Jeds Peds Lo-Fi Delay

The Jeds Peds Lo-Fi Delay is a DIY delay pedal kit, one of Jeds Peds' most popular kits since they began selling it in 2014¹. It is not a finished pedal in its base form: you buy it as a kit at whatever level suits your bench, from a bare PCB up to a pre-built unit, and you build the rest yourself. The circuit is built around the PT2399 delay chip, and Jeds Peds says the result is some really "haunting" and musical repeats at long delay times¹.

What the Lo-Fi Delay does

As a delay, the pedal produces repeats of what you play, and the "lo-fi" character comes from how the PT2399 chip behaves when it is pushed. Jeds Peds describes the repeats at long delay times as really "haunting" and musical¹:

The kit itself is designed to make the build practical. The PCB has spots for right angled mounted pots, so the controls sit directly on the board rather than flying off on wires, and Jeds Peds supplies the correct-value pots free when they are in stock, otherwise wired pots are supplied¹. Drilling, where the kit level includes it, covers all the holes for a complete pedal¹.

The kit is offered at several levels, so you can match what you buy to what you already have in your parts drawer¹:

How the PT2399 circuit is used

The PT2399 is the chip at the heart of this pedal and of many other lo-fi delay designs. It is a digital delay chip that emulates an analog or tape delay sound, and MI Audio, whose own MI Audio Lo-Fi Delay is built on the same chip, notes that a lot of manufacturers have used it for exactly that reason². Aion FX describes it as technically digital but warmer and analog-voiced, with characteristics similar to a tape delay unit, and notes that its overall complexity is much lower and its parts cost far cheaper than a BBD-based delay³.

Jeds Peds' take on the chip is not a stock circuit. The design uses the two on-board amps of the PT2399 as input and output mixers, and the feedback and filtering are combined in a way Jeds Peds calls unique, which produces a slightly different set of controls than the typical PT2399 delay¹.

A few things about the chip are worth knowing as a player:

• It is designed to produce echoes in the range of 40ms to 340ms⁴.
• EarthQuaker Devices notes that when used for delay it offers a shorter total delay time than the FV-1, and tends to start getting dirty when pushed beyond around 450 ms⁵. That dirt is a large part of what players call the lo-fi character.
• It works with analog circuitry around it, which is where makers like Jeds Peds put their own design choices⁵.
• According to Josh Scott of JHS Pedals, quoted by Guitar World, the chip was originally intended to add slapback delays to karaoke machines⁶.

That last point explains a lot about the chip's personality: it was never designed as a premium studio delay, and when a circuit pushes it past its comfortable range, the repeats degrade in a way many players find musical rather than merely broken⁵⁴⁶.

Is it a good first build?

Jeds Peds calls it a straightforward build with no specialist skill required, but also describes it as an ambitious beginner project, mostly suited to those who have built a couple of pedals before¹. In practice that means it is a reasonable second or third build rather than a first one: the PT2399 circuit is simpler than a BBD-based delay³, but a delay has more going on than a basic boost or fuzz, with the feedback and filtering combined in the board's design¹.

If you are new to building, the kit levels let you start small: a PCB and components, with the enclosure, drilling and off board parts handled at whatever level you choose¹. You will need three knobs, and Jeds Peds suggests medium sized ones¹.

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