HOW TO GET YOUR DR-55 KICK TO SOUND GOOD

[S-CAT]

Here is something that you are going to love, we managed to get a kick drum from this little box that will rival the TR-808 and that is guaranteed!

Every one must know about the mod based around the BD trim pot, well with this mod you can take things further, here are two models as far as we know, the one here is the unit marked 052-537 on the board. This is a later version and did not have a trim pot fitted at the time. The one that we have fitted is marked J202, your guess is as good as ours when it comes to values there but it could be a low value being based on the earlier model of the DR-55.

To get the decay to work properly you will also need to add a tunning mod that works along side the decay, do not be fooled by other decay mods that you have seen for this machine. The S-CAT mod is the one to go for if you want a seriously long warm analogue kick that is as good or if not better than the TR-808.

Method:

1. At the bottom left hand side of the board on the component side you will see a green capacitor marked 473K,
     You will have to solder a wire to the left leg of this component and run that to a 100KB pot.

2. Now five components to the right you will see a pair of larger capacitors, you will need to solder a wire to the leg
     of the one on the left of the pair, you need to solder the wire on to the leg that is closest to the tone
     potentiometer and then in turn connect this to the 100KB pot to make the complete circuit for the kick drum
     tuning mod.

3.  Next up is the kick decay mod, please note that both mods will have to be fitted in order to get that fat
      booming, analogue kick that will shame a TR-808. The trim pot that was mentioned earlier, that is situated at
      at the lower left corner is where you need to be now. Connect a wire to the lowest leg (when facing you) &
      connect this to a 10KB pot, next just connect another wire to the singal leg of the trim pot and run that to the
      10KB pot to complete the circuit. You now have a monster of a kick, if not then just tweak the trim pot until
      you are happy and happy you will be once you have fitted the S-CAT DR-55 BD MOD to your machine.

4.  Optional BD mute:
      To get the BD mute, which we think is worth having, just follow these simple steps... Connect a wire to the leg
      of the second capacitor that you had just soldered the tune mod on to but on the opposite leg, (this capacitor
      will now have two wires, one from each mod) andconnect it to a latching switch of your choice. Then connect
      a wire to the third leg in from the bottom of the board, on the transistor that is between the trim pot and pair
      of capacitors and connect this to the latching switch to complete the circuit.


      There you have it, a TR-808 beating, tuneable, long decaying Bass Drum from a little Boss Dr-55 with the added
      bonus of a mute switch. All from the arsholes at S-CAT....Tell your friends!

      Here is a video link for you...
 

                                   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JpA3XPZHVU

EDIT: Changed the title of this thread

[computer at sea]

Thanks!

[S-CAT]

Thanks!

No problem, we are happy to share info on this site and would appreciate it if people would mention our name when asked what mods have been fitted, if infact one of ours has. We have quite a few mods on the prototype video that is included on the mod description and will be adding more to this thread as time goes on. We are not completely happy with the other mods yet and will be having another session on the unit soon. We are planning to get it to operate in the same way as the TR-808 on the sound side of things and will then have a go a fitting a new sequencer to the machine that has just been designed by our briother in-law, Darren ager from Digitana, you can see his work on the Matrix site by just searching Digitana.