Best delay pedal

**Philly112** · 08-02-2011, 05:57 AM

Hi

I want to give a little 'air' to my sound. Maybe a little more than my reverb (EHX Holy Grail) gives me. But that is great on it's own. But I was think a short delay might give a bit more depth.
Any suggestions? Analogue or digital? I was looking at the MXR Carbon Copy which is 'relatively' cheap but I'm a bit of a novice in this area. I don't need any long delays or anything too fancy. I have a Jamman looper so don't need any looping functions.
Or should I not bother?! Oh, and I just play solo chord melody, so I'm not wanting to do Gimouresque solos in a band.
Many thanks
Phil

**Jake Hanlon** · 08-02-2011, 06:53 AM

the line 6 products are pretty good and they have a lot of nice features on them. The DL4 sort has become the standard for modern delay pedals although they are somewhat fragile. I play with a Line6 Echo park which essentially gets the same sounds as the DL4 but is just a regular stomp box style thus it lacks many of the programmable features. But I tend to use just one setting so it's perfect for me.

**Vihar** · 08-02-2011, 07:16 AM

I have two suggestions. One is the sturdy, no hassle kind analog with top notch sound: Maxon AD-9 Pro

The other one is a bells and whistles kind of digital unit from a great Canadian company: Empress Superdelay

**mongrel** · 08-02-2011, 08:31 AM

Boss DD-3 for over 10 years.

**jzucker** · 08-02-2011, 09:32 AM

The two best by far are the Empress vintage Superdelay and the Strymon El Capistan. Nothing else is even close though if you are on a budget, the TC Flashback delay is also good though I have heard about some QC issues.

**Soco** · 08-02-2011, 09:43 AM

I don't really use delay much for jazz, but for other styles of music.
I have been using an Eventide Timefactor for a few years and really like it.
I also use the Eventide space reverb.

**kambor** · 08-02-2011, 09:44 AM

I have a behringer vd400 analog, and it serves the same purpose you're describing, and is damn cheap.

If you have a little more money, definitely try the digitech hardwire, great pedals (rosenwinkel used to use one).

**BrightSizeLife28** · 08-02-2011, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by jzucker

if you are on a budget, the TC Flashback delay is also good.

Beat me to it Jack

I recently went the delay route, and if you're unsure which (analog or digital) delay would be better for your purpose, I'd recommend the flashback (or similar). It's digital but has analog/ tape settings (not the same, I know). It has more features than I need, but it's probably the only delay I need now. And it's cheap. Most digital delays have this feature, so anything will do I guess.

**EinarG** · 08-02-2011, 10:07 AM

I'm currently using the eventide timefactor.
It's the best digital delay I've had I think.
I used to use a retro sonic delay, but I missed the flexibility.

The line 6 delays are also great sounding units, but they are either cheesy or too big. Would love to put the DL4 into an aluminium box, with a true bypass mod and no volume drop.

**jorgemg1984** · 08-02-2011, 02:01 PM

Empress and Eventide are great but very expensive for adding some "air" to the sound IMO. The Strymon El Capistan might be a good option since is cheaper than the other ones and its very good. The DL4 sucks a lot of tone, its too big and also has tons of features you dont seem to be using.

A small stompbox like a TC Flashback or a Line6 Echo Park will do all you want in a cheap and small box. I use a TC Nova Repeater (150€) for that only (sort of giving more space to the reverb) and it works great, tried all the cheap delays and was by far my favorite - better than the Flashback for me. If you dont need tons of functions on a delay I wouldnt spend so much money on those ones.

**jzucker** · 08-02-2011, 02:03 PM

i didn't like the nova products at all. I felt they changed the basic sound and were digital sounding.

**jorgemg1984** · 08-02-2011, 02:07 PM

I felt the opposite, in fact some time ago I thought of selling it to free some space in my pedal board and gave it to some friends and they all loved it. Did A/B with Flashback and liked the Nova much more. But that's the thing with gear, you will hear a lots of different opinions, you must try it and decide for yourself.

**spiral** · 08-02-2011, 02:50 PM

Carbon Copy is good. So are TC Nova Repeater (does tape or clean digital), El Capistan (if you like tape echo, it is unrivaled), Hardwire DL-8 (pretty flexible, sounds good), Ibanez ToneLok DE-7, and Boss RV-5. There are so many different types of delays and each one has certain things it does well. Try to get to a store to try a bunch, you'll know pretty quickly what you do and don't like.

**mattymel** · 08-02-2011, 03:12 PM

+1 on the Empress. its like what the Line6 would be if it was made well and sounded good. i have it and it does WAY more than i need. but its $$$. as mentioned, the TC electronics looks good too on more of a budget. i gotta have a tap button though.

**spiral** · 08-02-2011, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by mattymel

+1 on the Empress. its like what the Line6 would be if it was made well and sounded good. i have it and it does WAY more than i need. but its $$$. as mentioned, the TC electronics looks good too on more of a budget. i gotta have a tap button though.

TC Nova Repeater has tap or if you hold the tap tempo, you can tap out the tempo on your guitar--ie. "audio tapping". Works really well. I think the Flashback works that way too.

**Flat** · 08-02-2011, 04:53 PM

I have an Akai Headrush, and to me it seems pretty good. Nice sound, pseudo-Echoplexy with the tape delay option, has more features than I use. (Some looping capabilities as well. But since you have a jamman already, you might not use this side of the box. Unless you wanna do loops within loops or something. ;-)

But I've never compared it with other delay units on the markets, so all I can say is it seems like a good box of fun to me.

**msr13** · 08-02-2011, 06:57 PM

My favorite is the Maxon AD-999.

**EinarG** · 08-03-2011, 02:37 AM

I've had the the old akai headrush too. I loved it I remember. But this was ages ago. Now that I've gotten used to the line6 and eventide stuff it might not hold up.

**Dad3353** · 08-03-2011, 04:47 AM

+1 for the Akai Headrush. Several simulation options, robust, reliable. Highly satisfied...

**Philly112** · 08-05-2011, 05:45 AM

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Some of these are going to be a little difficult to audition though but I'll see. I might pick up a used DD3 from ebay and just see if I actually need a delay pedal over and above my Holy Grail Plus reverb. Then if I want a better one, I could probably get shut of that with very little loss and actually investigate it a bit more.
Cheers
Phil

**Mark James** · 08-07-2011, 11:29 AM

Newbie here...to this forum. Long timer on other forums and have researched a great many pedals on line and found that Proguitarshop.com has the most comprehensive audio demo library around. Hope this helps.

I've been lurking around these pages for a couple + years and find the content to be mature, honest and the most concise.

I won't be able to contribute much in the way of playing for a while but having built and repaired a few guitars and tube amps in my 57 year journey I plan not to be a total deadbeat here.

**Jabberwocky** · 08-07-2011, 01:47 PM

Providence Chrono Delay DLY-4 pedal from Japan. It's available in manly PINK. I want to love Strymon pedals but there is something about their pedals being very digitally clean-sounding across the line-up that I cannot quite cotton onto. I much prefer the old tubed Damage Control pedals which I feel were more organic.

**Loobs** · 08-07-2011, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by jzucker

The two best by far are the Empress vintage Superdelay and the Strymon El Capistan. Nothing else is even close though if you are on a budget, the TC Flashback delay is also good though I have heard about some QC issues.

They are great, but I wouldn't say they're 'the best by far'. The OP might also be interested in trying some analog delay pedals - I can recommend Retro Sonic's Analog Delay. Not cheap, but a wonderful sounding and reliable analog delay.

**jzucker** · 08-07-2011, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by Loobs

They are great, but I wouldn't say they're 'the best by far'. The OP might also be interested in trying some analog delay pedals - I can recommend Retro Sonic's Analog Delay. Not cheap, but a wonderful sounding and reliable analog delay.

well, that's *YOUR* opinion, and mine is mine. Analog delay sounds spitty and dark to me. I love tape delay and the two I mentioned sound closer to tape than any analog delay. If you're just after methenyesque delay, almost any digital delay will do.

**Kuz** · 08-07-2011, 06:49 PM

Originally Posted by Loobs

They are great, but I wouldn't say they're 'the best by far'. The OP might also be interested in trying some analog delay pedals - I can recommend Retro Sonic's Analog Delay. Not cheap, but a wonderful sounding and reliable analog delay.

I agree that there are people that prefer their delay to be analog. So everyone's opinion of 'best" will be different.