Re: Maximum delay, minimum space/cost
I've been running two delays at times. The mainstay of my board has been the Rocktron Short-Timer. I like this pedal A LOT. It's digital, but sounds analog to me. Since we do a lot of '50s oldies, the short days, "slapback", are darn good. But even though the price was right it is a big pedal. I am thinking about trying out a Carbon Copy, to see if that smaller pedal will get me close to those tones.
Right now, another option would be a BBE Two-Timer; I won this in a contest a few months ago--haven't put it on my board--yet. It is similar to the Rocktron; big, but not as big as the Rocktron, and it does have the ability to footswitch between two delay times. A tap-tempo option would be nice, but it doesn't have that. Built like a tank, and it does sound good. And the price was even better!
I also have a DD-3. I was going to use this on my acoustic pedal board, but after attending a Yamaha clinic with Mike Stern and Lee Ritenour (who both used the DD-3), I realized that this pedal is often over-looked as a basic delay--and it's got me re-thinking my electric board. Look at some of the guitar mags, and you'll see this pedal in the rigs of many, many pros. It WORKS.
I used a Line 6 Echo Park for a while. This small pedal has an amazing amount of processing power in it--it can do darn near everything--maybe too much. Does have a lot of different delay effects, and built in modulation effects. Tap-tempo, too! But mine has a bit of clock noise that I hear, and the thing is a five-pound brick--got to be the heaviest small pedal I have EVER seen. If I could figure out how get rid of the clock noise this could work very well as a second pedal for longer delays--though I don't use them very often. It's in the drawer--I may have to get it out and experiment with it again.
And then there is a DD-20, just sitting there. It is big. It is complicated. I gotta admit, it is a little intimidating, but it might be all I would need. It does sound good though, and would be ideal to use in the EFX loops of my Mesas, with its switchable levels. WAAAAY more delay time than I need. If I can't make it sit up and behave, I'll probably just sell it.
And if I do wind up using the DD-20, I'd have to switch out the Rocktron; but I'd still be tempted to use something like the Carbon Copy for shorter analog sounds.
Ace, I realize this probably won't help you much, LOL, but at least it's helping me clarify some of the things I've been pondering for a few months. Thanks for the thread!
Bill
