Best Delay Pedals for 2013
Looking for the best delay pedal? The reviews on this site are written for musicians, by musicians. We've tested all of the top delay pedals, spoken with other musicians, read all of the relevant forums, blogs, and manuals, and put all of our findings in one convenient place. There is no perfect delay pedal for all musicians, but here are a few of our top picks for 2013:
M-169 Carbon Copy
If maturity is the pursuit of simplicity, this MXR M169 Delay pedal is only for the most mature of guitarists. This is a real plug-and-play unit with only three knobs: a regen (regeneration), mix, and delay--and a mod button. Don’t let that fool you though. There is a wide variety of delay sounds that you can get out of this [more]
Line 6 DL4
When I’m testing out pedals, I try not to spend too much time on them because one thing I look for is how easy they are to use. When I got around to the DL4, it seems like I plugged it in and an hour and a half went by in the blink of an eye. [more]
Hardwire DL-8
HardWire DL8 Delay Looper Pedal; Add a delay to enhance your over-all live performance. The DL8 is an 8 second true stereo delay with 11 delay settings ranging from analog tape, reverse and modulated delays to a 20 second looper. The DL8 features a 3 color LED indicator that shows pedal status in the looper mode. The delay tails can [more]
Digitech Delay Looper
There was a time when you’d need two pedals to loop and delay together, and you’d need a fantastic sense of musical time to get them to work together efficiently. Digitech’s behemoth JamMan Delay offers guitarists both looping and delaying features, all in one unit. It promises to not only provide two pedals’ worth of functions, but also to make [more]
Deluxe Memory Boy
So I pulled this thing out of the box and plugged it in and my first thought was: Ok…where do I begin? It has more knobs and buttons than the average delay pedal and a few more input/output jacks as well. Surely this is a sign of diversity and versatility, but to the first-time user, it’s a bit intimidating. [more]
TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay Pedal3Admin2012-01-06 05:29:15Don’t be intimidated by this pedal. This is the kind of equipment that, when most guitarists first take it out of the box, would think: “Oh jeez, I’m not going to ever figure out more than half of what this pedal probably does.” It looks like some sort of sci-fi space module. It’s got buttons and knobs and a display screen with numbers that seem to be always going up or going down and you’re never sure why.
Don’t be intimidated by this pedal. This is the kind of equipment that, when most guitarists first take it out of the box, would think: “Oh jeez, I’m not going to ever figure out more than half of what this pedal probably does.” It looks like some sort of sci-fi space module. It’s got buttons and knobs and a display screen with numbers that seem to be always going up or going down and you’re never sure why.
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In a lot of ways, this is your average delay pedal. It’s got all the necessary sound modification options--delay time, effects level, and feedback--and 9 delay presets from analog to tape to a lo-fi delay to modulated delay (for that chorus-y effect) to reverse and slapback.
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There’s really not a whole lot to say about this pedal. It’s analog--and really, truly analog--and it goes for less than $50. It’s got a sort-of feminine turquoise paint job and one red LED light to indicate whether it’s on or off.
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In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that my longstanding loyalty to the Boss DD-5 Digital Delay pedal has spoiled me. Going down a notch to the DD-3 just feels like a letdown. However, I will attempt to view it as a pedal that stands on its own.
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If maturity is the pursuit of simplicity, this MXR M169 Delay pedal is only for the most mature of guitarists. This is a real plug-and-play unit with only three knobs: a regen (regeneration), mix, and delay--and a mod button. Don’t let that fool you though. There is a wide variety of delay sounds that you can get out of this pedal. Really, it’s just pure, warm, unfettered analog delay.
Read more... Check Current Price
When I’m testing out pedals, I try not to spend too much time on them because one thing I look for is how easy they are to use. When I got around to the DL4, it seems like I plugged it in and an hour and a half went by in the blink of an eye.
Read more... Check Current Price
HardWire DL8 Delay Looper Pedal; Add a delay to enhance your over-all live performance. The DL8 is an 8 second true stereo delay with 11 delay settings ranging from analog tape, reverse and modulated delays to a 20 second looper. The DL8 features a 3 color LED indicator that shows pedal status in the looper mode. The delay tails can be retained when sw
Read more... Check Current Price
There was a time when you’d need two pedals to loop and delay together, and you’d need a fantastic sense of musical time to get them to work together efficiently. Digitech’s behemoth JamMan Delay offers guitarists both looping and delaying features, all in one unit. It promises to not only provide two pedals’ worth of functions, but also to make combining them simple. With Digitech at the centre of the looping world, they have a lot to live up to with this new, feature-laden offering.
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So I pulled this thing out of the box and plugged it in and my first thought was: Ok…where do I begin? It has more knobs and buttons than the average delay pedal and a few more input/output jacks as well. Surely this is a sign of diversity and versatility, but to the first-time user, it’s a bit intimidating.
Read more... Check Current Price
I’m a frequent user of Boss’ RC-20 XL loop pedal. It does a lot of cool stuff in a relatively compact package. The RE-20 Space Echo is a strikingly similar design so when I fired it up to test it out, I was expecting a universe of possibilities. I mean, how cool does “Space Echo” sound? It was pretty disappointing.
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