Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

[75lespaul]

I had a Dan Electro PB & J, which was cool, but there seemed to be no way to "soften" the delay at all. It was always either on or off with the knob, never a setting where I could smooth it out. I picked up the Boss DD-20 and that solved the problem. Now I run the delay before the amp, no effects loop, so that may have been the problem with the PBJ but the Boss really seems to like the old Marshall. I've only spent about ten minutes with it but the delays all seem to be top notch. The analog delay sounds like the old green MXR I used to use in the early 80s and the reverse delay is wild. However, the SOS IMO is terrible. At least through the Marshall it is. When playing the riff back it sounds like you've lowered the volume on your guitar 7 notches. All the balls are gone and it sounds almost like an am radio. I've seen others say the same thing so I don't think there's a problem with the unit. I got it for $160 on ebay and you get a lot of delay for your money. I still have to mess with the memory and other features but I like the delay. So far, I'd say if you can get it for around what I paid shipped, go for it. I wasn't going to pay any more and I waited until I got it for what I wanted to pay.

The Coffin Blood Drive seems to be just what I've been looking for. It really jacks up the Marshall and adds lotsa metal life and body to the amp (77 50 watt) at low volumes. Very "natural" sounding box that can go from tube screamer type tones to lead boost to amp type overdrive/distortion. Really works well with the tone controls on the amp. I tried it a little late, so I'm gonna have to wait until the weekend to be able to drive the amp into the sweet spot and try some settings at full volume to see if reacts well with a cranked Marshall as well as an amp at low volumes. Had the volume set at 9:00 and the preamp knob set at 3:00. I got it for $55 shipped. Looks really cool too. Don't know if I would use it for dropped tuning type metal, but it does do a nice scooped sound.

I really do like these pedals--now. Hope the honeymoon lasts, lol. :friday:

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

Honeymoon over, lol. I still love the Blood Drive. The Boss delay was just too much delay for me. I just don't need all that in a delay pedal. Sold it to help raise funds to buy the 62 Hot Rod Stratocaster.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

I remember seeing a demo of the Blood Drive in GW, and it sounded pretty awesome. I've had the same problem in the past with "extreme" pedals (delays, Whammy), ended up parting with them, and then always wanting them back

 

[Mincer]

Re: Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

love the DD-20...the ability for the delays to 'trail off' when you change presets is amazing...set a loop up in one, and then switch to another preset, set up another loop...its fun to hear how they sound after about 1/2 hour, especially if they are non-rhythmic loops.

 

[millsart]

Re: Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

get a nice analog delay like the AD9 or memory man (don't really need the deluxe even) and you'll be set.

They sound great with simple and straight forward controls, level, repeats and time is all the more you need. Very rich and musical tone as well.

All those crazy twist, swell, whirl, twirl, reverse etc are all gimmicky and sound fun for 5 minutes playing around but that its. I dont know anyone who uses that stuff. how many backwards solo's do you really need to play ?

Just a simply and great sounding straight forward delay/echo is all you really need and all people who have all the bells and whistles end up using anyways

 

[Mincer]

Re: Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

get a nice analog delay like the AD9 or memory man (don't really need the deluxe even) and you'll be set.

They sound great with simple and straight forward controls, level, repeats and time is all the more you need. Very rich and musical tone as well.

All those crazy twist, swell, whirl, twirl, reverse etc are all gimmicky and sound fun for 5 minutes playing around but that its. I dont know anyone who uses that stuff. how many backwards solo's do you really need to play ?

Just a simply and great sounding straight forward delay/echo is all you really need and all people who have all the bells and whistles end up using anyways

This is assuming you want to use delays like everyone else. There are tons of uses for long delays. It doesn't all have to be backwards solos (I don't think I have ever used that function, btw).

Modulated delay is a great effect, and the way high end studio delays work. Also, 90% of analog delays cut off the echos after you turn it off. It is nice to have the last note of the solo echo once or twice when you switch back to playing rhythm. Long delays are wonderful for loops. I use them all the time, in a rock band, and in a jazzy blues band, and my solo music is based on them.

 

[millsart]

Re: Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

I've never been that thrilled with any of the long delay units I've tried for looping (granted its only the DD-20 and the DL-4) as I find them rather difficult to use on the fly. A buddy of mine had a dedicated looping pedal, I forget the brand, and that really worked so much easier to get the loops synced up. Plus it used a memory card so you had like an hour of looping and I belive you could load in loops from your pc as well.

Horses for courses obviously but I really think the dedicated units just give you way more enjoyment than the fancy do it all units.

Its hard to beat the tone of a memory man as well. Its just such a lush and vibrant sound that really sits well with the track.

I'd really like to work the MM into a side loop and maybe modulate it that way with some more controls for some tonal textures.


I think Diamond effects has a analog delay that has its own fx loop (pricey no doubt) and that could certainly be fun

 

[wickenspoet]

Re: Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

I just bought a DD-20 about 4 weeks ago and though I really like the tone, it irritates me having 23 seconds of delay to scroll through with any setting other than the SOS. All that delay just gets in my way and I only need 2 seconds max for my tastes.

I bought a Rocktron Cyborg Delay pedal in hopes of having a more simple delay, but the knobs feel a little cheap and unresponsive in my opinion. But it sounds good.

I never tried the DL4, but I shy away from Line 6 due to past experiences. I'm told it sounds great, but has reliability issues over time. A lot of people love it though.

The great thing about these 3 pedals is that they all have seperate tap tempo buttons and the ability to save settings.

I like the Boss DD-3, 5, and 6's because they're really easy to use. I love that you're turning physical knobs that have a minimum and max right there in front of you that you can feel the beginning and end of, instead of some digital gauge representing the knob's virtual position. (If that even makes sense)

The other one I've heard about is the T-Rex Replica... it also has a seperate tap button. The only thing is that it uses a weird power voltage, I think... and I read it cuts the delay off when you switch it to bypass.

Because of the cheapo knobs on the Rocktron Cyborg Delay... I guess the DD-20 ends up being my favorite, even if 23 seconds of delay is a hassle to scroll through to get to more reasonable settings.

(I like trying out delays)

 

[Mincer]

Re: Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

I've never been that thrilled with any of the long delay units I've tried for looping (granted its only the DD-20 and the DL-4) as I find them rather difficult to use on the fly. A buddy of mine had a dedicated looping pedal, I forget the brand, and that really worked so much easier to get the loops synced up. Plus it used a memory card so you had like an hour of looping and I belive you could load in loops from your pc as well.

I have a Digital Echoplex Pro, which is a dedicated looping device. The pedals out there (like the higher end Boss ones) have some serious limitations for live manipulations of loops. The DL4 is actually a very intuitive live looper, although they get points off for not having feedback control.

As far as loop storage, I don't really care- mine are all improved, so I like to start from silence. I am also not concerned with syncing because the loops I do are usually non-rhythmic. But really, anyone who can count to 4 and press a button should have no problem with anything out there.

 

[baritone]

Re: Picked up a coupla pedals. Quick review on DD-20 and Coffin Blood Drive

With the DD-20's sound-on-sound mode, the volume of the recorded loop can be adjusted by turning the "E. Level" knob. It works that way with my DigiTech delay's loop feature also.

For delay times, I usually keep it under 1 second, but when I want to fool around, at least I have the options of super long delays and other weird effects. The Warp, Twist, and Reverse are also a lot of fun to use with my DJ setup.