What’s your favorite delay pedal?

[misterwhizzy]

But you can only choose one.

 

[Securb]

.

 

[Mincer]

I'll take the original DL-4.

 

[Explorer84]

Strymon El Capistan

 

[Chistopher]

It's pretty vain to think that anybody wants to hear what you are playing more than once. :nono:

 

[hamerfan]

I love BBD. They have distinctive vintage sound, no too weird like tape delays or oil cans, but full and warm.
An affordable new one is the TC Electronics Bucket Brigade. It even has mod switch with an internal pot for an chorus touch. Highly recommanded.

 

[jeremy]

i have two vapor trail delays on different boards and they sound great. i have other delays, even fancy digital ones with full programmability, but ill take a simple analog unit that sounds great if i can only have one

 

[Mincer]

I tend to need some kind of expression pedal control over the delay feedback and mix. I also use long delays for loops, so a purely analog one won't work.

 

[jeremy]

my delay needs are fairly simple compared to many people. i use a slapback for old timey stuff, a longer delay for solos, and if im playing in a trio i usually have a bit of delay to fatten up the sound of a strat

 

[Hsb]

Of the ones Ive tried, Im a fan of the MXR Carbon Copy.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Of the ones Ive tried, Im a fan of the MXR Carbon Copy.

That’s all I need too.

 

[jeremy]

i have a carbon copy, and its fine. i prefer the vapor trail though. better repeats and more tunable modulation

 

[BeKindRewind]

I tend to need some kind of expression pedal control over the delay feedback and mix. I also use long delays for loops, so a purely analog one won't work.

Good points.. I use delay (plugins) on almost all my guitar tracks that I record, but I never stick to one feedback\mix setting for a whole song. a really cool delay pedal for live play would be one that has a wah-rocker kinda thing for mix , feedback ,or both, maybe with some soft detents at 25/50/75 so you could easily notch in a setting and get away from your pedalboard again. when actually working the rocker while playing a solo you could get some cool effects in there too

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I like the TC Electronic Flashback, but I'm currently just using what's in my HX Stomp.

I like my delay to have a hint of gradual saturation or degradation and darkening on the repeats for lead sounds. I feel that gets it out of the way of the original note, but also fills out the sound.

I hate a completely clean pristine delay sound.

 

[Mincer]

Good points.. I use delay (plugins) on almost all my guitar tracks that I record, but I never stick to one feedback\mix setting for a whole song. a really cool delay pedal for live play would be one that has a wah-rocker kinda thing for mix , feedback ,or both, maybe with some soft detents at 25/50/75 so you could easily notch in a setting and get away from your pedalboard again. when actually working the rocker while playing a solo you could get some cool effects in there too

Yeah, during a solo, I am absolutely adjusting the feedback and mix in real time.

 

[beaubrummels]

My first thought, just based on the sound quality, was El Capistan, but my final answer has to be the Visual Sound Tap Delay with Time Bandit, because I can set the Time Bandit to the BPM of the song and the Tap Delay is automatically set to the perfect division of delay, and it sounds great, has dotted divisions and modulation.

Honorable mention to T.C. Electronic Alter Ego with Tone Print, which does digital and vintage analog delays superbly and can have the controls customized using the app.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

My current faves are from Alexander. I have an older Quadrant on the small board and a History Lesson for the regular board.
Each offers four presets (more if you use MIDI), adjustable spillover and a programmable pedal input to control any combination of parameters.
Four knobs each with an alternate function, giving you eight controls, all in a compact footprint.
Most importantly, the various modes sound great.
Also, a couple of the modes can do the flyaway effect very nicely in conjunction with the control pedal.

Nothing on my board beats the H9 in terms of fidelity but the Alexander is much more useful live.
For straight delay, I find four presets (with tap tempo) is enough.
And I love having pedal control - aside from real-time changes, it effectively gives me two scenes in each preset.

I use the first preset for tape-style slapback (pedal changes it to slightly modulated 30 ms doubler).
#2 is a single analog repeat for behind leads, ranges from almost subliminal to fairly present depending on the pedal.
#3 is crisp photorealistic DDL with repeats, the pedal adds more regen and a smidge of modulation.
#4 is classic vintage flyaway with a little distortion. Pedal controls pitch but at max it also lessens regen slightly for a slow, natural tailoff.

 

[marcello252]

It was my DOD Rubberneck but I'm actually using a TC Electronics Alter Ego 2, I like vintage delays with subtle modulation (in the tonepriint slot I loaded a 2290 simulation, in case I needed pristine delays)

 

[Seashore]

My favorite-sounding delay that I own right now is an EHX Memory Toy. Sweet repeats with a subtle sheen that I haven't found elsewhere, and just the right amount of modulation. It's great for atmospheric stuff on bass into my Traynor with the right settings.

I wouldn't pick that one.

My guitar rig needs delay in the loop and the nice qualities of the EHX get a bit lost. I use delay on guitar mostly for lead lines. A clean, dry, basic sound with a bit of top end roll-off is the best fit. Cue my old Boss DD3.

I wouldn't pick that one either. l want convenience, flexibility, and tap tempo. I would cheat on the prompt like other folks and use a good multi-effect. I'm really happy with the delays on the HX Effects.

If I had the time and money to put my dream board together, I would probably go around cork-sniffing over various iterations of the Memory Man.

 

[Securb]

i have a carbon copy, and its fine. i prefer the vapor trail though. better repeats and more tunable modulation

Carbon Copy was my go-to. I had a Carbon Copy and a DD8 on my board before I bought the H90. Besides clearing up real estate on the board and reducing points of failure, I like the ability to run duel delays in series or parallel. Running in parallel opens up so many sonic options.