the effect, the more compact (small suitcase
sized) Echoplex came along in 1959 to provide
an accessible option for top guitarists of the
day like Carl Perkins and Chet Atkins.
Just as we moved from analog cassette tape to
digital, delay eventually progressed from relying
on tape to an analog solid-state chip design in
the early 1970’s and eventually to fully digital
delay devices in the late 1970’s. Guitarists
are usually quite familiar with the early analog
delay units like the Boss DM-2 and the Electro-
Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, both of which
utilized a magical little cluster of tiny capacitors
and transistors in a single chip called a bucket
brigade device (BBD). These chips allowed
for a finer control of delay settings in an even
smaller footprint while retaining much of the
tape delay ‘warmth’.
The aforementioned TC Electronic 2290 was
A classic Bucket Brigade analog delay emulation within the Allen & Heath dLive.
an early digital rackmount delay hit, expanding
the delay time option all the way up to 32 Most digital delay units within mixing consoles of more mathematically perfect repeats. The
seconds, while the Boss DD-2 came along in these days will pay homage to these earlier trick is knowing how and when to dial in this
1984 and put an affordable and great sounding delay units and provide an emulation of the awesome auditory accoutrement.
portable delay pedal option within reach of not-quite-perfect organic warmth of analog and every guitarist’s foot (and wallet). tape-based delays alongside the pristine sheen
I’VE GOT IT UNDER CONTROL …
There are three main controls to tweak when
dialing in the perfect delay sound — mix,
feedback, and delay time:
MIX is sometimes labeled as ‘Wet / Dry’ or on
a live console is often set to be controlled via
the send/return level on a fader so the engineer
can ride the performance and apply delay as
needed in a very musical and dynamic manner.
This is a straightforward control, basically the
amount of the delay effect which is being heard
out in the audience.
FEEDBACK is usually a single level or percentage
control which adjusts how much of the initial
delayed signal comes back around into the
signal chain to be delayed again. In a slapback
sort of effect, the feedback is close to zero
and only one or two ‘slaps’ are heard. Pushing
An array of programmable softkeys on the Allen & Heath SQ-7,
perfect for setting up dedicated delay tap tempo controls.
March 2020
the feedback control higher will create much
longer and denser trails of delay, all of the way
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