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I did use the new Strat on one tune. I brought two Strats, the Tele and the Agile. I think I did not end up using the Tele but the other three quite a bit. I also brought a baritone which I used a lot. Actually, one of the tunes we wrote during the session came from a little thing I played on the Bari. I wrote the changes out and we tracked the whole in an hour or two.

Sure, sure...no problem Thanks for doing a vero!

A couple people have asked me about leftover stock in the last couple of days.

Here is what I have

EgoDriver x 3
Sparkplug x 4
Slow Loris x 1
Cave Dweller x1
Mangler x 3

PM me if you need one of these and we will figure it out.

Yeah, my bad. I think the Eagle part was labeled that way and I forget to change it to 78L05 sometimes. I need to fix that in Eagle!

Those are double pin.

Here's the single pin: http://www.taydaelectronics.com/40-pin-2-54-mm-single-row-pin-header-strip.html

I've updated the ZPSDX doc to show the regulator in the BOM and also fixed the one broken link.

Should be 78L05 for everything. That's the regulator in a TO-92 package.

[While you are welcome to offer praise, too, I'm not seeking the "ego boost" here. I have a good sense of "what's right" but not necessarily the best sense of "needs improvement".]

In order to keep the communication lines open I'd like to take this opportunity to re-state my commitment to providing the best customer service possible to all members and customers here at the madbeanpedals wonderland of love. To me, this means providing "greater than expected" service and reasonable response times to questions and feedback provided. This extends not only to paying customers in the store but also regular forum members who just like to hang out here.

So, if you have any feedback to provide or suggestions on how I can improve the "customer service" experience, please feel free to respond here. Or, if you prefer to keep your feedback private, email me at brian AT madbeanpedals.com.

Keep in mind that this is a for-profit business, even though it very much rooted in a community framework. I am a professional and therefore I do not take feedback personally so long as it is thoughtful and fair. While you are welcome to offer praise, too, I'm not seeking the "ego boost" here. I have a good sense of "what's right" but not necessarily the best sense of "needs improvement".

Lastly, feedback can also concern other subjects such as project organization, documentation, website development, features, etc. It's really up to your imagination.

I'm really looking forward to this year and I hope to keep you guys excited about the goings-on and the overall community spirit!

Here's a tails mod that I've been playing with. It comes right from the Small Time delay posted on DIYSB, so credit goes to ValveWizard.

The pdf contains all the info you need to implement it on just about any PT2399 delay (you can use it on analog delays, too).

I have no EE background although I did a degree in the sciences. I'd say it helps but not at all required. The thing that helps me most from my education is actually more from the problem solving angle. All those endless hours of math proofs and theory definitely trained my little brain to approach problems in a very consistent and logical way. I expect you have a bit more advantage because you already have that plus some good training on the engineering aspect, too.

Designing audio effects is pretty equally divided between knowing how the stuff works and also knowing what is a good end result. The latter is probably the more difficult thing to master because it includes applying your own taste and biases in evaluating the result. When you are designing something for more than yourself, you have to develop a sense of what will either have a broad appeal or be cool and unique enough that a niche market of folks will identify and embrace it. IMO, you get to that point by 1) working on designs (your own or others) and evaluating the results over and over again and then some more and 2) keeping in tune with what's already out there and what is popular.

Most of us already have an innate ability to choose between good tone and bad tone since we are musicians (most of us anyway) and probably have a few years experience playing. Your ear has already been training for that part.

Anyway, while I don't know if there is a "best" approach, there are certainly common practices.
1) Evaluate some effects to identify what you like and what others like.
2) Pick them apart by either reverse engineering them or analyzing schematics.
3) Compare and evaluate different approaches taken to achieve those end results.
4) Use that knowledge to foster your own creative ideas.
5) Borrowing/stealing from others is totally fine in the world of electronics BUT put something of yourself in it, too. IOW, there is nothing wrong with building on a good idea that someone else came up with but the way to really make your mark is by adding your own creative element to it.
6) Test, test test. Review, revise. Test, test test.

Number 6 is the really important one! It's not uncommon to revise your idea a few times. Even much later after you think something is completed. Your taste and your ears evolve and once you get feedback from a broad set of other sets of ears you might decide on a better or different way to do things.

I've got plenty of ZP builds and my own TT little setup so I can work it out here in a few days, too. My guess is the current mirror on the ZPSDX or ZPDD could be altered enough to be made to work with TT. It's just something I never got around to exploring.

The datasheets recommends tantalum for the +5v filtering and the actual space on the PCB allotted to them is quite small so I do recommend them in this case. But, it is not a must. I've used electrolytic many times for filtering the PT2399.

Stomptown - I will put the Tails mod in the Mod section. I decided against it on the PCB for space reasons. But, the mod is super simple and can be put together on a bit of vero in 5 minutes. I'll do that later today.

All documentation has been uploaded. Let me know if anything is amiss.

Also, you can easily substitute a mini Lelon 1uF electrolytic or a 16v Tantalum for the 1uFs in the signal path if you like. These are about the same size and will fit no problem.

I use the XR7 1uFs often and have never had a bad result with them. Actually, I did a Klon build using similar MLCC caps and it was one of the best sounding I've built....for purely anecdotal evidence of course.

Also, remember the 2.5mm requirement in only for four of the caps on the Micro build, and none of them are 1uF. It's explained in the doc.