MichaelW
Well-known member
This was my first Boneyard Edition build. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know what these Boneyard Editions were all about until recently and never made the connection with @Chuck D. Bones "Boneyard" forum. When I had that epiphany I immediately ordered the Delegate and Mojito Boneyard boards.
I read through all the posts where Chuck documented all the improvements to the Delegate circuit he made, as well as all the troubleshooting threads I could find on the pedal. (Which is all part my normal pre-build research process.) One thing I failed to do was read the EQD website and description there.
After the fact, I read this on the EQD website:
"1. Tone: This pedal was designed to slightly color your tone, and the coloration can be dialed-in to your taste. Counterclockwise is treble cut, clockwise is treble boost. The tone is nearly flat around 11 o’clock."
When I originally watched the demo video of this pedal by Mike Hermans I did not notice the tonal coloration. But now after hearing it in person, going back and watching the video I can hear it. I guess this is the downside of watching demo video's done by players with monster chops, they make ANYTHING sound good
I know that the tone control was one thing that Chuck made some major improvements on. I can't imagine what it sounds like stock. And therein lies my issue.
It's still a bit too much coloration for me. Even with the tone control maxed out it sounds like it's sucking the high end sparkle out of my single coils. (I've only tested it with my Strat so far.)
The compression itself sounds pretty good, as expected. It's a subtle compression that doesn't make itself overly obvious. Which is what I like about optical compressors. It's not a "squish machine" if that's what you're looking for.
I've been testing it side by side with my Constrictor (Demeter Compulator) and Oceanid (Cornish OC-1) and they are both much more transparent and don't affect my tone as much as the Delegate does. I started out with Chuck's suggested settings but I still have a lot to learn about how all the controls work and interact with each other and need to try it on some of my humbucker guitars yet. But I gotta say, right now I'm kinda disappointed.
Which leads me to wonder if I did something wrong. Does anyone else that has built this pedal notice the high end getting filtered?
On the positive side, it's pretty quiet for a compressor. Definitely quieter than my other compressors.
I would be open to any suggestions from the smart people on this forum for any modifications I could make to let a little more high end through. Feels like it needs a "Presence" control or something analogous to that.
I'm "fairly" certain I built it correctly with all the values that Chuck specified by combing through all the forum threads. There is a misprint on the silkscreen for C7 & C8 (says 22n) but I did find a post where Chuck confirmed it should 220n as per the build docs.
Other than that it was a smooth build. I used a GL5516 LDR and a 5mm diffused green LED that I scuffed up a bit more with some 600grit to make it more "diffuser"
Oh and I used the specified OPA2134. I also installed the optional 3mm red LED's in D1 & D2. (Silkscreen says D6 & D7)I don't think any of those choices would affect the tonal coloration, only how fast the LDR can respond or how aggressive the attack is.
I read through all the posts where Chuck documented all the improvements to the Delegate circuit he made, as well as all the troubleshooting threads I could find on the pedal. (Which is all part my normal pre-build research process.) One thing I failed to do was read the EQD website and description there.
After the fact, I read this on the EQD website:
"1. Tone: This pedal was designed to slightly color your tone, and the coloration can be dialed-in to your taste. Counterclockwise is treble cut, clockwise is treble boost. The tone is nearly flat around 11 o’clock."
When I originally watched the demo video of this pedal by Mike Hermans I did not notice the tonal coloration. But now after hearing it in person, going back and watching the video I can hear it. I guess this is the downside of watching demo video's done by players with monster chops, they make ANYTHING sound good
I know that the tone control was one thing that Chuck made some major improvements on. I can't imagine what it sounds like stock. And therein lies my issue.
It's still a bit too much coloration for me. Even with the tone control maxed out it sounds like it's sucking the high end sparkle out of my single coils. (I've only tested it with my Strat so far.)
The compression itself sounds pretty good, as expected. It's a subtle compression that doesn't make itself overly obvious. Which is what I like about optical compressors. It's not a "squish machine" if that's what you're looking for.
I've been testing it side by side with my Constrictor (Demeter Compulator) and Oceanid (Cornish OC-1) and they are both much more transparent and don't affect my tone as much as the Delegate does. I started out with Chuck's suggested settings but I still have a lot to learn about how all the controls work and interact with each other and need to try it on some of my humbucker guitars yet. But I gotta say, right now I'm kinda disappointed.
Which leads me to wonder if I did something wrong. Does anyone else that has built this pedal notice the high end getting filtered?
On the positive side, it's pretty quiet for a compressor. Definitely quieter than my other compressors.
I would be open to any suggestions from the smart people on this forum for any modifications I could make to let a little more high end through. Feels like it needs a "Presence" control or something analogous to that.
I'm "fairly" certain I built it correctly with all the values that Chuck specified by combing through all the forum threads. There is a misprint on the silkscreen for C7 & C8 (says 22n) but I did find a post where Chuck confirmed it should 220n as per the build docs.
Other than that it was a smooth build. I used a GL5516 LDR and a 5mm diffused green LED that I scuffed up a bit more with some 600grit to make it more "diffuser"
Oh and I used the specified OPA2134. I also installed the optional 3mm red LED's in D1 & D2. (Silkscreen says D6 & D7)I don't think any of those choices would affect the tonal coloration, only how fast the LDR can respond or how aggressive the attack is.
