Kay Tremolo project - max speed & depth?

[NaBo]

Hey everyone, i'm looking for a specific kind of tremolo project to add to my to-do list.
The Kay Tremolo from GGG seems to be the best candidate for the job - i really want a
"choppy" tremolo.

Sadly, i can't find any sound samples for this build anywhere, and im just wondering if
anyone's built it and can tell me how fast the effect is when at max speed... and
since theres no depth control, is it automatically going from 0% volume to 100%?
Hope so- I want a trem pedal that i can accurately label "Machine Gun"  

[The Tone God]

The Kay is fairly choppy. The only other trem that I can think of that could be choppier is the CA trem on square wave. Maybe even hooking the CA LFO into the FET based EA trem would work well.

Anyways there is a depth control mod for the Kay. I came up with the same thing years ago when I built a couple. I also didn't like the speed range so I increased that as well and was much happier for it.

Its an interesting build.

Andrew

[Dragonfly]

IIRC, the Colorsound Tremelo is pretty "choppy" as well....i think theres a schematic for it on Phillips' site (Fuzz Central)

[RickL]

I've just finished R.G.s Variable Stutter pedal and it does a pretty good choppy trem. It also has the advatage over the Kay of having a variable duty cycle and it doesn't loose apparent volume when engaged. I had to add a booster to my Kay to get it to sound the same volume when engaged as bypassed.

Another, more complicated, option is the 4ms trem. It has lots of controls and when set right it also gives a good choppy trem sound. It also has a ramp up/down option that functions as a duty cycle control when in it's choppy mode.

The EH Pulsar also does the choppy trem sound although I thing the above two are better.

Come to think of it there's a pedal called the Cmos Echo that actually is a pretty good choppy echo and I think the schematic for the (Vox?) Repeat Percussion is also available on the net. I know I've built a pedal with a name something like that that worked pretty good.

[RickL]

Oops! The Cmos Echo is a good choppy trem not echo, and the last pedal I was thinking of was the Walco Sound-Go-Round not the Repeat Percussion.

[moosapotamus]

Hey Rick,
Was your build of RG's stutter pedal quiet when idle?
I got some noticable ticking bleeding through when I tried it. I posted some clips in this thread...
http://www.diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=26900&highlight=

Seems to be some concern with most of these chop-type circuits.
Anyone have opinions about which one is the quietest while still giving a good chop?

~ Charlie

[NaBo]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.  I think i've decided to go with the Pulsar... can do what i want it to do,
but also versatile in case i actually want a pretty, smooth trem.  Some pretty good reviews and suggestions on tonepad too.

[RickL]

I can hear mine stuttering lightly in the background when I'm not playing.

I tried making Rsourse a variable resistor but I got so much clock noise with the pot in any position except 0 ohms that I just removed the pot and hardwired it.