The Asheville Music Tools ADG-1 is a compact delay pedal with a 100% analog signal path, built around a pair of high-voltage bucket-brigade delay chips. It offers up to 700ms of what the maker calls "harmonically rich, perfectly floating echoes," from a bright country slapback to washy dotted-eighth leads to modulated, psychedelic textures1. It was engineered by Hawker, whom Asheville Music Tools describes as a renowned analog designer, and the company calls the ADG-1 "the latest installment in Hawker's legacy of highly sought-after analog delay designs"1.
A special edition, the ADG-1 SE, extended the platform with added features, and it has since been retired and sold out2. Like the standard ADG-1, it covered ground from a bright country slapback to washy dotted eight leads to psychedelic modulated odysseys3.
How it works: bucket-brigade delay
The ADG-1 is an analog Bucket Brigade Delay with modulation4. A bucket-brigade device, or BBD, is a chip that moves your signal through a long chain of internal capacitors one step at a time; the further the signal has to travel, the longer the delay. Because the signal stays analog the whole way, repeats degrade gradually in brightness rather than being reprocessed digitally.
Pedal of the Day's review describes the circuit's construction: "AMT started with a high voltage 15V power supply powering a pair of studio grade MN3005 BBDs," then added "a special blend of two tightly tuned high-Q 5th order anti-alias and reconstruction filters" to clean up the repeats at the input and output3. The MN3005 is the classic long-delay BBD chip, and the ADG-1 uses reissue versions made by Xvive, running at high voltage rather than the lower rails common in compact pedals3.
Controls and delay ranges
The Time knob sets the delay length, and a Bucket switch chooses how many of the BBD stages the signal runs through1.
| Setting | Delay range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bucket switch down | 35ms to 700ms | Uses all BBDs |
| Bucket switch up | 17ms to 350ms | Uses half the BBDs |
| Extended, long setting | 900ms | With expression pedal, control voltages or LFO |
| Extended, short setting | 27ms | With expression pedal, control voltages or LFO |
The shorter range with the switch up gives you tighter slapback and rhythmic delays; the full-bucket setting reaches the pedal's maximum 700ms. Asheville Music Tools describes the control set as "extensive and fully analog," which Pedal of the Day called "unprecedented for a pedal of its size"13.
The ADG-1 SE
The ADG-1 SE was a special edition of the ADG-1, a limited run with added features beyond the standard pedal5. It has since been discontinued5 and sold out, with the maker stating it has been retired2. Its sound covered the same wide territory as the ADG-1, from a bright country slapback to washy dotted eight leads to psychedelic modulated odysseys3.
| ADG-1 | ADG-1 SE | |
|---|---|---|
| Signal path | 100% analog1 | 100% analog2 |
| Delay time | 35ms to 700ms1 | 16ms to 1.055s, up to 1.35s extended2 |
| Delay buckets | Two3 | Three2 |
| Insert loop | No | Yes2 |
| Power | 9V DC, under 150mA, 85mA nominal, 250mA startup1 | 9V DC, under 150mA, 90mA nominal, 350mA startup2 |
| Status | Current | Discontinued, sold out2 |
The ADG-1 SE has been retired and is sold out2. The maker lists the ADG-1 Special Edition as discontinued6, so it is no longer available new.
Power
The ADG-1 runs on 9V DC at under 150mA, with an 85mA nominal draw and up to 250mA at startup1. The SE drew similarly, at 90mA nominal with up to 350mA at startup2. That startup surge is worth accounting for if you share a supply across several pedals.
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day reviewed the ADG-1 on 19 May 2024, closing out the site's "Asheville Week," and found the pedal delivered on its design3:
"The look, feel and sounds created by the ADG-1 Analog Delay are all quite impressive"3
Pedal of the Day, 20243
The review also noted the pedal's range, "from a bright country slapback to washy dotted eight leads to psychedelic modulated odysseys"3.
Delicious Audio, covering the pedal under the name Analoger ADG-1, described it as an analog Bucket Brigade Delay with modulation offering repeats from 16ms to 700ms, and added it to the site's list of the Best Tape-Style Delay Pedals for its tape-style character4.
Videos
Asheville Music Tools
Mike Hermans
collector//emitter
Questions
Is the ADG-1 fully analog?
Yes. Asheville Music Tools specifies a 100% analog signal path for the ADG-1, and reviewers describe it as fully analog, including its control set. The repeats come from bucket-brigade delay chips rather than a digital processor, and the modulation and controls are analog as well.
How long is the delay time on the ADG-1?
The Time control adjusts delay from 35ms to 700ms with the Bucket switch down, which uses all the BBDs, or 17ms to 350ms with the switch up, using half of them. With an expression pedal, control voltages or an LFO, the range extends to 900ms on the long setting and 27ms on the short one.
What power supply does the ADG-1 need?
It runs on 9V DC at under 150mA, with an 85mA nominal draw and up to 250mA at startup. That startup surge is worth noting if you power it from a shared supply, since some isolated outputs limit current on switch-on.
Who designed the ADG-1?
The ADG-1 was engineered by Hawker, whom Asheville Music Tools calls a renowned analog designer. The company describes the pedal as the latest installment in Hawker's legacy of highly sought-after analog delay designs.
Is the ADG-1 SE still made?
No. The ADG-1 SE has been retired. Fall 2023 was its last production run, with a few more units built in early 2024 from remaining inventory, and Asheville Music Tools states it has no current plans to build it again.
What are MN3005 chips in a delay pedal?
MN3005 is a bucket-brigade device, or BBD, an analog chip that passes your signal along a chain of capacitors one step at a time to create delay. The ADG-1 uses a pair of studio grade MN3005 BBDs, in reissue form from Xvive, running at high voltage for cleaner repeats.
Sources (6)
- ADG-1 Analog Delay, Asheville Music Tools
- ADG-1 Special Edition (Discontinued), Asheville Music Tools
- Asheville Music Tools ADG-1 Analog Delay, Pedal of the Day, 2024-05-19
- Asheville Music Tools Analoger ADG-1 Analog Delay, Delicious Audio, 2026-05-28
- ADG-1 Preorder Updates, Asheville Music Tools, 2021-01-29
- Asheville Music Tools APH-12 Plus, Asheville Music Tools
