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Post by mr_sooty on Mar 19, 2008 4:11:17 GMT -5
I modified my Boss CS3 with an Indyguitarist mod a few years ago. It did a world of good. I recently decided that a modded pedal should have a different coloured LED, so I swapped out the red one for a white one (to got with the lettering on the pedal!). Since then I could swear it's gotten hissier. It was always a little hissy, so it could be my imagination that it's got worse, but it really does seem to have. Is a white LED noisier than a red one?
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Post by D2o on Mar 19, 2008 12:01:42 GMT -5
I modified my Boss CS3 with an Indyguitarist mod a few years ago. It did a world of good. I recently decided that a modded pedal should have a different coloured LED, so I swapped out the red one for a white one (to got with the lettering on the pedal!). Since then I could swear it's gotten hissier. It was always a little hissy, so it could be my imagination that it's got worse, but it really does seem to have. Is a white LED noisier than a red one? <command: greeting> Hi Mr. Sooty, <command: end what I know about> <command: begin B.S.> It seems that you may be on to something. A white LED seems to be a modified blue LED, which has a coating that alters part of the blue light into a yellowish light ... sort of white. I don't know if, in doing so, the frequency is altered and could create noise ... I suppose it is possible. Of more concern is that in the last approx 10 years manufacturers have been able to find ways of increasing the wattage that can be run through blue and white LEDS from milliwatts in the past to as much as one watt now. If you have a more powerful white LED now, I would guess that this could result in more noise. <command: end B.S.> |
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Post by mr_sooty on Mar 19, 2008 14:46:22 GMT -5
Well I guess I'll just put the red one back and see if it's better again.
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Post by D2o on Mar 19, 2008 15:03:36 GMT -5
Well I guess I'll just put the red one back and see if it's better again. Based on my impartial assessment of my own electromejical ejumacation  , I would suggest you don't do that just yet (unless it is no biggie for you to try it) - I could be off by a country mile. What do you say we wait to see if either sumgai or Chris concurs, or has some better ideas on what's causing the noise? |
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Post by ChrisK on Mar 19, 2008 19:12:07 GMT -5
Is the LED used in the circuit that modifies the sound?
If not, you may have bumped something when you were working on it. It may be as simple as wire routing.
Was there a static discharge when you had your hands inside. You may have degraded something.
A white LED is a blue LED with a phosphorus coating that glows white when energized with the blue light from underneath the coating. A white LED in and of itself is an oxymoron (an LED is inherently monochromatic).
Unless it's made of a red, a green, and a blue LED..............
Yeah, but light is in the multiple megahooey frequency range, well beyond human hearing (now, how does the sound look?).
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Post by mr_sooty on Mar 19, 2008 19:22:15 GMT -5
Well, as I said, it could be totally my imagination, because the pedal was hissy before. If it's not the light, then I doub it's anything. I remember I thought my QTB mod on my Strat was 'wearing off' because I could swear it was getting noisier, but really I was just getting used to it, because I tried a Strat in a shop and quickly remembered how bad unmodified Strats hum. Mine is very quiet in comparisson to stock. I think when I modify stuff I have a tendency to become paranoid at any little thing that I think could possibly be my fault.
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Post by sumgai on Mar 19, 2008 20:04:11 GMT -5
sooty, Your most recent message well explains what's happening here. We are all subject to 'sensory creep', where we think something has changed over time, but in fact, nothing has changed at all, we're just being overly sensitive. In point of fact, we're just looking for an excuse to dive in with a hot soldering iron once again!  ;D sumgai |
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Post by mr_sooty on Mar 20, 2008 3:22:01 GMT -5
sooty, Your most recent message well explains what's happening here. We are all subject to 'sensory creep', where we think something has changed over time, but in fact, nothing has changed at all, we're just being overly sensitive. In point of fact, we're just looking for an excuse to dive in with a hot soldering iron once again! ;D sumgai
Hmm, I guess that means it's a pretty flippin hissy pedal I've got. So you reckon different coloured lights wouldn't make any difference? |
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Post by sumgai on Mar 20, 2008 12:32:17 GMT -5
I do so reckon. Like Chris said, if the LED isn't directly in the signal path, then its resistance can't affect said signal. I say that because in certain cases, current through a resistance might (stress on that might) cause some noise, were that component within the signal path...... which isn't the case here, ergo, that's not what's causing your hissing noise. Speaking of which......... how's the battery in that pedal? In most pedals, when the battery is on the home stretch of it's lifespan, circuits can start acting weird, and hissing noise is one of those things we notice, under low-power conditions. Just a thought. HTH sumgai |
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Post by ChrisK on Mar 20, 2008 12:33:11 GMT -5
Hmmm, so the pedal originally had a red LED and was somewhat noisy. Now the pedal has a white (glowing) LED and is nosier. Well, since pink noise is a subset of white noise, it may be possible that since there is more white light, there may be more noise.    ;D ;D |
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Post by D2o on Mar 20, 2008 12:48:34 GMT -5
Hmmm, so the pedal originally had a red LED and was somewhat noisy. Now the pedal has a white (glowing) LED and is nosier. Well, since pink noise is a subset of white noise, it may be possible that since there is more white light, there may be more noise. ;D ;D Of course, now we are getting into grey area . |
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Post by mr_sooty on Mar 20, 2008 14:49:13 GMT -5
In the words of Buzz Lightyear: "You're mocking me aren't you".
The battery isn't an issue, because it's running off an adaptor.
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Post by D2o on Mar 20, 2008 14:56:51 GMT -5
In the words of Buzz Lightyear: "You're mocking me aren't you". may be mocking you ... I don't know enough to mock you  How much trouble would it be to try the red LED again? You never know ... |
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Post by sumgai on Mar 20, 2008 18:17:04 GMT -5
sooty, Sorry, I didn't know - you hadn't mentioned that before. sumgai |
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Post by mr_sooty on Mar 21, 2008 2:21:39 GMT -5
How much trouble would it be to try the red LED again? You never know ... Not that much trouble, but I figure, if these braniacs have never heard of some LEDs being noisier, they probably aren't. |
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Post by mr_sooty on Mar 27, 2008 21:46:06 GMT -5
Well I just did the same mod to a friends new CS-3, and decided not to change the LED, just in case. Did a side by side test afterwards, and sure enough, his was significantly quieter. Ah-ha! I thought, maybe there is something to this after all. So I changed mine back to a red one. No difference. Mine's still noisier. So clearly it's something else, but I think I'd have a pretty hard time figuring out what!
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Post by D2o on Mar 28, 2008 9:29:54 GMT -5
[/i] CS-3, and decided not to change the LED, just in case. Did a side by side test afterwards, and sure enough, his was significantly quieter. Ah-ha! I thought, maybe there is something to this after all. So I changed mine back to a red one. No difference. Mine's still noisier. So clearly it's something else, but I think I'd have a pretty hard time figuring out what! [/quote] I suspect it's just that youdaman and you selflessly do better mods for others. If his is new (relative to yours), maybe if you do a side-by-side comparison of each and every aspect of the two you could isolate a variable that is different? Who knows, maybe it's something new that your pedal does not have (or vice versa, I suppose) that you can easily add or change? |
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Post by lpf3 on Mar 28, 2008 23:01:29 GMT -5
I hope I'm not too far off topic, but re: LED's what is the "average" life span before they burn out? ( if they do burn out ) I have pro tools mbox 2 and I always turn off that computer when I'm done because I hate to leave the LED's on Am i worrying too much? Might seem like a dumb question but it is a sincere one thanks,lpf3 |
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Post by ChrisK on Mar 29, 2008 0:38:20 GMT -5
Well, they used to say that LED's lasted forever, but it turned out to be too hard to test this. Now they generally state 100 years.  But, opto electronic components DEGRADE over time in their light output as a function of how hard they are driven. www.fairchildsemi.com/an/AN/AN-3001.pdf |
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Post by lpf3 on Mar 29, 2008 5:52:51 GMT -5
ChrisK- I swear you must have a link for all occasions. If you had a nickel for every time you posted one for me you'd have , well , several nickels ;D thanks-lpf3
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, I would suggest you don't do that just yet (unless it is no biggie for you to try it) - I could be off by a country mile. 
;D
;D ;D
