Delay w tap time

[Unclerny]

Hi All, I have a guy who keeps asking me to build him a delay and his only real request about it is that it has a TAP switch to set the time.

As I understand it, that's a digital function.

Is there a way to make an analog delay with a Tap time feature?

Thanks UE

[Seljer]

Yeah, I've been wondering that too, but for a tap tempo controlled LFO for your tremolo or any other LFO application. I've got a feeling that you'd need to make a digital LFO if thats what you wanted to do (though you'd probably have a ton of options someone did manage to design one)

or a tap tempo controlled sequencer

[gez]

Buy an old wah shell, stick a trem circuit in it and stick two fingers up to tap tempo. 

[R.G.]

I can see that this is another one that's just going to keep coming up over and over.

(a) there ARE ways to do an analog tap tempo
(b) all of the ways I can think of or have seen that might work are very complicated indeed; they are much more complicated than the entire rest of the effect, and probably the amp thrown in too
(c) the design of a microcontroller based tap tempo is simple; I posted pseudocode for doing here at one time in the past. A microcontroller transfers the complexity from the hardware circuit - which becomes trivial - to the programming, which requires some modest programming skill.
(d) the complicated part is having the circuit notice the length of the cycle, then transferring that to the oscillator. The oscillator does not have to be purely digital, but any uC able to do the cycle measurement and transfer will probably be able to generate the LFO directly anyway, at the cost of yet more programming.

[Unclerny]

Thanks RG, You made it very clear that this is really just not worth it when compared to buying a digital pedal already on the market.

I've tried many of them and I personally don't care much for them because the maker puts so many bells and whistles on it that the thing sounds okay but not great.  Does anyone make one that is a simple straight forward delay with the tap tempo function, digital or otherwise?

I read a few months back about a Canadian maker with a delay that meets these needs.  Anyone know if they're worth the Big $?

RG wouldn't happen to be Mr. Keen would it?

Thanks UE