Advice on delay/echo

[dlew919]

Danelectro fab echo only does slapback. Cheap and reliable.

 

[Steebz Khuan]

Tried a lot of delays but I keep getting back to my Boss DM-2(w), love its all-buttons-at-noon setting and it does a mean one-hit slapback too.

 

[telekaster1999]

Carbon Copy been on my board 20 years. Simple to use and sounds great.

 

[Rocky058]

I leave this Joyo knock-off of the Carbon Copy set to slap back.

I seriously doubt any one could tell the difference in blind testing.

$35.00

 

[bottlenecker]

Hi everyone, I love early rock and roll and rockabilly, and The Cramps and Thee Oh Sees… but I’ve, perversely perhaps, really struggled to actually like most delay/echo effects on guitar, and have generally preferred to try to get everything from fuzz, reverb and tremolo.
But I’m not giving up on delay/echo yet. I know what I don’t like: U2, soaring lead tones, and pretty, ambient delay.
And I know what I do like: 50s rock and roll recordings and dub reggae, where you really feel you can hear the room (echo seems a better word than delay), and echoes from old fashioned tannoys.
I have a Boss DD3 but I just can’t get on with the sound (despite John Dwyer using one v. effectively) so, options:
1. Try harder with the DD3
2. Maxon ADsomething (Poison Ivy as so often my reference point used one, and maybe the ‘dirty’ repeats would work better)
3. Boss RE-2 or RE-202 (close to the sound of the Roland Space Echo, used by Lee Scratch Perry for dub, and John Dwyer again)
4. Perhaps I should be thinking about this differently - there may be better ways - I think an actual tape echo or building an echo chamber are not practical but I’m definitely drawn to analog rather than digital technology where possible.
Anyway, thoughts gratefully received (I’m extremely grateful for thoughts from people recently on my Princeton Reverb, that have made me completely reconsider and reconnect with the amp)…

The most important first step is not liking U2 or soaring lead tones. You are ready to do something great with a delay.
I didn't get into delay until I played an old echoplex. It was charming enough that I committed to working with what it does.
I think you can use almost any delay for slapback if you get it set up right.
I like the tape echoplex best, but I don't have one. After that, it depends more on the specific delay than on whether or not it gets filed in the analog or digital category. Analog delays with bucket brigade chips work nothing like tape anyway. Some sound a bit like tape and some don't.
I realized eventually that the preamp portion of a delay pedal is way more important to me than how it generates the repeats. If I don't like the sound of the dry signal passing through, my actual guitar sound, then the repeat doesn't matter.

I use a catalinbread belle epoch thats made to sound like an echoplex ep-3. I currently also have a dod rubberneck and a couple boss DD-6s. They're all good, but the belle epoch is my favorite.

 

[bgmacaw]

I've narrowed down my delay GAS to the Catalinbread Echorec. I've like the sound of Binson delays found in modelers I've tried.

 

[Brent Hutto]

I leave this Joyo knock-off of the Carbon Copy set to slap back.

I seriously doubt any one could tell the difference in blind testing.

$35.00

View attachment 1032907

For purely slapback, if that is really all you will use, there’s just not much room for a inexpensive delay to sound different than a fancy one. Unless of course it’s noisy or unreliable or something.

 

[northernguitar]

Hi everyone, I love early rock and roll and rockabilly, and The Cramps and Thee Oh Sees

The Danelectro Corned Beef reverb is not a reverb pedal, but does one thing: the most perfect Rockabilly slapback I’ve ever heard.

 

[bottlenecker]

My Chick-del-A is my favorite pedal. If I could only have one, this would be it. It's two delays stacked in one pedal. View attachment 1032899

I'm going to pass it by and hope I find a popeye's.

 

[CalebAaron666]

Thanks everyone, really helpful replies. I’m thinking that perhaps delay/echo can seem hard to get right (despite being so apparently straightforward) is that there are different ways to get back to a natural echo from a room or echo chamber. The tape machine is not just the best way but it has its own really desirable qualities (analog warmth, preamp, unpredictability) but it’s not really a practical/affordable option. And then we’re into analog or digital delay pedals, and then digital recreations of actual tape echo, all of which fall short in different ways. Lots too think about. Meanwhile, for some fantastic live guitar echo, The Cramps:

This particular Cramps video is my favorite. This live Ivy tone was what I was chasing. My Gretsch 6120 thru my Maxon Ad9 set just right thru my blackface amp gets me awful close to this.

 

[ndcaster]

this



and this



Tavo has great ears

 

[CalebAaron666]

this



and this



Tavo has great ears

Love my Mystery Brain. I keep the preamp on all the time. I use still use my Maxon for slap, but use the MB echo for longer delays on a few songs.

 

[tele_pathic]

The new-ish Roland RE-200 Space Echo is what several of those bands used.

 

[HolmfirthNJ]

Love my Mystery Brain. I keep the preamp on all the time. I use still use my Maxon for slap, but use the MB echo for longer delays on a few songs.
View attachment 1032936

Very nice. Sadly, Nocturne pedals are hard to come by in the UK…

 

[HolmfirthNJ]

This particular Cramps video is my favorite. This live Ivy tone was what I was chasing. My Gretsch 6120 thru my Maxon Ad9 set just right thru my blackface amp gets me awful close to this.

Yes, I think it’s one of my favourite sounds too.

 

[RetiredUnit1]

I've narrowed down my delay GAS to the Catalinbread Echorec. I've like the sound of Binson delays found in modelers I've tried.


View attachment 1032923

I use this and the MXR carbon copy together, it's echo-licious!!!!

 

[Mikecito]

"I know what I don’t like: U2, soaring lead tones, and pretty, ambient delay"

Who hurt you??

 

[bottlenecker]

"I know what I don’t like: U2, soaring lead tones, and pretty, ambient delay"

Who hurt you??

Maybe try asking "who bored you?"

But I think we all know.

 

[archiemax]

I recently got one of these and I'm lovin' it.....You want slapback, you've got it, you want pritnear any other kind of delay, you've got that too. Ten presets you set up yourself and you can scroll thru the presets with your foot with the effect on or off. Cheap too.

 

[kuch]

this is what I have/use.
check out the video
3 modes