Great Analog Delay, On the Cheap!
Looking for a good, vintage, analog delay for your pedal board? You can get a legendary early 80’s Boss DM-2 for $200 to $300. But why not give the Arion Stereo Analog Delay a try for about $100 or less? The SAD-1 is a surprisingly great analog delay that truly makes it a serious Tone Gem. It’s warm. It’s quiet. It definitely enhances your sound without robbing your guitar’s true tone. The SAD-1 adds depth and definition to whatever I’m playing without changing or coloring the original tone of my guitar.
This one is dead quiet; and it doesn’t suck tone. I find myself keeping this pedal on most of the time. I snagged this one, in excellent condition, from ebay seller New Vintage Music (seller ID: new_vintage_music) for a great price. A real bargain and sleeper. So give this Tone Gem a try. I think you’ll like it.
This one was built the 30th week of 1985. Not to be confused with the newer Arion SAD-3 pedal, which is made in Sri Lanka.
MN3205 BBD
The MN3025 BBD is an analog 16-pin integrated circuit semi-conductor producing a 4,096-stage echo, repeat, or reverberation effect.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION FROM THE DATA SHEET:
The Panasonic MN3205 is a 4,096-stage, low voltage operation (VDD=5V), low noise Bucket Brigade Device (BBD) that provides a signal delay of up to 204.8ms at clock frequency 10K Hz and is suitable for use as reverberation effect of audio equipments such as portable stereo and long delay time since S/N is 67dB in spite of the many stages.
The MN3205 is driven by the MN3102 CMOS Clock Generator.
Function and Controls
- Pedal Operation: Press pedal down for the ON position and LED indicator will turn
on. Depress again for OFF position, LED will go off. - Battery Cover: Press both ends marked “PUSH” to lift cover and access battery compartment.
- LED Check Light: When shining bright, indicates effect is ON and battery is in good condition.
- Input Jack: 1/4-inch mono phone jack from guitar.
- Output Jack (OUT 1): 1/4-inch mono phone jack to amplifier.
- Output Jack (OUT 2): 1/4-inch mono phone jack to second amplifier for stereo effect.
- OUT 2 / Mode Switch: Selector switch for direct out or stereo out.
- AC Adapter Jack: Input DC 9-volt, 100mA to 200mA, center pole negative.
- Delay: Dial Short to Long. Echo, reverb, slap back. Controls the delay time of the effect, from 50ms to 300ms.
- Depth: Dial Min. to Max. Controls to depth of effect.
- Repeat: Dial Min to Max. Controls the number of repeats, from one to infinity, as the effect decays.
Specifications
- Input Impedance: 240K
- Load Output Impedance: 10K
- Maximum Input Level: -1dB (0dB=1V)
- Maximum Output Level: 0dB (0dB=1V)
- Noise Level: -65.5dB (0dB=1V Input Short)
- Delay Time: 50ms to 300ms
- Controls: Depth, Delay, Repeat, Output to Direct or Stereo
- Jacks: Mono In; Mono and Stereo Out
- Power Requirements: Requires DC 9-volt battery, or AC Adapter, Outer ring Negative
- Manufacturer / Country: Prince Tsushinkogyo Ltd. / Japan
- Years in Production: 1980’s
Related Links
The Boss DM-2 analog delay.
Tags
Arion, Analog, Bucket Brigade Device, BBD, Delay, MIJ, MN3205, Japan, Stereo
If you like to play or collect vintage Arion pedals, there are many more pedals currently listed on eBay than I can recently remember. Vintage Arion pedals are all-analog guitar effects pedals that were made in Japan by Prince Tsushinkogyo Ltd. mostly back in the 1980′s. Although they were considered a “budget brand” at the time, Arion pedals had many of the same internal components and IC devices as their higher priced competition, and some pedals had features that no other effects maker offered at that time (i.e. stereo output). For example, the SCH-1 Stereo Chorus used the same MN3207 Bucket Brigade Device as the Boss CE-3.
Just arrived! A 1984 DOD FX50 Overdrive Preamp in like-new condition, in the original factory box. There are plenty of these pedals out there, but this one has been barely used and came along with the original manual, papers, and schematic diagram. Plus, I got a great deal! Can’t wait to try this out and report back on the tone.
[This is an update to an earlier post. Since then we have done some more testing of this unit with different instruments and amplifiers.]
Birthday’s are great! This pedal was a gift! My son and his wife remembered my affinity for chorus pedals and found this Danelectro at a used music shop. It’s the 18-volt version, all analog, made about 1996. It sounds great! Very warm and lush sounding with a broader depth and speed range than similar analog pedals. Maybe it sounds so good because it’s a clone of the legendary Boss CE-2, with the following chips on-board: