Effects Bay

This morning I wanted to do some research on the top best selling delay pedals. For this I thought I would pick three merchants that sell delay pedals and sort by Best Selling to get a list. I was confident that I would see some of the basic names, but I was surprised by some of the results. For each merchant I took their Top 10 Best Selling Delay Pedals and listed them below. I want to stress that these are the top *best selling* not necessarily the top *best* delays. Some of these are probably best selling due to price vs. tone and capability. Either way it’s interesting to see what people are buying.

Musician’s Friend
MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Line 6 DL4 Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Rogue Analog Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Boss DD-7 Digital Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
TC Electronic Nova Repeater Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Boss DD-20 Giga Delay
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay Pedal
Eventide TimeFactor Twin Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Boy Delay Guitar Effects Pedal

Amazon
Behringer DD400 Guitar Delay Effect Pedal
Jim Dunlop M169 Mxr Carbon Copy Analog Delay
Boss DD-7 Digital Delay
Line 6 DL4 Stompbox Delay Modeler
TC Electronic Nova Repeater: Guitar Delay Pedal
Boss DD-20 Giga Delay
Electro-Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai Delay Looper Pedal
Boss RE-20 Roland Space Echo Twin Pedal
Way Huge Electronics Aqua-Puss MkII Analog Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay

Music123
MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Boss DD-7 Digital Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Line 6 DL4 Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
DeltaLab DD1 Digital Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Akai Professional E2 Headrush Delay/Looper Pedal
Way Huge Electronics Aqua-Puss MkII Analog Delay
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay Pedal
Fulltone TTE Delay Effect Tube Tape Echo
Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man XO Analog Delay

I was expecting to see the Boss DD-3 and DD-7 to be in the lists, but I was surprised to not see Electro-Harmonix all over these lists. Likewise, I was surprised to see the Fulltone tape delay in there. Additionally, some of the other pedals (DeltaLab, Behringer and Rogeu) might need a closer look, since they are in these lists. I would say the MXR Carbon Copy is clearly the winner for best selling delay. Why don’t I own one???? Hmmm, I better get on it.

Let me know what you think of these lists!

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Many years ago I was into using delays and I really enjoyed them. Around 1999ish I sorta went on the flip side and ditched all my effects and was really interested in going straight to the amp (with an occasional OD). A couple of years (basically when I started this blog), I’ve started to work my way back to effects… and now have a pedal board again. On my ‘want’ list from the very beginning for delays was the T-Rex Replica delay. It’s widely regarded as one of the best delays you can get.

When I decided to get back into delays, I picked up the Line 6 DL4 delay modeler. Great sounding pedal with a ton of options. For some reason, I’m a “sucker” for options. I’m starting to get wise though.. options sometimes equals a pain in the ass. This is a personality fault of mine. I like tweaking, but I hate remembering procedures. You see, the Line 6 is great sounding, but I get irritated when it comes to tweaking the knobs, re-setting presets.. or hosing presets by accident. Sometime the ‘good’ thing is a ‘bad’ thing.

I really want a simple delay with minimal knobs, no presets and optionally a tap tempo. A couple of months ago I found a great deal on a Boss DD-3 delay, so I jumped on that to give it a try. There is no question that you see the Boss delays (DD-3, DD-6 and DD-7) on a lot of pedal boards.. including a good many pros, so I wanted to give it a shot. This is definitely getting closer to what I’m talking about… 4  knobs and easy to tweak, no memory required on how to work the pedal. The only downside.. was the tone. I felt that it was a little too digital for what I wanted to get out of it. I like the long repeats, but it was too clean.. if that makes any sense. It also had a slight processed tone especially with some gain on the amp.

Here is where the T-Rex Replica Delay comes into the picture. I had super high expectations for this pedal, which can usually lead to a bad thing, but immediately, I was blown away. The first feature I was liking was the ‘Brown’ switch. Here is where you would darken the repeats to give it more of a traditional analog sound. Another feature that I liked was the input level pot (it’s the black nub on the right side of the pedal). This pot knob is recessed after set, and controls the input level signal coming to the pedal. For my board, it’s last in the line up, so I have some ODs in front (including a fuzz) that jack the signal. This signal boost overdrives the pedal (which can be cool in some cases), but I wanted to dial that in. So I set the Level control (top right) all the way, and then dial back input level control till it’s unity without any break up. There is a subdivisions switch where you can get that U2 vibe, but I’ve been having trouble figuring this out. I understand it’s directly related to the Tap Tempo switch (on top of that… I suck at the U2 stuff). The rest of the controls are pretty self-explanatory – Echo is the ‘blend or mix’ control. Repeat is how long the repeats.. repeat. Tempo is dial tempo.. or you can go with the Tap Tempo footswitch.

The toggle switches seem backwards to me. As you look at the photo above the toggle is pushed forward on the Brown switch. But actually, that is turning off the Brown setting. Likewise, the subdivisions looks like it’s ‘off’, but actually it’s on. I’ve seen other versions of the pedals with push switches for this (not sure why mine has toggles).  Regarding the tempo knob, you will not be able to adjust the tempo to get that freaked out delay rate sound. The pedal adjusts by stopping then reassigning tempo value. So if you’re into adjusting the tempo as part of your effect, this pedal is not for you. As for me, I’ll just adjust the tempo pre-song and I ride with it all the way.. so no worries for me.

To me, this is the best delay I have ever played.. hands down. The sound of the delay is extremely warm and open.. and big. It’s also versatile to be able to  sound like a digital delay or an older analog unit. I’ve heard some people refer to this as a analog delay.. which is not correct. The circuitry is analog but there are 24bit converters (2 Burr Brown 24-bit converters – 1 A/D and 1 D/A) in there, making it digital. I can’t say enough how stellar this delay is. If you’re looking to upgrade or pick up a new delay, I would HIGHLY recommend this delay.  We have a few demos in the queue, but maybe we can get Jimmy to give it a proper demo in the near future.

If you’re interested in picking up the T-Rex Replica delay, they’re available for $399.00 at Musician’s Friend. You might be able to find a deal on a T-Rex Replica via PedalNerd.com

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Today I came across an interesting video for NextLevelGuitar.com and it was a demonstration on using the Boss DD-6 delay for achieving a rockabilly guitar tone. Also, he goes into some ambient delay setting as well. The Boss DD-6 is no longer in production since the release of the Boss DD-7, which I’m sure you can achieve the same tones with the DD-7.

Here is the video submitted by rockongoodpeople:

If you’re interested in the Boss DD-7 you can pick it up for $169.00 at Musician’s Friend. If you’re interested in finding a Boss DD-6, then use PedalNerd to find it on eBay!

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Yesterday I was helping a friend with his ‘franken’ pedal. Basically, it was a DOD FX90 digital delay joined to a Dunlap Wah. The delay speed pot was tied into the wah tone pot, so you could control the delay speed with the wah pedal. This was all tied together with single 9volt power and mounted together with screws. This was done years ago, and at the time seemed pretty crazy. The pedal was brought to me because it was shorting out, but I mentioned to my friend that there are all sorts of delays out there with expression pedal inputs in them now. After making the quick repairs to the pedal, I wanted to offer him some possibilities for the future if he wanted to upgrade.

Obviously, many of the higher end delays offer this, but the Boss DD-7 is a nice budget solution that seems to sound quite good.

Here is the official manufacture description:

The BOSS DD-7 Digital Delay is a guitar effects pedal that takes the best features from its predecessors and expands their creative potential. You get Modulation Delay mode, classic modeled Analog Delay mode, External pedal control options, longer delay time, and more. Even with the best-selling delays in compact-pedal history, BOSS continues to push the envelope and innovate.

Expanded Delay Time
Up to 6.4 seconds of delay time are available with the DD-7, a marked increase from its predecessor. In addition, Hold mode allows up to 40 seconds of input to be recorded for creating “sound on sound” performances.

Delay Modes
The BOSS DD-7 pedal is equipped with two innovative and advanced delay modes. Modulation Delay provides chorus-flavored sounds. Analog Delay offers a modeled simulation of the classic BOSS DM-2, beloved for its characteristic warmth.

External Control
For handsfree control of the DD-7 pedal, an external footswitch and Expression pedal (sold separately) can be used. Tap tempo can be controlled from an external footswitch, while delay time, feedback, and effect level can be changed on the fly via Expression pedal.

Stereo Output
Create amazing effects with the BOSS DD-7 pedal’s stereo output, such as spatial audio sweeps via true stereo panning. You can also use the stereo outputs to create separate dry and wet signal paths – handy for recording and live-performance control.

I found a great video by ProGuitarShopDemos that thoroughly goes through what this pedal is capable of:

If you’re looking for the expression pedal option, you can use the Roland EV-5 expression pedal which costs $69.00 at Musician’s Friend. The Boss DD-7 Digital Delay is available for $169.00 at Musician’s Friend.

Remember, if you like reading about these pedals and seeing videos reviews from others, please subscribe to the RSS feed and get notified via email when there are new postings!

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