Deluxe Memory Man Modifications
I bought this DMM in Kansas City, KS a few years ago in the bargain bin @ the
Musicians Friend Warehouse. I think I paid $110.00 for it. The circuit board reads
1996 Made in Taiwan (in case you are wondering what version it is 2 x MN3005 BBD
chips). The bargain bin is like the effects pedal graveyard, everything in the bin is
either returned because the UPS or Fed-ex man killed it or it was returned because it
was probably faulty from the factory.
Things I dis-like about the DMM are: Cheap noisy ceramic capacitors, cheap 1/4"
jacks, the compander chip is a cheap knockoff probably made in China or Taiwan,
they also use electrolytic caps that are almost as cheap as the ceramic caps, no true
bypass (which some people say if you do true bypass the pedal it won't sound right),
the annoying red overload light, and the ridiculously cheap wire (How many people do
you know that have had one or more wires on an electro-harmonix pedal that have
come loose or broken). The circuit board traces are very thin as well so you have to
be very careful when soldering or you'll lift a trace. I am not trying to knock EH here I
just think when I pay a few hundred dollars for something it should be more well made.
The sum of the parts in a DMM cost wise (excluding the MN3005's) is probably about
$50.00 in bulk and they sell for around $275.00 currently (and lets not forget they are
built in Taiwan). However, I must say the actual design is top notch but the quality of
parts used and the construction is cheap. Also I believe there are instances where you
would use ceramic caps in an effect circuit but I think they are more suited in
distortion effects rather than delay effects.
I decided to fix the things I didn't like. I first true bypassed the pedal with the standard
3PDT switch, I removed the dry output and wired it into the wet output, I also used
switchcraft 1/4" jacks to replace the cheapos that the unit came with. I can't tell a
difference in the quality of the sound with the True bypass and neither can anyone
else that has used it (so much for the true-bypass myth). I also completely removed
the ceramic cap on the output jack. I added a bright blue led that illuminates when the
effect is on and darkens when the effect is off. I removed the red overload led as well.
Next I purchased 60 MN3005 BBD chips and new NE571's, and 4047's. Yes you can
still get MN3005 BBD chips you just have to know where to look (E-Bay is not the
place to buy MN3005's they are relabeled MN3208's or worse, trust me I have some
they are shite). I replaced all the polarized electrolytic Capacitors in the signal path
with equivalent rated Tantalum capacitors. Tantalums are superior in several ways.
They leak much less, they do not dry out, and they are very quiet compared to
electrolytic capacitors. Just so you know I am not spewing BS, here is a reference for
you. Take a trip to your local Barnes and Nobel and find a book named; "The Art of
Electronics, Second Edition" Published by Cambridge University Press, Authored by;
Paul Horowitz (Harvard University), and Winfield Hill (Rowland Institute for Science,
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Turn to page 22, Chapter 1 (Foundations) and take a
look at the Capacitor rating chart.
The thing about this capacitor business is when a manufacturer uses ceramic
capacitors that in bulk cost .1 or .2 cents, rather than capacitors that cost .30 or .40
cents in bulk they save a rather large amount of money during a production run of 100
units. Also using polyester (Mylar) rather than Polystyrene saves quite a large sum as
well. Silver Mica capacitors are not cheap, they are accurate and almost always 5%
tolerance rated, they also have very good leakage ratings.
So I replaced all the non-polarized capacitors with either polystyrene or silver mica
capacitors depending on the tolerance requirement or the rated size. Next I bought
new TLO62 op-amps and replaced the older Texas Instruments (TI)TLO62's and the
TI4558's with New Japanese Radio (NJR) which is now Japanese Radio Corp (JRC)
op-amps. I also replace all the hookup wire, the other stuff was you guessed it
cheap. There are a few people talking on the web about weather or not one should
use 4558's or TLO72's here and there in the circuit. This is more a matter of taste, I
think, rather than one being superior to the other. The resistors are also the
cheapest available and probably could use an upgrade to 1% tolerance metal film
resistors. I will probably perform a replacement of all the resistors later. I found
another op amp that is very low noise and works even better. They are not in use in
effects pedals that I know of. However they are plentiful and available at most
electronic parts supply houses like Mouser.
How does it sound? Well three local professional musicians tried it out, and they all
agreed it was superior to a stock memory man. One of the guys, the most experienced
guitar player that toured allot back in the 80's said " I have had several Deluxe
Memory Man pedals and none of them sounded like this one". They all loved it.
Unfortunately I will not be offering this as a modification service.
The good news is that I am currently designing a new Analog Delay Pedal which is
based on a few old vintage delay pedals. The pedal will be assembled using
components with the best available tolerances, while also using components
manufactured using superior materials. The pedal is designed to be true bypass. The
circuit board will use heavy mil-spec boards with thick traces, the delay will provide
about 600mS of delay, and will only require one 9 Volt power supply for power (more
on that later were still in the design phase if your curious google "charge pump"). I
hope to have the pedals completed and available by the end of the summer. The first
run will be about 30 pedals. If things go as well as they have so far there will be
several runs of this Pedal. We are calling it the Purple Floyd for now but that may
change as well. They will not be cheaply built but they will be affordable. You will get
what you pay for that for sure.
Musicians Friend Warehouse. I think I paid $110.00 for it. The circuit board reads
1996 Made in Taiwan (in case you are wondering what version it is 2 x MN3005 BBD
chips). The bargain bin is like the effects pedal graveyard, everything in the bin is
either returned because the UPS or Fed-ex man killed it or it was returned because it
was probably faulty from the factory.
Things I dis-like about the DMM are: Cheap noisy ceramic capacitors, cheap 1/4"
jacks, the compander chip is a cheap knockoff probably made in China or Taiwan,
they also use electrolytic caps that are almost as cheap as the ceramic caps, no true
bypass (which some people say if you do true bypass the pedal it won't sound right),
the annoying red overload light, and the ridiculously cheap wire (How many people do
you know that have had one or more wires on an electro-harmonix pedal that have
come loose or broken). The circuit board traces are very thin as well so you have to
be very careful when soldering or you'll lift a trace. I am not trying to knock EH here I
just think when I pay a few hundred dollars for something it should be more well made.
The sum of the parts in a DMM cost wise (excluding the MN3005's) is probably about
$50.00 in bulk and they sell for around $275.00 currently (and lets not forget they are
built in Taiwan). However, I must say the actual design is top notch but the quality of
parts used and the construction is cheap. Also I believe there are instances where you
would use ceramic caps in an effect circuit but I think they are more suited in
distortion effects rather than delay effects.
I decided to fix the things I didn't like. I first true bypassed the pedal with the standard
3PDT switch, I removed the dry output and wired it into the wet output, I also used
switchcraft 1/4" jacks to replace the cheapos that the unit came with. I can't tell a
difference in the quality of the sound with the True bypass and neither can anyone
else that has used it (so much for the true-bypass myth). I also completely removed
the ceramic cap on the output jack. I added a bright blue led that illuminates when the
effect is on and darkens when the effect is off. I removed the red overload led as well.
Next I purchased 60 MN3005 BBD chips and new NE571's, and 4047's. Yes you can
still get MN3005 BBD chips you just have to know where to look (E-Bay is not the
place to buy MN3005's they are relabeled MN3208's or worse, trust me I have some
they are shite). I replaced all the polarized electrolytic Capacitors in the signal path
with equivalent rated Tantalum capacitors. Tantalums are superior in several ways.
They leak much less, they do not dry out, and they are very quiet compared to
electrolytic capacitors. Just so you know I am not spewing BS, here is a reference for
you. Take a trip to your local Barnes and Nobel and find a book named; "The Art of
Electronics, Second Edition" Published by Cambridge University Press, Authored by;
Paul Horowitz (Harvard University), and Winfield Hill (Rowland Institute for Science,
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Turn to page 22, Chapter 1 (Foundations) and take a
look at the Capacitor rating chart.
The thing about this capacitor business is when a manufacturer uses ceramic
capacitors that in bulk cost .1 or .2 cents, rather than capacitors that cost .30 or .40
cents in bulk they save a rather large amount of money during a production run of 100
units. Also using polyester (Mylar) rather than Polystyrene saves quite a large sum as
well. Silver Mica capacitors are not cheap, they are accurate and almost always 5%
tolerance rated, they also have very good leakage ratings.
So I replaced all the non-polarized capacitors with either polystyrene or silver mica
capacitors depending on the tolerance requirement or the rated size. Next I bought
new TLO62 op-amps and replaced the older Texas Instruments (TI)TLO62's and the
TI4558's with New Japanese Radio (NJR) which is now Japanese Radio Corp (JRC)
op-amps. I also replace all the hookup wire, the other stuff was you guessed it
cheap. There are a few people talking on the web about weather or not one should
use 4558's or TLO72's here and there in the circuit. This is more a matter of taste, I
think, rather than one being superior to the other. The resistors are also the
cheapest available and probably could use an upgrade to 1% tolerance metal film
resistors. I will probably perform a replacement of all the resistors later. I found
another op amp that is very low noise and works even better. They are not in use in
effects pedals that I know of. However they are plentiful and available at most
electronic parts supply houses like Mouser.
How does it sound? Well three local professional musicians tried it out, and they all
agreed it was superior to a stock memory man. One of the guys, the most experienced
guitar player that toured allot back in the 80's said " I have had several Deluxe
Memory Man pedals and none of them sounded like this one". They all loved it.
Unfortunately I will not be offering this as a modification service.
The good news is that I am currently designing a new Analog Delay Pedal which is
based on a few old vintage delay pedals. The pedal will be assembled using
components with the best available tolerances, while also using components
manufactured using superior materials. The pedal is designed to be true bypass. The
circuit board will use heavy mil-spec boards with thick traces, the delay will provide
about 600mS of delay, and will only require one 9 Volt power supply for power (more
on that later were still in the design phase if your curious google "charge pump"). I
hope to have the pedals completed and available by the end of the summer. The first
run will be about 30 pedals. If things go as well as they have so far there will be
several runs of this Pedal. We are calling it the Purple Floyd for now but that may
change as well. They will not be cheaply built but they will be affordable. You will get
what you pay for that for sure.
Preliminary Artwork for the new
Analog Delay case
Analog Delay case
We are still working on the new boards for the Delay pedal be patient things are progressing well.
1 July, 2007
1 July, 2007