Talk to me about delays

[Mr. Air]

I'm on the hunt for a new delay. Right now I got the TC Nova Repeater and while it's a good delay especially considering the price it doesn't really inspire me. This might not be caused by the delay as I'm fairly new to the delay business so it might just be me who isn't good enough at using delay. I like to think otherwise though  :D

As for now I have centered my attention on three pedals: Strymon's El Cap and Timeline and TC's Flashback x4.

The Strymons: There seems to be a real hype about Strymon gear and I must admit that all the sound clips I've heard sounds excellent. Unfortunately the price reflects this as the Strymon stuff doesn't come cheap. It's hard to decide between the EC and the TL. The former has some cool options that aren't part of the TL's dTape setting, but the TL has so much flexibility and endless posibilities.

The TC: The FBx4 has a lot in common with the TL but are much less tweakable. It has the tone print feature which is great, but I know from my ownership of the TC HOF reverb that I really don't use the tone print option that much which might be different with the FBx4 as there's a more tone prints for this pedal than the HOF. One thing i dislike about the Nova Repeater (and I think the same goes for the FB) is that it has a level control in stead of a mix knob so it's not possible to mix out the dry signal. The FB might also be too similar in sound to my Nova Repeater so it might not be worth doing a switch.

What do you guys think? Is there any other delays a should look at?

[juansolo]

Loads of interesting delays happening shortly if you're prepared to wait a little while... ;)

[Mr. Air]

Loads of interesting delays happening shortly if you're prepared to wait a little while... ;)

That sounds very interesting. Can you give any hints?  :D

[juansolo]

Just built a Grind Customs PT based delay that doesn't go lo-fi even though it's nigh on a second when it comes to the repeats. Just need to tweak the blend pot taper to smooth it out a little (normally has an internal trimmer for tone/filter. Stick it on the blend so it filters more as the repeats get longer and it removes most of the hiss. Hoping to get rid of it all). Also got a modulation board coming that we're going to add to it, which will hopefully give it some DMM like features. Could be interesting.

Bean has got his Zero Point Deluxe coming (in about a week). God knows what that's going to do, but I've seen the schematic for it and it's epic. That's a dual PT.

Bean's Aquaboy Deluxe is finally near release. I've been waiting for that bad boy for about 12 months. That should hopefully turn out like a modern DMM with obtainable parts.

[Andrew W]

I now have an El Capistan which I love. It's quality throughout but, as you say, the price does reflect that. I got it to replace an MXR Carbon Copy which kicked the bucket after about 18 months of quite delicate use. From what I hear others have found it unreliable too so if you were also considering the MXR, I wouldn't bother. El Cap rocks my world though I'm sure juansolo's offerings will be superb (I have one of his Klonish pedals and it's great).

[juansolo]

They'll be a bit different to the Strymon stuff to be fair. But they'll be a hell of a lot cheaper ;)

[Pete24v]

I have an EL Capistan, and a Brigadier... both amazing pedals, much better than the Replica, Carbon Copy and Maxon AD999 that get replaced.

The Strymons are pricey, but in my opinion they are worth it. Lots of features, yet easy to use. And they sound superb!

[Telerocker]

What Pete says. The new extended Flashback delay looks a winner too.

[JJretroTONEGOD]

I've got the elcapistan and used to own the brigadier, which was great but the elcap blows eveything else I've used away! the expense is well worth it, you get what you pay for.

[JimmyMoorby]

Dont take this as a troll post but delay should be the very easiest of all effects to pick from because in theory it should just delay your notes and thats it.  Many delays add different frequencies though and reverb.  I use a CMAT Mods delay its nothing crazy but it is JUST a delay and nothing else.... I like that though I want my singal to me as clean as possible.

[Kiichi]

I personally own and use a Strymon Timeline. Yes, the price is hefty, but to me it is worth it. The Build quality is textbook, the sound quality superb and the possibilitys....oh the possibilitys.
I mean I got 12 vastly different different delay baselines with each one having a butt full of tweaking options with the simplest one only having like 9 parameters or so, 7 of which have their own knobs and then there is the value knob which acts as a multi purpuse.
On top of that you got the ability to conncect an expression pedal and assign it to any controll and if you are running mono you can have an effects loop for just the delayed signal. Imagine the worlds!

Preset switching for live use is easy to do. There are 100 spaces for user presets (50 banks with a and b for each bank). A looper is inclueded too of course (can be pre or post delay).

If you are not scared of knobs and tweakability (this one has more than anyting else I have seen...imho lets mesa amps nearly look like toys) and you REALLY wanne dive into the world of delays, this one is insanely great.
Inspiration in a box if you like delays.

If I have a guitar run through a Tremolo into an amp with the Strymon set on Ice in the effects loop (sometimes with a reverb in the effects loop if the strymon) it is just wow. Incredible stuff.

I get so much joy out of the Ice delay alone I can spend hours with it. And the pattern and dual can lead you to great riffs. Etc, etc.

[Telerocker]

The Timeline is not only a delay, it's a computer.  :)

[Hammerheart]

I have the single pedal version of the flashback and I love it. I demoed the x4 as well but the only thing i found it did better that I would use was the space delay so I went for the cheaper and smaller unit.

[dingleberry]

Empress Superdelay, best delay I've ever heard!  Reverse delay with an octave up on each repeat plus low pass filter turns your guitar into an organ, plus a whole slew of other amazing delay sounds which are presetable.  A little Canadian content on your board goes a long way!

[BigB]

Dont take this as a troll post but delay should be the very easiest of all effects to pick from because in theory it should just delay your notes and thats it.

Hmmm... like, say, in theory an amp should just amplify your notes ?-)

@Mr Air : I've had the Nova Repeater, pretty good stuff for the money if you like "theoretical" delays but nowhere near a DMM or Maxon if you're after that warm lush late 70s / early 80s tone. FWIW I had a (very humble) EHX Memory Toy (yes, the cheapest one) before I treated myself the Nova Repeater, and after a few weeks I sold the repeater and came back to the memory toy. Still using it so far...