From Modest Mike’s Mods  

This listing is for our modified Boss CS-3 guitar effects pedal.

All of our modified pedals are warrantied as new! 

*We can also modify your pedal! Give us a call or shoot me a quick email.

Just google "Modest Mike's Mods." Check out the reviews at sites like The Gear Page, Harmony Central, Telecaster Guitar Forum, Strat-Talk.com, Pedal-of-the-day.com, The Amp Garage, Noisy Music, Ultimate Guitar.com, and even TalkBass.com, and GBase.com. Quality workmanship, great customer service, low prices, and the sound! Nobody beats Modest Mike's Mods!

The CS-3 is the latest and greatest in a line of Boss compression/sustainers.

It’s a good pedal, we made it better!

While the parts may vary, it seems everyone who gets paid to mod this pedal agrees that the CS-3 needs a little more bass and a little less noise. The tone knob seems to go from muddy to painfully sharp. Some musicians are not ready to give up their CS-2...they feel it is actually a little quieter and warmer than the CS-3.

We started by replacing those cheap capacitors and resistors with Panasonic caps and metal film resistors. Some of these components are a different value now to enhance the tone. These changes help eliminate noise and hiss, bring up the bass, and give it more body. We changed the clipping diode over to germanium to help make the pedal a little smoother. 

And yes, we replaced the old LED. This one is clear when off, and a very noticeable blue when on. 

Did you know? It is good to have a bright LED on a dim lit stage. But it is even more important to have a bright LED for outside gigs.

Here is one of our old, road worn, modified CS-3's compared to a brand new just out of the box CS-3. Depending on which amp is used, the sound quality of these pedals can differ. So, no amp is used here. Here we have guitar to pedals to recorder. All settings are exactly the same for both pedals... no enhanced sound or added effects. And no, I did not turn up the volume on the modified CS-3! And I just can't emphasize this enough...

USE YOUR HEADPHONES!

Boss CS-3 Comparison - YouTube

Video will open in a new window

“It’s warmer, more natural sounding!”

“It’s got better tone now…thicker body and more bass. The tone knob actually works like a tone knob!”

“I can crank it up now without that noise in the background!”

“I have better volume, and I love the sustain!”

 A friend of mine who also does mods said “Somehow you managed to smooth out the attack without losing the highs or the pinched harmonics!”

"Hey Mike!
 Just got the pedal today and it sounds great! No more noise! Thanks again for making it (and me) sound better. You're definitely at the top of my list for mods and hopefully I'll have more work for you soon! -Kevin"

"Mike,
I got the CS-3 back last week and it sounds great!  Nice and quiet, smooth...not harsh.  Thank you again.

Jim (The Wyoming dude)"

"Finally had a chance to sit down and just play.  Love the sound, the sustain and the overall quietness of it.  I used it with a Ibanez TS808 and just fell in love with it.  My friends has a loud very noticeable static hiss whenever he turns his on.  Mine is a lot more responsive as far as the knobs go just can’t say enough about how it sounds to me.  This is what I have been looking for, Thanks."

"Now here is the thing...Mike you and your changes, Mike you and your understanding of what is needed....I don't have the proper words to express how I am blessed that you were blessed with this understanding. I am near 70 and I have made many bad purchases in my life from time to time but this one is a blessing.  It was making goose bumps on me and I am very hard to please. Mike I thank you....Mike I really thank you....You have a very happy customer...
Frank Hamill"

"If there was an award for best service, this guy would win!”
rangerc4 ( Feedback Score Of 238 )

"Hi Mike,
The pedal arrived safe and sound. I am loving this pedal and the fine work that you did. It sounds great and NO NOISE! I have used the Boss CS-3 for years and always liked the effect, but hated the noise. As I told you, I play strictly through tube amps and as you know, noise is always an unwanted companion. Well my friend, you took care of that problem and also enhanced the sound. Thanks for doing a great job and also for the super fast shipping, I will use your mods at Disney next week. I will recommend. Ron, Ocala, Florida"

"I received the pedal on Friday. I tried it out a little on Friday and Sat.  Today was the first chance to try it a little louder with different guitars.  There is a significant improvement in regards to hum reduction.  I was jamming with a friend Friday night and left it on most of the time; sometimes forgot because I didn't notice the hum and sometimes because it just sounded so good. My friend thought it sounded good as well.
Best Reguards,
Craig"

“The fastest shipping, the effects pedals are better than described, Thank you!!!”

From Martin: 

"Hi, Mike!

I got the CS-3 a few days ago og brought it to a gig last night - sounded great! Thanks for a nice-sounding job!!!"

"Mike,

Just wanted to thanks for the great job on my CS-3. I was basically doing it more for the ASA-PSA switch over more than anything and I was not expecting much difference in the sound. I figured any tone improvement would be a bonus. I used it for the first time at rehearsal last night and was really amazed at how much of a warm rounded smooth tone the mod gave my rig. I use it (for bass) with an Ampeg SVT and and Eden D series cabinet. I was actually really happy with my tone before the mod and was really surprised at how much of an improvement it made. I use it more for compression and only keep the sustain knob slightly engaged. It also quieted down the whole deal quite a bit as well. I always just assumed that quiet hiss was something I would have to deal with. It is virtually gone. Wish I had done it sooner! Awesome!

I buy a good amount from Ebay and I have never written a seller to personally give feedback before, but I wanted to say I was very impressed with service, communication, turn around time, ect!!!

Thanks again!

Adam"

Steve bought our Custom DS-1, Marshall Custom DS-1, and one of our modded CS-3 pedals for his studio:

"Thank you, I received my pedals this morning, safe and sound. The pedals sound great. My favorite part is that they are not noisy. Great for an Audio Engineer/Guitar Player.  I'll spread the word, we've got lots of guys here that will be calling you soon. I'll be doing business with you again.

Thanks again!"

Steven Rosas

Direct Resonance Recording Studio, LLC

Waco, Texas

Dear modestmikesmods,

I just received my pedal today on time as promised, and I have to admit I’m a little upset with you. I've been playing music for 50 years and believe me when I tell you THIS PEDAL SOUNDS GREAT! I wish I had found your products long ago. Words cannot explain how satisfied I am. Keep up the great work and thank you so much. You'll be hearing from me again.

Nick (eBay member cajun0_1)

Mike,

Got the Boss CS-3 pedal today. All I can say is Wow! What a difference in overall volume, way less noise, more bass response.