Small Time Delay - what changes for bass?

[MrStab]

hi guys,

just wondering if there's anything i'd need to change in Merlin's Small Time Delay effect for a bass version, seeing how there's all that filtering? apart from a 220nF input/22uF output cap (?)? the friend who's asked me to make them this hasn't made it clear whether it'd be for bass or guitar yet, but thought i might as well be prepared.

i found some threads kinda about this about the Rebote, but i'm unsure how transferable that stuff is given the threads are from 2006 and the Small Time was made at a time with more DIYer experience of the PT2399 (afaik), so i don't know if the de-hiss filtering in the Small Time is default, as it were.

cheers!

[slacker]

Shouldn't need any modification at all. The input and output caps already let through all audio frequencies and the delay side of it will work fine for bass as it is.

[merlinb]

The things you might want to change are the 100nF cap that couples the audio from the JFET into the PT, and the 100nF cap that couples the feedback from the repeats pot back to the PT. For bass you might want to use 220nF for both, or something. Mind you, cutting the bass from echo is often a good thing...

[jimilee]

I haven't modded any of mine for bass and they  sound great. Mostly the only ones you'll want to mod are fuzz and OD pedals and maybe chorus depending on the build. The rest work just fine.

[MrStab]

the fact that low-end cut is considered necessary in the stock circuit itself is what makes me paranoid i guess - i don't wanna compromise the quality of the effect itself by changing the caps. maybe some kind of compromise like 150nF for the feedback coupling cap would work out better?  i'm guessing it's the one straight off of lug 2 of the Repeats pot. 150 would be compromising between jimi's experience and theoretical tone death. putting the 220nF in place of the 10uF seems like a fair jump from the original schem, but the input cap would prolly be the deciding factor if i just left the output cap.

apologies for annoying you about 2 of your circuits in parallel, merlin! lol

[merlinb]

Your average bass guitar is one octave below a regular guitar, so it's common to double the value of caps (100nF becomes 220nF...)

[MrStab]

ah right cool - thought you were saying i should put the output cap down to 220nF. 22uF it is then. guess that rules out 150nF too

[jimilee]

I'd definitely be interested to know if you could hear the difference. I wonder is the delays would then get muddy as they decay?

[merlinb]

ah right cool - thought you were saying i should put the output cap down to 220nF. 22uF it is then. guess that rules out 150nF too

Most of the caps in the Small Time are more than big enough for bass, including the input/output caps. The only ones that you might want to double are C3 and C12 that I already mentioned, but he might be happy with it as it is. 150nF would also be a fair choice. There's a lot of room for frequency shaping where echoes are concerned.

[MrStab]

thanks a lot for the help - unfortunately it turns out that the guy's wanting it for guitar. hopefully someone can make use of this info, though.
he's suddenly asking me for all this convoluted stuff like presets (or tap tempo, but the Taptation IC exceeds my generosity level lol). if he still even wants it i'll just put a rotary switch or easy-access trimpots or something. then he mentioned something either about octaving or elaborate EQing, wasn't clear. i'm up for a challenge.