Deluxe Memory Man mods: Are they important?

[Tritone]

So it's common knowledge that there are a few "quirks" with the current Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man circuit, such as an overloading input. I'm going to buy a DMM in a week or two and I'm wondering if I should buy a stock version or a modded one from Analog Man. I'll be driving it with humbuckers and various booster/distortion/fuzz pedals.

How important are these mods? Does anyone dislike them or prefer the stock version? Any opinions or experiences are welcome. Thanks!

[strings2wood]

I'm curious what other DMM users think too. (other than the vintage mojo issue).

[Shredcow]

I didn't have too much of an issue with my DMM + passive humbuckers.

I place my clean (volume) boost pedals AFTER the delay and dirt section. Like this: guitar --> dirt --> DMM --> clean boost --> amp. So that helps prevent too much overloading.

How hot are your humbuckers? I had Dimarzio Tonezones and Double Whammys and Breeds and similar medium/med-hot pups on and there wasn't much of an overload issue.

That said, EMGs and the X2N are the 2 pups that just turn the DMM into a dirt box.



I had a mod done that involved replacing one of the JRC chips with a TL074 or something? I think its one of the more common mods and details of it can be found online. Simple mod but I thought it made the buffer more EQ-transparent. I thought the DMM made the original guitar tone sound a little "bloated" and lo-fi... this mod just made things sound more natural.

[Tritone]

Shredcow,

Is your DMM buffered or true bypass? I read somewhere that when they took out the buffer (around 2006?) they didn't adjust the levels correctly and the input overload problems with the true bypass model are worse... anyone know if this is true?

My humbuckers aren't too hot (Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers, PRS Achtops), but I might be using a boost (clean or dirty) before the delay.

[SkipTracer]

Mine's completely stock, and there are no overloading problems whatsoever.

It's placed after all my gain pedals incl. a Big Muff, Prescription Overdriver and a Fuzz Factory all set to massive gain boosts. The useless 'over' LED comes on pretty much all the time, even when I'm playing clean.

My bandmate has a DMM as well, and it behaves just like mine. They're both true-bypass models with no power cord attached.

[huskerjohn]

I purchased mine in about 2006. You can see my chain below, but all my pedals are set at volume unity. My DMM overloads way to quickly with all my guitars. In order to prevent unwanted clipping from the overload, I need to dail down the input on the DMM well be low volume unity. I know I'll have to send mine of to get modded to correct the overload problem. The only problem I have is the darn pedal sounds so good that I just can't take it off my board!

I've played through other stock DMM's that didn't have the same problem as mine, so there may be some variation in the product line.

[LowWatt]

Mine (just got it, one of the last ones of the big box) doesn't overload easy at all. The light comes on quickly but this is the case with every DMM I've ever played from vintage through to today. The actual sound of the overloading does not come in until I really jack the level and hit it harder with something before. Too bad for me actually, my favourite sound of a DMM is the grainy quality it gets when you overload the input nicely.

[wichita]

I think if you listen with your eyes instead of your eyes you will find the stock model to be just fine.
I have used them for years with gain pedals in front with great results.

[Unadan]

+1 Stock

[Desperado]

Shredcow,

Is your DMM buffered or true bypass? I read somewhere that when they took out the buffer (around 2006?) they didn't adjust the levels correctly and the input overload problems with the true bypass model are worse... anyone know if this is true?

My humbuckers aren't too hot (Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers, PRS Achtops), but I might be using a boost (clean or dirty) before the delay.

I think the new versions bypass the preamp section of the pedal when it is off. The older versions have the preamp always running and it sucked tone horribly. On the older versions the level control was always active even when the pedal was 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. 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.

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. 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. The newer versions I believe are all bypass, and the new small box version Deluxe Memory Man XO is true bypass too I believe.

[Mr. Pickles]

Contact Howard Davis. He's very honest about the necessity of mods.
FWIW, my Polychorus is easily pushed into overload, but I don't hear any distortion/clipping. The fact that the overload led is often lit bothers me.
I think mine is from 2006.

[Unadan]

To me the only mod that would remotely interest me is the one AM does to increase the delay time. If you're ok with the stock delay time than you're good.

[Howard Davis]

Contact Howard Davis. He's very honest about the necessity of mods.
FWIW, my Polychorus is easily pushed into overload, but I don't hear any distortion/clipping. The fact that the overload led is often lit bothers me.
I think mine is from 2006.

Thanks for the compliment, Mr. Pickles!
The overload LED gives only a rough indication that you at or near the level of overdrive distortion. GO BY WHAT YOU HEAR.

Howard Davis
Guitar pedal design engineering, repairs, and custom mods:
http://howard.davis2.home.att.net/

[Howard Davis]

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 headroom is greatly increased and the pickup loading is reduced for better tone.

Howard Davis, designer of the Memory Man
Guitar pedal design engineering, repairs, and custom mods:
http://howard.davis2.home.att.net/

MEMORY MAN MODS:

DELAY TIME INCREASE MOD
The Deluxe Memory Man was designed for a 550 msec. maximum delay. Some units, due to component tolerances and manufacturing problems, do not have this long a delay time. A mod can be done that corrects this condition. You can get at least 650 msec of maximum delay time before distortion and noise are noticeably increased at the longest delay settings.

TOTAL BYPASS MOD
Most Memory Man pedals have an adjustable gain stage (drive level control) that introduces complications with total bypassing. 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. 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. 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.

INPUT IMPEDANCE INCREASE MOD
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. 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.

HOT PICKUP MOD
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. This is workable with many pickups, but there is a bypass/effect-on level matching problem with high output ("hot") pickups. With these, effect signal overdrive distortion occurs at too low a level. The Hot Pickup mod corrects this by increasing the headroom of the delay signal circuitry.

LED EFFECT-ON INDICATOR MOD
In vintage units that lack one, an LED can be added to indicate when the effect mode is activated.

NEED AN ALIGNMENT?
Electronic products containing analog delay ICs have internal trimpots for adjustment by a technician. For proper operation these must be correctly set, and this is done at the factory. In time - especially with the rough handling that guitar pedals are often subject to - these trimpots can become misadjusted, resulting in distortion, noise, improper operation, or no operation at all.
It is impossible to correctly adjust all the trimpots - called "doing an alignment" - without using lab equipment and the proper procedure. An audio oscillator, oscilloscope, and the test and alignment procedure for that particular pedal are required, as well as technical training and experience. Attempting an alignment without these usually just makes the problem worse.
The most common symptom indicating a need for alignment in the Memory Man is overdrive distortion occuring at too low a signal level. Clock noise, a high-pitched sound heard at long delay settings, is another symptom.

COST OF CUSTOM MODIFICATIONS:
When more than one mod is done at the same time on the same pedal, there is a savings in labor that allows the cost per mod to be reduced. If you give me a list of the specific mods you want, I can quote a total price for parts plus labor. This excludes the cost of any repairs that may be needed, the cost for which cannot be determined in advance.

[analogmike]

Hi,

Some people, like Wichita, don't have problems, if you don't then you probably don't need the mods.

But we didn't come up with the mods to make money, the mods were developed due to MANY customer requests from people who bought a DMM from us (we have sold several hundred DMM pedals in the last ten years and have about fifty still in stock). People complained about the distortion or the dry tone being dulled due to the low input impedance, so we came up with mods to help those problems.

Howard designed the original pedal so he knows what the problem is on the newer ones (or older ones with bypass mods) and how to fix it. I recommend him for any repairs or calibration on any EH pedals.

Have fun!

[wichita]

Mike,
No offense meant, I just haven't heard any of the mods against what I use. I have a very old DMM with power cable attached.
Wouldn't mind hearing the mod versions

[analogmike]

Ah the old one with power cord, if it still has the original non-true bypass switch, it always sends the signal through the circuit so you don't have the mismatch problem when the pedal is ON and OFF.

You can dial the old ones down to kill the distortion and not notice that it's attenuating your signal as it's ALWAYS attenuated (less than unity gain). That was Howard's original design, and it was OK. But when we and then EH started to sell them with true bypass, you could sometimes not get the signal up to unity gain when ON, without the overload occurring.

Hope that makes sense!

[Tritone]

TGP is great! Thanks for everyone's input. And special thanks to Howard Davis and Analog Mike for contributing. I'm going to get the mods because I use humbuckers.

[sfx]

Howard/Mike:

If I were to pick up a DMM that has four MN3008 delay ICs, is there any reason I wouldn't be able to directly replace those with four MN3005's for about 900-1000ms of delay time, assuming I do a recalibration?

Just wondering if thats all it would take. I've got the chips, a scope, and the docs.

[ddpphoto]

Just got my DMM XO from Mike - thanks Analogman. Thought about mods etc.. but decided to go stock and so far so good. Some white noise, (occasionally sounds like a faint snare drum on top of the repeats) although not enough to drive me crazy as yet. Great lush sounding pedal. Still have my Echo Park beside it for longer delays, tap tempo, swell and dotted 8ths.

[analogmike]

Howard/Mike:

If I were to pick up a DMM that has four MN3008 delay ICs, is there any reason I wouldn't be able to directly replace those with four MN3005's for about 900-1000ms of delay time, assuming I do a recalibration?

Just wondering if thats all it would take. I've got the chips, a scope, and the docs.

That should work, but the calibration is a pain, expect at least a few hours of work. You can calibrate it for perfection at short delay times or long delay times, but not both. Need to find a compromise that you are happy with.

p.s. the white noise when the delays are coming out is normal and no mods or tweeks will get rid of that.

Good luck!

[Unadan]

Mike when can we order your delay??

[strings2wood]

re DMM XO Mike,

are you going to offer the mods as per the older large box units-

or will you be focussing energy/ time-giving priority to getting your own delay out there first?

Cheers and Kind Regards,

Simon in Melbourne.

[analogmike]

We are studying the XO model. It was a pain to get the circuit board out... it's on the list of things to do but it's a long list...