> the advantages of the tapped version are obvious enough (at least,
> after reading your comments dieter), but i did wonder, why the
> irregularly spaced numbers of stages if i only had one clock speed
> on such a unit, i think i'd find a lot of uses for mixing, say, 1024
> and 2048 stages to produces rhythmic patterns. but any
> mathematical/musical relationships between 662 and 396 (etc.) remain
> hidden to me.
>
> maybe a question of what's available from the bucket factory not
> important, i'm just curious.

The taps are predetermined by the BBD chip but not our choice. But the
irregular taps make sense as the chip was planned for reverb effects. And
for a dense reverb you do not want taps which are multiples of each other.
But even for non-reverb applications (like chorus/flanging) the irregular
taps generate a very dense sound - much better than taps which are multiples
of each other.

> second question. i notice the 188 is available as module without the
> buckets. are the various BBDs available separately (i.e. without module)

yes, as spare parts. The price for the BBD chip can be calculated from the
difference between the module without BBD and the corresponding module with
BBD.

> and would it be possible for a user (without physics degree)to swap them

please look at www.doepfer.de > PRODUCTS > A-100 > modules overview >
A-188-1 > A1881_adjustment.pdf

Best wishes
Dieter Doepfer