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Author Topic:  Delay pedals?
Terry Sneed

 

From:
Arkansas,
Post  Posted 17 Jun 2011 6:44 pm    
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Digital, or analog, which is the best for steel, and what is the difference? I should know that but I don't. Embarassed I have a Boss DD-5 delay pedal. I've also had a DD-3 a DD-6 and an RV-3. How do you guys set your delay pedals to get the best sound? I like the one repeat, with a little reverbish sound. I've never been able to get a decent sound out of any of the delay pedals I've tried. Most of the time it's too reverbish, or not enough reverbish. And I have trouble getting the one repeat at the right timing. Can ya'll suggest some settings that might help me on my DD-5? Thanks
Terry
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Jerry Hayes


From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
Post  Posted 18 Jun 2011 12:58 pm    
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Back in my SoCal days I used an Electro Harmonix "Deluxe Memory Man" analog unit, the one with the AC cord attached. It finally went out and I used various pedals over those years until I went to a couple of steel guitar things and saw both Joe Turner and Arnett Mills using these same pedals. I went on a search and found one at a store in Newport News, Va. which was in the old original wooden box and was brand new, it just hadn't ever been sold. I had to pay $259 for it but it's worth every penny. This is a classic delay box in every sense of the word and sounds fabulous......JH in Va.
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Clete Ritta


From:
San Antonio, Texas
Post  Posted 18 Jun 2011 6:12 pm     Re: Delay pedals?
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Terry Sneed wrote:
Digital, or analog, which is the best for steel, and what is the difference?...

Generally speaking, analog delay is warmer and fuzzier sounding. Digital delay sounds very clean, since the repeat signal is a more precise digital replica of the original signal. Its a matter of personal preference ultimately. I like the wash of analog delay most of the time, but might use a digital delay for double note echo where I want the delay to sound just like the original note in tone and volume.

Terry Sneed wrote:
I have a Boss DD-5 delay pedal. I've also had a DD-3 a DD-6 and an RV-3.

Theyre all good digital delay pedals, but only the RV3 has reverb.
Delay and reverb are closely related but different effects.
Your Boss DD5 is a good digital delay, but it is not a reverb effect.
You can simulate reverb with a delay pedal by using a low mix, medium feedback, and very short delay time, but you cant simulate delay with reverb unless theres a long pre delay control. Generally, I like to use both reverb and delay sparingly, so the mix level is mostly original signal. Different rooms, different amps, etc., will require fine tuning. Sometimes a hall is so live that no effects may sound better. If the sound already has reverb and delay, no need to add more. Wink


Terry Sneed wrote:
...I have trouble getting the one repeat at the right timing. Can ya'll suggest some settings that might help me on my DD-5?...


With a FS-5U footswitch, you can tap the delay tempo. This is extremely useful for the double note thing described above. It takes the math out of the equation. Delay tempos are easily derived if you know the actual tempo, and many MIDI sequencers have delay variables by note division. For instance 120 bpm is a default tempo that equals 2 beats per second. A typical delay time then would be some even division or multiple of a second. 500 ms equals one beat (quarter note in 4/4), 250ms is an 1/8th note, etc.

Clete
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David Hartley

 

Post  Posted 18 Jun 2011 10:15 pm     Hi Terry
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I have tried a few delays over the years, and have tried modern rack units recently too.
I always end up going back to a Boss DD-2.
I just recently bought an immaculate, boxed one, just as a spare, just in case mine ever goes wrong, but it hasn't in 35 years.

Just in recent weeks I have been trying other units, it's not until you plug back into a boss DD2 that you realise to yourself, why change? They got it right all them years ago.

If you see one on eBay, grab it.
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2011 10:18 am    
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I use only delay - no reverb. Spring reverb only affects the high frequencies and can sound really washed-out/unclear, tinny or banging-on-a-pie-plate nasty unless really dialed in well (which takes a lot of work and is usually easier on a tube amp); digital reverb just emulates spring or plate (which also can sound unclear). Spring reverb is great for surf music or special effects, but generally lousy and weak for full-time use.

I use either analog delay - a SIB Mr Echo, H&K tube Replex, EH EVO-1 (a huge rotating drum/pedal variable-mx device) or my trust old Sireko tape delay (the Echoplex model without the sound-on-sound feature no one uses...).

I have two digital units - a Peavey Addverb (if it was a living being it'd be mentally deficient - every sound but a good one, both delay and reverb...AVOID!) and a Line 6 DL-4. The DL-4 is digital but far move advanced than smaller digital delays. It has both digital and analog sounds, tape emulation, pre-delay, reverse delay - and ALL of them sound pretty darned good. You also can program several "presets". It is the most versatile unit I've found, with the only disadvantage being it takes up a lot of real estate (as does the Replex).

One "sleeper" digital unit you might look for isa the discontinued Ibanez "Soundtank" EM-5 Echomachine. It's a digital unit but Ibanez built it intentionally to sound like a well-maintained tape unit. The repeats degrade in quality as they decay, and the initial "bounce" is very warm sounding.

My normal setup includes a bunch of effects with two "set pieces" - the Mr. Echo and one of the others. The Mr. Echo is always on, giving me a reverb-like sound with far more articulation, and the second unit is selected for specifics of the gig/music to be played. If I'm going in blind (which often happens) I take the Line 6 as I have all bases covered.
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Jerry Hayes


From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2011 11:07 am    
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Hey Jim, I also have one of those Ibanez "Soundtank" delay units which is shaped like a "bug". I keep it on one of my guitar cases in case I got to a jam and need a delay and there's none there. I agree that they're very good sounding units and would be worth looking into for someone on a budget as sometimes they can be found at a very reasonable price....JH in Va.
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John Gould


From:
Houston, TX Now in Cleveland TX
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2011 5:47 pm     Delays
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I have to agree with David on DD-2 as being one of the better sounding compact Boss style pedals. I used one for years until Doyle Dykes talked me into trading it to him. He had one that got away from him and really wanted another. I like the sound of the line 6 dd4 on some of the delay models and also the TC electronics Nova delay. I have modded some of the other Boss Delays and got some warmer tones out of them as well. I currently use a modded DD5 and it sounds good to me through a Nashville 1000
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2011 6:23 pm    
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Hi Terry. Boss DM2, 3 or Ibanez AD99 or AD80 analog delay from the 80's work for me with a single NV400 amp.

Not as clean and pristine as the Boss DD series, but warmer and sweeter IMO.

I keep an AD80 in my seat for use with a single amp and for short notice gigs, etc.

I set the time full CW, the repeats at 1 and just a hint of another, the blend or level control at about half the volume of the original signal or a tad more. Using a male/male plug, you can plug right into your guitar jack, it'll be backwards on the labeling that way, but you can reach over and back off or bring up the level depending on the song you're playing.

Don't know if this one's still available, but I'd consider it if I didn't already have one....psychedelic paint and all. http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=206859
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Billy McCombs


From:
Bakersfield California, USA
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2011 6:35 pm    
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Jerry are there much of a difference in the Ibanez AD80 and AD99? I bought a AD90. Thanks
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2011 7:06 pm    
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Billy, I think the vintage AD-9, 99 pedals have a nice analog sound however, guitar players et al, seem to prefer the sound of the AD-80 as do I. It has a quality that the others just do not. On a parallel, the Boss DM series is very similar in sound to the AD-80. Another unit on plane with the AD-80 is the Maxon AD-999, I think that's the model number, but the cost is prohibitive for most of us as stomp boxes go.

I think it depends on the type of sound you want to hear. In my experience, the analog units mentioned here add a nice, warm texture to the guitar or steel guitar signal. Prices of vintage units are bordering on the obscene lately for these vintage units, but I think the one in the link is offered at a very attractive price, provided it performs as it should.

Others may prefer the sparkle of digital devices. To each his own. Either way, a tad of delay will add another dimension to the sound that most players find appealing.
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Paul Sutherland

 

From:
Placerville, California
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2011 11:02 pm    
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I have an old Boss DM2 pedal that I have hardly used. I don't want to use delay all the time, only occasionally as a special effect. But the pedal is not true bypass, and it affects the tone of the steel severely when tuned off. I usually disconnect the thing after about one song as I can't stand what it does to my tone.

Apparently this old pedal is highly sought after by the rock world, so maybe I should just sell it. But what is a good delay pedal that is either true bypass, or in some other manner doesn't screw up your tone when it's off?
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David Mason


From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
Post  Posted 20 Jun 2011 6:26 am    
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I like the digital delays with a readout of tempo and long delays - I think they're very good practice tools, one of the few effects that can actually make you a better player if you use it right. Not on the gig, but as a tool for practice. Set it for 600ms, then play the exact same four-note sequence. Then play the exact same six-note sequence. Then, eight... then set it for 500ms and do the same. 450.. 400... Devil

When you get it out longer, 1 second, 1150ms, you can use it to practice harmony licks, and also - playing the exact same lick on different strings, trying to match the time. Keeping even time duration for each note is a prerequisite for playing fast well, and the delay practice forces that. And boy, will your intonation get better when those clams keep coming back around. Laughing

There are some good single stompers from T.C. Electronics, Digitech and Lexicon, but I just use the up-to-5-second one on the Digitech RP250 or the 2400ms one on the Boss VF-1 rack. That Boss has some really advanced ones, you can layer two into each other in any order and it's got one that's 20 different ones together, panned and set for different times you can make a note crawl around in stereo. You can, I don't... I have a rack Lexicon Vortex that's really weird, I never quite know what it's going to do - 3am squirrelies, only.
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Bill Moran

 

From:
Virginia, USA
Post  Posted 20 Jun 2011 6:06 pm    
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DD3 and Wet Reverb ! Very Happy
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