Magnetron Delay

[SlowAudio]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

Hi everyone

First build report here, first pedal from a pcb. I built a kit before this and thought I’d try buying a pcb and figuring it out!

I had a little trouble with a short on the back of the pots because I didn’t buy dust covers, I think they were sold out, and another short on the ring LED. Also I just didn’t know how LED 2 was turned on exactly (It’s brightness is mapped to the Depth pot), but with some help from you all it got done!

I didn’t use high end components. Honestly I was not sure I’d be successful, and thought this one would just be practice. However, I was successful, and now I have a pedal that would probably be better if I’d just gotten better parts to begin with. Next time!

I wouldn’t build this with the illuminated footswitch again. This one is from Tayda, and it doesn’t have enough thread for the nut and washer, not to mention that due to the LED there’s not a nut and washer on the other side for support. It feels like I’m missing something, but the only way to get the nut on was to remove the very thin washer, and it just barely goes on. I think it is fragile and could break. Were this to be on the road, I think the nut could easily fall off and get lost.

I made a lot of noob mistakes, mostly around not planning for the right sized mounting holes, but got it sorted. There’s definitely some burned wires, and a non-zero amount of blood from poking myself on sharp leads.

Also I read someone say these gloss black enclosures scratch easily and I think that’s true, I wish I had just taped the box until the last minute. It’s not terrible, but I wouldn’t want to sell it for example.

It sounds good for the most part, but the upper end of the Regen control just makes feedback, there’s a pretty constant retro sci-fi LFO in the background I’m not sure about. When I put an overdrive or boost in front of it, there’s a high pitched sound that makes it unusable. Only happens when both are on together, but not in bypass.

Anyway, everyone I’ve talked to in the pedal community has been super cool, I’m glad to get to know and talk to you all in the future. I have 2 more builds in the works so hopefully I’ll have those done soon-ish.

 

[Alan W]

What a great start! Good looking, too. Are the “wings” coming off the LED engraved, or foil? or?

I don’t know this circuit, but those sci fi LFO noises are often a part of the package. Sometimes you can lower them by slightly moving the input and output wires, to find a quieter spot (which in this case usually means just a small bit further away from whatever is emitting it). Or, trying a second chip, to see if it’s quieter.

Do either the boost or overdrive you’ve tried have a charge pump in them? The internal switching frequency can sometimes bleed into other pedals if the combinations are just right. if that is the case, I’d try switching out the change pump with another one. Pretty sure there are threads on this site about the advantages of certain charge pumps.

 

[Alan W]

Oh, I wanted to also add about cheap v better quality components. I think the mechanical parts (switches and jacks) are where you should never cheap out. In terms of resistors, etc., almost all of the “classic” pedals were made with really low quality parts. The leads may not be as beefy, etc., but if they are to spec, even the cheap parts shouldn’t affect the sound much, if at all.

 

[spi]

I didn’t use high end components. Honestly I was not sure I’d be successful, and thought this one would just be practice. However, I was successful, and now I have a pedal that would probably be better if I’d just gotten better parts to begin with. Next time!

Parts is parts. I doubt you'd notice any difference.

The art is fantastic, especially for a first pedal. Did you get it printed at Tayda or use some other process?

 

[SlowAudio]

@Alan Thank you! I’m not sure about the charge pump but I’ll look into it. Also thanks for the tip about LFO I’ll try some wiggling. And the wings (which I design as a magnetic field to be on theme lol) look raised because of the UV printing. There’s 2 white layers, color, and gloss.

@spi Thanks! Yes I had it printed by Tayda. The results honestly exceeded my expectations. I was glowing when I got it in the mail.

 

[SlowAudio]

It’s good to hear the parts don’t make I big difference because I already populated my next 2 boards with the cheapest possible resistors

 

[Locrian99]

this is the delay I use at the moment pretty much exclusively. What are the settings you are running when you get the crazy sounds. I’m not a big delay guy I run mine with the modulation depth knob near full ccw same as feedback, and time I use it as a thickener but I don’t recall having any crazy issues at other settings. I’ve built lots of pedals now. None of my enclosures come close to looking that good lol.

 

[SlowAudio]

@Locrian99 to be fair, I’m a professional designer, so I don’t have any excuses when it comes to the graphics lol. It’s more of a “Chefs don’t want to cook when they get home” situation if anything. It’s mostly the top right knob, I named it regen but that might not have been the build doc name I don’t recall. It builds into just noise past 3 o’clock. I’ll try some different setups and see if I can figure out if it’s the pedal or something else.

 

[Locrian99]

@Locrian99 to be fair, I’m a professional designer, so I don’t have any excuses when it comes to the graphics lol. It’s more of a “Chefs don’t want to cook when they get home” situation if anything. It’s mostly the top right knob, I named it regen but that might not have been the build doc name I don’t recall. It builds into just noise past 3 o’clock. I’ll try some different setups and see if I can figure out if it’s the pedal or something else.

One of the things that has been frustrating to me as a builder is when a pedal works but it does something that I’m not sure is right. So I’m not sure if there’s an issue in my build. I’ve had a few of these that I’ve managed to solve and a white whale that I still don’t know about. I suspect you have an issue from what your describing.

 

[Alan W]

Delays that can go off on their own (regeneration) are, as long as you know what the limits are, fun to have as an option. Usually, there’ll be some interaction between knobs—but for me, when I know I can set it up so that it’s right before that breaking point, at the edge of regeneration, I’ll keep the feedback blend lower, and let the almost regeneration become an ambient swirl that follows the music—if that makes sense. I guess what I’m saying is, maybe it’s not a problem.

 

[SlowAudio]

What a great start! Good looking, too. Are the “wings” coming off the LED engraved, or foil? or?

I don’t know this circuit, but those sci fi LFO noises are often a part of the package. Sometimes you can lower them by slightly moving the input and output wires, to find a quieter spot (which in this case usually means just a small bit further away from whatever is emitting it). Or, trying a second chip, to see if it’s quieter.

Do either the boost or overdrive you’ve tried have a charge pump in them? The internal switching frequency can sometimes bleed into other pedals if the combinations are just right. if that is the case, I’d try switching out the change pump with another one. Pretty sure there are threads on this site about the advantages of certain charge pumps.

I figured out the high-pitched sound and it was, luckly, just a bad patch cable. Odd it worked fine in bypass, but I'm glad there isn't a problem with either pedal

 

[iamjackslackof]

Killer artwork, and a very clean build!

a non-zero amount of blood

Between my cat and pedal building, my hands are usually in rough shape

 

[SlowAudio]

Killer artwork, and a very clean build!


Between my cat and pedal building, my hands are usually in rough shape

Thank you! Yeah I don’t have any cats but I imagine you need to keep them as far as possible from your workbench