Double Dutch Distortion - Two Boss DS-1 Builds!

About a month ago, I published an article covering my build of the legacy version of AionFX's Comet - their original clone of the Boss DS-1 pedal. AionFX's design philosophy changed a few years back. Instead of making very modular boards with myriad options built in, the focus shifted to more approachable designs with only the most popular options explicitly spelled out in the instructions. This makes building effects pedals more approachable for people without extensive electronics experience - or an electronics degree - like me. At the end of the legacy Comet build, I'd indicated that I planned to build a couple of the modern version of this project, so without further ado, here are those builds!

As compared to the legacy build, the modern Comet project is far more straightforward and drops some of the options found on the legacy board (such as support for the TA7136P IC). You still have the option of building the circuit to mirror the pre-1994 or the post-1994 versions of the circuit (though I'm not sure why anyone would want to clone the post-1994 version, as you can likely buy one for the same price you could build one for!), but the one major option is to add a couple of clipping diodes to the amplifier stage (which mirrors Q1 on a Big Muff Pi) to create the equivalent of a BMP Stage 2/3. I figured with only two real viable build options, I may as well tackle both in parallel!

As you can see from the boards above, we're back to the modern style AionFX boards with the updated bypass daughter boards. The only actual change to go from the standard pre-94 DS-1 clone to the "Big Muff Pi" mod is the addition of two 1N914 diodes (D2 and D3) and a 100n capacitor D4). These are left empty on the normal DS-1 (left) and are populated on the modified circuit (right). 

The rest of the build is fairly straightforward, and I've used fairly basic components for all of the transistors and IC's. The transistors are 2N5088s as I didn't have any of the 2SC2248 transistors available. I also ended up substituting a JRC4580D op amp, though I may eventually try and get my hands on the NJM3404AD instead.

The enclosures follow the trend I've been using for all of my recent Boss clones. The normal version is the DS-1 (whereas I'd used the DS-1v designation for the legacy build). The BMP mod version is the DS-1PI. This way I can easily tell the difference between the stock and modified pedals - though the original "V" version can also be distinguished by the different knob layout.

I'm just now getting back to playing again after injuring my finger, and I really want to run all three versions of this pedal in a real side-by-side comparison. Both pedals are working properly in all modes, but based on initial tests, these didn't feel as "crunchy" as the totally vintage model I'd built previously. That being said, I was testing these with my MIM Fender Stratocaster rather than my normal Chapman ML-1 Hybrid I use for most pedal tests (I'm getting a weird buzz / vibration on a few notes, so it's at the luthier), so that may have something to do with the tonal differences.