalez488]

Thank you Josh! You revived my interest in this kind of stuff and just bought the Wampler course. I appreciate you share this on this videos.

[@gerongrahamgg]

Absolutely love this series! Thank you Josh. Just bought Wamplers courses after watching you guys for years now. Excited to start tinkering!

[@wvp873]

These short circuit videos are so cool. I went back and watched the full series starting with the LPB-1. You've inspired me to get my old half-finished pedal designs out and finally finish them. :)

[@joefarmer7727]

Really loved the sound without the diodes. Pretty organic sounding.

[@davysturtevant]

Josh, I really appreciate what you do. Your generosity will repay you handsomely. Perhaps it is already. I'm 61, playing guitar from my very serious age of 4. Fascinated by music and audio all my life. Your videos are just right. Congratulations on your every success!

[@david_a_uno]

This is so beyond cool, I don't even know the word to say. Thanks for this amazing walk-through/demo! This session also confirms why I miss my BD pedal that's somewhere in a box that I still haven't located.

[@garethbull5303]

Lol, 'I like being a circus act' No man, I don't want to see you fail. I just love that I have this pedal and now you've provided a perfect way to mod it. I've never been a fan of the vanilla pedal, but just kept it as a staple pedal.

[@BeefNEggs057]

Everyone has one but nobody has it on their board seems to be the norm. I like to get the old pedals out. They always behave their best when knowing they could get swapped out anytime. It’s a good supervisory technique too. Ok not really. Don’t do that with people. Pedals can’t sue me. Probably.

[@plrpilot]

I've got a tube of chipquick that is basically a lower melting point metal. If you put a tiny bit of flux and use the chipquick on the pad you want removed, I think you'll find it comes out super quick. Once the pad is cleaned, use your normal solder to reattach the new part. It'll save you a lot of time and it's really important if you have temperature sensitive parts nearby that you don't want to cook. Thank you so much for these vids. You're a blast to watch and I love the knowledge sharing.

[@PedalChainsAddiction]

Really enjoying this series. Thanks for taking the time; it really removes uncertainty and self-doubt to be able to follow along with someone knowledgeable. I look forward to more in JHS Short Circuit.

[@123DrMath]

sometimes I add flux to my copper de-solder braid and it works magic. Thank you Josh for being you.

[@PSjustanormalguy]

I just want to note that Josh does not render his pedal useless in its disassembly, unlike some other KZbinrs. Nice video Josh, I don't own a Blues Driver yet, but this will be my summer project 👍

[@gerongrahamgg]

Bro too good of a reference lol

[@arnesl929]

😂

[@philarends7555]

Maybe that other dude will send it in for a mod

[@STRATMAN1969]

My favorite BD-2 mod is when you added an Angry Charlie. Helps that I'm a JB-2 too. I would also like to say that in my opinion the Angry Driver is Boss's most versatile O.D.

[@jordan.lafayette]

Honestly the diff knobs was a 🔥look though ha ha. Loved this!

[@daveychainsaw5685]

Just caught up with this. What a great video for pedal fans, enjoyed every minute. Gonna have to find me a Blues Driver to mod i guess! Thanks Josh.

[@alstrummer2446]

New overhead camera looks great. Short Circuit videos are the best. Keep 'em coming!

[@eross21]

best show on the internet !!! I can’t wait to see a octave fuzz pedal build

[@AndrewWukusick]

Seeing such an early modded pedal is such an awesome thing to see. A literal piece of pedal history.

[@robcole6785]

The pedal with no diodes sounds awesome! It wouldn’t have even occurred to me that you could play it that way. I don’t know anything about electronics… I would’ve thought you’d get no signal to pass through or it would’ve shorted out or something disastrous… So cool!

[@foxtrot000]

The diodes make the peaks and valleys of the sound waves more flat (in simple terms)

[@coldacre]

plenty of pedals sound amazing that way. the RAT for example. huge sound!

[@-jank-willson]

@@coldacre wait rat has no diodes? but yeah i think diodes = fuzz

[@foxtrot000]

@@-jank-willson I think it does have diodes he just meant it sounds nice if you remove them too. Also diodes don’t really translate to fuzz

[@benmorris118]

​@-jank-willson diodes and their arrangements affect the clipping characteristics eg hard/soft clip. Generally fuzzes are associated with transistors, with a feedback loop from one leg back to the base, often chained. The feedback loop causes the gain increase/signal amplification. Diodes placed after clip the peaks of that amplified signal. More transistors generally means more gain. Can be done with op amps too, but I think of them in OD/dist generally

[@bartondudlick9019]

Thanks for the Amazon lists. I bookmarked your book recommendation list. Kudos for including A Good Man Is Hard to Find.

[@therewasascene]

No diodes was indeed cool Your big containers of switches and knobs made me drool. When you started digging I instantly was drawn to those red ones. Aaaand was reminded of my kids digging through the Lego drawer. Same motions, almost the same sound.

[@muddynyc]

Thank you so much for taking your valuable time and posting this! Although, now that you are no longer bringing back older brands, you have a little extra time....

[@johnnyphoney5669]

I was smiling when you were about to try it without the diodes. I modded BD2 in the past and learned that stock diodes do almost nothing, or just nothing. The threshold is so high they are barely even touching the signal. I added a switch to make the diodes detachable from the ground. And it was so hard to hear any difference I was pretty sure I couldn’t tell a difference in a blind test. My goal was to get more clean signal with minimum gain. I wanted just the tone of the pedal and wanted to avoid clipping, putting it in the beginning of the chain. I thought if I remove the diodes I can get more headroom, well, that didn’t work as BD2 distortion is basically discreet op-amp clipping, it’s not the diodes. I’m not sure why BOSS even bothered to put them on the board.

[@SugarTouch]

I guess boss putted it on the board in case you have some kind of booster in-front of BD-2 or your guitar pickups are too metal-head-ish-hot. Without this cap pedal will probably sound noisy/scratchy when overdriven too much. Sort of like safety door blocker to prevent your door hit the wall when smashed with a leg by SWAT squad. Keep in mind that all BOSS pedals have some kind of buffer to keep your signal up and health whatever the order/number of pedals you have. And without these diodes in some edge-cases pedal might delegate unwanted noise further in chain. Also BOSS might have some kind of safety protocols in production line. Sort of like "sandwiching" any circuit in prof-ready framework. Useful no-brainer to prevent any issues in _some_ cases but completely transparent in most of them. Seems pretty reasonable for refactoring/maintenance/backward compatibility etc over the decades of production.

[@uttherkunst3806]

Watching Josh deal with a solder sucker and braid makes me so thankful that I have a proper desoldering station. 😝

[@VelcorHF]

This is awesome. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

[@alexx5954]

I am a big fan of the BD-2, i love it! I have it from 2006-7 i think and two years ago i bought the waza version. I've always thought that the old one sounded a little fizzy and the waza version has more clarity on the notes. Still have them both and use them in different pedalboards. Nice video!

[@2wheelhopelessgarage258]

Never been a pedal guy, never used one but these kind of videos makes me want to dive into this stuff. Obviously interesting since watched the whole video 😂

[@gunkanjima3408]

It can be a lot of fun. Good luck

[@GAlanGodwin]

I love this series. Please do the Ross Fuzz!! Please.

[@denniseberhart1603]

I was really glued to this video thank you...great pedal mod and tool list .😮good one

[@jeffdeez1]

I'm appreciative of this! Recently started studying electronics and love this master-class in modding! 💥

[@acatwiththreenames3658]

I love this video, i have a blues driver on my board and use it a lot. I'm reluctant to start fixing a thing that i don't consider broken.

[@jcsk8]

This is free gold. thank you, sir. Respect!

[@Earthwormjimm]

My favorite pedal and my favorite way of learning. Thank you Josh, this made my night

[@secretdaisy6484]

I forgot to say the reason I started watching this video is because the Blues Driver is next up in my ‘Acquire Guitar Stuff Lust’ and I thought I might learn stuff about it. Boy did I ever. A tinkering or modding video is too kewl 🖥️🎤🎸. 👍☮️🌞🎸🎵⭐️

[@rickkowalski1755]

Great vid, thanks Josh. BTW, a great tool for cleaning or enlarging board holes is a bead file, they have them at craft stores that sell beadwork supplies.

[@mynameismudd1518]

LOVE mod, videos. Josh, my man. You are a National Treasure!!

[@coldacre]

international treasure 🙂 @mynameismudd1518

[@SugarTouch]

you may use some kind of tweezers or just C-bended piece of wire when you're looking for the same component on the back side. You just "hug/clamp" your board and put one end on the component. And the second opposite end will be in exact place on the back. You don't need to count holes and look for landmarks or whatever.

[@briand7381]

I love these videos. We need more MOD time with Josh!

[@JayKughan]

YAAAY!!! You did the fuzz mod!!! 🥰 Thanks, Josh! 🙏🏼 Sheldon / Big Bang Theory fan inda house here.. 👋🏼

[@whyceeguy]

I think you are on the edge of what would be my ideal gain pedal!! Straight blues driver side by side with the moded version and being able change which was first in line plus being able to add the fuzz mod to either one. You would have pretty much every gain stack option you (I) would want. Loved the nerd factor of watching this, thanks :)

[@IvanRecordCastle]

This video frickin' Rocks! I've never had a BD2, played one a couple times. Not sure I'm a fan, yet. But I love Boss pedals in gral. Thanks Mr Scott. 🙂🙏

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

I have done the Keeley mod on a Boss DS-1 and it was brilliant. Totally changed the character of the pedal. I also have done several amp mods that change out values of certain components. Not all were really worth it. You can go the opposite way and make it worse if you're not careful. I bought an amp kit from eBay and while putting it together I changed out some components just to get a baseline of what does what. It's a great feeling to improve an existing piece of kit and no one else has one. You're own little Frankenstein. I want to do the Boss Metal Zone mod as well. I hear it really makes the pedal very useful

[@rayprevailer8454]

DIDO with the comment below. More mods please. This was a fantastic video. I have a very old BD-2 that I would try this mod on. It will have to wait as it's packed away as I am moving next spring.

[@rincewindtheblack6461]

Great video, I appreciate. Thank You and I'm waiting for more like this.

[@Giosk86]

Those videos are INCREDIBLES!

[@JyrkiVar]

Killer playing, Josh! 👍

[@bartboop]

I have one of those JHS Blu drives, and it is a fantastic pedal!❤

[@RuthlessMojo]

Hey Josh. Great video. Would like to see you analyse classic effects circuits schematics. Would be great for those interested in pedal design.

[@grmelectric6826]

Wow that is awesome! Glad you did the fuzz mod!

[@michaelthimes]

Desoldering is an art that requires finesse and patience. The task kind of brings out the worst in me so I cannot imagine what kind of person can just desolder all day. Saintly.

[@BeefNEggs057]

A desperate kind

[@ElCentralScrutinizer]

I'm stickin' around for the whole thing, Josh.

[@C_Moore]

I'd love to see one on the Angry Driver!!

[@cdngtrplyr]

Now I have to get a second Blues Driver and remove the aforementioned diodes. Love that Tweed sound ♫♪♫

[@markb2038]

Great video Josh…love the BD-2 and love it more mod’ed

[@mais5762]

Loved the "knob heaven" moment

[@RockJawRicky]

Mine is from 1995. The first year of production and I don't know if I would mod it as I love the pedal. Great info Josh and it gives me something to think of.

[@j3ffleopard690]

SS-02 is an amazing solder sucker for the folks who don't have one yet. You can buy replacement tubing for very cheap on AZ as well.

[@markbyers5569]

Old Blues Drivers are now $1,000. Thanks Josh. 😂

[@PSjustanormalguy]

Eek cheapest i can find on reverb is $AU$350. Looks like 1995 or earlier is needed.

[@markbyers5569]

@ yikes! I was being facetious but maybe I’m not too far off!

[@tinfoilcat5446]

At least the silver label ones are under a hundred bucks

[@synyster_nate]

Lolol

[@alexdenton6586]

Tone city is the best bang for the buck

[@plantesounds8836]

Seeing the whole process this way is super informative. It’s the small details and impromptu problem solving that’s unique to these videos. I would love to see you mod a current RAT. I’d appreciate seeing how you work with how they are currently manufactured. Side note: I had to pick up a Blues Driver. That fuzz mod is awesome! I’d like to figure out a way to make it foot switchable.

[@carlBigSpoonjohnson]

Hate I missed the live stream 😮 I’m gonna say it, Josh you’re a national treasure! Hope y’all have a good Thanksgiving Cheers 🍻

[@andrewdrumstuff]

DUDE. one of the first vids i saw u (josh) had mentioned having a blues driver as an always on more gooder effect, and it is a great pedal. I found one for like 40 bucks and its been one of my go to pedals aside from an ehx soul food, looking forward to what this mod has to offer 😸

[@toysmitty]

Cool to see you do this mod Josh! I love these videos and the dyson made an apearance!

[@mikeb1378]

but why? you're crazy, i love it. i love the crazy things you do, let's not get carried away, i don't love you, you're not my type. now i could love a man who has a mod for a MT-2

[@brianrollins7275]

Cool video, thanks Josh. Congratulations to Joey Skar.

[@thomasturner8474]

Thank you for this! I have that blues driver, and all the parts needed were in my ITT tech tool kit from back in the day. Now I have a use for this breadboard... Good fun. The nerd acceptance here is so heartwarming.

[@tlb2732]

I own, use, and love JHS pedals. I also own, use, and love my Blues Driver... as originally built. It ain't broke and it don't need fixing.

[@brendanxtrom]

I have an older keeley moded blues driver for years and it sounds so damn good.

[@nge888]

This was so cool - josh man you are simply awesome. Thanks !

[@kangaroofoot]

I once bought a used Blues Driver from Guitar Center for $29 because I liked the color. It was stored away for 3 years before it was finally used. It became my favorite pedal of all time, I was so sad when it finally broke.

[@MichaelMadcock]

It looks and sounds like a Monster, everything is as it should be.

[@flatlander5835]

I bought an old Blues Driver so that I could have a go at modding. The trouble is that it sounds so good I'm leaving it as it is! Keep up the good work Josh, great explanation and amazing production values. A great watch. 👏👏👏

[@SD-yi8be]

So interesting! Please continue doing this kind of videos 🙏

[@BataraKado]

yeah these mod videos are super awesome! its very useful information for everyone.. hope some people really benefit from these videos

[@michaelfessenden8601]

This is the mod I wanted ,my favorite boss pedal

[@Everett_0]

I love the "horrible" logo 🖤

[@wolfcrossing5992]

Very Cool!!! Well Done and A BIG Thank You!

[@bastianmakes]

"If you are here you are a nerd. Welcome." Thank you, Josh

[@davidbrookes9424]

You rock dude! Thanks for your videos.

[@255george]

i love the knob arrangement.

[@255george]

see, I made it to the end.

[@jdjohnson8470]

Hey, Josh, enjoying the stream-of-consciousness banter.

[@kiritsi100]

I actually like the 3 different knobs! Gives it a more modern look. Great sounding! I have your Double Barrel and can't play without it!

[@sotocuatro]

Sounds great Josh!!!

[@Ibaneddie76]

No joke I'm right now ordering another couple BD's just so I can remove those diodes and keep it that way, that sounds killer! I'll do both mods but honestly clipping through the transistors instead of those tiny diodes is the boobies as heck! I know Marshall DSL's aren't the most popular amps but I got ahold of a special lunch box DSL that sounds just like that no pedals required. Really great video thanks!

[@lp7064]

Was your DSL modded? If so, do you know in what way?

[@arnyarny77]

damn that knob situation at the end had me laughing😆!

[@themaninthesuitcase]

It’s going to take me a while to be able to watch all of this but doing a version of the Keeley Mod on my BD-2 and documenting that was more of my more fun projects I’ve worked on.

[@thyreapermc5948]

"This pedal, that I have personally modded with Boss, does not need modding." I bought the BD2 not knowing what it was when I was barely able to hold a C chord. And it was pretty useless to me then. Now, I've gained the touch to hear its tickles. Damn great tool to add nuance to bluesy playing. Sounds good as a distortion pedal too 😂

[@thyreapermc5948]

Also, do you "Noooo disassemble" to yourself once in a while?

[@jeffwillock324]

I dig watching you do the mod live.The.Hendrixish

[@SenorDrewfus]

love these man thank you super stoked on that no-diodes tweed type tone, wild and wooly! how I like it. kind of reminds me of the DS1 clip out one diode mod

[@kendikeman2304]

Hail Santa Josh with an early holiday gift.

[@crumpet_]

love it! this vid is geoing to get me back into pedal modding

[@jasoneskridge6453]

when u have issues removing a component after using the sucker, try to add some flux to the joint and then reheat the pad with iron and use the sucker. should help clear more gunk out. u can get flux in a sharpie like marker. AND i know this tip from watching Northridge Fix videos, who does indeed livestream himself with multiple camera angles fixing circuit boards while providing helpful tips to aspiring techs. also using flux will help fix bridges. dab a little on, heat with the iron and most bridges break right up.