Boss - Metal Zone MT2 mods

A forum devoted to mod, tips and suggestions for upgrading and rehousing your VERY CHEAP commercial stompbox to near boutique excellence.
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jokersmile32
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Post by jokersmile32 »

If i want to do the bogner mod do I replace the caps with jumpers or just leave the spots empty?

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blackbunny
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Post by blackbunny »

Can you give some details on which components you are thinking of removing or changing? There are a few versions of the "Bogner mod" floating around.

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Jawknee5
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Post by Jawknee5 »

Hello everyone. First post here.

Im interested in doing the Boogie/ bogner mod mentioned in this post. Like everyone else, im tired of how my MT-2 sounds. Very shrill and gets lost in the mix. From some videos ive watched on the tube, it gives me what i want. Loss highs, but still chunky.

Now, when i was snooping around inside of my pedal, looking at what needs to be removed and replaced. The silver caps i see, i think they are c34 and 36, don't have a fared rating on them, instead it says something like 270k, i think. Now, am i supposed to replace those with a electrolytic capacitor? Ive never modded a pedal before, but im not afraid of failure. Also when it says to remove caps, do i replace it with a small jumper?

Thanks for all the help. Im sure ill be a frequent user of this site!

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blackbunny
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Post by blackbunny »

The so-called Boogie / Bogner mod usually involves: remove C35 (0.01uF) and don't replace it with a jumper, remove C34 (0.027uF) and replace it with 0.047uF plastic film or box cap, remove C36 (0.022) and replace it with a 1uF film or box cap, replace D3 with an LED and replace D4 with a 1n4001 or 1n4002 or 1N4004 diode.

It's best to avoid using electro or tantalum capacitors for these mods.

All component numbers are printed on the PCB but you should check carefully before you remove any components to make sure that they are the right ones - some of the component numbers are printed in confusing places. It's a good idea to have the schematic handy as a reference, and Brian Wampler's book on modifying effects pedals has very useful photo's of the PCB with the mod components circled.

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skylark44
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Post by skylark44 »

This is probably a dumb question...but, can I use these mods on my Digitech Death Metal as well? :scratch: :mrgreen:

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blackbunny
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Post by blackbunny »

skylark44 wrote:This is probably a dumb question...but, can I use these mods on my Digitech Death Metal as well? :scratch: :mrgreen:
Maybe. I think your Death Metal pedal has the same circuit as either a DOD FX86 or FX86B, but I'm not sure.

The bad news is that Digitech / DOD have made sure that the schematics for any of their current models are nearly impossible to find, so until somebody traces a Death Metal pedal and posts the circuit we're just guessing.

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skylark44
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Post by skylark44 »

Yeah, those bastards! :x :mrgreen:

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Post by GizmoGardens »

I did most of the "keeley" mods that devastator posted. Made a pretty big difference, I actually like the way the MT-2 sounds now that its modded. The biggest difference, to my ears, came from replacing IC3 and IC4 with TL072's... Huge pain in the dick though, thanks to those inline op-amps.

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Seven64
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Post by Seven64 »

i did the griffin death metal mod to mine, then started replacing other parts with higher quality parts. i changed ic3 to an opa2134 and ic4 to a ne5532, and it sounds like a 5150 for the most part.

i have also done the fromel mod, which kicks some serious ass!

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Post by GizmoGardens »

Seven64 wrote:i did the griffin death metal mod to mine, then started replacing other parts with higher quality parts. i changed ic3 to an opa2134 and ic4 to a ne5532, and it sounds like a 5150 for the most part.

i have also done the fromel mod, which kicks some serious ass!
Whats the fromel mod entail?

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Seven64
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Post by Seven64 »

lots of cap changes, as switching the clipping section to some mosfets. 2n7000's i think.

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knucklethrasher83
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Post by knucklethrasher83 »

hey everyone..new here

I was wondering if anyone could help me out on what a few of the metal zone mt2 stock parts are.

d4,d3? whats the stock diode

c25,,c27,c35,c34,36,c42?

whats the best type of capacitor to use..such as film etc?


thanks for your time

kt83

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GizmoGardens
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Post by GizmoGardens »

knucklethrasher83 wrote:hey everyone..new here

I was wondering if anyone could help me out on what a few of the metal zone mt2 stock parts are.

d4,d3? whats the stock diode

c25,,c27,c35,c34,36,c42?

whats the best type of capacitor to use..such as film etc?


thanks for your time

kt83
The schematic I have says:
D3 and D4 are 1SS133
C42=.047uF
C36=.022uF
C35=.01uF
C34=.027uF
C27=10uF (not positive)
C25=.0015uF

I usually use metal film caps when I mod ODs/Distortions. I also find that replacing op-amps (depending on what their function in the circuit is) with higher quality op-amps tends to give me the greatest benefit for the least amount of work/money.

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Slash_83
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Post by Slash_83 »

Hi guys,

I need your help

I ve made the bogner mod, remove c35, replaced c36 and c34 with 1uf and .047uf caps, and d3 and d4 with 1n4002 and led.

First attempt seemed ok...but after a while I decided to remove 1n4002 and use another led.

Well, I noticed that sound was not so more "powerful", led d3 d4 doesn't light up,and for some minutes I heard a lot of noise and fuzz from the pedal, but only for a little time.

I think that some component has burned, and now the pedal (that works ok,exception for no powerful gain) has part of circuit that doesn't work...


Sorry for my bad English..


I hope u can help me!

Regards!

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xfree
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Post by xfree »

gnognofasciani wrote:Does anybody tried lowering R44 value to, let's say, 22k (1/10th of the original) instead of removing C34 or C35?? That should do the trick without changing too much the character...
Lowering C30 as well should give a tighter distortion with less low end fuzz...

I'd like to try those mods but I have a brand new (birthday present still in warranty) SMD metal muff and no smd skill...

Yes I tried the r41 to 22k mod..yes its reminicent to jcm800, btw I did mod it to diezel as well ( http://www.lonephantom.com/2010/03/modd ... boss-mt-2/ )...but the gain is too harsh so i did the r41 mod.and its great !
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xfree
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Post by xfree »

Change log

R41 to 22k
C34 to .047uf
D3 & D4 to LED

Id dub this jcm800 mod...compared to the diezel mod previously disccused, this
Preserves the clarity of presence of the picking nuance, which the diezel quite doesnt have,
Full rounded tubescreamer tone to fuzz at 70%gain up.nice scooped mids but still retains the sparkle...

Try it! Cheers!
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xfree
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Post by xfree »

Change log

I did lower c30 to 0.22uf electrolytic polarized cap to tighten the low end fuzz at 70% gain upwards
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xfree
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Post by xfree »

update on my final mod

Change log

R41 to 22k
C34 to .047uf
D3 to 1n4001
D4 removed(left open)
c25-removed
c35-removed
c30- back to stock (10uf)

Id dub this jcm800 mod...Try it! Cheers!
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astrobass
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Post by astrobass »

skylark44 wrote:Yeah, those bastards! :x :mrgreen:
It still shares the same PCB as the Digitech Grunge (it's labelled as both). The Digitech Grunge is basically identical to the DOD Grunge (which also shared its PCB with the DOD Death Metal), except that it's almost all SMD, some of the components are in very, very difficult places to get into without removing the jacks and substantial number of unrelated components, and there appear to be other minor changes.

For instance, in the Grunge they replaced D2 with an SMD transistor wired as a diode. I've confirmed that you can replace it with a normal diode and you get exactly the result you'd expect. The SMD transistor on the board labelled as D3 on the other hand does not appear to be the same as the original DOD pedal's D3, and I haven't had an opportunity to test to confirm.

They also added a "mixer out" to the Grunge pedal that wasn't in the DOD version, so there's additional stuff on the board relevant to that.

Your best bet is to pull up one of the verified FX86 schematics, open your pedal, and look at the components you'd change if you were holding a DOD version of the pedal. The board is labelled, so cross reference the labels to the schem, and see if the part on the board is the same or a similar value to the value listed on the schem. In most cases you'll find the components are numbered the same and most are the same value, just SMD now.

For the Grunge pedal I was able to do the fuzz mod because C6 was the same thing on the Digitech version and it was in a spot I could access to work on easily. Removing C19 was also pretty easy. Most of the other mods I'd have liked to do would have been far too much of a pain in the ass to be worth it though. So, poke around in there and see. I bet you can make substantial improvements to the pedal, even if you can't get all the way to where you want to be.

Assuming you have a steady hand and a good soldering iron with a small tip, of course. You will be soldering onto SMD contacts.

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Shawnee
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Post by Shawnee »

Is there any reason (noticeable lowering of noise or extended fidelity) to change IC1 and/or IC2? I have already changed IC3 and IC4.

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