FX45 Stereo Reverb

FX45 Stereo Reverb (1985)

The DOD FX45 Stereo Reverb pedal was introduced in 1985, and was the first (and last) reverb pedal offered by DOD. To our knowledge, only DOD and Arion produced BBD chip-based analog reverb pedals in the 1980s. While the FX45's reverb effect sounds rather nice to our ears, with a SNR of only 80 dB it is somewhat noisier than most digital reverb pedals and is equally hard on batteries (be sure to power this pedal by an AC adapter if you plan to use it frequently). The FX45 appears to have been discontinued by early 1987, the same year that the Boss RV-2 Digital Reverb was released, possibly because the BBD chips used in the FX45 became difficult to find at a reasonable price.

• Controls: Room Size (170-280 square feet), Reverb Time (280-600 ms), Reverb Level
  
  
• Technical info:
  
  
  • Specifications: Input impedance = 500 k Ohms, Output impedance = 1 k Ohms; Gain = 0 dB; other specs listed above
    
    
  • Official schematic provided with pedal by DOD
    
    
  • Notable IC chips: two 3328 stage MN3011 BBDs, each with 6 taps; one MN3101 clock driver (for "Room Size"); two 1458-type dual op amps (one for Reverb Time, one for Reverb Level)
    
    
  • Internal trim pots: one; however, we do not recommend messing with trim pots
    
    
  • Component-side circuitboard image: September 1985
  
  
• External links:
  • @ discofreq's FX site
  • @ harmony-central.com
  • @ noiseguide.com
  • thread @ diystompboxes.com
  
  

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