DELAYROUNDUP
GREAT DELAY PEDALS FOR WORSHIP
I have to admit that when I searched YouTube for “ great delay pedals for worship ” I was shocked to find that no one had endeavored to gather a notable collection of the pedals that arguably define the sound of worship .
So , it is with great enthusiasm with which I embark upon this mission .
FLASHBACK While there were other echo units around during its heyday , none remains as hallowed as the tape-driven Echoplex ( pictured below ) - nor have they had the downstream influence on worship guitar . Words like wow and flutter are used to describe the magical sound of an old tape that has been imperfectly stretched , driven by a motor that is turning with similar imperfections . While there is nothing like a vintage Echoplex , there is also nothing like trying to get one to behave perfectly in the studio . If you ’ re thinking about punching in , good luck !
PEDAL POWER The Boss DM-2 , Ibanez AD80 , and the Electro- Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man all drew inspiration from the Echoplex , the latter of which remains in the Edge ’ s rig to this day . In many ways , we have both The Edge and the Deluxe Memory Man with Modulation to thank for the glorious sound of electric worship guitar . Noting the downstream impact they have had , all pedals I gathered for this feature were either inspired by the Echoplex and the Deluxe Memory Man , or a combination of thereof .
WHAT ACTUALLY MAKES A DELAY PEDAL GREAT FOR WORSHIP ? Generally speaking , if it only does delay / echo , has tap tempo functionality , and allows you to modulate the delays , it is in the zone . The ability to run in stereo is a plus , but not a must . If need be , one can always run a mono delay into a stereo reverb to create a stereo spread between amps . Alas this criteria left the MXR Carbon Copy out of the running since it does not do tap tempo natively , as well as the Eventide H9 which does more the just delay / echo .
44 Jan � Feb 2017 WorshipMusician . com