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Delay pedals...

R

rontalsaurus

Aug 19, 2002
318
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#1
Compare, contrast, tell me stuff...

I have no idea what I'm getting into with delay pedals...different kinds, analog vs. digital, etc etc.

But, I am pretty sure that I want one after seeing a band this weekend do some pretty cool **** with one.

I like the idea of the Line6 DM4, especially because you can attach an expression pedal to it to vary the delay time...but I've heard that digital delay sounds crappy in certain situations. When...I have no idea...

Teach.
 
#2
I use 2 delay pedals in my setup. They are both digital and I have no problems with them.

I use a Boss DD-20 gigadelay and a Digitech Digidelay.

Some people just dont like Digital effects or anything digital to do with their instrument (for instance I do not like digital distortion or amplifiers). Sometimes its a matter of prefernce, sometimes its a matter of being a gear snob. I havnt used an analog delay (other than in a store) but from what I understand they degrade the sound a little on the repeats which smooths out the overall tone.

I would recomend the BOSS line up of pedals(DD-3 DD-5, DD-6, DD-20) they function well and have a pretty nice sound to them not too digitized.

I really would like to try one of those Line 6 DM4's they seem to have alot of awesome features, but if you dont know what you are looking to do with the delay you might want to start out smaller then get into the bigger delay pedals.
(you can never have enough delay)
 
#3
I think big line 6 delay is called DL-4. And it might be great pedal. But as I'm a bass player and I don't use delay to often I decided to buy smaller and cheaper pedal, so I went for Line 6 Echo Park. I'm in love with this pedal, it's just great and it has tap tempo and trails mode. And many many sounds in small box.
 
#4
CallMeBlind said:
I think big line 6 delay is called DL-4. And it might be great pedal. But as I'm a bass player and I don't use delay to often I decided to buy smaller and cheaper pedal, so I went for Line 6 Echo Park. I'm in love with this pedal, it's just great and it has tap tempo and trails mode. And many many sounds in small box.
Click to expand...

I agree. The Echo Park is AMAZING. I reccomend it for sure. The tap tempo is pristine, and the 3 modes (analog, tape, and digital) all sound awesome in their own right. It's very easy to use, and trails is awesome.
 
#9
Digital delays can sound great or crappy depending on the context, and how you "play" them. I prefer analog if (a) I'm going to be tweaking the knobs a lot during a tune, and (b) the noise level of the tune is low enough that people can hear subtleties. IMO the analog ones sound nicest when doing the more drastic space-trippy tweakage, but if the band is loud or aggro no-one will hear the difference. Also, analogs are pretty much a one-trick pony, where digis can have a zillion varieties of tapping and panning. I'm still a die-hard analog snob though... it works for me.
 
#10
I prefer analog for shorter delays and then digital for the wierder things, I have a Line 6 Echo Park which I treat like an analog delay and then I run that in stereo into a DD-20.

For me the DD-20 is the best digital delay ever, but as single stompers go the Echo Park is far better than the dd3,5 or 6

The problem with analog delays in a live setting is if you just want a cheap one then you won't be able to do tap tempo or stereo but for about the same money you can get a Line 6 Echo Park which has tap tempo, more delay time, more features, stereo and still sounds pretty convincing as an analog delay (which the dd-20 doesn't, it just doesn't have the mojo in it's analog and tape delay modes)

Hope this helps
 
#13
I just got my DD-3 today. I dont need a whole heap of delay time and modes and such. So this barebones does just fine for what i need. I tried the echo park... i really disliked it. Only because it only works on tap tempo, and if u dont hit the switch hard enough, it wont turn off, just adjusts the tempo. Reverse delay is sweet though.
 
#14
Well...one of the main things I want is to be able to speed up the delays while playing to get a big trippy swirling of of echoes.
My old guitar player did that with the DL4 and the expression pedal. But, it seems like people here are saying that it sounds best with an analog pedal...

:hmm:
 
#16
chips said:
Only because it only works on tap tempo, and if u dont hit the switch hard enough, it wont turn off, just adjusts the tempo. Reverse delay is sweet though.
Click to expand...

There is a time knob ya know! Also, that's why I wear shoes when working with effects. :p

I think the reason why the Echo Park is better than any other delay is the fact that it has a blinking LED for the time your delay is at. That saves my ass all the time.
 
#17
rontalsaurus said:
Well...one of the main things I want is to be able to speed up the delays while playing to get a big trippy swirling of of echoes.
My old guitar player did that with the DL4 and the expression pedal. But, it seems like people here are saying that it sounds best with an analog pedal...

:hmm:
Click to expand...
Andy-- I think what Karl uses is the DD-3, but I could be wrong....... mebbe just ask him?

I agree, it did sound pretty sweet:bassist:
 
#18
The Lurker said:
Andy-- I think what Karl uses is the DD-3, but I could be wrong....... mebbe just ask him?

I agree, it did sound pretty sweet:bassist:
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure Karl uses the Boss delay pedal. I thought I caught a glimpse of it, white with blue knob-tops. I like his set-up, I'll have to check it out compared with the DL4 to see if the big daddy is worth it.
 

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