MichaelW
Well-known member
This is less a build report rather than a saga of woeful mistakes and unobtanium parts hahah.
Lots of TL;DR below......
Since building my Tourbus I've wanted a second BBD analog delay for my dual delay setup which is my standard goto sound.
Essentially copped from Andy Timmons. Dotted 1/8th into a 1/4 note around 500ms/300ms.
I didn't want another DMM so during the last MBP sale I picked up a couple of the other MBP BBD delays including this AquaBaby, which is basically a scaled down version of the Boss DM-2 without modulation and fits into a 1590B.
I saw "1590B" and ordered it. (More on this later) Then I also ordered the Modulation add on board for $1 more.
I also ordered the Man O War Deluxe which is the Maxon AD-900.
Both of these boards require the MN3101 clock chip to drive the MN3005 BBD delay. The AquaBaby needs 1, and the ManOWar needs 2.
Little did I know they're freaking unobtanium. Real ones anyway. After a long sordid story of sourcing from a bunch of different places, getting counterfeits, getting ones that didn't work, sending @Dan0h some to test for me, getting @fig to test some, blah blah blah to cut the story short I found some that seem legit, work great AND are inexpensive!
So before going any further, here's the source if you're looking for MN3101's. It's an eBay seller that's really a decent guy.
Link to MN3101's. The ones that finally worked for me were marked with date/lot code "0.7". If you ask for it, he will send those to you.
The first ones he sent me were marked "0.05" and did not work for me, or @fig or @Dan0h.
Anyway, with that out of the way, I started running into my second issue. I actually used 3 different enclosures trying to build this pedal.
Remember I said I saw "1590B"? Well what I didn't realize and probably should have looked closer, it was 1590B with "side jacks".
Since I can't abide with side jacks, I needed to convert it to top jacks. Well, I hate to admit it but it was a total fail....just won't work with the shape of the board, not for lack of trying.
I initially tried to build it with the add on modulation daughterboard, I knew it would be impossible to get it into a 1590B so I figured SURELY I can get it into a 125B right? Nope.....it was a mess. First of all the pots are all off board wired, so it's a "floating" board. Secondly, it's TWO floating boards with the modulation daughterboard. I think I shorted something out or fried something my first attempt.
This is how it all began, sounded like a good idea at the time......
It was all good up to this point, then I tried to install the jacks, even with Lumbergs there just wasn't enough clearance to not short out against the board. So needless to say, this iteration never worked. I'm not exactly sure what I killed but this was before I got the confirmed working MN3101's so I needed to rule that out before diving into troubleshooting a complicated build.
So, shamelessly, (ok with a little bit of shame) I ordered a second board and rebuilt the pedal. This time I figure I would test it before adding the modulation daughterboard.
Coincidentally, I now also had some new MN3101's from a few different sources to try. (Some came all the way from Germany!)
So here's my little temp testing rig......
And eureka! We have delay!!!! At this point I had to decide if I:
a) wanted to add the mod board back in and
b) wanted to try the 125B again.
It was a Yes and No answer.
I decided to bag the notion of a teeny little analog delay with modulation and put the whole shebang in a 1590BB.
That turned out to be an excellent decision. I could lay everything out the way I wanted with double sided tape holding the boards down and ensure NO groundouts.
This is how it finally ended up.
Pretty messy by MichaelW standards, but it was the best I could do with a "cowboy" kind of board.
I absolutely LOVE the sounds of this pedal! The delays are a bit more defined and "sharper" than the Deluxe Memory Man.
The modulation is a bit more pronounced. A couple things I DON'T like about it, is that modulation rate LED never shuts off, even if you have the modulation turned off by the toggle. (This is not unique, the Caesar Chorus is the same way). The second thing I don't like is that even with the depth turned all the way CCW, there's still a significant amount of modulation on the delays. So it's either on/off or a lot of modulation. There's no "subtlety" here.
Right now I have it in my buffered loop for time based pedals, I'm using the AquaBaby as the dotted 1/8th note generator running into my TourBus which has the 1/4 note setting. I've got the modulation turned off on the AquaBaby and using just the modulation on the TourBus which can be dialed much more subtle. The sound is really quite lovely.
Kinda like running two Deluxe Memory Man units in series.
Eventually I want to experiment with a true stereo rig with my recording setup, but I haven't quite decided how to do it yet. The cardinal rule is that all my effects HAVE to be DIY, no software, no retail....I'm getting there....hahah.
Anyway, as much as I love this pedal, I would not recommend it. I would say wait and get the Aquaboy Deluxe, which has the modulation onboard and is laid out like a "proper" pedal with PCB mounted pots to hold the PCB. (They're currently sold out) Or...get the ManOWar, or Tourbus.
I will also let you in on the best kept secret.....all this crap, headache, expense I went through to have this dual delay analog BBD delay sound can be had in a single pedal that's MUCH easier to build. The PedalPCB Hydra. The "age" knob on the Hydra REALLY has THE BEST BBD analog simulator I've heard short of the Strymon El Capistan. So if you want the "sound" build the Hydra. If you want the joy, tears, frustration and elation of the experience, build the analog delays hahaha..........
Lots of TL;DR below......
Since building my Tourbus I've wanted a second BBD analog delay for my dual delay setup which is my standard goto sound.
Essentially copped from Andy Timmons. Dotted 1/8th into a 1/4 note around 500ms/300ms.
I didn't want another DMM so during the last MBP sale I picked up a couple of the other MBP BBD delays including this AquaBaby, which is basically a scaled down version of the Boss DM-2 without modulation and fits into a 1590B.
I saw "1590B" and ordered it. (More on this later) Then I also ordered the Modulation add on board for $1 more.
I also ordered the Man O War Deluxe which is the Maxon AD-900.
Both of these boards require the MN3101 clock chip to drive the MN3005 BBD delay. The AquaBaby needs 1, and the ManOWar needs 2.
Little did I know they're freaking unobtanium. Real ones anyway. After a long sordid story of sourcing from a bunch of different places, getting counterfeits, getting ones that didn't work, sending @Dan0h some to test for me, getting @fig to test some, blah blah blah to cut the story short I found some that seem legit, work great AND are inexpensive!
So before going any further, here's the source if you're looking for MN3101's. It's an eBay seller that's really a decent guy.
Link to MN3101's. The ones that finally worked for me were marked with date/lot code "0.7". If you ask for it, he will send those to you.
The first ones he sent me were marked "0.05" and did not work for me, or @fig or @Dan0h.
Anyway, with that out of the way, I started running into my second issue. I actually used 3 different enclosures trying to build this pedal.
Remember I said I saw "1590B"? Well what I didn't realize and probably should have looked closer, it was 1590B with "side jacks".
Since I can't abide with side jacks, I needed to convert it to top jacks. Well, I hate to admit it but it was a total fail....just won't work with the shape of the board, not for lack of trying.
I initially tried to build it with the add on modulation daughterboard, I knew it would be impossible to get it into a 1590B so I figured SURELY I can get it into a 125B right? Nope.....it was a mess. First of all the pots are all off board wired, so it's a "floating" board. Secondly, it's TWO floating boards with the modulation daughterboard. I think I shorted something out or fried something my first attempt.
This is how it all began, sounded like a good idea at the time......
It was all good up to this point, then I tried to install the jacks, even with Lumbergs there just wasn't enough clearance to not short out against the board. So needless to say, this iteration never worked. I'm not exactly sure what I killed but this was before I got the confirmed working MN3101's so I needed to rule that out before diving into troubleshooting a complicated build.
So, shamelessly, (ok with a little bit of shame) I ordered a second board and rebuilt the pedal. This time I figure I would test it before adding the modulation daughterboard.
Coincidentally, I now also had some new MN3101's from a few different sources to try. (Some came all the way from Germany!)
So here's my little temp testing rig......
And eureka! We have delay!!!! At this point I had to decide if I:
a) wanted to add the mod board back in and
b) wanted to try the 125B again.
It was a Yes and No answer.
I decided to bag the notion of a teeny little analog delay with modulation and put the whole shebang in a 1590BB.
That turned out to be an excellent decision. I could lay everything out the way I wanted with double sided tape holding the boards down and ensure NO groundouts.
This is how it finally ended up.
Pretty messy by MichaelW standards, but it was the best I could do with a "cowboy" kind of board.
I absolutely LOVE the sounds of this pedal! The delays are a bit more defined and "sharper" than the Deluxe Memory Man.
The modulation is a bit more pronounced. A couple things I DON'T like about it, is that modulation rate LED never shuts off, even if you have the modulation turned off by the toggle. (This is not unique, the Caesar Chorus is the same way). The second thing I don't like is that even with the depth turned all the way CCW, there's still a significant amount of modulation on the delays. So it's either on/off or a lot of modulation. There's no "subtlety" here.
Right now I have it in my buffered loop for time based pedals, I'm using the AquaBaby as the dotted 1/8th note generator running into my TourBus which has the 1/4 note setting. I've got the modulation turned off on the AquaBaby and using just the modulation on the TourBus which can be dialed much more subtle. The sound is really quite lovely.
Kinda like running two Deluxe Memory Man units in series.
Eventually I want to experiment with a true stereo rig with my recording setup, but I haven't quite decided how to do it yet. The cardinal rule is that all my effects HAVE to be DIY, no software, no retail....I'm getting there....hahah.
Anyway, as much as I love this pedal, I would not recommend it. I would say wait and get the Aquaboy Deluxe, which has the modulation onboard and is laid out like a "proper" pedal with PCB mounted pots to hold the PCB. (They're currently sold out) Or...get the ManOWar, or Tourbus.
I will also let you in on the best kept secret.....all this crap, headache, expense I went through to have this dual delay analog BBD delay sound can be had in a single pedal that's MUCH easier to build. The PedalPCB Hydra. The "age" knob on the Hydra REALLY has THE BEST BBD analog simulator I've heard short of the Strymon El Capistan. So if you want the "sound" build the Hydra. If you want the joy, tears, frustration and elation of the experience, build the analog delays hahaha..........
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