Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble

[TriSonics]

The original Boss CE-1 appears to have a noise gate built into it.
I am not a professional electronics person and basically build pedals as a kind of hobby.
Would anyone be able to point me in the right direction to modify a component(s) to cut down the shut off threshold that has been preset in the pedal? It cuts off too soon for my liking. It's fine when playing at a higher volume but when playing at low volume the right hand channel tends to not respond too well until the guitar volume is a little louder than I would like to play at that particular time.
The schematic for the pedal is here:
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/electronics/schematics/audio/pictures/bossce1.jpg
I would appreciate any help.
Thank you.
Mark.

[Ray Ivers]

Mark,

Replacing R73 with a 1M trimmer should allow you to vary the RMS level detector's (IC3) output to the gate of Q12, which looks like the gating device. You could also try just adjusting VR01 to raise signal level above the present gating threshold, but you'll probably get clipping if it's turned up too high.

Ray

[TriSonics]

Ray,
Thank you for your advice. I appreciate it. I will have a look at this.
Regards,
Mark.

[Enzo]

Or remove Q12 and have no gating at all. Ther is an experoment that is easy to try. or is the chorus circuit too noisy for that?

[TriSonics]

Hi Enzo,
Thanks for your reply.
Well I was told that chorus would be noisy without the noise gate.
It might be worth a try to see if it is OK with Q12 removed.
Is it just a case of removing Q12 or would I have to link anything out on the board once it was removed? I am OK at soldering as I am an electrician but electronics theory is a little over my head. I tend to have to work on instruction. I am sorry for the amateurish questions and answers.
Thanks very much for your help though.
Regards.

[TriSonics]

Aha! I see. Removal of Q12 will take out the noise gate completely. No need for any linking out etc.
Thanks Enzo. I will check it out and see how much noise is generated by it's removal.

[TriSonics]

Has anyone on this bulletin board made any other type of mod to a Boss CE-1 that has improved the tone sucking that this pedal appears to have?