Monte Allums Boss OD-3 DIY Mod Kit

Easy to get a good sound. Let's compare it to my stock OD-3.

Tried it out with strat that I am use to at the time. Stacked DiMarzios - healthy output, not quite as strong as traditional humbuckers. Plugged into a 35 watt Fender Bandmaster Reverb head that I made into a lower power head. Then pump it thru 2 x 10 Jensen C10Q reissues in an open back Carvin cabinet. My amp is tuned nice, right beauty/tighness balance. Great setup. Yes it's easy to get several very usable sounds with this setup and the Monte modded OD-3.

I compared the Monte modded OD-3 to the old one I been useing. They sound plenty different and plenty the same. The tone control wrange with the mod made more sense. The ploblem with the old pedal also makes it sound good in the living room. The stock pedal is too bass-splaty for a gig or jam most of the time. But it's great in the living room. The modded OD-3 sounded leaner, The bass was tamed. But it was less wild. Once I got use to different control settings I was able to adjust some very clanky and cranky sounds. This pedal is not for the living room anymore. The modded pedal no longer sticks out in the bottom and bogs down the bands sound. It is something that is very usable in the frey of full instrumentation. It's important as one of the 3 distortion sounds I keep on my main pedalboard. The stock pedal is more exciting at home with the record or CD, but the modded box will cut a gig without being a big EQ problem in your setup. The thing is clangy to cranky. Its a great semi-clean boost and then you can get to the land of easy chords. The stock unit is more fun down low at home, but the bottom gets woofy and splaty on the stock unit. The leaner sound of the new setup put the tone control in a better position for the overall sound. You lose some ass and grunt. So I would say that the modded box is setup to be useable in a club with a band, while the stock unit is more fun to play with at low volume or for recording. The mod makes sense to me. Monte Allum did a good tune. The clangyness and note separation is better. He fixed the weak spot in a good pedal.

It Boss - and Monte's soldering was good. No problem to gig with. Looks reliable.

Monte Allum answered my email promptly, was couteous with clear answers happy to help.

His web site is a must-see.

Classic rock.

Information and installation instructions were adequate for me, but I do have some experience with electronics and soldering etc. I would caution anyone who is not familiar with this type of job to give it to someone competent to do.

I was a bit sceptical about whether the pedal would be greatly improved, because it was quite a good pedal out of the box and has done the job well for me over the last couple of years. Did it more out of interest. I chose to install the SUPRA mod or the larger mod of the two options offered.
I use fender tube amps, mainly Reverb deluxe, and play Tele's, Stats, LP and Music Man guitars.
The few minor things that I didn't like about the pedal seemed to be improved out of sight and all I can say is that for me it has made it into an even more useful pedal. It now seems to love all my guitars with all pickup settings and brings out more tonal character in them. The range of controls now also seems to be more useful. More transparent and smoother sustaining overdrive sound that I have found to be addictive and now leaving the pedal in circuit much more often for both rhythm and lead.

To soon to tell but great so far, re the components supplied seem to be good quality and I trust my own intallation work, as long as I haven't had too many beers while doing it.

I have had no reason to contact customer support.

This pedal although good before is now even more valued and it works perfectly with the style of music I play, mostly classic and country rock and blues for about the last 8 years.
If I lost this pedal I would definitely buy another stock pedal and do the mod again. I love it's simplicity and dependability to give me a good sound at any setting.
I couldn't imagine being without it as it is an essential part of my sound. Naturally I would love to drive the amp harder and achieve better saturation but in most places it is impractical so this little economical pedal does the job well for my ears at least with positive feedback from the band and other listeners as well.

I was surprised that there were a couple of bad experiences as below but I can only assume that either something must have went wrong or mismatched with their other gear or they have higher expectaions than I.

The kit was pretty easy to install, I did the upgrade part first, then the actual mods - one per day trying to find a mod that 'worked for me'. I guess that we're told to try the mods one at a time as this Monte guy isnt too sure that the mods are to everyones taste (maybe dont sound great?), unlike a TS-9 I did which was a suberb mod with no real 'option', it was a case of just change this parts and it'll sound butter, and it did. Cant give a good rating as I feel the mod isnt complete.

The standard pedal just sounds drab, muddy, its ok with the gain right down but lacks life. There is still more that needs doing on the OD-3 so I thought I'd try this mod as I've had the OD-3 for a couple of years and hardly used it. The less bass in gain mod was crap and I've found much better info on the internet on how to reduce the bass. With these instructions the sound is just thin, kind of brittle sounding. Considering the circuit looks fairly complex compared to a tube screamer schematic I found I'd say that there is a lot more that could be done to turn this crap pedal into a nice piece of kit.

As reliable as any other boss pedal.

The pedal worked, just sounded crap, so didnt need any support, however more detail could be given on the instructions as to whats actually going on with these mods.

Dont do this mod, it sounds way better stock. If you must do it then just do the hi-fi mod. A search on Google confirms that many other users of this mod feel the same way.

This mod was performed for a customer of ours using the Monte kit and instructions as supplied by the customer. Unlike Montes other mods, the instructions advise that the hi-fi upgrades be performed first, then, depending on personal tastes, the individual mods, such as less bass in gain. Easy to do? ...yes of course, but beware the fragile tracks on boss pedals, some are worse than others. The instructions give little advise on just how easy a track can be damaged and how to repair it.

The hi-fi upgrades are straight-forward enough, and anyone with a copy of the schematic can do that without any kit or instructions, the actual mods were not such a success, most of the mods seem to be designed to remove bass from a couple of the gain stages, but several changes have very little or even no effect - which was not suprising as anyone who can read a schematic would realise that certin caps (depending on location)may not actually be used as frequency filters! The combined sum of the mods does make a difference, but unfortunatley for our customer he did not like the mods at all, we had to agree, the pedal sounded thinner than before, with less mids. After a couple of days we had to remove the mods and implement a more 'thought out' mod, this (unlike the Monte mod) is switchable.

Reliability is not a concern with Boss pedals with less than 15 years on the clock, after than they need some TLC. Not as bomb proof as many people on here seem to think (ahh.. just kids afterall)

Monte is quick to help, a very nice chap, but admits on at least 1 forum that he's no electronic expert (unlike Keeley), his developments are done by ear. Remember its his ears and his equipment.

Oveall not impressed sorry, must try harder next time. Many reviewers leave glowing feedback on here as they are so pleaed with themselves in having done the mod and it working, "I spent the bucks, did the work, it must be better now.. isnt it..?" yeah yeah.

Want to know the best mod for the OD3?...do a like for like hi-fi upgrade (dont bother with the jfet switching circuit), then add a DPDT switch to kick a pair of the clipping dides in or out of the circuit - which will give the gain more edge, more 'overdrive' and less distortion, and another switch to isloate c35... just in case you really do want to remove more bass from the gain.

For ease of use, my opinion in not as useful since I am an experience solderer and electronic tech. But, the kit comes with simple instructions on what components to replace to yield what results so it is set up in a manner that you can customize for your application. This was useful for me becasue I only wanted to tweak this pedal a little and did not perform all of the mods that came with instructions. I just took a little bass out and smoothed the gain.

I will say that I have NEVER found an overdrive pedal that sounded better than the factory gain circuit and tone stack in my favorite amps (Marshall JCM2000 DSL 50 and Fender BLues Deville). I bought the OD-3 to use exclusively with my Highway 1 strat (new Alnico 3 pickups in 2006 and up models - awesome!) and my Fender Super Reverb Re-issue. I have a Bad Monkey pedal which I consider to be superior in sound to my ears than a TS-808. But still, I wanted a good drive pedal that was more transparent and I also wanted a pedal that did not have the mid-hump EQ of a tube screamer for some different sounds. I tried the OD-3 and it sounded great in the store. I could hear the gain and compression creating a truly "pushed" sound and it was much more natural than most other pedals I have tried, and by the way, I have tried just about all of them in every price bracket. So I got the pedal home and the strat and super don't lie. It still sounded good, but not perfect, the bass was a little overkill and also the dual gain was overkill, but I still liked the pedal in general. I am not normally a huge pedal mod guy, but this one was worth saving, so I did a web search and found Monte Allums' side. In reading the description, I found that his thoughts on the pedal were very close to mine and the mods he offered targeted the areas that were of concern to me. I ordered the kit. As the instructions say, do one or two mods at a time and then use your ears to determine if you are getting into what you like. In my case, I just wanted to tame the bass a little, and also smooth out or reduce the gain, while retaining the compressed gain the pedal offered. I performed 3 of the mods, and also did the hi fi upgrades and I am very, very happy with the results. I was able to "tune" this pedal into a device that is very close to what I had wanted. I think the OD-3 with these mods is an awsome pedal. I use it exclusively with my strat and the super reverb to get pushed glassy tones. It also sounds good with my Les Paul, but I do prefer a tube screamer with my Super Reverb with a Les Paul for more of a mid focused brit sound, but if I stack the modded OD-3 with the tube screamer, I can get an awesome heavy sound out of my Fender amp and even rip a pinch harmonic or two.

N/A - Reliability will be directly related to the tech doing the soldering. The components provided appear to be good quality.

I have not contacted them, but will in the future as new pedal mod ideas pop up. Very happy so far. The check out process through pay pal went smooth. Once you pay, you get your instructions in email so I was able to get a jump start on the mods with some parts I already had in stock even before my parts kit arrived. Pretty cool.

I play all kinds of music, but this pedal and these mods were done in an effort to get good pushed blues tone from a clean super reverb amp. I would recommend this pedal and these mods to anyone, especially those that would like an alternative to a TS-808 which is what I was looking for. Monte says it correctly when he says that the mod kid is the way Boss should have done it from the factory. I agree. If the instuctions are followed, and one mod is done at a time and then tested, I am confident than any player could find useful tones they are looking for by tuning this pedal with selected mods. All the mods together sound great too, but you can also tune and taylor this pedal with these mods to suit the tone that you are chasing.

Very easy to use, provided you can solder decently. This was my second Monte Allums mod kit (DS-1 was my first). This first was a great experience, so I figured I'd do another (and better) one. The new clear LED indicator is on fire!

Awesome. This si already a great pedal out-of-the-box, but with the Monte's mod, I don't see how you could want anything else. So smooth, so transparent. I use it in front of a self-built 5F2A combo and it's perfect.

I don't see having any problems.

Monte is great. It's so cool to buy a product from someone who is obviously totally into what he's doing. Check out his website. Plus, his prices are more than reasonable.

Great product. I'm fully satisfied.

Monte's kits are very easy to follow. The only things you have to look out for are the things he mentions in his FAQ. This would include things like holes that are too small for diode leads and how to safely enlarge them. If you have a decent ability to use a soldering iron, you can do this kit and will be rewarded for it.

Amazing how just a few higher quality components can boost the quality of a pedal...

- Sound quality from this pedal after the mod is beyond what you get from most pedals. If you get the pedal used for $40 like I did and spend $20 on the mod, you've just created a pedal the rivals any boutique overdrive pedal out there and for much less. In fact, I can't stand most pedals out there and find myself wanting to mod even the boutique pedals. That being said, Keeley pedals are among the best and I don't feel they have anything on a Monte Allums mod.

- The sounds you get go from a nice smooth overdrive to racous, raw hard clipped distortion. Your best weapon is the volume knob on your guitar. Small changes will change the character of this pedal. Keeping the volume on my Starfire around 4 or 5 give me soft clipped overdrive, turning up to 7 or higher goes into distortion territory.

- Be careful of trying to do other things to this pedal like change out the pots. I had a scratchy pot and tried to put in identical valued 16mm pots by wiring them to the little PCBs and they didn't behave well. I'm not sure what's going on, but I suspect the longer wires and extra metal become reactive and screw everthing up. Ultimately, I've ordered a replacement pot set from Mouser.

- Another issue that came up with this pedal is radiophonics. This pedal seems to be a crystal radio when you have single coil pickups that aren't well shielded. You can listen to Rush Limbaugh or Rachel Maddow through your amp! I tried to create an RF rejection filter but it was totall ineffective. They don't all act like this and it would be worth your time to shield and ground your strat anyhow.

Who can tell? The reliability you find will be the Boss stock pedal plus any issues you might add yourself like poor soldering. Other than that, Boss is solid.

I can sympathize with the previous poster about his pedal going dead after opening it up. This pedal is a little quirky and you must be careful when doing the mods. Mine worked like a champ when I was finished - I also recommend making sure it works every third step or so. This way, you don't get too many steps ahead of yourself if you need to troubleshoot.

Monte will email you and help any way he can. He's very busy and can be a day or two to respond, but how often do you get this kind of attention?

Great pedal after the mod. With the cost and results factored in, and the fact that Monte gives personal advice, I'd rate this a 10. Fantastic value plus. I'll probably never buy a boutique pedal now.

If you can solder it should be easy. I have done a lot of modding and a ton of soldering in the past, so to me this was easy to do.

This pedal from Boss is a decent sounding pedal on it's own with actually a lot of low end. This mod may be a little subdued compared to maybe modding an MT-2 which wipes out that nasty nasal sound, but this mod takes the blanket off of your speakers and gives you better string to string balance. I think it is a great mod that pushes the pedal way into boutique territory. If you have an anemic amp, you can use this pedal to give you a great boost and push in the low end. I've used this with a Peavey Classic 50 4x10 and a Sunn Sentura II head (which is a bright amp) and have had great results.

There again, it's a Boss and will never break as long as you solder well. As a matter of fact, if the guy below still has his broken pedal, if you want to send it to me, I'll fix it for free and send it back to you. I think you should get hear how great this mod is. I'm sorry you had problems with it.

I've had nothing but great success with these mods and Monte is always there to help if you need it.

Again, if you want to send me your ruined pedal Adam, I'll fix it for free.

Once again, another great mod from Monte Allums! I love how this pedal can really kick an amp into high gear or use it as a very natural sounding, very tube like overdrive for some tasty blues licks. As much as it sounds like I am just a billboard for Monte Allums, I can't say enough about how great his mods are. He really puts time, effort and his ears into making some great mods. He listens to other mods and takes that input and puts them into a whole new tonal dimension! This is a great mod and now I really want to get more amps so I can try it with different sounding gear. Up to this point I have used it with the above mentioned amps, but soon I will put it front of my Marshall JCM-800 and Mesa Boogie Nomad 55. I'll let you know how those turn out. I only expect more sonic glory.

I wouldn't try this unless you are pretty confident in your soldering skills.

I don't know. My pedal is ruined.
The first step involves removing a jumper, which I did....(The instructions advise you to plug in the pedal and make sure you're getting sound out of it after each component change)

So I removed the jumper as per the first step and plugged it in......no sound.
I don't know what the problem was. I thought that maybe one of the 1/4" guitar cable plug inputs or some wire had come loose, or???

Anyhow, I put the original components back in place, but still the pedal was not getting any sound, except intermittently when (strangely enough) the metal of the 1/4" output plug touched the metal casing of the Small Clone chorus pedal next to it.

I don't have a damn clue what happened....but nothing I did helped fix this pedal. I checked and re-soldered connections to the guitar cable inputs, and tried to put everything back where it should be prior to opening up the pedal.
Bottom line: my pedal is ruined.

I was only using the pedal as a slight boost, but I wanted this mod so that I could use it with increased gain and have it sound alright....but now, the pedal I was using perfectly acceptably as a slight boost is now dead, and I'm out $20 for the mod kit. How disappointing. What a waste of time and money.

I've had this pedal for probably ten years, and it always functioned perfectly until I opened it up.
Don't do this mod unless you are willing to accept the chance that your pedal will die on you as a result of opening up the inner workings.

Don't have a clue. Like I said, my pedal is dead.

Haven't talked with the guy. I bought the kit off ebay, and it was shipped quickly.

I'm sure if each component could have been magically switched out without opening the pedal, then I suppose my pedal would still be working and it would sound great.

But I guess I won't know. And I'm not about to spend even more money to have some tech take a look at it and try to fix it.
Unbelievable.
I guess I'll just put money into a really good pedal that sounds right, right from the start.
Then I won't have to monkey with altering electronics and end up losing money (and losing altogether the use of the pedal...which causes me to lose more money as I'll have to replace this pedal with something else.)
I'm extremely disappointed.
I'll never try something like this again. I feel like the internal components are too delicate.

i think anyone who can solder a bit shouldn't have no problems replacing the electronic parts. nevertheless, i am not experienced in that and gave my od-3 to an electronician.

the od-3 is a fairly new overdrive pedal by boss. it's much darker than the od-1 or the sd-1 and has more meat to the bone. yet, it's too dark and seems 'hung' in some setups. monte's mods cut away the muffling and open the tone, while making it a bit leaner. i think that the gain gets a bit drawn back in the middle-range of the drive knob in comparison to the stockpedal, but it also gets more tube-like. the tone-control gets useable all the range, while in the stock od-3, it adds shreiking hi-mids beyond 12 o'clock. from the clean boost to the maximum gain setting, the sound seems to be set free. check the sound files at monte's site, but keep in mind that he's a fairly good picker, in addition :-) .

a great improvement, either as a stand-alone overdrive or as a boost/drive for already saturated tube-amps.

boss pedals never let me down. if the soldering is done right, this should count for the modded pedal as well...

monte allums is a great man, answering even my stupid questions very fast and kind. he has some interesting mods and other stuff going, so see http://www.monteallums.com/Product_links.html for that. he sells over e-bay as well.

i play popular styles in pop & rock. i play since 1978 and have gathered some pedals over the decades. if this od-3 got lost, i'd definitively would buy another kit and put it in my stock od-3 - but i'm not sure whether i'd buy another one for unmodded tone !

some pedalguy here in germany told me that od-3 mods that change the presence-frequencies of he pedal would be way too complicated. he was wrong, as i heard when checking monte's soundfiles.