Guardians of the analog
Papi Fuego
- Build Rating
- 5.00 star(s)
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"I have many names. My people call me K’uk’ulkan, but my enemies call me Namor." What a Boss. Speaking of Boss, this is the boss of boss, the aquaboy deluxe, what waza craft wishes it would have done for the dm-2w.
The aquaboy deluxe is a reimagined dm-2 with expanded delay time and added modulation. The delay has been expanded from ~300ms to 550-600ms. The longer delay times make the repeats darker and softer. The signature dm-2 tone and percussive repeats are still there though. The optical modulation on the repeats is very versatile, from slow and shallow to deep and fast it's all there. The waveform switch can go from none in the middle, standard triangle wave or extreme square wave. The pedal is also given higher headroom with the addition of a charge pump for 18v and regulated to 15v.
There is also an added tails switch that allows you to switch between true bypass or a buffered style bypass that simply cuts the wet signal prior to the compander and giving you a tails fade out when used. I don't use the tails or care for it and wanted to streamline the bypass switching so it was ommitted in my build. The trimmer for maximum feedback is a nice addition as well for customizing how soon the pedal will oscillate, and the dm-2 spaceship oscillation is the best of any analog delay I have used.
I had one issue during the build, I had a low distortion on the repeats. After audio probing and following the signal path I traced it down to the compander and narrowed it down between 2 capacitors and it was a bum 220n cap. Once that was replaced all was perfect. On larger complex builds like this I didn't follow my own advice if checking each part before populating. Also an important reminder to build an audio probed and learn to read schematics. I calibrated according to the boss service manual.
I went with a matte pink tayda 1590BB2 enclosure with my boy Namor for the artwork. Really happy with how this one turned out and the sound is fantastic and perfect for my playing style and rig. Excellent layout and simple to bias I highly recommend the AQBDLX if you are looking for the DM-2 sound with added versatility.
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