(I posted this mod a while back and recently posted some details about it. I thought it might be of some use to the forum. Sorry for the cross thread pollination but I know the forums have become more segregated in recent years).Someone was inquiring about mods for the Vox Pathfinder 15/15r amps a while back and I had a look see at what could be done to improve the amp a bit.
There seems to be a consensus (myself included) that the gain control is, well pretty useless as the distortion is less than favorable a bit 80's hair/prog metal. Also the output is just there and IMO not quite up to task to bring to a gig. I looked at the early schematic that's out on the web and found they used a square wave shunt clipper in the form of two LEDs right in the main signal path. Good in some fuzz circuits, I've never really liked them in amps.
They have a high insertion loss (loss in gain = output db's) and I've never liked what they yielded as far as distortion when used in amps, certain fuzzes yes.Super simple mod here. Unsolder the two red LEDs shown in the photo and remove them for a noticeable increase in gain/headroom and a better sounding breakup. I'm not saying that the distortion is going to be just like yer favorite old tube amp but I found it much more pleasing to the ear than the LED sw clipper in this amp. IMO the breakup is smoother and more raw. 60's Stones at med gain levels and Young brothers Plexi like at higher gain levels. It's easily reversible but I don't think you will. Others did not and most found the mod very useful.
There was one guy that experimented with other diodes/LEDs but went back to keeping them removed from the circuit. You don't have to worry about getting shocked so long as you unplug the amp. One guy just wiggled the LEDs back and forth until they broke off. If you think you might want to put them back in just mark their polarity (orientation) to put them back in correctly.I've seen these pop up in the used market for approx $50-$60.
It's a great grab and go amp for small gigs/rehearsals, home practice, late night headphones, recording. After the mod you would have to pry it from my lifeless body it's that good.Suspects in question.Remove'em. Surprised you don't need to worry about maintaining the circuit after pulling out the LEDs - they don't leave behind breaks that need to be filled in (eg, with solder)?No worry, you're just lifting them out of the circuit. The signal continues happily on its merry way. One guy told me he just wiggled them back and forth till they broke out of there leaving the LED legs still soldered in place.
This mod adds the Pathfinder tabletop feats Scribe Scroll, Brew Potion, Craft Wand, Craft Wondrous Items, Craft Arms and Armor and Forge Ring, allowing crafting of regular and custom magic items of those types. Crafting costs gold (as well as any expensive material components required by the prerequisite spell(s)), and takes time.
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Which will work but say you didn't like the mod would leave you with having to get the broken legs out and solder in new LEDs. At the low cost of these amps this is probably the best mod you could do to it because there's really no out of pocket expenses.
I see how the LEDS link the main circuit to ground, yes. My worry is that by pulling them out they'd leave gaps at where they had intersected the main circuit. Sounds like that's not a problem at all, which is great.But for my pitiful education, can you tell me why?If the drawn circuit was interconnected wires, and you pulled out the LEDs, you'd have to tie up the wires again (or at least make sure that the other connections weren't damaged) to maintain the rest of the circuit. Apparently this is not like that at all; you pull out the LEDs and there's no question of gaps or damage, the main circuit is just fine.
The LEDs must T off from an always-intact circuit; what is the nature of that circuit?Thanks! I am surprised that people like these amps. I really hated mine.Compared to almost any decent amp, especially one in a correctly-sized cabinet, the Pathfinder just always sounded thin and cheap to me.
Also, i didn't find its clean sound particularly 'Voxy', either.Also odd, i found that one of the greatest improvements to be had with the thing, was just to run the speaker out into a properly sized 1x12 with a good speaker in it. I thought the little 8' speaker was particularly oddly voiced, hollow sounding and with a strange midrange focus that was not particularly pleasant. It was reasonably loud though, i will give it that.It is just odd how different ones perceptions can be for stuff like this. It is just odd how different ones perceptions can be for stuff like this.I picked one up because a bandmate used to bring one to practice once and while when they didn't want to grab the big guns because it was so light and they could stuff it in the car and not worry about someone breaking in to steal it.
I thought it was cool that it was small, light, cheap and I what they used it for worked. But personally. I was never fond of his tone from it nor did I even really like the amp myself except for cleans and practicing at home. Until I did the LED mod. I have a different perception of this amp now for sure.
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