EH Small Clone Reissue - Mod to SAD1024

[starfinder]

How feasible would it be to mod a Small Clone reissue back to the of spec and use the Reticon SAD1024 chip instead of the pana?

[Mark Hammer]

A wasted effort AFAIC.  Reticon BBDs are really best used in flangers, where that chip's ease in achieving very short delay times is an advantage.  Panasonic chips and their clones are good enough for a chorus...unless the goal was a dual function circuit that did chorus and flanging.  But then you'll have moved from the Small Clone design to something else.

[ElectricDruid]

How feasible would it be to mod a Small Clone reissue back to the of spec and use the Reticon SAD1024 chip instead of the pana?

Not very. The pin-outs differ, so it's not a simple swap. And that's assuming you actually have a SAD1024, because if you don't hve one already, you're unlikely to be able to find one.

Finally, why would this be worth doing? The SAD chips have one major advantage over the Panasonics, which is that their clock input pin capacitance is much lower. This allows them to be driven much faster much more easily. This is great for flangers, but doesn't really offer any advantage for chorus, where you're generally using a *much* shallower mod depth and not trying to get to sub-msec delays. So I don't see the point.

<edit>Mark was quicker!!

[starfinder]

I hear the difference in the video shoot out of the SC, the sad1024 versions are the sound I'm seeking, but if I can get a second chip I'll also do an EM.

[ElectricDruid]

I hear the difference in the video shoot out of the SC, the sad1024 versions are the sound I'm seeking, but if I can get a second chip I'll also do an EM.

Ok, assuming the settings are the same from one box to the next, what else changes between the Reticon version and the Pansonic version? I'd be very surprised if there are significant sonic changes resulting *purely* from the choice of one BBD over another, so I'd suspect that other elements of the circuit were also changed - filters, LFO design, etc etc.

[StephenGiles]

I did a breadboard comparison between sad1024 and MN3007 versions 41 years ago - the night that the Dave Edmunds band appeared on OTT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlqJc8qYU_o

As far as I remember, they both sounded pretty similar.

[pacealot]

(deleted because unhelpful — nevertheless, £100+ chips for anything besides a restoration would be a hard no from me, no matter how much better they are supposed to sound...)

[starfinder]

i think the economics have shifted, getting the chips and self building will save a lot of money

[ElectricDruid]

I think you're right, Starfinder. SAD1024 are expensive (Like £100/chip expensive) but original pedals are three times that price for starters.

[Mark Hammer]

There was a time when you could buy an SAD-1024 at Radio Shack for $12.95 or so.  But those days are long gone, so wave bye-bye.

[StephenGiles]

There was a time when you could buy an SAD-1024 at Radio Shack for $12.95 or so.  But those days are long gone, so wave bye-bye.

Yes, I often saw them in my then local shop, and thought "why would I need these"??