Fender Starcaster Disortion Breadboard Mod

For the MTV geration who doesn't like to read here is the video:

(all knobs at 12'oclock)(it's hard to hear the difference, when I get some time I'll mic the amp properly so the subtleties become a bit clearer)

The 'Starcaster' lineup is a series of guitars/amps/effects by Fender aimed toward the entry level player. They offer a blue distortion pedal which you can pick up for ~$60 bucks at target and about half as much online.

I love the fact that the pedal has a built in EQ but wasn't quite as thrilled with the actual distortion. So it was time to mod this bad boy.

Most of the clipping characteristics of a distortion pedal are controlled by two diodes with reverse polarization that serve to boost the signal and square off the waveform.

If you can find those two diodes you can swap them out for some you find more appealing. I'm a bit of a novice with this so I decided to mount a breadboard where the battery tray used to be so I could test out different circuit ideas without having to worry about taking the thing apart, desoldering, etc.

More pictures, theory, and videos shortly when blogger decides to start behaving!