Boss DF-2: Broken, Fixed... Modded? [Swervedriver Siren Mod?]
Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2020 6:24 am
Hey all, sorry if this is a little wordy:
Years ago, I got a DF-2 Super Feedbacker & Distortion because my bandmate in college played one and I always enjoyed it. I learned to use it actually pretty well for my own stuff, found the feedback useful for textures. So abt 5-10 years ago, I ordered one, a Jan 1985 model, just after the name change. Was broken when I got it, did the "siren sound" (like a ray gun or a helicopter). Which was cool, but not what I wanted it for. Got a refund, seller told me to keep the pedal. A while later, I flipped the plastic button under the treadle and it worked, so I was happy. For a while. Then it siren'd up again.
I put it away, convinced it was the "hold it down for feedback"-style switch. Unable to diagnose it, I got another (a late 1986), which not only worked perfectly, it was the one of the most minty pedals I'd ever bought used.
The other day, I was reading about pedals (duh), and came across a post elsewhere from last year about the DF-2. The poster described a problem like mine and somebody suggested that they should a few particular components on the board. I checked them, and lo and behold, I had a cold solder joint on one of the caps. Five minutes later, it was back to stock and totally playable! Oh yeah!
What WAS wrong with it seemed to match the DESCRIPTION of what Adam Franklin's broken DF-2 sounded like - a siren with wide oscillation, almost like a ray gun crossed with a helicopter. Some places online speculate that it was his Small Stone that was broken, but I found some direct quotes from him that it was the DF-2, and that he had more recently had some modded to make them switchable from "stock" to "broken". A bunch of online hunting found me a couple pics of his pedalboard I'd not seen, and I'll be damned if there isn't a tiny little toggle switch on the top face of his DF-2 by the power input.
What it had sounded like before the fix matches what FX Doctor offers as their switchable "Siren Mod" in their demos. (I don't think they were responsible for modding his, just mentioning as an indicator of what mine sounded like.)
So, now I have a dilemma. I now have a stock Jan 1985 DF-2. I JUST fixed it after years. I'm a player, not a collector, really -- but that 1986 replacement is just too damn cosmetically clean to put on my dirty punk rock board and stomp on in ratty practice spaces. But the '85 has wear 'n' tear 'n' mojo. Now that I know what I could do to it to make that mod switchable, I'm tempted. Electronically, it seems like the same thing as doing a switchable Ruetz mod to my Rat -- SPST switch, break the connection at that leg of the capacitor, and BOOM, modded.
But I just dunno if I wanna drill a hole in a nice, working, MIJ DF-2 that I want mostly for stock reasons.
I'd wanna mount it up by the power jack if I did it (I don't like side-mounted switches), and wouldn't be comfortable drilling the top face by the control knobs.
I'm a punky shoegazer-type (the band is more Spacemen 3 than Swervedriver, but I love em both), so the idea of a "Swervedriver" mod on my DF-2 (which may even be what that pedal is most famous for) is tempting and fun for a project to do and bonus coolness, even if I'd rarely use it. Why not hot-rod a pedal if I can make it switchably stock like my Rats? But there's something holding me up about doing the drilling, probably because I know it's a tight enclosure anyway, and while I'd never sell the damn thing (fondness for the model, nostalgia for my college band, useful musically to me), the potential risk of a botched mod and a useless hole in a reasonably uncommon pedal I love seems dangerous.
So, should I mod my DF-2 for the siren effect?
Pros:
- Fun project
- Cool additional sound option if I want it
- Even though it's "broken", the siren sound is prob the most infamous sound this particular pedal makes, thanks to Swervedriver
- Shoegaze cred in my own mind (I'm not much of a modder, skills-wise, but "Franklin-izing" a DF-2 is pretty badass, right?)
- If done right, electrical work should pretty easy (lift the leg I re-soldered, add 2 wires and a switch)
Cons:
- Risk of failure (dead pedal)
- Drilling a hole in a not-cheap MIJ Boss pedal
- Tight enclosure, concerned about my accuracy and space in the casing
- Top-mount switches have broken off on me before because of placement
- I'm a modding primitive, no multimeter skills, really
- Is this the AF/SWD sound?
Bonus points if you can link me to some audio or video where you can hear the "WOO! WOO! WOO!" on a Swervedriver track. I've heard a lot of speculation, and I'm actually pretty sure I've heard the stock sound on one of their records, but I dunno if I've ever pinpointed a "that's the broken pedal" moment when I'm nodding my head to Raise or Mezcal Head or the early EPs, but it's been a while, and I haven't had time since I fixed it to go back and listen.
What say you, you beautiful maniacs?
Years ago, I got a DF-2 Super Feedbacker & Distortion because my bandmate in college played one and I always enjoyed it. I learned to use it actually pretty well for my own stuff, found the feedback useful for textures. So abt 5-10 years ago, I ordered one, a Jan 1985 model, just after the name change. Was broken when I got it, did the "siren sound" (like a ray gun or a helicopter). Which was cool, but not what I wanted it for. Got a refund, seller told me to keep the pedal. A while later, I flipped the plastic button under the treadle and it worked, so I was happy. For a while. Then it siren'd up again.
I put it away, convinced it was the "hold it down for feedback"-style switch. Unable to diagnose it, I got another (a late 1986), which not only worked perfectly, it was the one of the most minty pedals I'd ever bought used.
The other day, I was reading about pedals (duh), and came across a post elsewhere from last year about the DF-2. The poster described a problem like mine and somebody suggested that they should a few particular components on the board. I checked them, and lo and behold, I had a cold solder joint on one of the caps. Five minutes later, it was back to stock and totally playable! Oh yeah!
What WAS wrong with it seemed to match the DESCRIPTION of what Adam Franklin's broken DF-2 sounded like - a siren with wide oscillation, almost like a ray gun crossed with a helicopter. Some places online speculate that it was his Small Stone that was broken, but I found some direct quotes from him that it was the DF-2, and that he had more recently had some modded to make them switchable from "stock" to "broken". A bunch of online hunting found me a couple pics of his pedalboard I'd not seen, and I'll be damned if there isn't a tiny little toggle switch on the top face of his DF-2 by the power input.
What it had sounded like before the fix matches what FX Doctor offers as their switchable "Siren Mod" in their demos. (I don't think they were responsible for modding his, just mentioning as an indicator of what mine sounded like.)
So, now I have a dilemma. I now have a stock Jan 1985 DF-2. I JUST fixed it after years. I'm a player, not a collector, really -- but that 1986 replacement is just too damn cosmetically clean to put on my dirty punk rock board and stomp on in ratty practice spaces. But the '85 has wear 'n' tear 'n' mojo. Now that I know what I could do to it to make that mod switchable, I'm tempted. Electronically, it seems like the same thing as doing a switchable Ruetz mod to my Rat -- SPST switch, break the connection at that leg of the capacitor, and BOOM, modded.
But I just dunno if I wanna drill a hole in a nice, working, MIJ DF-2 that I want mostly for stock reasons.
I'd wanna mount it up by the power jack if I did it (I don't like side-mounted switches), and wouldn't be comfortable drilling the top face by the control knobs.
I'm a punky shoegazer-type (the band is more Spacemen 3 than Swervedriver, but I love em both), so the idea of a "Swervedriver" mod on my DF-2 (which may even be what that pedal is most famous for) is tempting and fun for a project to do and bonus coolness, even if I'd rarely use it. Why not hot-rod a pedal if I can make it switchably stock like my Rats? But there's something holding me up about doing the drilling, probably because I know it's a tight enclosure anyway, and while I'd never sell the damn thing (fondness for the model, nostalgia for my college band, useful musically to me), the potential risk of a botched mod and a useless hole in a reasonably uncommon pedal I love seems dangerous.
So, should I mod my DF-2 for the siren effect?
Pros:
- Fun project
- Cool additional sound option if I want it
- Even though it's "broken", the siren sound is prob the most infamous sound this particular pedal makes, thanks to Swervedriver
- Shoegaze cred in my own mind (I'm not much of a modder, skills-wise, but "Franklin-izing" a DF-2 is pretty badass, right?)
- If done right, electrical work should pretty easy (lift the leg I re-soldered, add 2 wires and a switch)
Cons:
- Risk of failure (dead pedal)
- Drilling a hole in a not-cheap MIJ Boss pedal
- Tight enclosure, concerned about my accuracy and space in the casing
- Top-mount switches have broken off on me before because of placement
- I'm a modding primitive, no multimeter skills, really
- Is this the AF/SWD sound?
Bonus points if you can link me to some audio or video where you can hear the "WOO! WOO! WOO!" on a Swervedriver track. I've heard a lot of speculation, and I'm actually pretty sure I've heard the stock sound on one of their records, but I dunno if I've ever pinpointed a "that's the broken pedal" moment when I'm nodding my head to Raise or Mezcal Head or the early EPs, but it's been a while, and I haven't had time since I fixed it to go back and listen.
What say you, you beautiful maniacs?