Modded Vintage MXR M 117 Flanger

[guedzilla]

Hello everyone.

This weekend I bought an used MXR 117 Flanger, supposedly made in the 70's. I was told it was all original inside, but I knew the AC cable had been cut (it's about 2cm long, that makes no sense at all), but that would be an easy thing to fix. The pedal works, but after peeking inside I found several parts had been replaced (some of them were made in Brazil), and now I wonder if the pedal is sounding as it should be. I have no ways of comparing it with another vintage one, so I'd like you wise guys to take a look at this picture of the 117's guts and give your opinion. I've marked the parts I think have been switched. Plus, some solders are obviously redone. Even one of the trimposts seems to be reversed...

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/769/mxrb.jpg

Oh, and by the way, how do you date those pedals?

[ChorusCrackpot]

Some of the solder joints look a bit rusty. I suspect that it has been modded. I don't now enough about the circuitry though to identify if any components have been changed. Sorry.

[guedzilla]

I think it has been repaired at some moment, rather than modded to be a bit different. But I can't confirm that. Also, I noticed there's a bit of a hiss when the flanger gets to the lower part of the cycle...

[analogmike]

Not a very clean repair job but the chips installed should sound fine. The main RETICON chip is the important one and hard to get. I would put a new power cord on it with the ground (green) wire connected, usually to a screw hole under the board.

Not sure about the trimpot on the top right, looks odd.

I date it from 1978 from the date codes on the old chips.

Some hiss is normal.

[guedzilla]

That trimpot looks as if it's been flipped over.
Theres also some volume and low frequency loss when switched on, is that normal too?

Do you what those replaced chips do in the process?

Thank you guys for the help so far. I think I can stay with the pedal this week before deciding if I want to return it for my money back or whatever. I thought ofasking the store to lower the price a bit, since it's not 100% original.

[digiTED]

I'd be bummed. Sorry, man. Hope you got it cheap. Lotsa corrosion in there. Perhaps it was gittin' its flange on at the bottom of the Amazon? ;)

As an attempt to make my post somewhat constructive to you, you could try contacting MXR directly for some historical support. They may be able to identify some specific components and values for you.

[guedzilla]

Considering the overall musical equipment price here in Brazil + it being a vintage item it was kind of a good price... around 80% the price of an used reissue that's on the local Ebay..... and almost half the price of a new one in a store.

I mailed them a few days ago asking about how to date the pedal but I got no answer so far... :dunno