Mad Professor Dual Blue Delay

[Bogner]

I had been interested in this pedal for a long time and finally bought one. I haven't spent much time with it yet but wanted to write a quick review on it and maybe turn some other folks onto a cool pedal. Dual delay so it has a separate long delay and a separate short delay. You can isolate them or engage them both. Straight forward controls on both with an on/off switch and a tap tempo/mode switch to sort through your desired usage. It is not your simplest delay pedal but it is light years away from being the most difficult delay to navigate. When powering the pedal on you can hold down the mode/tap button and change the phase of the multi head mode (very cool)....(Direct phase or phase inverted). You can also hold down the on/off switch when powering on and choose between true bypass or buffered output. You can also choose your desired mode while the pedal is turned off and the modes are signified by a red or green light. The short delay is 315 ms and the long delay is 810 ms. The short delay is more of a vintage, warmer sounding and fatter sounding delay than the long delay which is more modern sounding to me. Both beautiful, musical and very useful. It doesn't have subdivisions or trails but it is a great pedal and easy to dial all kinds of wonderful tones. It sounds beautiful (to me) and seems to be a nice pedal to add some cool delay (multiple delay) effects to your sound quickly and easily while sounding rich and robust. I wish I had pulled the trigger on one sooner. If you like simplicity and need versatility without the over the top features a lot of modern delay pedals offer this would be a perfect pedal to have. The delays sit well in the mix and enhance the sound without getting in the way. Even if the settings are off a bit from what you are playing the sounds are not off putting, you just know that you need to tweak a bit to bring things into alignment. I would call it a modern old school pedal with a beautiful and simplistic flare to it if I had to quickly describe it. Definitely worth getting!

As I mess around more with it I will add to this if I missed anything of importance or value. Enjoy!

 

[jeremy]

so how do you get both together? i assume if you tap a few times, you set the tempo. is there a way to easily get back to the red or green setting from your tapped setting?

 

[Aceman]

Very well made. You raise a great point about "Over the top" pedals

There is often one neat feature 90% of us would like, but Strymon, etc. feel the need to add hyper modulated discombobulation and other exotica to things. The Strymon version would also have; Modulation on one or both channels of delay, delay routing through both the short and long delay order, trails on/off, dotted 8, 16th, 32, and 64th notes, ducking, and BBD chip simulation for the short delay.

Can I just get two delays that both be on? Or one of each? With the three basic controls? NO!

 

[Bogner]

so how do you get both together? i assume if you tap a few times, you set the tempo. is there a way to easily get back to the red or green setting from your tapped setting?

Quick (typical) press of the mode button selects between long and short delays. Holding the button down longer than a typical tap (1 second) engages both the long and short delay. 2 taps set the tap tempo and to go back to the short or long delay you just simply tap again and it always takes you back. Very simple and the lights on the pedal show you where you are so no surprises.

 

[Bogner]

Very well made. You raise a great point about "Over the top" pedals

There is often one neat feature 90% of us would like, but Strymon, etc. feel the need to add hyper modulated discombobulation and other exotica to things. The Strymon version would also have; Modulation on one or both channels of delay, delay routing through both the short and long delay order, trails on/off, dotted 8, 16th, 32, and 64th notes, ducking, and BBD chip simulation for the short delay.

Can I just get two delays that both be on? Or one of each? With the three basic controls? NO!

Ha! This does a pretty good job at the basic two pedals in one without the confusion. I would be remiss if I didn't give a nod to the Diamond Memory Lane Jr. It is similar and awesome as a single pedal. Diamond is making a Deluxe version (should be out soon if not already) that appears to do similar as the Dual Blue Delay. Simple is nice.

 

[jeremy]

Quick (typical) press of the mode button selects between long and short delays. Holding the button down longer than a typical tap (1 second) engages both the long and short delay. 2 taps set the tap tempo and to go back to the short or long delay you just simply tap again and it always takes you back. Very simple and the lights on the pedal show you where you are so no surprises.

that sounds very intuitive and easy to use! i like it

 

[Bogner]

that sounds very intuitive and easy to use! i like it

It is and another thing that is cool is you can switch modes without the pedal being on so if you are worried about tap dancing or making a mistake you can tap through the options without the pedal being turned on (although it must be powered on) and go that way as well.

 

[GuitarStv]

This is a pretty cool pedal. I've run two delays on and off for quite a while and this one seems laid out in a sensible way that would simplify things.

 

[jeremy]

i have two on my big board, an analog set shorter and a programable digi with four different settings. but if i can have two presets and tap... thats perfect

 

[Bogner]

I also forgot to mention the size. I knew it wouldn't be Strymon sized but it is actually a bit smaller in size than I expected it to be.

W - 120 mm
D - 95 mm
H - 60 mm

 

[Aceman]

My favorite is a DD3 for long delays, and an AD9 for short ones. Tap is a bonus. But that pedal would cover it.

 

[PFDarkside]

Fantastic.

It seems like a lot of people really need two delays and this gets it simply without needing a massive pedal or a complex programmable one. Matt Schofield had two Deep Blue Delays setup on a flip flop looper, abs this is the same idea all wrapped up in one.

With digital delays that aren’t intended to be perfect replicas, you never know how the tone is going to be dialed in by the designer, it’s a darker short delay and a more full frequency long delay?

 

[Bogner]

Fantastic.

It seems like a lot of people really need two delays and this gets it simply without needing a massive pedal or a complex programmable one. Matt Schofield had two Deep Blue Delays setup on a flip flop looper, abs this is the same idea all wrapped up in one.

With digital delays that aren’t intended to be perfect replicas, you never know how the tone is going to be dialed in by the designer, it’s a darker short delay and a more full frequency long delay?

Yes on the short delay being darker and the long delay being more full frequency. They are voiced beautifully (naturally) and can be tweaked to be more similar without being identical. The voicing works great in the application of the pedal.

There are a lot of nice products on the market for sure but in my heart of hearts I really believe this product was designed perfectly for what the company was setting out to do and couldn't have come out any better for that specific reason. A need was discovered and something was beautifully created to meet that need. No fluff, no extra nonsense. Just straight forward, efficient and effective handling of what was probably a need for somebody and there you have it.

Wonderful stuff!!!

 

[Oldfart_Shredman]

I saw the episode of TPS with Matt Schofield, he calls the short delay 'the back wall.'

 

[FuseG4]

Want!!
I have a caline brand clone of the deep blue which is guess is like the short delay on yours
mine is very warm and the repeats have the least attack and brightness of any delay I've ever used but it doesn't sound bad but can get muddy. I think it would be most excellent if paired with a more pristine delay with longer times available.
Makes me really want to try the real thing especially this dual version!!!

 

[PFDarkside]

Well, I read this was discontinued so I found the Custom Mod one for a good deal on Reverb and pulled the trigger.

 

[Bogner]

Well, I read this was discontinued so I found the Custom Mod one for a good deal on Reverb and pulled the trigger.

I wasn't aware of it being discontinued. They are still available pretty easily everywhere. Glad I got mine and glad you got yours if that is the case.