Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

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Flurko
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Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by Flurko » Thu Jun 24, 2021 12:43 am

I've had a boss DD7 that I bought from a friend like 10 years ago. It worked fine, used it with my old bands, then a few years ago I didnt use it for a couple of years after a move, and when I went to try it again it has a lot of problems which make it mostly impossible to use :

-the overall level of the effect is very low : the audible range of the knob is now completely cramped around it's maximum range, it's basically silent from 1 to 8, usable on 9 and too loud on 10.
-the mode knob is buggy in two ways : the actual selected mode do not match the position of the knob anymore, it's basically shifted by some degrees, and it tends to shift from one mode to the next randomly, which also cuts out the pedal if I'm using the looper mode.

There's probably other bugs but those two are the more annoying. I remember this pedal having a funnier bug when it was normally working, where the delay time would sometime shift when playing, but I used to reallly like those tape warbling sounds.

So, should I throw it away ? Are there some easy fixes or is it an advanced electronic project ?

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JSett
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Re: Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by JSett » Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:11 am

It depends how good your home electronics is. The Boss DD range only gets more and more complicated the higher you go. Old DD-3's can sometimes be fixed if it's a simple problem and they're quite 'simple' digital pedals. I can only imagine how much more of a cluster**** the insides of a 7 would be.

If it were me? I'd throw it on eBay as spares or repairs and buy another one. But that's just me. I'd repair an old and rare pedal but not a DD-7, not worth my time
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Re: Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by parry » Thu Jun 24, 2021 4:31 am

johnnysomersett wrote:
Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:11 am
I can only imagine how much more of a cluster**** the insides of a 7 would be.
...throw it on eBay as spares or repairs and buy another one. But that's just me. I'd repair an old and rare pedal but not a DD-7, not worth my time
Sadly, that ^^^

Came to say that if you do decide to look at another DD7 and it's the tape warbles you're liking - if you have the ability to check out a DD8, it might be worth it. I've had both on my board since the 8 came out and when I want those warbly tape sounds, the 8 is my go-to.

It's a bummer, what's happened to your old DD7. For the life of me, I can't understand how that could happen, unless it's a bad chip or something is bridging inside? Doesn't sound like a few hits of deoxit can save this one, hahaha. All the best in getting it sorted!
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Re: Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by Flurko » Thu Jun 24, 2021 4:51 am

Thanks for you answers, I figured it was not worth it to repair it but you never know, maybe someone here would have had a "oh it's a common bug, just turn it upside down hold the button for X seconds to fix it " type of answer ;D

Honestly I don't really need a digital delay nowadays, I recall mostly using the looper and the analog mode, so If I need either of these I will buy two separate pedals at some point. It's just annoying to have my first (and only) "expensive" pedal die like that, while my 20€ behringer distortion bought at the same time is also unusable but does so while making funny farting noises :D

I might open the pedal one of these days, just to check if anything isn't visually obviously wrong inside.

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Re: Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by fisonic » Thu Jun 24, 2021 10:21 pm

I had similar issues with a DD6. The mode selector is just a detent potentiometer. Roland had the parts available, for fairly cheap) via my local Roland distributer(Aust). Very helpful. Give your local Roland a yell. You never know.
Worked a treat by the way. Wont say it is an easy solder job though.

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Re: Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by d.puempin » Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:59 am

Dear Flurko

I'd try to move the potentiometers a fair bit. They seem to have been sitting in the same position some years long. Imagine them being scratchy pots.
I had a similar issue with a DD-20: The time-pot was not working properly. After some minutes turning it left and right it started working as suspected and has ever since.
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Re: Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by Flurko » Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:53 am

I guess I never took the time to update this thread with some good news : as I gradually went back to playing electric regularly, the pedal works fine now ! It must have been dusty from the years of disuse.

I only ever use the analog mode though, and it has a little quirk I love with the delay time randomly jumping up and down producing little whistling noises. I don't known if it's a baked in feature of the "unreliable analogness" or just a defect of my particular unit, but it's cool.

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Re: Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by Futuron » Fri Feb 03, 2023 3:12 am

Flurko wrote:
Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:53 am
I only ever use the analog mode though, and it has a little quirk I love with the delay time randomly jumping up and down producing little whistling noises. I don't known if it's a baked in feature of the "unreliable analogness" or just a defect of my particular unit, but it's cool.
Mine does this too, after years of working fine before that. It's annoying in that the only way to get the delay time to be what I want or consistent is to tap tempo with an external pedal (eg FS-7).


It's not the only Boss pedal I have that now glitches. My PS-6 & PH-3 play up big time. The RV-5 'pops' now and then. But the 20-something other pedals all still work properly many years later.

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Re: Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by JSett » Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:44 am

That's great news! Glad this came to a natural (and positive) conclusion.
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Re: Can I save my old Boss DD-7 ?

Post by marqueemoon » Fri Feb 03, 2023 7:25 am

Nice. I sold my DD-7 and I do miss it once in a while. The reverse mode in stereo is a ton of fun.

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