kliklak.net

Repair: Vestax DDG-1 mechanical parts

by Jane is K.O.

Vestax Corporation, Japan, 1977-2014.
Wikipedia entry

Info hopefully will save you some time repairing your DDG-1. Comments are appreciated. Thanx very much.

Vestax Japan is dead and a DDG-1 service manual is nowhere near in 2019. I have two mid 1990s Vestax DDG-1 delays here, which need new potentiometers and switches.

Simply FYI you’ll find below, what i could read from opening the device.

DDG-1 MECHANICAL PARTS (upper board)
Potentiometers in red, switches in green and blue.

Original Potentiometers
5x ALPS, Japan – RK11K114 or RK11K113 (no bushing) series
• 4-pin (pin4 is a dummy)
• 0.05W
• vertical type
• shaft length 25mm (delay time) – 27.5mm (all others), diameter 6mm, D-type
• with bushing (shaft hole in front plate must be 9(.5) mm to mount with washer/nut (M9)).
Pots with bushing are better, potentially protecting the shaft more from getting bent.

Potentiometer values out of board – VR1-VR5 (red rings in image above)

DELAY TIME 0.5×-2x
VR1 = 11k lin (=10K)
LFO RATE
VR2 = 470k lin (=500K) – used a 1M here, good for me, but you have to work by ear.
DELAY VOLUME
VR3 = 5.6k lin (=5K)
FEEDBACK
VR4 = 20k log – used a 50K lin here, getting more feedback.
LFO DEPTH
VR5 = 100k lin

Potentiometer variations (mostly unchecked yet)
VR1 • Alps RK11K1140A23 (25mm shaft only)
rs-online.de
Mouser.de
Replacement Bourns PTV111 no bushing
Replacement BI Technologies/TT Electronics – P110KH-0F20BR10K
Product info @Alps
VR2 • ALPS 27.5mm?? Taking a 3-pin RK09
VR3 #1 Marshall pot SKU 51667 … more expensive here
VR4 • ALPS 27.5mm?? Use 100K with 33k in parallel
VR5 • RK11K114F30C0B104 (30mm) – i took a 3-pin RK09D1130-F25-C0-A104 instead – Alternatives: Reichelt.de short shaft – Mouser.de 30mm center detent ALPS RK11K1140A72 ONLY 20mm

Search on Aliexpress
Check Bourns PTV111
Check BI Technologies/TT Electronics P110KH

---

Conclusions: ALPS RK11K114 don’t use pin 4 and have plastic shafts (bad).
I used 3-pin 9mm ALPS RK09 pots for VR2 and VR5, as original parts or suitable 4-pin replacements weren’t available. 3-pin pot legs still fit into the board holes. Pins connect to board soldered to a bit of extra wire in between.
It looks hmmm, but works well and is stable…

---

Rotary switch 5-pole ALPS, shaft length 15 mm – SRBV variations
• SW1 – similar to SRBV150901 (15mm shaft, works). Mouser.de
Note, that the SRBV150901 of 2019 has it’s D-shaft rotation turned to the right by approx 60 degrees, so the white line on the original knob doesn’t match the print on the front plate.

---

Toggle switches
SS1- SS3 seem rather hard to find.
The original part looks like this. I also found this Chinese supplier link, but i don’t want to order 100 pieces ;) This could work as well.

---

HELPFUL
ALPS resistance tapers – pdf
How to check the taper
How to measure ALPS shaft length
About knobs and shafts

+++
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jane is K.O. aka jayrope is a Berlin-based composer, producer and musician.
More info: jayrope.com