How to Modify Guitar Pedals
by: Brian Wampler
How to Modify Guitar Pedals is a classic must-have for anybody interested in modifying guitar pedals. With over 80 pedals covered, Wampler manages to take a relatively complex topic and break it down into mere bench notes.
Speaking of bench notes, the book reads exactly like that. From the wizard himself:
“I actually holed myself up in my garage for about a month, replacing components in key areas, one at a time, and recorded the results on the first ‘mod sheets’. These were just notes for myself to remember what I did, and what the change effected.” -Brian Wampler
How to Modify Guitar Pedals Contents
The introductory section goes over electronic components, including their role in guitar pedals and even where to obtain them. You will learn common wiring configurations for footswitches, indicator LEDs, power jacks, and signal jacks as well.
After the introductory section you will encounter a series of pedals. Each pedal take up about 3-4 pages on average: including the schematic, tables of modification ideas, a close-up view of the circuit board, and annotations for where each part is physically located.
Each pedal is accompanied by a list of components and their functions within the circuit. Some of them are given a descriptive, sometime playful name (like the “Cuervo Mod” for the BOSS SD-1).
Join a Community
Brian Wampler started on Harmony-Central guitar effects forum:
“I modified a few for the folks at Harmony-central effects forum, and the response was crazy…almost immediately I saw there was a demand for a service modifying pedals.”
Joining a community is one of the best ways to supplement your learning. Here are a few that you can join in relation to this book:
- DIYStompboxes
- Freestompboxes
- Harmony-Central
- The Gear Page
