Best Delay Under $50

A delay pedal is one of the most intimidating pedal-decision that a guitarist can make. There are endless features, staggering costs and tons of options. Despite this, a delay is a core effect on the pedalboard of most guitarist. The first time I bought a delay, I just asked the guy working at the guitar shop what the best one was. I bought it. And that was it. I spent over 200 dollars and luckily ended up with a great pedal that I enjoy, but I easily could have ended up with a turd. So here is a list of pedals that are cost-effective and useful.  If you are in the market for a "cheap" delay, then here is my list of the top eight pedals to take a careful look at.


Behringer DD600

This pedal is inspired by the BOSS DD6. Behringer has done a decent job of copying BOSS pedals. The feature list is nearly unheard of on a pedal in this price bracket. The availability of tap tempo and tons of different delay modes make this pedal a tempting pick. I'd encourage you to test one out. There are reports of noise with this pedal, so be sure to test drive before you buy.


Behringer EM600

This pedal is a long time favorite. This is based off the Line6 Echo Park. The Echo Park is still loved by a loyal set of fans. The Swell effect only made this pedal very desirable. Besides that, you have analog and tape filters included in this digital delay. Tap tempo and available Mod filters on your delay tails add a cherry on top. As of a few weeks ago, this pedal was difficult to get a hold of, so prices might top $50 on the used market, but keep an eye out for one of these.


Ibanez DE7

The Tonelok series from Ibanez was unfairly overlooked. Fortunately, you can still find these pedals relatively easy and for $50 or less. 2600ms with an available 'echo filter' give you plenty to play with. Solid metal enclosures are a plus over the plastic Behringer boxes, but the feature list takes a bit of a hit. Overall this pedal is a solid choice with few drawbacks. Not to mention the key feature of these pedals: the set-it and forget-it knobs. If you have a core sound you can lock it in and not worry about it getting knocked around.


Danelectric D-8 FAB Delay

This is one of the cheapest options for a standard type delay. At $25 this pedal is tempting to pick up just because. Obviously, there are limited features on this pedal, but it's a solid choice for bargain-ben prices. It has about 600ms of delay which is decent for half of some of the other pedals on this list. It's another plastic pedal, so it's not one to beat around. If you don't ask much from your delay and want to save some money this one might be one to consider.


DigiTech Digidelay

This is another full-featured delay that has come and gone. Although you can't pick one up new from the store, there are plenty out there to be had. Up to 4 seconds of delay and handful of useful modes, including looping, make this a top contender for best delay under $50. The used market goes up and down, but you can find these hanging around $50 fairly common. All this and tap tempo make this a must watch.


TC Electronic Prophet

Fair new to the market is the TC Prophet. This is a simple digital delay. The most impressive features of this pedal are structural. Top jacks and super-solid construction make this pedal impressive just to hold. Features wise, this pedal doesn't really impress. There are three modes, but they aren't extremely useful. For being one of the most impressive on this list, the features of the actual delay doesn't seem impressive, but this pedal probably has the best "feel" on the list. Street price on these pedals is $60, but I've caught them on sale for well under $50.


Behringer VD400

Another bargain is the Vintage delay from Behringer. Plastic? Check. But you get the feel of an analog delay for under $30. Your delay time is limited, but if you don't like the D-8 but want to find a bottom dollar delay, then give this pedal a try. This is another one you want to test drive. Find a local dealer is see if it's right for you.


TC Electronic Echobrain

Everything that you can say for the Prophet you can say for the Echobrain. The delay time is limited, but it's built like a tank and the delay sounds great. This is probably the best/interesting sounding delay on the list. While the digital delays do their best to sound like analog, this pedal delivers on the authentic analog sound. It's a little on the dark side, but that's what the appeal of these pedals is. Dark, dirty delays are what this pedal does. Again, the list price is over the limit, but if you want to check one out, then wait until they go on sale and snap one up.

WHAT NOT TO BUY:

JOYO Digital Delay

This pedal did not make the list, but I thought that I'd put it on this post in case you were looking at inexpensive delays. This pedal has an issue with passing signal while in bypass. Don't buy this pedal. There are better options. In my opinion, every pedal is a better choice than this one. This pedal also goes by the name "Time Space" but I'm pretty sure it is the same pedal. Check out the full review of this pedal here.



Conclusion

These pedals aren't in any kind of order. All of these pedals are worth a look if you want to spend minimal dough. I've played all these pedal personally and tried to share some useful information to help you make your delay decision. There are several from Behringer. I don't particularly like their pedals, but they have a large list of inexpensive pedals. So, what do think? Did I miss any pedal that should have been on the list? Leave it in the comments below!

Ugly Truth About EHX Wailer Wah

So, I'll admit that I haven't been keeping my ear to the ground lately. That's probably why i was taken off guard by the announcement of EHX's new Wah pedal. I always get excited when I see a new product from Electro Harmonix because they reteenly crank out outstanding products and they keep consumer price low. These two thing are huge in my book. So, recently they told us that they are going to put out a pretty standard Wah. Huh... Let's see what we know.

It's Not Exactly New...

Yeah, this isn't ground breaking stuff. Big black wedge shaped rocker pedal with a mid-filter circuit inside. It's been done before... like a lot. So why is EHX putting out a standard wah? Not only is this well trodden ground for Dunlop and Vox, but it's rather familiar to EHX as well. Not as flexible as their Cock Fight pedal, this brick put the guts of the well-intentioned Crying Tone wah in a more conventional box. The Crying Tone had a lot going for it. The tones were talked about. The sweep and action were second to none, but there was one complaint that would torpedo this pedal. You couldn't hardly mount it to a pedalboard. So EHX have shoved a great wah in a conventional box. All good right?

It's Affordable, Lightweight and... Plastic?

That's right. EHX when old school with this pedal, but decided to make that familiar rocker out of plastic. They make a point to describe it as "heavy duty", but all that does for me is bring to mind those batteries that last about half as long as name brand ones. So we have our great sounding wah in a package that doesn't scare us and there isn't anything too crazy (like a LED when the pedal is on). So, if you can get past the fact that it is made out of plastic, then you can have yourself a Crying Tone wah for less money. Whats more is that the battery is probably behind a door. I don't know that, but I'm assuming they aren't going to include a solid plate bottom like its metal brethren. It does look like the 9v jack will go on the left like normal.

Conclusion

This looks to be a traditional spin on an original EHX wah. Those of us that fear change rejoice, we now don't have to get something "new" when we get a new pedal. Thank goodness. EHX pushes forward into the weird and wacky, but know that some of us need a little safety blanket too. Did I mention that it's only 62.50 USD? There's that too!

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$10 Overdrive vs $200 Overdrive

I've had a small credit sitting around at a music store. I honestly had no idea what I was going to use it for. I'm fairly well off on picks and strings and all that, so it has been sitting their. I noticed they had marked a Behringer Tube Overdrive right in my price range. I purchased the pedal with zero money down. Armed with a new pedal. I took it home and wondered what I was going to do with. I hadn't even tried it out at the store. It hit me. I'll put it out against my vintage Ibanez TS-9. Similar pedals sell for $200+. I thought it would make for a great "David vs Goliath" (kinda like how the Anderton's YouTube channel does) show down.

Long story short, There was a noticeable difference. The difference was present, but surprisingly small. the pedals made similar sounds. The Behringer was directly related to the Tube Screamer if not directly cloned. The biggest difference in the sounds was the amount of bass. The Vintage TS-9 was just a lot fuller sounding. The low end got left out for the most part when the Behringer overdrive was on. Also, the buffer in the Behringer sucked a little top end off. Putting the Behringer in a bypass loop, I was able to hear a little high end loss when it was kicked on. (This was confirmed in a bind sound-test) 2/3 I was able to tel when the pedal was in the loop. I blame the single time I was able to do so to the fact that my tone controls were tuned down accidentally.

The biggest shock of the whole test was the fact that the 30 year pedal was actually more reliable than the brand new one. Turn the Behringer was a hit or miss affair usually taking a few attempts. The Ibanez had no such problem. I have had to replace the switch in the Vintage pedal, but there really isn't any reason to have to repair a brand new effect.

Conclusion:

Did the more expensive pedal sound better? Yes. It also worked better in general. Did it perform 20 times better? No, but there are many pedal that do an excellent job of sounding like an iconic Tube Screamer and performing reliably.

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Ugly Truth: Tom's Line Engineering Bluesy Vintage Overdrive

Weeks ago, I decided to splurge on some music gear. I've always seen the cheap pedals from china, but I hate buying something and waiting weeks for it to show up (if it shows up at all). Not to mention the poor customer service and quality control. I decided to roll the dice on these guys, I was able to put together an order for four pedals, all drives (go figure...) When they showed up, they were in a box very similar to the Outlaw Effect's. Included was a somewhat helpful foldout user manual and a piece of Velcro. Overall, it was polished and professional looking. So the packaging exceeded my expectations...(woopty-doo). We don't care about boxes, (unless you're like me and keep all the boxes your pedals come in) what does it sound like?

Using a P-90 equipped Telecaster, I put this pedal through a Vox Pathfinder 10 combo. My bedroom setup is modest, but it sounds great for it's size. Putting this pedal inline was a joy. I really liked the sounds that this pedal put out. There isn't a ton of gain in this pedal, but that should not be a surprise since it's described as a blues overdrive. There is a range of tones that please just about anyone (looking for a light overdrive). After testing out this pedal, I was able to run it into a Vox AC15 with both a Standard Tele and Deluxe Telecaster. These combos resulted in please sounds. The 'normal' and 'bright' settings came in handy, One to tame the spanky single coils and the other to brighten the split-coils in the deluxe. Whether you are finding a bluesy voice for you solid state amp or your looking for something to boost your tube amp into sweet breakup, this pedal can serve up some nice sounds. Listen to Shnobel:

But were aren't here to talk about the pretty things, Let's get ugly:

Let's Get The Obvious Out Of The Way

It's Chinese, It's Cheap, It's Tiny. All these things are scary. The last time I ordered a pedal from China, it was DOA. Thankfully, all these pedal came in working condition. The price I paid is not my concern. In fact, I thought that the price I paid was great. But it's the fact that I was able to buy a pedal for so little that makes me wonder about the quality of the guts. Ignorant of the insides, I do like the sounds. However, I hate tiny pedals. Why did I buy so many of them... They're cheap, that's why. I will say, it was smart to put the bar to protect the knobs. I've always thought they were in danger from people with heavy feet.

And That's It

I know this seems very favorable, but I really can't come up with anything more to complain about. It's a light overdrive that is flexible. It's cheap enough to bought with the change from your couch. It's not the fanciest pedal. It's a simple pedal that could fit on nearly any pedal board. If you watch that video above and scroll down so that you can't see the pedal and just listen, then you might just fool yourself into digging the tones that Mr. Shnobel is putting out.

Conclusion

Having said all those nice things, I probably won't be putting this on my board. My dislike for this tiny pedals and the wide range of low-medium gain pedal that I already have make it hard to find use for yet another. What I might do is put together a small 'travel size' pedal board. It could be fun to go through these little cheap pedals and put the good ones together on a board. Then putting that board against my main board. Not so much to see which one is 'better', but if you can put together tiny pedal to do most of the job of a typical-size board fill with 'full-sized' pedals.