Strymon Favorite Switch DIY

I love my El Capistan from Strymon. It is a great tape delay, with a lot a features to adjust the sound exactly how you want it. Great ambient sounds, rhythmic delay or something subtler for solos... What was missing was just a way to save settings and have presets like on many delays (TC electronics Flashback, Line6 DL4, Timeline...)

I looked into Strymon Favorite Switch, but it was a bit expensive for me, and unfortunately impossible to find used... As I read that it was super easy to build, I searched a bit on the Internet, and it REALLY is extremely simple!

 

Fig. 1. Most simple and useful scheme in the world

 

You just need a simple footswitch (Single PDT is enough!), a LED, a 1k resistor (you can use different values depending on how bright you want the LED to be), a stereo jack input and a small enclosure like Hammond 1590 LB. You do not need any battery or DC power jack because the DC current is directly provided by the Strymon pedal with the tip of the stereo jack.

Fig. 2. Step 1: drill a hole in the box. Step 2: put your junk in that box.
Step 3: make her open the box (sorry, had to be done)

The most annoying part of this build is drilling the box, you have to be a bit precise in order that all the components will properly fit in. Apart from that it is really simple and totally worth it.

How does it sound?

The setting is properly memorized, which is useful when you want to use two types of delay during the same song for instance. You just need a small stereo jack cable (not so easy to find).

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