I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

[Boogie Bill]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

Delay is an interesting effect. I avoided it for a long time, but I've been using it for the last few years. Like all my effects, I try to use it tastefully and judiciously. There's are a lot of players that really make me wonder if they can actually play a single lick without it.

Don't be surprised if you wind up with two or three different delays on your board. You might want a basic digital, an analog or tape delay simulator, and a programmable multi-delay with tap-tempo.

There are several artists that layer their delays...Andy Timmons and Joe Satriani come to mind. If that's the type of sound you're looking for, be prepared to copy the rig of your favorite artist. Do remember that trying to copy recorded tones with mere pedals can lead to frustration of the Nth degree.

Best case scenario, you keep learning, listening and adjusting until you learn what works for each song. And then eventually, the light comes on and you develope your "signature" delay settings...that all of us will be trying to copy!

Good luck!

Bill

[XSSIVE]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

Delay in the FX loop set at 400ms with 3-4 repeats low in the mix, 15% or so, and you can leave it on all the time. With it set like that it just fattens things up, adds some life and air and is only really noticeable when you stop playing and you hear the repeats.

[Diego]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

I had a Boss DD5 and it made me hate delay altogether. Sounded really bad, dry and dead.

I prefer thicker/darker sounding units, what you'd associate with analog delays. Not too long delay time, go easy on the feedback, set mix to taste and if it doubt, go lower.

[blueman335]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

low in the mix... it just fattens things up, adds some life and air and is only really noticeable when you stop playing and you hear the repeats.

+1. That's where delay really shines, especially for solos.

[BriGuy1968]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

Delay in the FX loop set at 400ms with 3-4 repeats low in the mix, 15% or so, and you can leave it on all the time. With it set like that it just fattens things up, adds some life and air and is only really noticeable when you stop playing and you hear the repeats.

That's pretty much how I do it as well. Every once in a while I find a song where it helps to tap the tempo in before the quick stop, but for the most part I can leave it alone without any trouble.

[Mincer]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

I use the Vapor Trail, with a volume pedal in the effect's insert. I bring the delay up louder at different points in the song, sometimes constantly varying the level throughout a solo. I couldn't ever use a constant delay throughout everything anymore.

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

(Assuming you have a 3 knob delay)

I like everything at around 10:30/ 11:00 for solos and then I turn it off for rhythm.

Occasionally I'll raise the delay time to around 1:00 for leads.

Slapback is nice for clean things.

[skyydogg01]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

I've never gotten the hang of delays either.

I've always said, "I'm not good enough for delay"

[Shooter.556]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

I dial my delay in almost like a reverb. I want just enough wetness to make my notes pop and bloom.
You have to fiddle with it. Find a sweet spot that works with chords and leads.
A lot of players say, "my tone is dry, I dont wetten it.."
Then they get in the studio and the engineer adds all the effects they refuse because it sounds like crap.
I don't run a lot of effects unless it's for a song or I have a creative thing while I'm writing.
I do run on gain all the time. Delay and some Reverb, mostly room sounding.
Cleans, I always run the above effects but I add Chorus for my cleans.
I like Delay, it adds depth and brightens my sound up some.

[TeleJr24]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

Wow, this far into a Delay thread and nobody has mentioned how they love the MXR Carbon Copy. I see it on a lot of people's boards and also on the rig rundowns on YouTube.

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

Wow, this far into a Delay thread and nobody has mentioned how they love the MXR Carbon Copy. I see it on a lot of people's boards and also on the rig rundowns on YouTube.

I've actually wanted a Carbon Copy for leads for a while. It's been some time since I last owned any delay pedal (I only really used it within my Line 6 POD), but it kinda bugs me that it does seem extremely finicky and difficult to get it in tempo with the song. I wonder if it really does matter if it's not in tempo with the song if you're using it just for that kinda spacey, almost reverb-like effect on leads.

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

300-400ms is the ideal range for using a delay as reverb. The problem I've always had with reverbs is they add the springy sound like surf and country, which is ok for surf and country, but not much else.

No more than 30% on the output level, and keep the repeats to about 30% or less.

Of course it also depends on the response level of the unit in question. I've always used Digitech racks, so the settings may be different from pedals, but generally that's how I run them.

Works great for singing solos, sustained chords, sharp 2-part "low-then-high" chords, and clean-ish palm-muted arpeggiated/picked-out chords, or muted single-string accents, not so much for fast strumming or sweep picking.

I used delay-as-reverb with roughly the above-mentioned settings in this track:

http://newcenstein.com/mp3/Album/BrandNewDay/StormyNights.mp3

[TimmyPage]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

There are hundreds of ways to use delay 'correctly'. It's hard to even talk about delay as a singular effect; analog, 'tape' and digital delay produce effects as different as a flanger and a chorus. They have a very similar effect but the subtle differences really shape the way you use them.

I generally use Digital (specifically older/Lo-Fi style Digital) delay on solos, and on pieces with a lot of notes. I generally set it to one-two repeats, with a delay time around 300ms ish and the mix turned down. It helps fatten up the sound of a solo, and the lack of tonal variation (no modulation, fairly close reflection of the original signal) help it sound more in tune and stops the solo from getting too crowded.

I like Analog Delay for two main purposes: Out of control oscillation and slapback. A little touch of modulation helps fatten up the sound or get you into the weird extremes of pitch vibrato that tape delay can't really do. Analog is pretty versatile, you can set the mix really low and get that dark reverby sound, you can turn the delay time all the way down and get a dirty springy slapback, you can open it all up and have crazy, messy repeats that feed infinitely into one another and crackle out into a fuzzy mess that distorts and breaks as you play with the pitch via the delay knob. Yeah it can get pretty weird, but I've used it in live sets in our more.. 'free' songs. Even for the slapback I generally like setting the repeats a bit higher so you get a twangy almost feedback-like edge that sounds really nasty when put into a pushed amp. Analog can be the most subtle and user friendly.. but I like it for the weird.

'Tape' delays refer to the multitude of digital reproductions of tape devices on the market now. They're really good, really cool. Ironically, my favorite way to use 'tape' delays is a setting not possible on older tape machines, with the delay time set really high. The limit on most of these older tape delays was maybe 300 ms, but I generally like anywhere between 400 and 1000 for those really spacey, warbly ambient sounds. I think these are also the hardest to use without your music sounding like an absolute mess, because most of them tend to run the delay through a filter which cuts out the bass (as old tape decks tended to do naturally) meaning that the delay sounds are really bright and present. It means that the repeats will always stand out, making it more important to really lock into a rhythm or risk your song sounding like a crowded mess.

Delay is probably my single favourite effect, every other effect on my board has it's tasteful use, but I'm almost always looking for an excuse to throw a little delay into a song. My small travel board has had the carbon copy on it for years, just because it can cop most/all the flavours I listed above, and it can do the weird stuff too. I remember feeling the same as you when I was 'learning' delay. The best way to stop it from feeling finnicky is to consciously step away from your board. Turn the delay on and go and stand somewhere that you wouldn't be tempted to play with it. Just pick a setting and sit there for 20 minutes and see what (if anything) you can come up with. Delay in and of itself isn't finnicky, you are as a player. You can also check out different gear channels (JustNick, Proguitarshop, Mike Hermans, Pete Thorn) and just listen to their reviews of delay pedals to get more of the possible sounds in your head. Pete thorn just did an awesome one recently where he NAILED the van halen delay sound with a Boss DM-2.

And if at the end of all this you decide that delay still isnt for you, that's cool. Just because delay fits me like a glove doesn't mean we have the same shaped hand!

[Mincer]

Re: I've tried to like delay but it's such a finicky effect in my experience...

Wow, this far into a Delay thread and nobody has mentioned how they love the MXR Carbon Copy. I see it on a lot of people's boards and also on the rig rundowns on YouTube.

That's because I like the Vapor Trail way, way better.