I found a single SAD1024A chip...what should I build?

[rog951]

Guys,

With all the BBD talk around here lately, it got me thinking. I'd bought an "analog delay experimenter's kit" back in the mid '80s and I never did anything serious with it. So, I went hunting through "the pile" and darn if I didn't find it. Of course, there's a fair chance that the chip's dead...it's been sitting in a socket on the experiment kit's pc board, loose in a box since I last moved (~ '93). Any way to quickly diagnose if the chip is still alive?

Assuming it's okay, does anybody have any cool favorite projects that use this chip? I'm kinda sorta leaning toward a straigt-ahead one-second delay at this point. Simpler=better for me, but I'd be open to any suggestions.

Thanks!

Rog

[Jim Jones]

Hey Rog,

There are lots of vintage circuits that use that particular chip -- I know if I had one, the first thing I'd build is the EH Deluxe Electric Mistress over at General Guitar Gadgets.

Jim

[rog951]

Thanks Jim,

And I'm a huge flanger guy too! BUT, I bought a re-issue E-H Deluxe Electric Mistress (although I've never cracked it open, I'm sure it uses a different BBD chip) and I have a bunch of '70s old-school flangers already. I have a japanese Boss BF-2, a '70s MXR flanger (no LED) and, my personal favorite, an old DOD 670 AC-powered orange beast. That DOD will go so SLOW you can barely tell it's moving. It's really great! I have other flangers too. Anyway, I guess my point is that, for me, another flanger might be a bit redundant. :oops:

But, while I have lots of flangers, I don't have too many delays. I have a beat-up Boss DM-2 or DM-3 (I can't remember which is which right now...mine is the less sought-after I think) and an old EH Memory Man. Both of these crap out at about a half second so I think it'd be fun to build a full-second's worth of analog delay.

Rog

[Jim Jones]

Hey Rog,

Ah, I see - "no flanger required".  

Unfortunately, an 1024 isn't of much use when it comes to a delay effect - unless you want a "rockabilly" style slap. You're already further ahead with the delay effects you have, the Boss DM-2 uses a 4096-stage BBD, and I think the Memory Man has 2 if I recall.  

Jim

[rog951]

Jim,

Thanks again. I see. For some reason, my brain was telling me that each of the 1024 stages were capable of a millisecond of delay. Dang. I'm getting a bit too crusty to remember stuff, apparently! However disppointing, I appreciate the info. Looks like another flanger will be joining the stable afterall. Hey, I own a bunch but I never actually BUILT one myself. It'll be fun!

Rog

[smoguzbenjamin]

If you want a good long delay I'd say (and I rarely say this ever) go digital ( :x yuch ). Boss digital delays sound OK, very crisp, but you can get something like 2 seconds of delay out of them. And they're not all that expensive if I'm correct.

[toneman]

Hey1024owners,

ElectricMistriss is an excellent choice.
Maybe not 4 a first project though.
But, why not a Flanger/Chorus.
Double duty so2speak.
Remember the Hyperflanger(chorus) from Paia?
Paia also had a Phlanger.
There's 1 on ebay right now asamatteroffact
Analog BBDs are getting harder to find now.
Too bad someone doesn't make a "digital delay" IC.
If they did, how many pins would it have?
Just thinkin out loud...  :-)
staytuned
tone

[Mark Hammer]

SAD-1024 chips are blessed with the ability to be easily clocked at 1mhz without much coaxing.  The MN3007 and 3207 found in the Boss and similar flangers need additional support chips to provide truly dramatic flanging effects although they do chorus and mundane flanger sounds (e.g., slow Leslie) more than adequately.  If you love flangers, then making one with your chip wil be the best and wisest use of it.

The A/DA flanger has what is probably one of the most striking sweep widths of any vintage era flanger.  (The recent-issue FoxRox Paradox Through-Zero Flanger has an even more pronounced sweep but is a more complicated circuit too.)  The A/DA used an MN3010 chip but an SAD-1024 can be made to stand in for it, provided there are some other changes to the board/circuit.  Several people have successfully cloned the A/DA using an SAD-1024, so maybe you'd want to try that.

Alternatively, I posted a number of SAD-1024-based flanger projects at my site (http://hammer.ampage.org) that you may want to take a look at.

[rog951]

Ooooooh. A/DA! Now THAT was a wicked flanger! I played with one years ago and have always wanted to pick one up. I'd be VERY interested in shoe-horning the SAD chip into an A/DA-esque box.  Any info on how to do that would be hugely appreciated. I'll take a look at your other SAD pages too. Thanks!