Earthquaker Disaster Transport Delay kit Build - NOW WITH DIY FAULT DIAGNOSIS FUN

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stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
edited July 2019 in FX
Anyone tried these? I see they've done "Jr", regular and "Sr" versions. I'm most likely looking at the regular version in kit form from Stewmac. Looks like a good Memory Man style thing with switchable mod?
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Comments

  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
    I guess that's a no, then! 

    Anyway, I've ordered the kit for the middle-sized one from StewMac. Hoping to get it making noises this weekend if work leaves me alone :) 
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  • joetelejoetele Frets: 947
    Honestly, I'd love to get one - especially the Sr version - but as usual I chose other expensive pedals first and regretted it 
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  • gusman2xgusman2x Frets: 919
    I have one (standard). Been my main delay for a few years now. I love it. When I got it I was weighing up the BBMM, and the Skreddy Echo.

    At the time I felt the MM was a bit too lush, and less controllable. The tone knob on the DT is subtle but very effective. Maybe sounded a bit nicer though. The Echo was gorgeous, but too lush for sure, and an echo, whereas I was looking for a delay. I got an echo later on.

    I like it a lot, and would recommend it.
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
    edited June 2019
    Good to know, ta! 

    I love analog delay sounds, but normally don't get on with them as they're too simple feature-wise. This thing sounds brilliant in demos, so I'm hoping it'll be a nice plug & play option. Should be a fun build in any case

    This decision was helped along by a very early PGS Andy vid playing One Tree Hill and An Cat Dubh (in the same video!!)...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8vQQ01uIFk
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  • UnclePsychosisUnclePsychosis Frets: 12879
    I had the very first Disaster Transport model (before the Jr/Sr stuff appeared) and I've also owned a Disaster Transport Sr. 

    They are seriously, seriously nice pedals. The "blend" knob to blend parallel/series on the Sr is really cool. 

    If I was a rich man, I'd still have them. As is, I decided to prioritise other things. £200 is a lot of coin for a delay pedal. 
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  • WazmeisterWazmeister Frets: 9444
    The SR is far superior to the smaller models, imho...

    A very unique and musical delay.
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
    Argh! Built the kit today. Except the one pot they didn't put in the box and it's board-mounted B50k which I don't have any spare of in the parts box, so I can't finish until they send me a new one. Feh! 

    Apart from that it's been a very easy kit build and I'm looking forward to hearing it working... Which gives me a week or so to work out some way of making the box look nice :)
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
    Stew mac have confirmed they’re fast-shipping the missing bits so I should have a good chance of having it working this weekend :)

    <insert adage about customer service not being about not making mistake but fixing them quickly here>
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
    Finally got the extra pot and all wired up yesterday. It works! Sounds really nice actually.

    The only odd thing is one of the LEDs not working. The applicable switch seems to be fine, and the ground side is connected to ground as required, so there's something stopping voltage getting to the V+ side of the LED, which suggests either a short somewhere or a faulty board. Thankfully both LEDs are switched via connecting/disconnecting their grounds, which means I should be able to just jumper a short bit of wire between the two positive ends of the LEDs. Bit of an odd issue though.
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  • joetelejoetele Frets: 947
    How much did it cost to assemble, overall? 
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
    joetele said:
    How much did it cost to assemble, overall? 
    The kit was about $100 as I bought 2 so got a discount. Shipping is harder to say, as I got some other stuff at the same time.

    A couple of things I would say though; I've seen at least one other person online complain of missing pieces, so that's a pain with something shipping from another country. Also, they barely give you enough wire for the internal hookup. They say to cut everything to a certain length then solder everything to the board, then install and connect the off-board components, but adding 1/4" to every wire would make that job significantly easier. 

    And I still have to get that LED working...
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
    Fixed! Turns out what I didn't know is the LED for the mod switch pulses in time with the modulation, so that was why I was getting lucky voltage readings. Once I had the old LED out I could check with a new one and it's absolutely fine. Looks like just I just got unlucky with a dead LED. 

    It's a neat build and great sounding pedal. 

    I also built a JHS All-American this afternoon, if anyone's interested: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/161081/kit-build-stewmac-jhs-all-american




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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12313
    So... parts missing, other parts dead and only just enough wire supplied? Have you told StewMac about these issues? Tbh that all sounds a bit shit and they need to sort their act out.  :# Which is a shame because it looks like a fun build and an interesting pedal at the end of it.  
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26742
    boogieman said:
    So... parts missing, other parts dead and only just enough wire supplied? Have you told StewMac about these issues? Tbh that all sounds a bit shit and they need to sort their act out.  :# Which is a shame because it looks like a fun build and an interesting pedal at the end of it.  
    Yeah, i've told them, and I've seen a couple of similar comments on Reddit as well as kit reviews on Stewmac saying the same, so it's not the first time. Quite surprising as Stewmac are usually very good. They did at least send out new bits for free. 

    But I would definitely recommend Fuzzdog over these, especially if you're in the UK as shipping will make Fuzzdog a way better deal.
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