help me pick a delay pedal

[epig]

Hi y'all.
I'm looking for a delay pedal but there are so many out there I don't know where to start. The reason I'm looking is after a show last weekend an older gentleman came up and told me I should add slight delay and echo to my amp to help fill the sound up a bit. He said like an Echo plex or something. I play classic/mainstream rock and country mostly so I don't need anything to crazy. (like 30 seconds of delay)

Here is my setup so far: Epiphone Elitist Les Paul, Carl Martin Compressor, Crybaby wah, Seymour Duncan SFX-03, Marshall TSL-122.

Not that I have the greatest setup but I want to be sure not to suck any more tone out of my setup or add any more noise so please consider that too. I have a Boss ME-30 that I put in my chain and it sounded like I turned my tone control down to zero. Don't want that.

Thanks alot. I know I'll get some great ideas.
Jeremy

[sumgai]

Jeremy,

If your ME-30 sucked your tone down to Zero, then I have to wonder, did you tinker with the settings at all? These things are they're generally characterized as having too much bite, meaning, too shrill in the top end, unless you dial them back a bit. Is that what you did, only you dialed it back a wee bit too far?

If your friend wants to recommend an EchoPlex, that's fine..... just step right up to the counter and give the nice man $1200, please. CH-CHING!! You might find one for less, but what shape is it in? And these units are tape driven. For many old-timers, that's the original goodie, analog tape that deteriorates with each pass around the loop. The tone of the actual echo itself is not what I'd call "full", or even good, but that's the way it's always been, so no one will fault you, or claim that your unit is ge-fooey. Just be prepared to go on the occasional hunting expedition for replacement tapes.

Almost anything made in the last few years is gonna be sufficient. Some of them have a setting that makes the echo's tone indistinguishable from that of the old analog tape units. Most don't bother with that setting though, it doesn't sound too good on stage.

Let your wallet be your guide.

HTH


sumgai

[epig]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Thats just it. I don't want an old Echoplex (I mean I don't have the money to buy one). I think he was just trying to give me a starting point sound wise what I should be looking for if that makes sense. I would rather not spend over $150 on this pedal. So maybe I could find something of good quality off of ebay for around this price, but I don't know what.

And that leads me to another question. Analog or digital, whats the sound difference if any?

Jeremy

[epig]

Oh, and the remark I made about the ME-30. I just meant that with it in my signal chain, even bypassed I noticed a difference in my tone that I didn't care for. I over exagerated some for effect.

It's really a decent pedal for what I paid for it. Just not my cup of tea right now (but that changes from month to month).

[sumgai]

epig,

Change your tea bag more often, so the caffeine doesn't go sour on you.

There are two schools of people in the music/guitarist world - those that know there's all kinds of people, and those that are Nazis about their own favorite little toys. I'd suggest that you ignore the latter folks, they'll just make for a bad day all around.

The tolerant folk know that it's a matter of personal preference. Sometimes one's budget gets in the way, that's true, but even at $150, you've got a lot of latitude to play with. I'd say that there is no such thing as analog, except for tape, but strictly speaking, there is the extremely old-school technology of Bucket Brigade Devices (BBD), which were nothing more than a series of capacitors that transferred an electrical charge from one to the next in line, until it came out the end. Didn't work too well, way back when dinosaurs roamed the planet, and still doesn't work worth a damn now. Manufacturer's claims to the contrary.

Digital can easily meet the tonal requirements of the most demanding ear, if it belongs to an open mind. Try to stay with known brands, and choose the feature set that meets your wallet, and you should be OK.

HTH



sumgai

[epig]

OK. What I think I'll do then is look at the Carl Martin, Maxon, And Electro-Harmonix and see what I find.

[ashcatlt]

I think mine's a Boss DD-3 (it's 5 miles from nowhere right now, and I'm in the middle). I use it on just about everything. I've had it for 10 yrs and just figured out how to make the tap tempo work last year sometime.

One day soon, I'm gonna get me one of these. Hope to jam it in an old wah shell with the pedal controlling delay time.

[ccso8462]

Using a Boss DD-6 and not having any issues with it at all. But then again, I really like Boss pedals.

[andy]

Well, I know its a bit more expensive, but I've heard very good things about the Line 6 Delay Modeller. The tape echos are supposed to be quite realistic, and you also get 'analogue' (for want of a better word) emulations and modern digital type delays, with three saved delay patches and a tap tempo.

I don't have one myself, but its high on the 'when I'm buying another delay pedal' list.

[Ripper]

I was offered a Boss DD20...23 seconds of delay. New for $125
Great deal. It sounded too artificial, so I passed.
Lets face it guys, if you need 23 seconds of delay..you need to add another guitar player to the lineup.

[ashcatlt]

Often when a delay sounds "too artificial" or "too digital" it can be more a problem with the settings you've chosen and, much more importantly, it's placement in the signal chain.

[sumgai]

deep,

You wanna yammer about 23 seconds? I've got a pedal that will let me float a note out there for oh, I dunno, something like 49 MINUTES! Not that I need that much time of course, even In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida lasted only 17:01.

Boss's latest looper, the RC-50. Good times, good times. ;D

ash is correct of course, the placement in the chain is all-important to one's tone. I use this to layer multiple instruments from my guitar synth, and so far, no one has come up to me and said "your tone sucks the hind one".



sumgai

[Oky]

I use a Boss dd20, it was a gift, but I am very happy with it.
They have four memory 'slots' where you can save different sounds.
They have 'analog' 'tape' and several other useful settings.

Use decent patch cords and an AC/DC PSU. I find you can get some really nice sounds, if you spend a little time experimenting.

I use mine quite subtley and I think they can be very warm sounding.

If you think the pedals are affecting your clean sound, you could run a true bypass by using an a/b selection switch type setup.

I use a variety of fx brands, I don't think boss are they best of all but I think they're hard to beat for value:money ratio, and are extremely reliable IMO

[mlrpa]

For the all too rare live gig, I use a Digitech X-series Digidelay. 8 seconds of delay, backwards delay, and a 4 second loop mode. It's quiet, and doesn't color the sound at all when in bypass mode. Price, around the 150 mark.

[mr_sooty]

Boss have just released the DD-7. It does everything the DD-20 does and more, except for the presets. It's the size of the normal DD-6 etc, you can plug a tap tempo switch into it like you could with the DD-5, but it has analog, reverse, tape, 40 seconds looping (that's 17 seconds more than the DD-20!) every concievable time setting, looks like the complete stompbox delay. It's $169 ish US, which I reckon is a great price for such a complete pedal.

A nice cheap option is the Guyatone MD3 Micro Delay. Great sound, but not many options and no tap tempo.

[andy]

Apr 21, 2008 9:41:31 GMT -5 andy said:

Well, I know its a bit more expensive, but I've heard very good things about the Line 6 Delay Modeller. The tape echos are supposed to be quite realistic, and you also get 'analogue' (for want of a better word) emulations and modern digital type delays, with three saved delay patches and a tap tempo.

I don't have one myself, but its high on the 'when I'm buying another delay pedal' list.

OK, so I'm quoting myself here.

I'm starting to think about delay pedals again, and in terms of options the Line 6 DL4 seems pretty good- having dug a bit deeper (and looked on Harmony Central) there seems to be a bit of an issue with the tone of the thing, although I've seen them on countless pro pedal boards around and about. Does anyone else have any experience of these units, before I start looking around for one to try?

[Riffster]

The new Boss DD-7 !!! I reviewed it last month and it was incredible. The analog mode is very very accurate and the tap tempo is great. It also does a great job in the "hold" mode for looping. It should be hitting the stores by now. "Regular" Boss sized pedal...I hate those friggin huge pedals....real estate hoggers. Should be about $160. Check out Roland's site for the demo. I love this pedal.

[crazyheart]

AnalogEcho delay pedal from Wampler Pedals(Indyguitarists)
www.wamplerpedals.com/analogecho

$189.00 I like mine! ;D

[b4nj0]

A plug for the Akai Headrush E2. You get a looper as well for the cash. Built like a tank! Oh, and the instructions are incorrect, even the downloaded ones! Not a recommendation as such, but should be on your audition list. I like mine.