Why I Still Use A BOSS DD-20 Delay

For nearly ten years, I've used the BOSS DD-20 as my main delay. I've had several others come and go, but I've always stuck by the BOSS Twin Pedal. When I bought it, it was one of the best delays you could buy. As the years have gone by, I've seen many impressive delays come to market. There are a few reasons why I haven't upgraded.

It's Simple

If you can use a any of the BOSS digital delays, then you can use the DD-20. With just a few turns of a knob, you can dial in just about any delay sound you want. That's not to say that it's lacking features, but the interface is very easy to understand and use. There are no menus. There is a screen to give you all the information you need. It's all right there in front of your face. So simple, it's almost dumb. Just the way I like it.

It's Deep

This pedal does a little bit of everything. It's not perfect by any means. However, there are plenty of options to choose from. Not only that, but there is feature that you don't see often on a delay. Not only do you get Tape, Analog, Ping Pong, Looping and other modes, but you get a Tone knob. I know that's not super exciting, but it let's you dial in how dark or bright you want your repeats. I'm sure that some of these uber delays can do the same thing or similar, but when this was new on the market, it was very unique.





It's A Value





I paid top dollar back when I bought mine, but now you can regularly find this pedal for under $100. I've done a lot of looking recently, and $100 doesn't buy you a lot in regards to delay. In this case, You can get tons of delay for your money.




Conclusion




If I had the 200-250 dollars it would take to buy a DD-20 at its original price, I'd do one of two things. I'd save up for the DD-500 or I'd get the Carbon Copy Deluxe. The DD-500 might be a little overkill, but it won't leave you wanting. The Carbon Copy Deluxe is a great delay made even better. I'm running analog type delay sounds most the time anyways, and the Carbon Copy is just about the best deal going for one of those. If I had to put together a full feature pedal board for the least amount of money, then the DD-20 is my pick. For about a hundred dollars, the DD-20 is very hard to beat.

Hands On Review Of Behringer EM-600 Echo Machine

If you are familiar with the Behringer line of guitar effect pedals, then you know that they are mostly BOSS clones. They are basically plastic versions of our favorite BOSS pedals. So what BOSS pedal is the EM-600 Echo Machine? It's actually a facsimile of a Line6 Echo Park. You may have know that. Actually, If you are reading a review for the EM-600 then you probably already knew that.  So, is the EM-600 a decent replica of a Echo Park? Let's see...


Old School

So, just like all the other pedals in this line. It is very similar to the size and shape and function of the BOSS format. However, that format is old. If you look at the pedals of twenty years ago, you'll see that a lot of companies made pedals just like that. DOD, Digitech, Ibanez, and others made pedals just like that. However, form and formats have changed over time. BOSS is huge and doesn't have to change, but inexpensive pedals attracts younger players and younger players follow trends. Those that want trendy pedalboards will have to weigh economy against style.

Where's It At?

Just in the past few weeks, this pedal has become hard to find. Most of the main online retailers have gone from 'item backordered' to 'no longer available'. You can still find this pedal on the used market, but there are few to be had and people are already asking more than street price. It may be easier to get a hold of an actual Echo Park.

The Sounds

So, this has been a pretty solid Ugly Truth post, but we have to talk about how the pedal actually sounds. This pedal have a ton of modes, but the ones that matter to me are the Taps, (quarters, eighths, and dotted eighths) Swell, Multi 1, Multi 2, and Reverse. The taps are super basic. I'm just stoked to have a tap tempo on a $50 delay pedal. Swell is a key feature of the Echo Park. It was a big deal when the pedal came out and its still cool to play with. The Multi (pattern delay) setting are really cool. I wish they were a little more flexible. Reverse is a pretty standard feature, but when you add all the feature together, then you have a deep mode selection for minimum cash. If that wasn't enough, you have a Analog and Tape filter. And you have Mod control. There is just a stupid amount of feature packed into this pedal. I wouldn't say that all the sounds are 100% convincing, but just the fact that they are there is impressive. It's close enough to fake it in a pinch.

There Is A Problem

There is always a problem. There problem with this pedal (other than the plastic construction, old format, an unoriginal design) is that with the mix knob is at 100% the bypass signal can completely drop out. I noticed this on the Swell setting. On the swell setting the mix knob works like a mix know rather than a effects level, so when it is at 100% then you have 0% dry signal. However, even when the pedal is in bypass mode the signal is lost.  So, if you are using the Swell feature, then you can kill your entire guitar signal. Unless... you turn the tails to off. So, there is a work around. But in that particular circumstance, it is a little annoying.

Conclusion

I've tried out a few delays lately. This is the only one that I've thought about adding to my board. It does some things that I can't do with my current delay (swell) and I'd like to have a number 2. If I did add it to my board it will probably be a place holder until I get one of those uber delays, then move my number 1 into my number 2 slot. That all said, this is a solid delay. I might even recommend it higher than a DD-6. When its half the price of any pedal that objectively beats it, and it can compete with any delay under a hundred dollars its hard to put it down. Check one out, if you can.

Ugly Guitar Truth: EHX Canyon Delay/Looper

This little pedal flew completely under my radar. I paid attention to all the NAMM 2017 debuts but somehow didn't even get a hint of this pedal. Tell me if I'm wrong, but did you see anything about this pedal before now? Regardless, here it is, and we have to talk about it. Thankfully this pedal should drop on the 13th of February (2017) so there isn't much waiting for this one. As for price, well, there seems to be a little confliction as to what can be found online. Musicians Friends had posted a price tag of 158 USD, but EHX has been caught tweet a cost of 139 USD street price. So with the information that we have, Is this pedal a yay, or a nay. It's mighty morphing Ugly Truth Time...

It's Small...


Alright, small can be a good thing. Lots of good things come in small packages, but delays that occupy tiny spaces are usually lacking in the feature department. I mean, look at the Strymon and Eventide well-endowed delay boxes. Those are feature packed and massive. So this little box couldn't have that much to offer... Except it kind of does. 11 modes give you more than a BOSS DD-20. It can loop for a full minute and you get 2 "secret knobs when you hold the Tap/Divide button. This has to be one of the most feature laden delays in the size box. No, it isn't stereo. But you can control the rate and depth of the modulations. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a new trick for a compact delay.




Don't EHX Have A Lot Of Other Delays?




Yes. Yes, they do. The Memory Man/Boy/Toy line is extensive. And they do have some cross over as far as price. There is even a DMM (Deluxe Memory Man) setting on this pedal. However, this is a digital pedal. Kind of different for EHX, but I guess they were just waiting until they really had something that they liked before they put one out. Analog Delay users are going to analog, digital are gonna digital, that's just what happens. What has a lot of people looking at this pedal is the long list of modes and the affordable price. It could also be the neat tricks that this pedal is capable of that has people interest as well.. hmm, guess there is a few thing to like about it...



Wasn't There Another 3 Second Delay Released Recently?




Yes. I even wrote my thought on the DOD Rubberneck here. I like the DOD delay a lot. It has a lot of cool things going for it. It also has a $250 Street price, so fair is fair. The DOD pedal has features that this pedal can't touch. The titular feature, Rubbernecking, is pretty unique to that pedal. It also has a built in tap feature. Admittedly, the DOD looks cooler. But If I had to go with one delay on my board and also had to choose between these two pedals, then I would be picking the Canyon. The Rubberneck is a pedal that I'd be proud to own, but if I had to choose one, then I'd pick the one that can Loop, Reverse, Shim, Octave and Verb.

Conclusion




I like this pedal. I like this pedal a lot. You could probably tell that already. This pedal would be a great addition to a pedal board that wasn't already fitted with a delay. I'd even pick this one over the BOSS DD7 and the smaller Flashback delay. If you are looking to upgrade your delay but don't want to get one of the larger "do everything" units or if you looking to save a buck, then this pedal would be something to look at seriously. Should you drop everything and get this pedal for its wonderfully healing properties? Of course. But try to remember that this people isn't as powerful as one those others that have all the blinking lights and MIDI and extra holes... Oh, it has a dumb name too...

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