Deluxe memory man xo pedalboard
DELUXE MEMORY MAN XO PEDALBOARD MOD
The Hot Pickup mod corrects this by increasing the headroom of the delay signal circuitry. With these, effect signal overdrive distortion occurs at too low a level. This is workable with many pickups, but there is a bypass/effect-on level matching problem with high output ("hot") pickups. The reissue Deluxe Memory Man now comes from the factory with direct bypass, but with the input level control stage as it was originally when wired for buffered bypass. If you use other pedals or long cables following the Memory Man, increasing the input impedance is preferable to total bypassing, as the benefits of buffering by the input stage are retained. Where total bypassing is not desired, a mod that increases the input impedance of the first stage can be almost as effective as total bypassing in eliminating tonal degradation due to pickup loading. So you CAN have a total bypass mod done on such a Memory Man, but you then lose the ability to adjust the drive level exactly as you might want it and also keep the balance between bypass and effect-on volume levels. The level control can be set so the dry and effect-on volumes are equal, but this level setting may not be optimum for signal to noise ratio, which requires as high a drive level as possible without causing objectionable distortion. This is because with total bypass, this variable gain can result in a volume mismatch between the dry (bypass) and effect-on signals when the footswitch is thrown. Most Memory Man pedals have an adjustable gain stage (drive level control) that introduces complications with total bypassing. You can get at least 650 msec of maximum delay time before distortion and noise are noticeably increased at the longest delay settings. A mod can be done that corrects this condition. Some units, due to component tolerances and manufacturing problems, do not have this long a delay time. The Deluxe Memory Man was designed for a 550 msec. Guitar pedal design engineering, repairs, and custom mods: The headroom is greatly increased and the pickup loading is reduced for better tone.
DELUXE MEMORY MAN XO PEDALBOARD MODS
If you are using hot pickups like humbuckers, the input impedance increase and hot pickup mods will do wonders for tone sucking and unwanted overdrive distortion. The newer versions I believe are all bypass, and the new small box version Deluxe Memory Man XO is true bypass too I believe. The total bypass mod I think is a must for this pedal, it doesn't seem to do well in a pedalboard set up unless it's a bypass pedal.
Traditionally, I don't use hot pickups, I have nothing that reads over 6.5k, so the impedance mod wasn't a "must have" for me, although I think that the DMM looses some of it's warmth and dynamics when it's overloaded. I had him do the impedance and total bypass mods which basically will prevent any signal overload due to hot pickups and bypass the pedal when it's off.
I have an early 80's version with an AC cord and I sent it to Howard Davis (the designer or the DMM) and he can tune it up nicely with whatever mods you want. On the older versions the level control was always active even when the pedal was off. The older versions have the preamp always running and it sucked tone horribly. Designed for the performing musician and destined to be one of the most creative tools on your pedalboard.I think the new versions bypass the preamp section of the pedal when it is off. It’s an echo, a multi-tap delay, a reverse echo, and a performance looper with up to 30 seconds of loop time, all in true stereo! Featuring tap tempo, vintage tape echo filtering, and eight programmable presets.