Delay-Verb with PT2399s

[seedlings]

I've been playing with PT2399 circuits for a few months now in search of a customizable reverb circuit for my pedal board. I had circuits with two or three PT2399 chips in various configurations and feedback loops, until I pretty well had a circuit mapped out. Unfortunately, my attempts at a layout were not pretty. Combine that with intermittent success at etching. So I decided to buy three boards from madbean pedals, which would cover the basics of the circuit on my breadboard, though not exactly.

The Madbean Zero Point Micro is a standard PT2399 delay with modulation. The Madbean Cave Dweller is a stripped down delay (with a confusing two-pot feedback arrangement).

My pedal is the stock Zero Point Micro circuit with two series Cave Dwellers in the feedback loop. So the ZPM's delayed signal goes through both CD circuits before it's fed back. There are several capacitor and resistor changes, but, if you built them stock it would still work fine.

Something happened with windows media maker and the volume level of the mic'd amp signal is too quiet. Oh, well...

CHAD

[jimilee]

Really nice delay. Have you seen the multiplex at 1776 effects? Very similar sounds. You should post this over at Madbean also.

[seedlings]

Really nice delay. Have you seen the multiplex at 1776 effects? Very similar sounds. You should post this over at Madbean also.

Thanks.  Yes, the multiplex sounds great. I really wanted to make my own circuit. But my skills are lacking. I could get it breadboarded, but would have to put the breadboard itself inside the pedal enclosure.

CHAD

[Mark Hammer]

Looks and sounds great.  But not the sort of thing that lends itself well to gigging, I would imagine.  At a certain point, knobs become tangents.  That critique aside, a universe of possibilities for recording.  Nicely done!

[seedlings]

Looks and sounds great.  But not the sort of thing that lends itself well to gigging, I would imagine.  At a certain point, knobs become tangents.  That critique aside, a universe of possibilities for recording.  Nicely done!

Mark, this absolutely is not a traditional kind of sound.  My goal was to make an 'always on' reverb-ish pedal.  And since I like delay better than reverb, I went for a multi-delay sound to use in place of reverb.  There is maybe too much adjustability, but with careful knob placement the reverb can be very 'spring-like'.  I did not want anything that sounded like a hall.

So you're right, that for a traditional sound, this pedal is useless.  I will, however, use it at all my gigs for almost all the songs.  Oh, the beauty of this hobby.

CHAD

[Mark Hammer]

I hope my comment didn't come off as a criticism.  It was intended as a qualification

As I'm sure you're aware, there is an art to deciding how MUCH control one wants.  When it comes to commercial products, we generally settle for what we get.  Well...maybe not us, but most musicians whose irons aren't plugged in.    There is always "more" that one can add, and once you know what can be profitably changed, and how to do it...and a chassis big enough to accommodate it...the challenge then becomes one of deciding what stays in the lifeboat.

If a pedal's destiny is as a studio tool, then anything goes.  I have a bunch of things with far too many features, but they were never destined for a gigging pedalboard in the first place.

Your thread raises some interesting questions to ponder, though.  Just where IS the boundary between a gigging pedal, and a personal sonic experiment, never intended to gig with?  Certainly the trend in pedals over the past 35 years has been to have more control, such that we view 3, 4, and 5 knobbers from major manufacturers as standard gigging pedals.  EHX, Strymon, Line 6 and Empress all offer plenty of pedals with a half-dozen or more controls.  If they are well-conceived, most of what we want from the pedal is to be found in maybe 3 of those knobs, and the others get diddled with once in a while to custom-tailor.  So there is nothing inherently wrong with having more controls.  I suppose what makes a pedal still gig-appropriate is whether one has to play with ALL those controls to get a particular sound, and can easily get to a desired sound from a cold start, or whether one has to diddle around to re-find it.  Again, not a sideways jab at your pedal, but merely something to keep in mind, and something I'm pretty sure you did keep in mind.

So I guess the takehome message is this:  whatever the type of pedal, think about what controls will make sense to include, given your intended purpose for the pedal.  The controls included should always support the ease/speed with which you need to get to the sounds you made it for.  If a couple of controls can do most of the heavy lifting, or if you intend the pedal for a more relaxed and less time-pressured context, then including even more "fine-tuning" or options is perfectly fine.  Just never let the pedal get in the way of bringing musical ideas from your thoughts to your ears.

[matt239]

Well, there are only 9 knobs, arranged into neat groups, not TOO confusing,  and sounds AWESOME!
Well done!

[anotherjim]

It do sound good. Would really suit "Dub Reggae" style.
Could also see it is a useful module in a modular synth - more versatile than the usual single delay modules.

[Soup39]

I'd like to see a gut shot.

Do you like the individual time & feedback knobs or do you think dual ganging the times together and the feedback together would suffice (if you were to do it again)?

[seedlings]

I'd like to see a gut shot.

Do you like the individual time & feedback knobs or do you think dual ganging the times together and the feedback together would suffice (if you were to do it again)?

I can get a shot later tonight of the insides.  I like the individual feedback knobs because I don't find myself setting them to the same position.  You could have a prominent long delay and a background short delay if you like.  I went back through and upped the HP filter caps to get less 'tick' of the attack for more of a wash effect.

CHAD

[seedlings]

Multiple boards = not so pretty...

function> fashion

CHAD

[Soup39]

it's pretty tidy!  I was curious to see how to had the boards oriented based on the knob layout.

Thanks again.

[seedlings]

it's pretty tidy!  I was curious to see how to had the boards oriented based on the knob layout.

Thanks again.

Yes, the pot leads have to criss cross.

CHAD