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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > cheap delay pedal?
cheap delay pedal?
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Rarko
2 posts
Apr 25, 2013
2:16 PM
I want to buy my first delay pedal.
In my town here in Serbia there are a few music shops with guitar pedals.
this is what I found:
Behringer DD400 Digital Delay
Behringer DD600 DIGITAL Delay
Artec SE-ADL Analog Delay
Danelectro D-8 FAB (the cheapest one)

price is 25-50$.
next pedal is near hundred bucks...

does anybody knows anything about these pedals? are they cheap because they are not good so it is better for me to save more money (for something like BOSS DD-3) or they can do a nice job for harmonica players?
thanks...
Libertad
229 posts
Apr 25, 2013
2:28 PM
I started with the Danelectro FAB and have to say its a bargain for the price. If you are just after a slightly thicker sound it is great. If you do go top end, consider the MXR Carbon Copy, superb!

Martin
Blues13
207 posts
Apr 25, 2013
3:56 PM
If you want to gig with it save your dough and buy a top end pedal. For fun at home the Danelectro FAB ECHO is nice. I use a FAB ECHO with a SUKM silver bullet mic and Kalamazoo model 2 amp. I really like the sound I'm getting with it.

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Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
Isaac Asimov
jimbo-G
166 posts
Apr 25, 2013
5:03 PM
Dunno about the DD400 or 600 but Ive got a DD100 and it seems to add a little more treble, and slight hiss. I would not buy another one but it was cheap. I guess you get what you pay for with gear unless your lucky and find a bargain.
Rick Davis
1661 posts
Apr 25, 2013
5:09 PM
Guitar Center used to sell a delay pedal called the Delta Lab DD1, for $60. I tried it and ended up gigging with it for a couple years. Great tone for the money. Nice organic decays. But it is discontinued now, about a year. If you can find one on the used market or eBay you should snap it up.

It does not sound as good as my MXR Carbon Copy... digital delays never really sound as good as an analog device. But the DD1 was really fine for the price, and build quality was good.

Of the pedals you listed I have played two... The Dano Fab Echo and the Behringer DD400. The Behringer is really not bad.

If you can find a used Ibanez AD9 analog delay it is a very good pedal. You can find them for under $100.

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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar

Last Edited by Rick Davis on Apr 25, 2013 5:40 PM
Johncn
61 posts
Apr 25, 2013
5:13 PM
Hi Rarko,

Depending on what you are looking for you in terms of effect, you may want to also look at FAB Echo D-4. It's really a decent slap effect for harp, and is only about $15-$18 on eBay, but I don't know how much shipping to Serbia would factor in. Perhaps the dealers that have the D8 also can get the cheaper D-4? I have one, and it might be good enough to see if you want to work that sound into your playing before you spend more money a one of the top pedals. It is not the equal of the others mentioned in this thread, but it is usable.

Rick Davis did a review of this pedal in 2008, and included audio clips:

http://bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/2008/08/review-danelectro-fab-echo-pedal.html

Danelectro FAB Echo D-4

Good luck and let us know what you figure out.

Johncn

Last Edited by Johncn on Apr 25, 2013 11:06 PM
Blues13
208 posts
Apr 25, 2013
6:19 PM
That's the one I have, cost me 20$ shipped to Canada from the States.

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Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
Isaac Asimov
S-harp
92 posts
Apr 25, 2013
10:19 PM
Iv'e lugged around the Artec for ten years now... still working
It is cheap and great ... l
It does change the tone slighyly, but in a way I like.
In a pedal train it works best among the first pedals.
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The tone, the tone ... and the Tone
Jehosaphat
481 posts
Apr 25, 2013
11:04 PM
I've got a Fab it can definately do the job.With the provisos given above.
rogonzab
268 posts
Apr 26, 2013
5:22 AM
Any of you has any experience whit the Joyo Analog Delay??

Many people claim that is a Carbon Copy clon, and the reviews that I read (by guitar players) they all say that is a great delay, and that pedal cost $40 whit free international shipping on ebay!.
harmonicanick
1878 posts
Apr 26, 2013
6:48 AM
Truism - you get what you pay for, Digitech or Boss
Kingley
2567 posts
Apr 26, 2013
7:00 AM
Some of the cheaper pedals like the Artec and Belcat are pretty good. The Joyo seems to get good reports from guitarists. All of the cheaper pedals that claim to be analog, aren't really. They simply use digital emulator circuitry. I agree with Rick that analog is preferable for harp than digital most of the time. The Boss DM-2, the MXR Carbon Copy and the BBE Two Timer are among some of the best. The Lone Wolf Harp Delay is digital and gets very good reports from a lot of harp players.
isaacullah
2416 posts
Apr 26, 2013
9:47 AM
I've got both the Fab and the DD400. The fab is great for what it is: a set-time, slap-back delay. You can't modify the delay time, just the number of repeats and the "mix" between the delayed signal and the through signal. It will also remove some highs. Both these things can be "fixed" if you are handy with a soldering iron, but it's not easy (I'm good with electronics, and I found it really fiddly to modify this pedal).

The DD400 is probably the best bargain in digital delays right now (I paid $40 at the local music shop). Not only is the delay time and number of repeats fully adjustable, the maximum delay time is huge: 1.3 seconds. Not only that, but the pedal has a "hold" feature which means you can make it work like a looper pedal (but with only 1.3 seconds maximum for the loop). Also, it has a "tap" mode that lets you set the delay time by tapping the pedal (very handy). Related to this is a "hidden" feature which allows it to be a multi-tap delay as well (meaning two different delay times going on at the same time, which sounds uber-cool). Finally, this pedal has two outputs, which means you can use it as a splitter to feed two amps. All delay settings can be set to Mono or Stereo, meaning that you can either have one channel do the delay while the other does the dry signal, or have both outputs doing the same thing (mixed). The sound quality is pretty good too. It can have a bit of noise if plugged in, but on batteries it's quite clean. It sounds like most digital delays: a little bit on the sterile side, but not "bad" at all. I don't notice much frequency roll-off at all. Build quality is pretty good too, considering the price. The housing is pretty heavy duty plastic, but personally I don't think that matters too much, as I don't throw my pedals around or jump in the air and land on them... The only "bad" thing is that the LED is way too damn bright, so that you have a hard time reading the dials in a dark room because the LED blinds you.
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Last Edited by isaacullah on Apr 26, 2013 9:50 AM
Rarko
3 posts
Apr 27, 2013
6:46 AM
wow, lot of answers!
Thanks people!
so I think I will pass the cheapest one, FAB echo...
I will buy DD400 or Artec, first I will try both in one music store (they said I can bring my amp).
And I realy dont want to gamble with used BOSS-DD3 or Ibanez AD9, they are here around 100$ used, but I dont know in what condition they are...
thank you people, again!
rogonzab
270 posts
Apr 27, 2013
10:22 AM
Maybe you want to tray the Behringer VD400 is a "vintage delay", so it sound like an analog delay.

Tell us what delay you end up whit.
Rick Davis
1711 posts
May 02, 2013
8:13 AM
I saw this advertised on FB this morning:

Rogue Analog Delay Guitar Effects Pedal

$29.99. At that price I doubt it is truly an analog bucket brigade device. But it may still sound good. I haven't tried it.

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-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Tip Jar
1847
690 posts
May 02, 2013
10:17 AM
digital delays never really sound as good as an analog device....
i do not agree with that statement

may not sounds as good as analog echoplex
but as far as a pedal far superior sound
i have a chandler digital echo
hard to beat,i am sure by now there is something equivalent or even better nowaday strymon comes to mind.

i just sold a boss dd3 for fifty bucks
so they are out there if you look
that is what adam uses as well as rod piazza
and the late william clarke.
if its good enough for them
its good enough for me
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tipjar
ridge
403 posts
May 02, 2013
10:38 AM
+1 on Boss DD-3. I bought it to try and get that Gussow sound/feel. It definitely inspired and spurred my playing in a different direction. I think that's what a good pedal does.
kudzurunner
6030 posts
Aug 27, 2016
3:21 PM
After 30 years using the Boss DD-2 and then DD-3 digital delay pedal, I just today purchased an MXR Carbon Copy analog delay.

I've spent a fair bit of time A/Bing the pedals, and there's one noticeable difference: the MXR boosts the signal, when the delay is kicked in, in a way that makes the amp sound hotter and rawer. At first I thought the difference really WAS a tonal difference, but then I realized that if I just backed off the volume of the amp a little, the sound was pretty much the sound I've been getting from the amp with the Boss.

But when I put the volume back to where I run it with the Boss, the MXR give me a hot, great sound. The difference really shows up when I play chromatic. It just.....works now with the chrom. It's the right amount of overdrive. But for most duo playing, I'll back off the amp volume slightly from where I'm used to running it. (Or else I'll start playing with a slightly hotter sound.)

As for the actual delay sound: it's great. Easy to dial in a version of the sound I've been using for years: 400 ms (or so), a handful of repeats, not too much volume on the delay signal. It's an easy-to-work-with wetness.

To be continued.

Last Edited by kudzurunner on Aug 27, 2016 3:22 PM


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