Mad Bean Pedals Aquaboy Deluxe User manual

Aquaboy Deluxe (ABDX)
2015 edition
FX TYPE: Analog Delay
Based on the Boss® DM-2™
Download the prev ous (2013) vers on of the Aquaboy documentat on here: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/Aquaboy/docs/ABDX2013.z p
3.3” W x 3.2” H
Licensing: You are free to use Aquaboy Deluxe PCBs for DIY and small commercial building. You may not sell Aquaboy Deluxe PCBs on your own (selling to
fellow DIY'ers t roug t e forums is fine, of course) or re-package t em as part of a “kit”.

R27, 55 and 56: see notes
B.O.M.
Resistors Resistors Caps Caps Vactrol
R1 1M R31 10k C1 47n C31 220n VACT_1 VTL5C/3
R2 10k R32 10k C2 1uF C32 1uF Switc
R3 470k R33 10k C3 6n8 C33 100pF WAVE On/Off/On
R4 10k R34 10k C4 100pF C34 10n Pots
R5 10k R35 10k C5 100pF C35 22uF DELAY 1MB
R6 47k R36 10k C6 6n8 C36 47uF DEPTH 100kB
R7 47k R37 20k C7 1uF C37 220uF FDBK 50kB
R8 47k R38 47k C8 1uF C38 10uF MIX 50kB
R9 10k R39 5k1 C9 100n C39 470pF RATE 100kC
R10 47k R40 18k C10 220n C40 1uF
R11 150R R41 10k C11 100pF C43 100n
R12 100k R42 22k C12 10uF Diodes
R13 10k R43 100k C13 10uF D1 1N5817
R14 10k R44 100k C14 6n8 D2 8.2v Zener
R15 10k R45 220k C15 100n D3 1n914
R16 10k R46 220k C16 330pF D4 LED
R17 10k R47 4k7 C17 1uF Transistors
R18 10k R48 1k C18 1uF Q1 – Q4 MPSA18
R19 82k R49 1k C19 10uF I.C.
R20 4k7 R50 1k C20 1uF IC1 LF353
R21 100k R51 1k C21 1uF IC2 NE570
R22 100k R52 100R C22 2n2 IC3, IC4 BBD
R23 5k6 R53 10k C23 33n IC5 CLOCK
R24 5k6 R54 10k C24 1n IC6 TL062
R25 4k7 R55 *** C25 39n Timmers
R26 82k R56 *** C26 330pF CANCEL 10k
R27 *** R57 4k7 C27 1uF CLOCK 1M
R28 100k R58 100k C28 220n BIAS1 25k
R29 100k R59 100k C29 100pF BIAS2 25k
R30 10k C30 1uF T1 50k

S opping List
Value QTY Type Rating Value QTY Type Rating
100R 1 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W 1N5817 1
150R 1 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W 1 (for MN/v 3205 BBD) 1W
1k 4 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W 1n914 1
4k7 4 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W LED 1 d ffused, any color 3 or 5mm
5k6 3 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W MPSA18 4 or, 2N5088, 2N3904
10k 20 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W LF353 1 or, TL072
18k 1 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W NE570 1 or, SA571
20k 1 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W BBD 2 * see notes on BBD
22k 1 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W CLOCK 1 * see notes on Clock
47k 5 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W TL062 1 or, TL072
82k 2 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W 10k 1
100k 9 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W 1M 1
220k 2 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W 25k 2
470k 1 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W 50k 1
1M 1 Metal / Carbon F lm 1/4W VTL5C/3 1 * see notes on modulat on
100pF 5 Ceram c 25v m n. On/Off/On 1 Solder Lug
330pF 2 Ceram c 25v m n. 1MB 1 PCB R ght Angle 16mm
470pF 1 Ceram c 25v m n. 100kB 1 PCB R ght Angle 16mm
1n 1 F lm 25v m n. 50kB 2 PCB R ght Angle 16mm
2n2 1 F lm 25v m n. 100kC 1 PCB R ght Angle 16mm
6n8 3 F lm 25v m n.
10n 1 F lm 25v m n.
33n 1 F lm 25v m n.
39n 1 F lm 25v m n.
47n 1 F lm 25v m n.
100n 3 F lm 25v m n.
220n 3 F lm 25v m n.
1uF 9 F lm 25v m n.
1uF 2 Electrolyt c 25v m n.
10uF 4 Electrolyt c 25v m n.
22uF 1 Electrolyt c 25v m n.
47uF 1 Electrolyt c 25v m n.
220uF 1 Electrolyt c 25v m n.
8.2v Zener
Bourns 3362P
Bourns 3362P
Bourns 3362P
Bourns 3362P

1590BB Drill Guide – 5.8” W x 6.83” H
Download the Photoshop template here: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/Aquaboy/docs/ABDX2015_DRILL.z p

True Bypass Wiring
Jumper the two “S1” pads. Om t R58, R59 and jumper C40 nstead of us ng the 1uF cap l sted.
T e bypass LED and D4 (LFO rate indicator) can be mounted directly to t e PCB.

Tails Wiring
T is option as been added but is not yet tested on t is project. I ave used t is bypass on similar projects so it s ould work fine.
Note t at Tails wiring is not true-bypass.
T e bypass LED and D4 (LFO rate indicator) can be mounted directly to t e PCB.

The Aquaboy Deluxe (ABDX) s a “feature expans on” vers on of the or g nal madbeanpedals Aquaboy project. The ABDX s based on
the class c DM-2 analog delay w th the add t on of dual delay BBDs (for tw ce the delay of a DM-2), delay modulat on and the ab l ty to
use several d fferent types of bucket br gade dev ces.
Improvements to the or g nal Aquaboy des gn have been made n the area of power supply f lter ng and layout. Even though the PCB s
densely packed, t should be a relat vely easy bu ld for the exper enced stompbox maker. The PCB w ll f t comfortably n a 1590BB
enclosure.
Th s s complex project that should not be under-taken by nov ce bu lders. It requ res cons derable effort n b as ng and at least some
t nker ng to ta lor t to the bu lder’s needs. It s also a costly project to real ze. As de from the cost of the PCB tself, the BBD ch ps can
run anywhere from $7 to $80 for a pa r (depend ng on what type of BBD technology you use). However, th s s also the type of project
where money spent w ll go a long way toward mak ng a un que and profess onal delay AND st ll be cheaper than most commerc ally
ava lable analog delays out there. Indeed, there are very few true analog delays w th 500ms of delay and modulat on that are under
$200.
Controls
DELAY – The total amount of s gnal delay from slapback to approx mately 500ms.
FDBK – The number and ntens ty of delay repeats from one to nf n ty/self osc llat on.
MIX – The level of delay s gnal relat ve to the dry path of the gu tar s gnal.
RATE – The speed of the delay modulat on from slowest to very fast.
DEPTH – The ntens ty of modulat on from moderate to extreme.
WAVE – Th s On/Off/On SPDT allows you to choose between tr angle wave, none and square wave modulat on.
Trimmers
T1 – Sets the max mum amount of feedback poss ble n order to control the total range of the FDBK control.
BIAS1, BIAS2 – Used to set the b as ng po nt on the nput of each BBD.
CANCEL – Sets the m x of the two outputs on BBD2.
CLOCK – Sets the lower l m t of the clock frequency used to dr ve the BBD ch ps.
C anges to t e 2015 edition
1. Layout tweaks. Relocated I/O pads to the bottom center of the PCB.
2. Added an opt onal “Ta ls” bypass wh ch allows delay repeats to sp llover when the delay s bypassed.
3. Relocated R55 and R27 before the two 82k b as ng res stors rather than after.
4. Relocated BBD jumper pads where they can more eas ly be changed after-the-fact.
5. Updated PCB to 2015 Eagle l brary.

All analog delays ave two essential ingredients: t e bucket brigade device and t e clock
The BBD s made up of hundreds or thousands of t ny mosfet trans stors (called steps) that delay the nput s gnal v a capac t ve charg ng (each step may also be
referred to as a clock cycle). The more steps n the dev ce the longer the s gnal can be delayed. Th s delay s measured n m ll seconds.
The clock outputs a cont nuous square wave at a spec f c frequency. Th s frequency nstructs the BBD as to the rate at wh ch ts steps “catch and release” the
s gnal. The clock (wh ch actually outputs two frequenc es 180° out of phase) can also be altered over a range to change the rate at wh ch the BBD processes the
s gnal. It s th s range that changes the delay s gnal from short to long.
Th s type of des gn has two major caveats: the clock generally operates on a frequency that s w th n the human range of hear ng and the s gnal process ng of the
delay degrades the nput s gnal cont nuously. The lower the clock frequency, the more delay you get, but the further t creeps nto the aud o range.
Analog delays attempt to opt m ze the balance between s gnal degradat on and clock bleed by a ser es of add t onal s gnal process ng cha ns. These are
compress on, f lter ng and expans on. The compressor port on “beefs up” the ncom ng s gnal to m n m ze ts degradat on wh le travers ng the BBD. The f lter ng
removes some of the h gh end content so that the clock does not bleed nto t (wh ch would create a h gh p tch wh ne). F nally the expandor port on “de-
compresses” the processed s gnal and gets t ready for the output m xer.
Th s ent re process s also respons ble for creat ng the “mag c” and “mojo” of the analog delay. That mag c s warmth. The cont nuous f lter ng of the gu tar s gnal
removes more and more h gh end frequenc es w th each repeat wh ch the ear perce ves as warmth n the result ng gu tar s gnal. Th s s why people l ke analog
delays so much---they create a very pleas ng “bed of sound” that s ne ther too p erc ng nor d stract ng. Each analog repeat f ts neatly under the preced ng one to
create a very natural and mus cal sound.

T ere are several types of BBDs and Clocks t at work wit t e ABDX
The ABDX accepts d fferent types of BBDs and the r clock counterparts. The follow ng chart llustrates the advantages and d sadvantages of each. Note that the
Clock type does not contr bute to the pros/cons. They are s mply the appropr ate ch ps to use n each c rcumstance.
BBD Clock Steps Pros Cons
MN3005 MN3101 4096 Best sound ng. Can run at up to 15v for added
headroom
Out of product on, rare, hard to f nd (up to $80 for a pa r)
MN3205 MN3102 4096 Also great sound ng. Lower current consumpt on than
the MN3005
Out of product on, rare, hard to f nd. Requ res lower voltage to
operate.
MN3008 MN3101 or
MN3102
2048 Sounds every b t as good as the MN3005. Can be run
up to 15v (MN3101 only).
Out of product on, rare, hard to f nd. Half the delay t me of the
MN3005.
BL3208B BL3102 2048 Very good alternat ve that s currently n product on.
Low current consumpt on. Used by EHX for some of
the modern DMM.
Half the delay t me of the MN3005, MN3205 and v3205.
V3205 V3102 4096 Cheap. Same delay t me as the MN3005. Worst sound ng. Lower headroom than the BL3208B even
when operated at nearly the same voltages.
Th s chart pretty much expla ns the order n wh ch you should choose your BBD type from top to bottom. If you can f nd the MN3005 and afford t, then use t. If you
are l m ted to current product on ch ps, then choose between the super or sound ng BL3208B w th half the delay t me or the nfer or v3205 that w ll g ve you a full
500ms of delay from the ABDX.
Please keep n m nd that these evaluat ons are n degrees, not absolutes. IOW, t s ent rely poss ble to bu ld the ABDX w th the v3205 to get the max delay and st ll
get a very acceptable amount of f del ty (the des gn has mods to help w th th s). It’s just never go ng to sound as good as the MN3005 runn ng at 15v, per od.
The great th ng about the ABDX s that you can change the ch ps out at w ll s mply by chang ng two jumpers on the board. So, you m ght bu ld t w th a BL3208B or
v3205 now, and then replace them w th the MN3205 or MN3005 later f you are able to source them. It’s that s mple (you w ll have to re-cal brate the delay when
do ng so).
Note: I have not personally tested the MN3205 w th the Aquaboy for the s mple reason that I have never found any leg t mate ch ps. I have tested all other
conf gurat ons.
A word about sourcing BBD c ips
Whenever you try to locate and purchase out of product on ch ps l ke the MN3005 and MN3205 you are runn ng the r sk of gett ng r pped off, e ther through mal ce
or gnorance on the seller’s part. There are a lot of fake ch ps out there and qu te a few sellers that make a l v ng by sell ng counterfe ts to hapless gear geeks l ke
us. So, use caut on. Don’t just throw money down the to let at whatever As an eBay seller cla ms to have a true MN3005 because most l kely t s a fake. Rather, f
you want to get these ch ps, ask around on trusted forums. There are some fellow DIY’ers that may be w ll ng to part w th some of the r stash from t me to t me or
po nt you toward a rel able source. It takes t me but t’s also worth the effort.

Setting t e jumpers
You need to set two jumpers on the ABDX PCB n order to del ver the correct power and ground. The d fferent BBD types requ re these on spec f c p ns and they
are d fferent between dev ces.
T e MN3005 and MN3008 require power on pin 1 and ground on pin 5. Set t e jumpers on t e PCB like t is:
T e MN3205, v3205 and BL3208B require power on pin 5 and ground on pin 1.
Setting t ese jumpers also c anges w et er t e output resistors on t e BBD (pins 3 and 4) are pull-up or pull-down. Again, t ese will be different between t e two
groups of devices.
NOTE: If you build t e ABDX for one type of device and t en later put in a different type you may ave to switc t e jumpers and/or t e voltage supply
depending on w ic group t ey fall under. You will also need to re-bias t e BBDs if t ey are switc ed.

MN3005 / 3008 Power Supplies
MN3005 and MN3008 can be run at 9v, 12 or 15v DC. 15v operat on s recommended however t must be regulated as th s s max power supply these dev ces can
handle. When runn ng 12 or 15vDC, you must use the MN3101 clock. For 9v operat on, use the MN3101 for the MN3005 and MN3102 for the MN3008.
If you are runn ng the ABDX at 15v regulated, then you should plan ahead how you w ll accompl sh th s. You can use a Road Rage PCB to use a 9v supply to
generate 15v regulated (us ng the LT1054 ch p) or use an 18v adaptor then run t through a 15v regulator (220 type). Consult the Road Rage documentat on for
more nfo on us ng a charge pump.
To regulate an 18v supply, th s method s suggested.
85”W x .78” H
W en using t is board or a c arge pump supply, you s ould jumper D1 on t e ABDX PCB.

MN3205 / BL3208B / v3205 Power supplies
The power requ rements for the MN3205, BL3208 and v3205 are sl ghtly d fferent. The MN3205 and v3205 are usually run at about 8.2v whereas the BL3208 can
run up to 10v. I recommend us ng a 9v power supply for these dev ces. For the MN3205 and v3205, use an 8.2v Zener for D2. Th s w ll l m t the BBD power (VD) to
about 8v or so. For the BL3208, om t D2. D2 should also be om tted for the MN3005 and MN3008.
Clocks
MN3101 - Th s clock can be used w th the MN3005, MN3008 and v3205 (not recommended). It allows you to run the ABDX at 15v w th the MN3005 and MN3008.
Wh le you can use t w th the v3205, there s no advantage to t s nce you must run the ABDX at 9v n th s case. NOTE: if you are using t e MN3101 wit t e
v3205, you must use D3 to approximate t e correct Vgg voltage for pin8 of t e clock (14/15 of Vdd). In all ot er cases (including w en using an
MN3102, BL3102 or v3102) you s ould omit D3. The 3102 clocks automat cally generate the correct Vgg voltage needed n each case.
MN3102, BL3102, v3102 – Any of these should work w th the MN3008, BL3208 and v3205. I do recommend using t e one t at matc es t e device you are using.
IOW, w th the MN3008, use the MN3102 (remember you cannot run the ADBX at 15v w th th s opt on), the BL3208B uses the BL3102 and the v3205 uses the
v3102.
BBD Recommended Clock Recommended Compander
MN3005, MN3008 MN3101 NE570, SA571
BL3208B BL3102 NE570, SA571
V3205 V3102 NE570, SA571, v571
Modulation
The modulat on sect on s a tweaked vers on of the Mod board for the or g nal Aquaboy project. It uses an LFO to generate e ther tr angle or square wave
modulat on wh ch dr ves an LED/LDR combo. The LDR comb nes w th the Depth pot to create a var able res stance to ground from lug 1 of the Delay control. As
the LED br ghtness fluctuates, the res stance on the photocell goes up and down wh ch creates an osc llat ng change on the overall delay t me. Th s can go up to
fa rly extreme sett ngs. To tweak t e overall range/intensity of t e LFO furt er, you can use a large resistor (R56) in parallel wit t e LDR/Dept control.
You should socket th s component and try d fferent values rang ng from 220k – 1M5 for exper mentat on. 470k s a good start ng po nt.
Because of the R56 mod, a var ety of LED/LDR comb nat ons can be used. A VTL5C3 s pretty standard for th s type of modulat on control, but s also qu te
expens ve. If you want to make your own vactrol, a photocell rang ng from 1M to 5M dark res stance should work f ne. The LED can be a 3mm or 5mm red
d ffused. You should sh eld the LED/LDR combo w th some heat shr nk or at least block external l ght from t when test ng your bu ld. W en building t e
15v/MN3005 version of t e ABDX, use 8k2 resistors for R50 and R51. T is will elp reduce t e added brig tness of t e vactrol’s internal LED due to t e ig er
voltage supply.
D4 s meant to be an external nd cator of the rate of the LFO and should be mounted to the enclosure l ke any LED nd cator. It s opt onal and not necessary to
the funct on of the modulat on.
2019 Note: If you run the ABDX at 15v for the MN3005 configuration, changing R43 and R44 to either 220k or 470k will increase the overall depth of modulation.

Reducing Distortion
R55 and R27: These are two ser es res stors at the nput of each BBD. The r purpose s to prov de some s gnal l m t ng when us ng the v3205 BBD. Th s should
help reduce d stort on on the delay repeats wh ch s a common problem w th th s part cular dev ce. You should def n tely socket both of these components. I
suggest a value of 100k for R55 and 470k for R27.
R55 and R27 are not needed when us ng the MN3005, MN3008 and BL3208. You can e ther jumper them or just st ck a 1k n each spot.
R13 and R14: Th s res stor pa r sets the output level of the compressor port on of IC2. Larger values result n a larger b as value on p n7 (the output). When us ng a
9v supply, they should be 10k. When us ng a 15v supply, use e ther 36k or 39k. Larger values here tend to have a pos t ve effect on the overall headroom, but f
they are too large and t w ll cause unwanted d stort on on the s gnal.
Calibrating t e Delay
Make t e following adjustments before beginning
Delay, M x controls to the r center pos t on.
FDBK at about 1/3 up.
Rate and Depth controls all the way down.
Wave sw tch to the center (off) pos t on.
BIAS1, BIAS2 and Cancel tr mpots to the r center pos t on.
If you have frequency measurement on your DMM, adjust the Clock tr mmer to about 6.5kHz wh le prob ng e ther p n2 or p n4 of IC5. If you don’t have th s
feature set the Clock tr m half-way up.
Remove IC4 temporar ly. Aud o probe p n3 of IC3 wh le e ther strumm ng the gu tar or send some aud o through the nput of the c rcu t. Adjust the BIAS1 tr mmer
unt l you get delay pass ng. The range over wh ch the tr mmer w ll result n delay s usually about 1/4 to 1/6 of ts ent re rotat on. Cont nue ref n ng the pos t on of
BIAS1 unt l you get the lowest amount of d stort on on the delay s gnal. Now probe p n4 of IC3 to conf rm t s also pass ng delay. If t does not, make sure that you
have clock frequency on both p ns 2 and 6.
Replace IC4. Repeat the same procedure above by aud o prob ng p n3 and adjust ng BIAS2 for the lowest amount of d stort on on the repeats. Conf rm that p n4 s
also pass ng delay.
Set the Delay pot to Max. Now f nely adjust the CLOCK tr mmer unt l just before you hear any h gh p tch wh ne n the aud o path. Th s s the max mum delay
sett ng. The clock frequency should land somewhere between 6 and 7 kHz.
Leave the Cancel tr m n the center pos t on. Set T1 fully counter-clockw se. Now set FDBK fully clockw se. Adjust T1 unt l you get self-osc llat on w th the repeats.
If you do have a scope, you can use t nstead of an aud o probe to make the proper adjustments to BIAS1, BIAS2, Clock and the Cancel tr mpots. When us ng a
scope, set the Cancel tr mpot so that the two output waveforms from p ns 3 and 4 of IC4 converge.

Troubles ooting
Problem Solution
No delay, no dry aud o Check your w r ng and make sure the ADBX s rece v ng power. Aud o probe p ns 1 and 7 of IC1 to see where the
dry aud o drops out.
Dry aud o, but no delay Aud o probe p n7 of IC2 to conf rm that the compander s work ng.
Probe p n7 of IC3 to conf rm that the f rst BBD s rece v ng s gnal.
Conf rm that you have set the jumpers properly for the BBD set you are us ng and that p ns 1 and 5 of each BBD are
rece v ng power/ground appropr ate to that dev ce.
Max delay s too short Us ng your DMM, measure the res stance across lugs 1 and 3 of the Delay pot. If t reads under 1M, cons der ng
replac ng t w th a pot closer to spec.
Conf rm that C33 s actually 100pF (note ceramics can vary widely so a Mica mig t be a good c oice). Replace
w th a sl ghtly larger cap l ke 120pF to ncrease max delay. Th s may requ re re-cal brat on of the delay, however.
Final notes
•You can use 16mm short p n PCB mounted pots mounted underneath the PCB. However, I recommend aga nst th s unless you plan on bu ld ng qu te a
few of these. You may f nd that you need to remove a component or do some work underneath the PCB after you bu ld t to troubleshoot. Hav ng w red
pots nstead of PCB mounted ones w ll make th s MUCH eas er.
T e trimpots are spaced for Bourns 3362P, w ic are about .25” on a side.
•10k: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDeta l/Bourns/3362P-1-103LF/?qs=sGAEp MZZMvygUB3GLcD7k%252bod3ZqvEIQboRRPdOKB6M%3d
•50k: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDeta l/Bourns/3362P-1-503LF/?qs=sGAEp MZZMvygUB3GLcD7vRbQqL9uMLMZgtO2Ks3Q%2f4%3d
•1M: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDeta l/Bourns/3362P-1-105LF/?qs=sGAEp MZZMvygUB3GLcD7kddhVJPyV2kST8Lo8Gl%252b%2f8%3d
•25k: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDeta l/Bourns/3362P-1-253LF/?qs=sGAEp MZZMvygUB3GLcD7vRbQqL9uMLMqIpepdvyyRc%3d
Last but not least: DON’T BOX IT UNTIL IT’S READY! Ser ously! Don‘t even dream of try ng to put th s n an enclosure unt l you fully cal brate, test and debug
your bu ld. Th s s a very compl cated bu ld and chances are you may run nto one small problem or another.