Delegate compressor - boneyard edition and Parasite Wah

[EGRENIER]

So I’ve completed my first 2 builds ever. A parasite Wah and a Delegate Compressor - Boneyard edition.

first on the Parasaite Wah: overall felt pretty simple. Building the board went well, however the pedal expression enclosure is a nightmare. Missing screws, missing pad for the foot switch. Not ideal. Add to this that the included screws were longer than the drilled holes, I sheared 2 of them and had to resort to super glue.

I pushed through and ended up with a functional Wah-Wah. I probably still need to adjust the pot position to the gears a bit more to get it in the sweet spot, but so far so good.


Now for the delegate compressor.

This one was a bit more difficult. First lesson learned was that LED have a long leg (pin) and a short leg for a reason. Second was that the short leg goes in the K hole on the board.

Third lesson was that you can’t test this pedal before putting it it’s enclosure with the lights on. Yes I could have tape the white LED with the LDR for testing, but turning my lights off was faster and allowed me to see the white LED in action.

Forth lesson was that reversing the Level and Sustain pots was not a good idea (mistake). First test of the pedal made me realize that something was wrong quickly, Turning the level just 1/100 of the pot, scared the bejesus out of my dog. So after a bit of thinking and a night rest, back to the iron to swap them to their correct positions.


Now I’m somewhat happy with the results. However, while it works, I still believe there’s something wrong with it. The amount of volume boost is still very high. The difference between compressed vs clean is so big that it makes it an always on type of pedal. There also seems to be a fair delay before the pedal kicks on. If I stop playing and lower my guitar volume for a few seconds and just turn it back up, the first noise such as running my hands on the string are super loud. Then it seems to kick in and bring the volume and compression down. If anyone have suggestion to were I can start to find the cause all are welcome.

So as a first builds both were enjoyable experiences, I’ve learned a lot and I’m ready to attack new builds. Mainly waiting for the Muffin fuzz to be back in stock to put a new order in. Probably a couple of fuzz and delays (analog and digital). Suggestion are welcome for the delays, I’m pretty set on the Muffin and the Danube for the fuzz.

 

[fig]

What made you use ceramic over electrolytics for the 10u caps?

 

[EGRENIER]

I didn’t know better . I just picked what was matching value without knowing there could even be a difference. I have never done any electronic work before these 2 boards. Should I alway buy electrolytic if not otherwise detailed like the film one for this build ?

 

[fig]

Typically, the board will give clues. The caps that are round with polarity listed are usually electrolytic.
Ceramics are mostly in the pf range.
Film cap values run between ceramic and electrolytic mostly in the nf range
Electrolytic in the uf range.

There is overlap in values. (the 1u caps on this build for example. Some are meant to be electrolytic, some film).

 

[EGRENIER]

Thanks for the guidance. And yes I could have listed that as a lesson learned. “The board includes info not included in the BOM...”

 

[fig]

Hey, you did an exceptional job! What's next?

 

[EGRENIER]

Muffin fuzz and Danube fuzz. Also want to build a analog and a digital delay. So I’m thinking Seabed and the Hydra ? Still need to decide. All suggestions welcome, please consider that I’m a newbie !

 

[Dali]

I made those delays if you ever need ideas...

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/pitchwitch/ (Black Pitch)
https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/pcb351/ (Terrarium with Rythmic Delay from https://github.com/tnatoli/Sonic_Daisy/tree/main/rhythm_delay)
https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/magnetrondelay/ (Magnet Delay)
Flight Delayed : https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/delayed-flight-custom-eeprom-delay-arachnid-clock-module.4072/
And Sarah's hand painted Cataclysm Delay https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/cataclysm/



I lend my Hydra to a friend but that was my post when I did it: https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/hydra-delay.4222/

 

[fig]

I'm working on a D'Lay [pt2399] with tap tempo.
D'Lay

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

What made you use ceramic over electrolytics for the 10u caps?

Those aren't ceramic, they are tantalum electrolytic. Actually a good choice.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

The Delegate (Boneyard or stock version) has a lot of knobs and you have to find the right settings. This is a high-gain compressor and requires an LDR with quick response time and a large resistance range. I always test my LDRs before installing them because there is a lot of variation from part-to-part. Some will not work in the Delegate. The low-gain compressors like the Fat General or SoloStorm are more forgiving.

 

[cooder]

The Delegate (Boneyard or stock version) has a lot of knobs and you have to find the right settings. This is a high-gain compressor and requires an LDR with quick response time and a large resistance range. I always test my LDRs before installing them because there is a lot of variation from part-to-part. Some will not work in the Delegate. The low-gain compressors like the Fat General or SoloStorm are more forgiving.

Could you give us pointers how to test LDRs for fast response time? Hope there's not too specialised equipment needed...

 

[fig]

Could you give us pointers how to test LDRs for fast response time? Hope there's not too specialised equipment needed...

Well in my experience, long distance relationships are strained from the get-go. As for response time, it is usually proportional to the distance.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

I use an oscilloscope and a function generator for measuring response time. I don't know any other good way to do it. I paid $200 for mine, there are cheaper ones out there. This is what a good LDR looks like:


Green trace is LED current. 1V = 1mA. Blue trace is LDR voltage with one lead grounded and the other pulled up to 9.3V by a 100K resistor. At 4.6V, the LDR resistance is 100K. at 7V, the LDR resistance is 300K. It took the LDR 200ms to get to 300K when the LED turned off.

 

[fig]

What's the typical response time? around 50ms?

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Depends on how high you want the resistance to go and how much light you put on the LDR. They really slow down above a few hundred KΩ and overdosing them with light slows the turn-off response considerably. You have to take the datasheet values with a grain of salt because the conditions the manufacturer uses for testing may be very different from what happens inside a pedal.

 

[EGRENIER]

Those aren't ceramic, they are tantalum electrolytic. Actually a good choice.

Well even a blind squirrel can find a nut !

 

[EGRENIER]

Depends on how high you want the resistance to go and how much light you put on the LDR. They really slow down above a few hundred KΩ and overdosing them with light slows the turn-off response considerably. You have to take the datasheet values with a grain of salt because the conditions the manufacturer uses for testing may be very different from what happens inside a pedal.

Well that goes above and beyond my ability to test an LDR, however, I did take the precaution to test that they were at least 500K dark.

 

[Edenspace]

So I’ve completed my first 2 builds ever. A parasite Wah and a Delegate Compressor - Boneyard edition.

first on the Parasaite Wah: overall felt pretty simple. Building the board went well, however the pedal expression enclosure is a nightmare. Missing screws, missing pad for the foot switch. Not ideal. Add to this that the included screws were longer than the drilled holes, I sheared 2 of them and had to resort to super glue.

I pushed through and ended up with a functional Wah-Wah. I probably still need to adjust the pot position to the gears a bit more to get it in the sweet spot, but so far so good.
View attachment 10057

Now for the delegate compressor.

This one was a bit more difficult. First lesson learned was that LED have a long leg (pin) and a short leg for a reason. Second was that the short leg goes in the K hole on the board.

Third lesson was that you can’t test this pedal before putting it it’s enclosure with the lights on. Yes I could have tape the white LED with the LDR for testing, but turning my lights off was faster and allowed me to see the white LED in action.

Forth lesson was that reversing the Level and Sustain pots was not a good idea (mistake). First test of the pedal made me realize that something was wrong quickly, Turning the level just 1/100 of the pot, scared the bejesus out of my dog. So after a bit of thinking and a night rest, back to the iron to swap them to their correct positions.

View attachment 10058View attachment 10059
Now I’m somewhat happy with the results. However, while it works, I still believe there’s something wrong with it. The amount of volume boost is still very high. The difference between compressed vs clean is so big that it makes it an always on type of pedal. There also seems to be a fair delay before the pedal kicks on. If I stop playing and lower my guitar volume for a few seconds and just turn it back up, the first noise such as running my hands on the string are super loud. Then it seems to kick in and bring the volume and compression down. If anyone have suggestion to were I can start to find the cause all are welcome.

So as a first builds both were enjoyable experiences, I’ve learned a lot and I’m ready to attack new builds. Mainly waiting for the Muffin fuzz to be back in stock to put a new order in. Probably a couple of fuzz and delays (analog and digital). Suggestion are welcome for the delays, I’m pretty set on the Muffin and the Danube for the fuzz

Where did you find the wah enclosure? Can't find anything online.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Try buying a used CryBaby on eBay, that's what I did. Comes with a switch & a pot. There are some good deals, if some doesn't bid the price up too high.