Effects Bay

Originally, when I was going to write this post, I was going to do it a little differently. I was going to pull some various resources to figure out the top 5 delay pedals on the market today. The problem is.. this is quite subjective. Top 5 could mean the best, but best is often not realistic (Does expensive mean best? Is exclusivity best? Is workhorse best? Is popularity best?). I wanted to compile maybe the most ‘popular’ or possibly the best bang for the buck set of delays.

So, I thought I would do something different and post my opinion, but ask for you to supply your own opinion of your top 5 delays below in the comments. Please add some explanations of your choices to help others.

For this, I compiled this short list of common delays available today. I know there are delays missing, but wanted to include delays that I often see on Pedal Line Fridays, and see in recurring discussions on forums, etc. If you feel one is not in here… and should be included, comment or contact me, and I’ll update this post. This list is in no particular order.

Empress SuperDelay
Diamond Memory Lane 2
Pigtronix PHI Echolution
T-Rex Replica Delay
Eventide Timefactor
Strymon El Capistan Tape Echo
Strymon TimeLine
Fulltone Tape Echo
Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Boy
Electro-Harmonix Memory Man
Akai Head Rush E2
Boss DD-20 GigaDelay
Boss RE-20 Space Echo
Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler
MXR Carbon Copy
Way Huge Aqua Puss Analog Delay
Boss DD-7 Delay
Boss DD-3 Delay
Maxon AD999 Delay

Okay, for my opinion of the Top 5 Delay Pedals on the Market.

1. T-Rex Replica Delay
2. Eventide Timefactor
3. Boss DD-7 Delay
4. MXR Carbon Copy
5. Electro-Harmonix Memory Man

T-Rex Replica Delay – I own this personally, and I think this is an awesome delay. Love the tone, love the tap tempo, very warm sounding

Eventide Timefactor – I’ve seen mention of this over and over. It’s on the higher end of the price spectrum, but there is no denying that this is a popular delay. It may be more complicated than what I like, but I would love to take it for a spin.

Boss DD-7 – I’m including this because it’s a work horse. I almost want to include all the DD series pedals. For the price, it’s a great sounding digital delay. I own a Boss DD-3 and it’s great for the rhythmic delay overlay. I always feel like I want to exclude it, but every time I play it, I’m impressed.

MXR Carbon Copy – I still wonder why I don’t own this. I’ve thought about buying it a ton. This is a perfect example of following Pedal Line Fridays. The amount of times I see this pedal on the line is ridiculous. Probably one of the most popular delays featured on Pedal Line Friday submissions.

Electro-Harmonix Memory Man – I would probably slap the Deluxe Memory Boy, Hazarai, etc. EHX makes some amazing gear, and this is a classic delay. Upper Mid-Range in price, but unbelievably solid. Love the tone. Jimmy Rolle (who does the demos) has an older Deluxe Memory Man, and the pedal is bad ass.

I have a feeling I’m going to change my mind in about an hour….

So let’s hear what your Top 5 is… and more importantly why. Remember, we’re not just picking the 5 most expensive pedals. I think showcasing ‘working man’ delays with the high end stuff is a good metric on the popularity and the effectiveness of the particular delays. Getting feedback from you guys is a great way to see what is hot or required for delay guys.

Popularity: 9%

Incoming search terms for EffectsBay.com:

• 2011 best delay pedals
• I might get loud memory man
• the national pedals
• lucas hölbling
• t rex replica vs tc flashback
• t c electronic flashback
• most popular delay pedal
• strymon company
• les lius manual
• top 20 delay pedals

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

Popularity: 7%

Incoming search terms for EffectsBay.com:

• T-REX REPLICA
• t rex delay
• procorat schematics
• t-rex replica diy
• t-rex replica delay pedal
• t-rex replica line level
• Road Rage Pro Gear Dual FootSwitch Feedback Looper
• setting t-rex delay
• t-rex replica push switch
• t rex delay pedal review

One of the delays that I was surprised wasn’t mentioned early on during the “Best delay pedal available today?” topic was the T-Rex Replica Delay / Echo Pedal. This pedal has been on my short list of delays to buy for a long long time. The transparency of the delay is really impressive. I also like the easy of use, simple knobs for echo (mix), level, repeat and tempo. You can also control the tempo with a switch, and a particular control I like is the ‘brown’ switch, which gives the delay sound a ‘darker’ and traditional analog vibe.

Here is the official description of the pedal:

This Guitar Player Editors’ Pick Award winner can hand you studio-quality cool digital delay or the warmth of all-tube echo with single pedal convenience. Its secret is 2 Burr Brown 24-bit converters (one A/D, one D/A) to sample at a sky-high rate of 200kHz! The circuitry is entirely analog, with the exception of the 24-bit converters and RAM. The unit features special touches like unity gain, a Brown button (repeat-only hi-cut filter), and hot-wire bypass. The Replica is capable of delay settings up to 1550ms, has a tap tempo function (which can be controlled via MIDI), and a subdivision function for triplet delay effects. Comes with an external 12 volt power supply.

T-Rex Replica Delay/Echo Pedal Features:

• Guitar Player Editors’ Pick Award winner
• 2 Burr Brown 24-bit converters
• One A/D, one D/A
• Sample rate of 200kHz
• Hybrid analog/digital circuitry
• Unity gain
• Brown button (repeat-only hi-cut filter)
• Hot-wire bypass
• Delay up to 1550ms
• Tap tempo function
• MIDI controllable
• Subdivision function
• Includes 12-volt power supply

I found another great video by ProGuitarShopDemos that shows what this pedal can do, and how it sounds.

You can pick up the T-Rex Replica Delay / Echo Pedal for $399.99 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!

Popularity: 8%

Incoming search terms for EffectsBay.com:

• best echo pedal
• diy echo pedal
• t rex replica
• t rex replica delay review
• T-Rex replica delay
• T-REX REPLICA for sale
• trex replica delay review
• t rex replica review
• t-rex replica delay for sale
• T-REX REPLICA DELAY diy