Modified Boss Digital Delay
Standard
The DD series from Boss has become a modern classic. The DD-2 was launched in 1983, and took the guitar community by storm. For the first time in a guitar pedal, a signal could be duplicated exactly and repeated infinitely. With the older analog delay pedals, the delay signal had a marked degradation in quality, and partially in an effort to mask this the treble was rolled off further. Yet, these days many people maintain that analog delay sounds better and more musical, somehow. I believe it has to do with digital delays being too precise - having a difference in timbre between the original signal and the delay is actually a good thing, otherwise the sound will quickly become cluttered. At the same time, I like having access to the long delay times and other niceties (such as tap tempo, for instance) provided by digital technology. With a mixing desk this isn't a problem - all you have to do is patch the delay signal through a separate channel, and roll the treble off. But inside an effects pedal, one neds to find other methods to do this. "Analog Man" Mike Piera quickly realized this need, and was - to my knowledge - the first person to modify these pedals. This is why I credit Mike for this application - even though the actual technique is old news, he was the first to apply it to Boss' digital delay pedals.
Do
you have a DD-6? I'm afraid I can't do anything about that one, for the moment.
It has a completely different circuit layout, which can't be modified the
same way as the others. This mod works for DD-2/3, DD-5, DSD-2 and most other
digital delays on the market. Keep in mind that the hole I drill for the switch
is a permanent alteration to the pedal's case - if you have a mint condition
DD-2, you might want to keep it that way, to preserve its value. Or not -
it's your pedal, after all. Anyway, you have been warned... 
The
modification
-
I drill the box and mount a three-way mini switch, with which you can select two steps of treble roll-off, as well as the cut-off point. In the middle setting, the pedal is completely stock.
- Of course, I also replace the stock red LED for a nice bright yellow one, to show the world that this pedal has been "StinkFoot-ified"... When the pedal is run from a battery, the LED's brightness is limited somewhat, to help the battery last a little longer. When the pedal is powered from an adapter, the LED receives full power (and it will blind you if you look straight into it).
- I also check the entire pedal over - the circuit board is machine soldered, and sometimes have solder joints that need strenghtening. The Boss delay pedals use a lot of wires (to and from the main circuitboard) which sometimes has turned out to be quite poorly soldered. I also do up all the nuts and bolts, to make sure the pedal won't fall apart on stage.
...and the end result?
- With the switch set to its middle position, the pedal sounds exactly as stock - simply because it is completely stock. There are no extra components added anywhere, so the circuit is exactly as it left the factory.
- Flip the switch to the left, and you will hear the delay signal soften. The echo is still distinct enough to warrant matching the delay time to the tempo, but there is a definite difference in timbre between the dry signal and the echo. In the soundscape, the delay signal now lives "underneath" the dry signal, instead of right next to it.
- Flip the switch to the right, and the delay signal gets markedly darker and less distinct. The delay is now starting to sound more like a texture or a background pad sound, which is perfect for thickening and filling in the gaps. In this mode, you hardly ever have to adjust the delay time anymore - just dial in 320ms or so, and it will work almost everywhere...
Keep in mind that the dry signal remains untouched at all times - the treble roll-off is only applied to the delay signal. Also, the treble returns increasingly as you turn the echo level pot towards its max position.
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