by hobbyist789 » Tue Oct 20, 2009 2:41 pm
Just for giggles, I swapped out the stock 4559P (..I think.?) in my Small Fry for one of the JRC4558D chips that are in all my other Barbers. To my ears it seemed to lower the gain and maybe become a bit clearer, too. I swapped it back to stock, though--the other pedal needed its brain back. Really, though, I imagine any differences from one chip to another could been mitigated by tweaking the gain knob, or the "mids" and/or "presence" trimmers. But in those pedals where you don't have trim-pots and you want to tailor the sound (tube screamers, boss, etc.), this would probably be just the ticket.
I'll go on record arguing that the difference from one op-amp to another can be heard/felt by a player familiar with his/her equipment, but perhaps not always, and most likely not to an independent listener. The perceived difference probably varies from circuit-to-circuit, too. I'd put this in the same category along with swapping out strings, cables and picks ..and underwear.
Have or have owned:
B-buff|Launch Pad|Tone Press|Compact Tone Press|LTD|LTD-SR|Gain Changer|Gain Changer SR|DD-LG Mod PCB|Small Fry|unLimiTeD|Direct Drive|Compact Direct Drive|Super Sport|B.U.S.S.|Dirty Bomb|Trifecta|Exacta