Delay effect - how do you use it?

[tjcurtin1]

To begin, a question for Robert. Robert, seems that you use the delay effect kind of in place of reverb - is that right? I started playing with the delay on the Vox and it seemed to me that it is like an alternate if you use it subtly - higher settings range into another feel altogether. Anyone else have thoughts about how you use delay?

[hubberjub]

I use delay more for effect. I make a lot of ambient noise to fill in parts in songs. Volume swells using delay with some modulation produce synth like parts. I also like to use the dotted-eighth setting and play eighth notes to produce that cascading effect. I rarely use delay in place of reverb.

[Ch0jin]

Sorry TJ I know this was for Robert, but I can't resist throwing my .02c in because I'm a delay lover ;)

I know exactly where hubberjub is coming from and I suspect we use our delays in similar ways. It's not as a replacement for reverb, although I think I understand what your trying to say. I use mine (a kit made one that I can't say enough good things about) quite a bit. It's fun to throw a bit of delay in to some fuzz pedal noodles to broaden the soundscape a bit, but where mine shines is "screaming solos". When you dial it in correctly I found it gives my lead tone more body, more "gloss" (sorry, best word I could think of), even more apparent sustain, and best of all, used correctly it can even sound like you're busting out more notes that you're actually playing! I had a jam with some mates a couple weeks ago and both guys wanted to know what it was I was stomping on for lead breaks. Settings wise I tend to use quite a weak blend (maybe 9 o'clock), medium repeats, maybe around 10 to 12 o'clock and I tweak the speed (rate) knob based on the tempo of what I'm playing.

Basically, if you were thinking that a delay pedal can add much more to your tone than an echo, you were spot on.

[tjcurtin1]

Thanks guys - I'm glad to have any and all responses! I only aimed at Robert because I know he uses delay pretty regularly. I can hear that at 'higher' settings you get more of an 'effect' up to a ping-pong kind of thing. But the lower levels struck me as space-creating in the way that reverb does; I did also thought I noticed an increase in sustain, but wondered if I might be imagining it...

[kgwagner]

I'm another one who uses delay almost in place of reverb, although not completely. I like very short delays for their fattening and space-making quality.

[sunvalleylaw]

I tend to use mine more as a Pink Floydy sort of effect. I have not got the hang of using it kind of like, but not completely in place of reverb. I use my amph reverb for that. I

[red]

I've bought my delay pedal (a Boss DD3) after I got a small Fender Champion 600 RI 5-Watt amp that only had two guitar inputs and a volume knob. Coming from amps with at least a reverb on, I found it somewhat lacking, so I went hunting for a reverb pedal. I could only find a delay pedal close enough and at a decent price, so I got that instead.

I've used it as a reverb effect for a couple of months on and off (you can find the recommended settings for the pedal to approximate a reverb on the Boss website somewhere I think, unless they took that page down since I got it). Then I've "branched out" a little bit and noodled some space-stuff on the higher settings over a Soundgarden record, then basically packed it up and stopped using it.

I keep holding on to it in the hope that someday I'll have a use for it, and it's a pretty good pedal (sounds good and it's built very well). But I don't know. It's gathering dust as we speak.

But I digress. Yes, a delay pedal can make a good reverb gadget.

[wingsdad]

I use digital Delay to create Space, as in placement in a mix. Speed, depth, and degree of regeneration are intertwined in setting it, and I try to avoid extremes. I use Analog delay similarly, but it's coarser, less precise, and if set carefully, and act more like a Reverb effect, but nore often than not, I find either type of Delay a less-than-adequate substitute for Reverb.

I use Reverb sometimes instead of, but usually as well as or preferably after Delay to create Air , as in room ambience, or, in other words, in photographic or visual terems, Depth Of Field. Too much Reverb can throw sound out of focus. Digital can be colder or more 'brittle' than Analog (Spring), so I prefer a Spring tank.

IMO, in short, there's a purpose for both and they need to be independently controllable.

[kgwagner]

Personally, I dislike spring tanks. To me, they sound more artificial than digital reverbs. Too mushy and amorphous, and they have a tendency to ring instead of reverberate, which just sounds fake. A very short delay with a bit of repeat and a long tail is more realistic, with maybe just a hair of reverb to fill in the spaces sounds right to me, according to what I've heard in real venues where reverberation occurs naturally.

Plus, the only adjustment for tank reverbs is level, from bad to worse. You can't change room size, decay, or any of that fun stuff. The best thing you can do with a built-in tank reverb is mod the circuit so you can use it as an extra gain stage, then put a digital 'verb in the effects loop.

[Robert]

Ted, I use delay a lot, and yes mostly it is replacing a reverb. I like reverb, but when I play live, reverb doesn't work so well - at least when you play with drums and bass. For duo stuff, it works well for me.

I use it mostly as a subtle effect, 350-450 ms long and just a few repeats, while the overall level is fairly low. It makes everything sound better - especially single note playing. However, it may sometimes be better to play rhythm guitar without delay.

I also sometimes use longer delay settings, as well as louder in the mix, if I want to do steel-guitar licks or U2-inspired sounds, or volume swells with chords, where one chord flows into the other because of the long delay repeats and having the repeats just as loud as the dry guitar.

For some things, like certain kinds of blues guitar, a delay may sound "wrong" and you want that springy old Fender reverb sound instead - or perhaps just completely dry - ... I have gotten in trouble with the "blues purists" a few times for using delay when playing blues... :french ;) Whatever! :D

Hope that helps!

[tjcurtin1]

Thanks, everyone. This has been really helpful to getting started with the use of delay. Robert, it just dawned on me gradually that delay was a component of so many of the great tones you get, and I hadn't ever tried using it. Thanks for taking the time to give me such a clear picture of how you put it to use!

Ted

[kgwagner]

Just keep in mind that effects should be used like make-up; they're there to enhance, not cover, and shouldn't be obvious.

[Ch0jin]

Just keep in mind that effects should be used like make-up; they're there to enhance, not cover, and shouldn't be obvious.

Haha, I have another homebrew Fuzzface on a breadboard (I decided to make use of a pair of 3AX31C's that were doing nothing) that I've just finished tweaking/biasing that would tend to violate that rule. Pretty badly actually. haha.

[deeaa]

I only use studio reverbs after-the fact. Delays just make you sound a better player than you actually are, just like distortion and mucho compression do so they are to be shunned :-)

[oldguy]

Delays just make you sound a better player than you actually are, just like distortion and mucho compression do so they are to be shunned :-)

But what if you want to sound like a better player than you actually are? :D

[hubberjub]

But what if you want to sound like a better player than you actually are? :D

Exactly my thought. Always go heavy on the effects and try to blind the audience with expensive gear.

[Robert]

Have a listen to Oz Noy, he is a master at using effects creatively. There are no rules, trust your ears. Effects can be used in many ways, sometimes a subtle delay is all you need, but other times, you might need a big delay like the Edge in U2. There are no rules.

[oldguy]

Have a listen to Oz Noy, he is a master at using effects creatively. There are no rules, trust your ears. Effects can be used in many ways, sometimes a subtle delay is all you need, but other times, you might need a big delay like the Edge in U2. There are no rules.

Exactly. This is what I was alluding to. Imagine Eric Johnson's songs w/ no delay, or distortion. I think he's good enough he doesn't need an effect to make him sound better than he actually is. Joe Bonamassa freely admitted to borrowing from EJ's sound for a period, because he liked it. A dry clean signal has it's place, but how boring would it be if that was the only sound anyone used, the only sound that was "approved", or politically correct?
Robert nailed it, there are no rules. Use your ears, make the rules up as you go, and enjoy yourself. :applause
Ask questions, learn, experiment, and then decide what works for you, what you like, and don't try to please other people too much. :bootyshake