Introduction: Digital Delay Pedal

Building guitar pedals is a time-intense, often frustrating, and expensive process. If you think you will save time and money by making your own digital delay pedal, I highly advise you to learn R.G. Peachy's page on the economics of wheel building. However, if like Pine Tree State, you are obsessive, enjoy messing around with electronics and privation to make something that looks and sounds unambiguously your own, carry on reading up... just don't articulate that I didn't warn you!

Follows are detailed instructions on how I ready-made my own digital wait pedal. I must admit that I used a laser pinnace As an integral depart of the process, but I feel most of the tasks that I am exploitation IT for arse be performed with many more modest tools. My focus of the Instructable is not indeed much in the assemblage of the circuit, but the assembly of the case, as this is where the real crux of the job lies. Cramming a lot of things into a little enclosure is not particularly easy. Yet, it's my Bob Hope that these instructions will help in approximately way to simplify the process.

Short Delay:

Long Wait without Feedback:

Long Delay with Feedback:

Whole step 1: Go Get Stuff

You wish indigence:

(x1) "BB"- sized Nerve Enclosure
(x1) PT2399 Echo Processor
(x1) TL072 baritone noise op amp
(x1) LM7805
(x3) 100K potentiometers
(x1) 50K pot
(x1) 5K potentiometer
(x1) PCB
(x1) DPDT stamp switch
(x1) SPST toggle switch (SPDT okay)
(x1) Power jack (with thin-murder)
(x2) 1/4" mono jacks
(x5) Knobs
(x1) sheet 1/16" santoprene rubber (McMaster-Carr 86215K22)
(x1) sail 1/8" cork

capacitors:
(x1) 100uF
(x3) 47uF
(x1) 4.7 uF
(x6) 1 uF
(x3) 0.1 uF
(x2) 0.082 uF
(x3) 0.0027 uF
(x2) 0.01 uF
(x1) 100 pF
(x1) 5 pF

resistors:
(x2) 1K
(x11) 10K
(x2) 15K
(x1) 100K
(x1) 510K
(x2) 1M


(Note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This does not change the cost of the particular for you. I reinvest whatever proceeds I receive into making radical projects. If you would like whatever suggestions for disjunctive suppliers, please let me bon.)

Step 2: The Schematic

My nonrepresentational is largely (read: near alone) based upon Casper Electronics' EchoBender pedal, which is successively largely based happening Tonepad's Rebote 2.5 Delay pedal, which is in turn, more Beaver State less, based upon the example nonrepresentational in the PT2399 datasheet. Having breadboard all troika, I in person can not hear a significant dispute in sound 'tween the Casper Electronic version and the one on Tonepad, which some masses say is superior sounding (the i in the datasheet just sounds flat). The courteous matter about the Casper Electronics version is the inclusion of a feedback pot, which gives a genuinely full sound to the echo effect.

The things that I have changed are a few mildly meaningful resistance and capacitor values. The biggest difference is that I have separate the "long delay" distortion pot. This potentiometer is basically forcing the cow dung to under-sample the input to make a longer retard and, in my opinion, doesn't sound very echt. If you like under-sampled, long-lived-delayed, audio, by all means throw in a large (1M) potentiometer in series with the delay pot. Equally you May wealthy person also inferred from this, the longer the retard, the less clear the outturn signal; so be warned that straight the "short delay" starts to degrade when cranked rising wholly the room.

For redundancy sake, I get redrawn the schematic drawing. I have put ternion image notes on my schematic to bespeak parts of the circuit that have changed. The schematic worn by Casper Electronics is much more clear and I recommend you mainly go by that same.

Footprint 3: Breadboard the Circuit

Build out the circuit on a breadboard.

Why breadboard?

There are a couple of reasons:
1) To attain sure you get it right originally. There is nothing worse than soldering a electrical circuit for good in place to find taboo IT doesn't work.
2) This method allows for experiment. For representativ, should you not same how it sounds, you can easily swap out parts until you do.
3) You can easily expand upon the circuit.
4) Information technology is also quick to do and if you fall upon that you don't like the circuit at all, you didn't just rot a good deal of fourth dimension soldering.
5) It gives you a reference to extend by when you finally do make up one's mind to permanently solder IT together.

Step 4: Solder the Racing circuit

Once you are sure the circuit full treatmen on the bread board, solder everything, merely the jacks, potentiometers and switches, to a printed electric circuit board. Pay careful attention to your connections.

If you have enough parts to coiffure and then, it is suggested that you allow the bread board unimpaired as a reference point. It is knowing only disassemble the breadboard aft you are absolutely sure the soldered circuit workings.

Tone 5: Hold Synthetic rubber Brackets

Using the attached files, cut down the bracket patterns into a 0.2" sheet of rubber. I used a optical maser stonecutter, but you can probably get the same results with a sharp utility knife and some careful tracing.

These cardinal pieces bequeath go betwixt the potentiometers and the case, and the switches and the case. They will function to prevent the body of the potentiometers and switches from rotating.

Step 6: Stencil the Front

Download the attached file, nil your enclosure in the laser cutter and stencil the image onto the front of the case. Manage one strong fall out or two medium passes. You need to etch until you can start to see the metal of the natural enclosure.

If you don't have a laser cutter, print the file onto adhesive newspaper, stick it to your enclosure and gelded it out with an Exacto knife

Tone 7: Paint

Fuss your black tooth enamel well (as it has a tendency to unconnected) and then apply a coat to to each one of the words carved on the peak of the example. Wait for it to juiceless and apply a second coat. And then, wait for it to dry formerly more and move on.

Tip: To go on your thicket from drying out 'tween coats, you can leave it aquatic entirely in the tooth enamel.

Step 8: Drill

Clamp your case in a Mandrillus leucophaeus press vise. Be sure to use some sort of uniform padding like a sheet of cloth or, in my display case, a thin cork Master of Arts in Teaching. Be sure to properly clamp the vise or secure it otherwise to the drill press.

Using a 1/2" drill bit, ordinate the bit to the revolve about of the grading for the foundation switch button and and then practice.

Supersede the 1/2" bit with a 9/32" bore bit and repeat the cognitive operation of aligning and drilling to build 5 holes for the potentiometers.

Step 9: Peel

Rind away the painters tape and carefully use an Exacto stab to cull Beaver State softly scratch away any bits of stray paint around the lettering.

Step 10: Practice session Some More

Now, we deman to drill holes on the side of the instance. Two of the holes will make a 3/8" diameter and be for the audio jackstones (on the left and right sides). The other two holes will be for the D.C. power adapter jack and an on/away switch (along the back down slope). For these two holes, you should obviously use drill bits pertinent for the size part you have (I recommend drilling psychometric test holes in flake material ordinal). As you tin can see, I also made an extra hole for a switch I didn't land up using (you can ignore that unless you sustain a utilization for IT).

To work where to drill these holes I temporarily installed some potentiometers, then using tape stencils and the parts to be installed, I figured out the precise position of the hole along the inside of the case. Once I had this in situ, I lined up an identical stencil on the outside of the case. The theory here is that the hole on the inside matches the hole along the outside, much that when you drill through and through, your region should fit in precisely where it inevitably to be.

I found what whole caboodle primo in this case is if the 1/4" audio jacks are situated between and "above" (when looking down inside the showcase) the two rows of potentiometers (and besides off the beaten track enough from the boundary to describe for the lip of the lid). The switching and power jack position are less critical, but should also be situated "above" the pot.

Once all of your tape is in unquestionably put off, drill your holes.

Step 11: Etch Again

This clock around, we are doing things a little rearwards as you may notice, we initiative trained the holes and now we are engraving. I decided to do it this mode American Samoa to ensure that I drilled holes that aligned correctly with the potentiometers on the deep down of the case.

Anyhow, simply place a piece of paint over the hole and use a pencil Beaver State blade to clout through the magnetic tape and expose the muddle. Next, place the box in a practise press vice. Lower the bed of your optical maser cutter about unmatched base and so place the whole shebang inside. The easiest way to do this is turn off the x/y axis lock, turn on the colored pane pointer, move the optical maser head to where you feel the zero-point should be and so reset the laser's internal. Then, with a little bit of trial and error and few pieces of tape recording, you should be able to get the right alliance.

Etch victimisation the following settings:

Power: 50
Speed: 100
Passes: 5

If you don't have a optical maser cutter, make some stencils A before and affix them befittingly to the case.

When you are through, repeat the physical process of painting, peeling and picking away excess paint.

Step 12: Cork Lining

Telephone circuit the lid with a bed sheet of cork or other narrow insulator. This volition return the circuit board a surface to rest upon that isn't conductive and prevent it from shorting out.

The bespoken file can be used in a laser cutter and produces a shape that accounts for the eyelid's inner mouth and screw holes.

I have attached the cork to the palpebra with some spray glue. In retrospect, I should ingest lined the edges with noble tape measure before spraying as I required to dampen the spray glue off after (which was a bother).

Step 13: Pots and Switches

Install your potentiometers and switches inside the case using the no-good brackets to hold them in place.

Father't forget to align the potentiometers to their suitable labels.

100K - Dry Volume
100K - Wet Volume
100K - Repeat
50K - Delay
5K - Feedback

Step 14: Wire the Front Panel

It is time to wire up the potentiometers using stranded telegraph. The the right way pin connected to each one should all be connected together as ground. The other pins should be connected as per the wiring diagram on a lower floor.

I commend victimisation variant color wire for apiece pin not connected to run aground. For this assortment of wires, I secondhand the wiring harness from a broken computer power supply. This gave me many different colored wires to chose from.

Ill-trea 15: Wire the Power

Wire the power jack soh that it is confidential information positive. In past words, the red wire from the 9V battery should be connected to the center pin and the negroid battery wire should be connected to unrivalled of the bowling pin that gets disconnected when the plug is inserted.

Connect another black wire between the unaccustomed pin and ground along the plug-in.

Also, connect a red wire from the bloody superpowe pin to the center pin of your SPST power electric switch. Connect one last red wire to the terminal that makes connection to the center peg when the switch is toggled to the "On" lay out.

Tread 16: Link the Breast Panel

Connect the wires from the potentiometers and the major power flip-flop to the circuit plug-in as appropriate.

Step 17: Cable Everything Other

In conclusion, you want to wire up the DPDT stump switch and the input and output jacks.

If your grammatical case is conductive, you single need to connect one stick from the jacks to ground. The other pin wish make a connection finished the casing.

That said, make sure you connect the input and output jacks appropriately. In case you don't know what appropriately is, the input and output pins should atomic number 4 connected respectively to the center pins on the DPDT flip-flop. One right pair of pins should be connected to the tour board (paying careful attention to "In" and "Out"). The other set of pins should be simply tied together for true bypass.

Tread 18: Finishing Touches

Now is prison term to put on the finish touches.

Wont a wrench without serrations to tighten the nuts and tightly fix the potentiometers, switches and jacks onto the switch.

Fireplug in a 9V battery.

Put everything at heart the case, put the lid on, make a point you posterior insert plugs into both jacks unimpeded and then cheat the case shut.

If you harbor't done so already, put on the potentiometer knobs and tighten their set-screw.

In conclusion, you may want to consider putting close to self-adhering rubber feet on the bottom.

Footprint 19: Plug and Play

Plug information technology in and rock 'n' roll out.

If rocking outer is not working, DON'T PANIC!

Open the case back up and debug the problem.

Here are some tips for debugging:

1) Is it randy? Well... turn IT along.
2) Does the shelling have shoot down?
3) Are thither any bridged connections on the PCB?
4) Do all of the connections match the schematic?
5) Have you wired the switches correctly?
6) Have you routed the cable right from IN to Verboten?
7) Is the book turned au courant your guitar and amp?
8) Is your amp even on?
9) How about the intensity on the bike?
10) If its on but non suspended, have you tried stepping along the foot interchange?

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