Boss DD-3
Analog Delay
Mod
Is there not a pedal more ubiquitous than
the Boss DD-3? It was certainly my first
pedal, and I suspect it was also the first of
many others. Most of us desired a delay
because they “made stuff repeat,” and
the novelty began and ended there. That
said, it took us some time to recognize the
amenities of analog delay: The repeats
got dark in a hurry, lost a little fidelity
and just sounded “warmer.” This exodus
from analog to digital and back to analog
happened in almost every facet of guitar
gear. Luckily there is a mod you can do to
the DD-3 that recaptures this dirty analog
glory with minimal effort.
What you need:
Soldering iron, 0.068uF (68nF) capacitor
(bigger or smaller for a more- or lessdrastic effect), screwdriver. Optional: SPST
toggle switch, wire (if you want to be able
to switch “analog mode” on and off).
The fix:
Remove the backplate of the DD-3 and
dig out the board. This mod is very simple:
solder one leg of the 68nF capacitor to
the center lug of the “F.Back” knob, and
solder the other leg to ground (such as the
enclosure itself). If you’d like to put this on
a toggle switch, solder the capacitor to the
middle lug of the F.Back control, then the
other end to the middle lug of the toggle.
Solder a piece of wire to the other switch
lug, then solder the other end of the wire
to ground. Easy as pie!
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TONE TALK //
5 Minimal Mods for Budding Builders