Less gain from DD

[lefthandpat]

Hi,
I recently got a new Direct Drive and though a really great pedal on its own, the DDLG or LTD would probably suit my needs better.
Is there any way to tweak it a bit to lower the gain? How hard would it be to turn it into a DDLG? Is it simply a matter of replacing a few resistors and/or gain pot? I'm totally comfortable with replacing components. Removing the PCB seems like the only problem.
I can live with it as is, but I wish I could dial in a wider range of low gain settings.

thanks...

[David Barber]

Hi,
I recently got a new Direct Drive and though a really great pedal on its own, the DDLG or LTD would probably suit my needs better.
Is there any way to tweak it a bit to lower the gain? How hard would it be to turn it into a DDLG? Is it simply a matter of replacing a few resistors and/or gain pot? I'm totally comfortable with replacing components. Removing the PCB seems like the only problem.
I can live with it as is, but I wish I could dial in a wider range of low gain settings.

thanks...

Can you update your profile to comply with our rules at the players forum...it will help with getting answers.

[lefthandpat]

Sorry, I was not aware of it.

[hamerman]

I'm sure Dave will reply with much more definitive suggestions, but in the meantime, can I suggest chip swapping? It is the easiest thing to do, and doesn't involve pulling the PC board and desoldering parts. Is the issue too much gain, or that you don't like the sound of the gain? I have the DDLG as well as two DD, and the gain level between the DDLG and DD is way different. Are you looking for a sound that is in the gain range of a Tube Screamer? More, or less gain? Mid-range hump, or even frequency response? These things are so subjective. The first Guitar Player review of the DD put it in a Tube Screamer class of gain, but I disagree. It has way more potential gain in my opinion. Substituting chips is pretty cheap and can fine tune things. If this sounds like something you want to try, I can post some comments by others that I collected about the sound of the different chips in a DD.

[lefthandpat]

Thanks for the reply. Chip swapping is the first thing I tried after playing the pedal for while. The difference in sound between different chips is too subtle for my tired ears I guess. Ideally, I'd like less overall gain and flatter EQ. I don't think I'll ever need the gain available with the gain knob past 1-2 o'clock.The DD sounds nothing like a Tube Screamer and that's totally fine as I never was a big fan of the TS, It's definitely more British sounding to me. I'm sure someone is going to suggest to get a different pedal but my budget says that I should keep this one. It's so close to what I really want...Just needs some fine tuning.
There seems to be a set of hard clipping diodes in the circuit. How about removing it? Would it completely change the gain structure of the circuit and what would it then compare to?

thanks...

[hamerman]

Another possibility is to run it at 18 V. Increasing the voltage raises the headroom and decreases compression. Sort of opens the pedal up. The Dunlop 18 V power supplies are pretty good. If you don't have an 18 V power supply, you can test it with two batteries. I prefer to run my DD and LTD with the ACA setting of my Pedal Power. This puts out 12V, but doesn't tie up two outputs on the Pedal Power.

[RayBarbeeMusic]

I run mine at 12V off one of the optional 12v outputs on the PP2. I run the DD and the LTD on the same output since neither use much current.

My impression of the DD vs the DDLG is that the DDLG really doesn't have that much less gain. The big difference I hear is a very large amount of pre-gain low end on the DDLG, which makes it somewhat tubby on the low notes no matter where the gain is set, and bitey/gritty on the higher notes. Very much like cranking an old Plexi or Fender without turning the bass knob down to 2 or less. The low end on the LG is definitely not "tight". It works better with single coils for obvious reasons; with humbuckers the higher notes are fat but power chords get mushy.

I run my DD at low gain, gain knob set between 9 an 11 O'Clock and tone knob not pulled up, and I think it sounds great that way, very smooth vs the LG which has more of a gritty bite to it.

Think of the difference like this: The LG gives more of a gritty, bitey blues sound, the DD is more like the David Gilmour smooth sound.

The gain on the DD will go pretty low and IMO still sounds great with the gain turned down, so I'm not sure a LG will get you a lot of difference in terms of gain, but it definitely has a very different feel at any gain level.

If you're looking for just mild breakup, a Custom Cool or LTD is probably the way to go. The CC strikes me as a more tweakable LTD, but sound wise they are in the same camp. I run them with gain knob between 10 and 11 O'Clock, which is just slightly gainier than clean with single coils, but it adds a nice compression and bite, and you can dig in and get obvious clipping, or back off your attack and it sounds like a compressed clean tone. If thats what you're looking for, try one of those.

[David Barber]

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=54

[lefthandpat]

I will try running the pedal on 18V and report back. Like I said before, I really like the sound I get from this pedal on the low gain settings, simply wish the low gain range was spread across the entire gain knob sweep, if that makes any sense.

[plan-x]

it looks like you should post your eqiup in your sig that he's looking for. Then David could/would give you a mod. if it exists. He's given me a mod or 2 over the years.