SD pickup Booster (volume mod)

[dudiluty]

Hello.

I have a SD pickup booster that i use before my Way Huge green rhino overdrive so i get more dirt. But when i use it like this i get more dirt but also more volume.. is there a mod that will lower the volume but keeps the dirt boost when usi g it before an overdrive ?

Tnx

Marco

 

[Mincer]

Well, it is boosting the signal. My thought is just to lower the level on the Green Rhino. The main thing the Pickup Booster does is provide a clean boost in volume.

 

[dudiluty]

Thats correct but when using it before an overdrive it should give you more gain not a real volume change.. right? I have another booster after my OD for solo's etc.

I use the green rhino as a overdrive but also want it for heavier stuff. Thats why i need the booster before the green rhino but whithout the volume boost.

 

[Mincer]

Well, it isn't adding gain. It is just overdriving the overdrive, if that makes sense. The compression in the OD pedal is causing an increase in overdrive. So, if you have a ton of signal hitting the front of another OD pedal, it will squish it, compressing and overdriving further.
The Pickup Booster changes volume...it doesn't really increase gain on its own. The large volume increase into a pedal or amp causes the compression and gain change. But it doesn't add that on its own...it only adds clean volume.

 

[ItsaBass]

If the output from the Green Rhino is excessive, then turn it down.

Alternately...your Green Rhino can't be set for enough dirt by itself? Or do you use it with two different levels of dirt: one alone, and one with the Pickup Booster?

If the latter, sorry. But that's what the Pickup Booster does. Lower its output...and it won't do what you are using it for.

If you want to use the Green Rhino at two different levels of dirt, then what you want is two Green Rhinos.

 

[Artie]

A simple 470k resistor connected between the wire that goes from the footswitch to the board, makes the pedal unity gain at it's lowest setting and makes the input impedance virtually 1 meg. It's how mine is modded. Works great. It's late, but I'll show details in the morning.

 

[Lewguitar]

Maybe you have too many overdrive/boost pedals?

 

[Artie]

It occurs to me, that you said "Pickup Booster". My mod only applies to the original SFX-01. It may work with the newer ones too, but I don't have one yet to verify this. So take this with a grain 'o salt.

Here's the simple mod. Note that the original SFX-01 has a 470k input impedance and gain goes from +6 dB to +26 dB. This mod makes the input Z to aprox 1M with a gain of Unity to +20 dB.

Disconnect the end of the brown wire, (green arrow), from the foot-switch terminal, (blue arrow), and insert a 470k resistor, (yellow arrow), in between. That's it. Note, that when I did this mod, I used a multi-turn trim-pot so that I could dial in the perfect value. 470k - 500k worked best. I just never bothered to go back in and replace the trim-pot with a resistor.

 

[dudiluty]

It occurs to me, that you said "Pickup Booster". My mod only applies to the original SFX-01. It may work with the newer ones too, but I don't have one yet to verify this. So take this with a grain 'o salt.

Here's the simple mod. Note that the original SFX-01 has a 470k input impedance and gain goes from +6 dB to +26 dB. This mod makes the input Z to aprox 1M with a gain of Unity to +20 dB.

Disconnect the end of the brown wire, (green arrow), from the foot-switch terminal, (blue arrow), and insert a 470k resistor, (yellow arrow), in between. That's it. Note, that when I did this mod, I used a multi-turn trim-pot so that I could dial in the perfect value. 470k - 500k worked best. I just never bothered to go back in and replace the trim-pot with a resistor.

Ok tnx. So this works for you to get more gain and the volume stays the same ?

 

[dave74]

A true-clean boost with eq would probably work better. SD has a forza and maybe another model like that. This way you''ll be able to have the GR alone and then boost it with total control over the volume and tone.

 

[chadd]

You need something that has it's own drive section and not just a clean boost, like the pickup booster. I'd use something that has a slightly different flavor of drive, like an OCD, to give the tone more character than just stacking tube screamers.

 

[Artie]

Ok tnx. So this works for you to get more gain and the volume stays the same ?

Less gain. Technically, its less volume. -6 dB to be exact. But +20 dB is plenty, and it's unity gain at full CCW. Totally transparent, with one qualification. It's totally transparent if you're going straight into an amp. But the magic happens when you go into a pedal that loads down your guitar. Old Wah's are notorious for this. So, with the mod, "Gain" knob all the way down, it eliminates that loading without altering the tone of your guitar. It becomes a true line buffer. But you still have 20 dB of gain at your disposal. (Which is a lot.)

I need to clarify something. It's less gain than the unmodded pedal. There is NO loss of gain, or volume, of your guitar.

 

[jeremy]

the pup booster is a clean boost, it wont give you any dirt on its own. if you are getting more volume boost than you want, then you should try using another overdrive and stacking it into the green rhino.

 

[dudiluty]

Ok thanks all for the replies.

I think i will just buy another green rhino.

 

[jeremy]

while i really like the green rhino, been very happy with mine, there are plenty of other things out there too if you want to stack em. the way huge camel toe is a green rhino and red llama in the same box

 

[IMENATOR]

Thats correct but when using it before an overdrive it should give you more gain not a real volume change.. right?

If the pedal has some headroom left then clean boost will add both volume and distortion, that is just how amplification circuits work when the reach their saturation. If the pedal is already quite saturated and you use a clean boost you will have very little change in volume and maybe the sound will get thicker and have more sustain. So if what you want is more distortion but keep the same volume you either need to use an overdrive pedal instead and just sett the volume of the new pedal so you are not adding undesired volume.

Being that said I would rather get a high gain pedal, it just seems to sound better and less noisy imho. I use graph eq after the high gain stage because it will add the extra volume and tone, in front of the high gain amp it can get muddy and not louder.

 

[chadd]

Ok thanks all for the replies.

I think i will just buy another green rhino.

Two tubescreamer type pedals is going to result in a significant mid boost.

 

[ItsaBass]

Two tubescreamer type pedals is going to result in a significant mid boost.

The idea is to use one or the other at any one time. Allows the same effect with two different settings.

 

[chadd]

The idea is to use one or the other at any one time. Allows the same effect with two different settings.

Makes sense, but going from one to the other can be a pain if you have to do that

 

[jeremy]

theres plenty of ways to get more dirt. finding how best works for you is part of the journey of being an electric guitar player.