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Site Navigation | DISCLAIMER - Absolutely no refunds. All sales are final. We cannot be held responsible if you ruin your pedal. I got ripped off by a buyer of my TR-2 mod. Said he wasn't happy with the mod so I offered to buy the TR-2 from him. I gave him $110 in good faith. When I received the pedal it was non-functioning. He had drilled the hole for the pot in the wrong place piercing the ribbon going to the depth pot and completely pulled 4 traces from the PCB. And he wanted to know why the mod sounded bad. Because of this I will no longer issue refunds of any type on mods. If you do not have the skills required to perform the mod then please let us do the mod for you. Monte Allums |
How to Identify Boss Surface Mount Pedals | |
With this page I will endeavor to help you identify which Boss Pedals can be modded with my kits and which ones cannot. I’ll resist stating the advantages or disadvantages of both. Use the serial number decoder on the right of this page to plug in your pedal’s Serial Number. When putting in the letters/numbers, NO SPACES. Use that date and the info below to determine whether the pedal is thru-hole (modable) or Surface Mount (Not Modable). Boss DS-1 (Except Black 40th Anniversary DS-1) - Surface Mount Started in 2016. The Black 40th Anniversary DS-1 is Thru-Hole and is modable. Boss BD-2 - Surface Mount Started in 2017 Boss SD-1 - Surface Mount Started in 2019 WAZA - All WAZA versions are Surface Mount and cannot be modded. If you have more info you feel would be helpful, please contact me at tvon@monteallums.com and I will add it to this page. | |
Serial number is 4 666 00, so it's essentially the devils HM-2 and is perfect for a Boss or a demonic collector. Not sure if I got the right number or not, but the last 5 numbers of the serial number on the circuit board on my boss chorus pedal is 55200. The serial decoder says 78-80 experimental made in 2018. Something doesn't add up.
| Electronic Multmeter Eventually you'll need a multimeter. For reading resistor values, voltage, etc. But that's not all they do. You can buy one for cheap. But I recommend getting a decent one. Click here for a very inexpensive version. But for those that want to spend a little more click here. | 60/40 Solder I recommend 60/40 solder. Works great for modding and just about any other soldering project you'll do. You can buy some good 60/40 solder here. | Wire Strippers I include wire with my kits and having a pair of wire stripper around is a must. Here's a great value on a pair. Click here. |
Soldering Stand A soldering stand will come in handy. You can buy a nice one here. | Needle Nose Pliers These are handy for reaching hard to get to parts and for pulling components out. Click here for a very inexpensive pair. | Fine Point Sharpy I use a fine tip Sharpie to mark the solder side of the pcb. I'll mark the solder joints of the components I will be removing. Sometimes it's hard to remember which solder joint you're working on. This makes it easy. You can buy them here. | Small Wire Cutters You'll need a pair of these to trim off the legs of resistors, capacitors, diodes, etc. once the components have been installed. You can find the here. |
Jeweler's Screwdrivers I use these to pry small components from the pcb. Make sure you have removed all the old solder before prying the component up or you will damage the traces on the pcb. You can buy a set here. | Head Lamp Light A head lamp light will help you to see the parts on the pcb. and frees your hands to do other things. You can buy one here. | 4.50 Power Reading Glasses Magnifying the area you're working on is vitally important. You need to be able to see clearly where you are working. Illuminating the area and being able to see clearly what you are working on will ensure you are doing the work properly. You can buy them here. | Irwin UniBit This Irwin UniBit drill bit is the only drill bit you will ever need for drilling holes for switches, DC Jacks, etc. This one-in-all drill bit includes all the sizes you need in one drill bit. You can buy them here. |
Electrical Tape I use electrical tape to wrap around switches and my opamp adapters to keep them from shorting on other components or the pedal casing. Most of the issues with modding can be attributed to parts and components shorting on something. You can buy a some here. | Desk Lamp Having a well-lit area when modding or doing guitar repair is vital. I love these adjustable desk lamps because the light can be adjusted and localized to a specific area and they are portable. You can buy one here. | Screwdriver Set You'll need a wide variety of screwdrivers both flat head and Phillips. Here's a very imexpensive set here. | Pliers Here's a set of pliers for cheap. Wire cutters, needle nose and regular pliers for one inexpensive price. You can buy them here. |
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Presonus Studio One Over the years I've used several DAWs. Presonus Studio Pro One is, by far, the best of them all and I'll include Pro Tools in that statement. It's intuitive and powerful with Mastering Tools included within the app. Do your self a favor and download the demo and give it a spin. You'll become a convert. You can purchase it /item--PRSS1PRO30' target='_blank'>here. | UAD-2 Octo Core DSP Accelerator PCIe Card I've used UAD Plugins for some time. Running them off a PCIe card in your Mac or PC off-loads the precessing to a card and frees up your DAW for other tasks. Plus because the processing is built by Audio Designers the quality of the Plugins are much better than native versions (IMO). You can buy the accelerator cards /item--UADUAD2OCTO' target='_blank'>here. |
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Trying to work out if your Japanese DS-1 is from 1978 or 1985? Looking to sell your 80's CE-2 and want to list it as accurately as possible? Here's our cheat-sheet for understanding your Boss serial number and how some of the systems work!
Types of serial:
There are THREE main serial number sequences used for Japanese Boss pedals.
#1 - Stamped Batch Code (4-5 Digits).
Located above the switch inside the battery compartment, these codes are stamped directly to the enclosure using black ink (or white ink on darker pedals like the SG-1). The first batch of Boss pedals were made in October, 1977 and featured the code 6300 for the whole month of production. The second month (November, 1977) were labelled 6400, the third (December, 1977) were 6500 and so on. This system continued all the way through to around April, 1981 at 10500 (or sometimes just 0500).
As these were just batch codes and not specific serial numbers, they are not unique to the pedal and you will often see two of the same (or different) pedals with identical numbers.
For a quick reference, here's where certain years start and finish with this format:
6300 - 6500 = 1977
Boss Pedal Serial Number Dating
6600 - 7700 = 1978
7800 - 8900 = 1979
9000 - 10100 = 1980
10200 - 10500 = 1981
#2 - Stickered Serials (6 Digits)
The second serial number system started around the same time that the batch codes ended. The number moved to a sticker inside the battery compartment (under where the battery would sit) and feature a 6 digit code. The first two digits are the primary modifier in these codes, starting with 02XXXX at January 1981. Like the previous format, the sequence went month by month with 03XXXX being February 1981, 04XXXX being March 1981 and so on. This system can theoretically be used up to 99XXXX (February 1989).
Boss Pedal Serial Number Calculator
This system was more complex than the previous batch code system and the last four digits of the serial varied slightly (likely due to there being multiple batches being produced in a single month). The numbers still weren't unique though and you will once again find identical numbers on two different pedals.
For a quick reference, here's where certain years start and finish with this format:
02XXXX - 13XXXX = 1981
14XXXX - 25XXXX = 1982
26XXXX - 37XXXX = 1983
38XXXX - 49XXXX = 1984
50XXXX - 61XXXX = 1985
62XXXX - 73XXXX = 1986
74XXXX - 85XXXX = 1987
86XXXX - 97XXXX = 1988
98XXXX - 99XXXX = 1989
#3 - Sticker Serials (2 Letter, 5 Digit)
The third serial system featured two letters as a prefix to five numbers. The first letter doesn't really matter, it's the second letter and the first number that give the month/year away. XA0XXXX is the first code used which indicates March, 1989 (following on from the previous system) and is followed by XA1XXXX (April, 1989), XA2XXXX (May, 1989) and so on. After XA9XXXX (December, 1989) the letter changes to B and the cycle continues. This serial number can theoretically be used all the way through to the 90's, although Japanese production ended in the mid 90's so it's unlikely you'll see anything with second letter past E for a Japanese pedal. Download mail passview for mac.
Boss Pedal Serial Number Dating
I believe this is the first true 'Serial Number' format with unique numbers for each pedal (rather than monthly batches).
Roland srx world vst. This serial number format continued for a while longer with Taiwanese pedals until they ran out of letters at Z in 2010.
*Note:
The purpose of this article is to help you better understand HOW the serial systems work, rather than using the online decoder found here and being spoon-fed the information (not that there's anything wrong with that!).