CC deluxe disappointment

[Coma]

Been lusting for a delay with a dedicated tap tempo switch for years. Getting great sounds out of my TC flashback v1 in analog mode, and I remember a guitarist I used to play with wrangling great sounds out of his original Carbon Copy, so the deluxe had been on my radar since release day.

It's a messy, reverby mush. Repeats, even with bright switch on, are really weak and barely audible. Can turn up the mix, but then it sounds like a reverb turned up too high, rather than a delay. 18 volt operation makes no difference. It works alright clean and with a bit of crunch, but not with high gain, which is what it's going to be used for 95% of the time.

Sooooo.... what should I be looking at instead?

I'm not opposed to something digital that can emulate analog well, if all analog delays are gonna sound this bad (do they?).

I don't need a plethora of different sounds, I only ever use the Analog one on my flashback as is. Ideally, the only parameters I'll ever be tweaking are the tap tempo and subdivision.

JHS Panther cub comes to mind, but prohibitively pricey.

EHX Memory Man TT seems promising but the size alone would keep it off my board.

 

[dave74]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

flashback X 4 has a dedicated tap iirc. Maybe it's just for the looper though,,,not sure.

 

[Mincer]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

I'd just look at the Vapor Trail. Great sounding repeats, analog, and a neat insert jack so you can process the echoes any way you want.

 

[Coma]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

I'd just look at the Vapor Trail. Great sounding repeats, analog, and a neat insert jack so you can process the echoes any way you want.

But no tap tempo, which is why I'm looking to replace my Flashback.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

Have you tried it in the fx loop...?
Imo most delay pedals won’t work well in a high gain situation in front of the amp.

 

[Coma]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

Have you tried it in the fx loop...?
Imo most delay pedals won’t work well in a high gain situation in front of the amp.

Yes, in FX loop. Delay before drive is a big no-no in my book.

 

[Hank-]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

But no tap tempo, which is why I'm looking to replace my Flashback.

The boss dd200 is a good alternative. Even the older DD7 had a tap pedal input maybe can't remember. You might like the EHX memory man tap delay but those are big & pricey but not as dark as the CC.

Also check what kind of level the CC-D puts out or is comfortable in, it might not work well in the loop if your loop is set at +4dB line level & the pedal has -10dB instrument level output.

 

[Jacew]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

Yes, in FX loop. Delay before drive is a big no-no in my book.

Vapor trail works great in front of amp. Being analogue has surely lots to do with that as the repeats are much less invasive than Dunlop Echoplex I had previously. Most likely the reason I thought DD-5 just completely unusable.

 

[Coma]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

Anyone tried the Strymon Brigadier? Seems like an EHX DMM sim in a box.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

Anyone tried the Strymon Brigadier? Seems like an EHX DMM sim in a box.

Same model (dBucket) as the Timeline, and I think it sounds great. It’s got a little more clarity than a darker analog style delay. But... why not look for a DOD Rubberneck?

 

[Coma]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

Same model (dBucket) as the Timeline, and I think it sounds great. It’s got a little more clarity than a darker analog style delay. But... why not look for a DOD Rubberneck?

I forgot to put that in there, didn't I? [emoji28]

It's on my watch list. I'm gonna try that out too.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

I was surprised by your description of the sound until you said you were used to digital delays. You're just not going to like an analog one if you want digital sounds. Get the big new Flashback.

 

[Coma]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

I was surprised by your description of the sound until you said you were used to digital delays. You're just not going to like an analog one if you want digital sounds. Get the big new Flashback.

Yeah, it kind of dawned on me that my reference point for analog is the Flashback's analog simulated setting. So my idea of what separates an analog from a digital delay might not be all that accurate. My fav delay tone so far has been the Deluxe Memory Man in Bias FX, which supposedly is what the Strymon Brigadier is trying to cop as well, and thus my curiosity. It does the whole increasingly dark and squashed repeats or shuck-shuck sort of sound pretty well, as does the Flashback, but the repeats have a volume taper to them that's way more linear than what the CC Deluxe does.

Definitely not getting another flashback though. The standard one still requires an external tap switch and the X4 has the same size problem as an authentic EHX DMM. Whatever pedal I get has to fit on my current board, so nothing larger than a Strymon or Rubberneck.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

I love my Duncan Andromeda. It does both analog and digital delays. It is a bit bigger than you said you wanted but it’s a killer unit.

 

[Mincer]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

I love my Duncan Andromeda. It does both analog and digital delays. It is a bit bigger than you said you wanted but it’s a killer unit.

The Andromeda falls into the Mega Delay department, but man, it does some pretty wild things, including sounding like an analog delay with tap tempo- having a lot more delay time than a normal analog delay.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

The Andromeda falls into the Mega Delay department, but man, it does some pretty wild things, including sounding like an analog delay with tap tempo- having a lot more delay time than a normal analog delay.

One of the big selling points for me was it’s midi capability. When I bought it I was re-working my board with a loop switcher and I really wanted the “one button” ease of switching multiple fx on/off at once.

 

[Coma]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

One of the big selling points for me was it’s midi capability. When I bought it I was re-working my board with a loop switcher and I really wanted the “one button” ease of switching multiple fx on/off at once.

I really wanted to add a switcher to my board, but I'm reluctant to go up in size, not to mention thanks to the stupid footswitch connection the EVH uses I'd be kind of stuck with having to do the channel switching separately anyway.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

You can pick up a used Deja Vu delay . . . it is tap tempo and lets you mix analog/digital delay sounds to get as bright or dark as you want. Might be worth checking out.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

EHX Grand Canyon has a built-in tap tempo button. It does a lot in a relatively small space. It's digital, but with emulations of analog, tape, drum, plus several others. It's very tweakable, too.

 

[Coma]

Re: CC deluxe disappointment

You can pick up a used Deja Vu delay . . . it is tap tempo and lets you mix analog/digital delay sounds to get as bright or dark as you want. Might be worth checking out.

That one has the same problem as the Tech21 DLA: It's nowhere to be found.

The market for pedals on this side of the pond was by and large limited to the really big brand names until demand for boutique or more niche effects suddenly took off a few years back, in combination with the non-restricted EU market opening up trade for international web-based retail.

So the older stuff that was mostly made in the US but not distributed here is still around but you have to buy them from seller sin the US, which gets pretty pricey once you tack on import taxes and shipping.

With that said, I'm thinking I should start prefacing every thread with a disclaimer pointing out my location, because this keeps on happening [emoji1]