Best Delay Pedals

A delay pedal is an essential guitar effects pedal for many players. With many great options about we thought we'd help you choose the right model for you.

After perhaps an overdrive/distortion pedal the next most popular choice (G.A.S inspired - that's Gear Acquisition Syndrome!) is a delay pedal. A delay pedal is one the most versatile effects you can add to your arsenal of tone shaping ‘toys’ so making the right choice is important. So what is the best delay pedal for guitar? Well, be it based on budget, size or just sheer amount of features there will be a pedal that’s right for you...and remember where would the likes of The Edge, Dave Gilmour, Brian May, Jeff Beck and even a certain Hank be without their delays!

A great value analog pedal with a very cool boutique style is the Electro Harmonix Nano Memory Toy. Not only do you get great analog delay tone with Delay, Feedback and Delay controls but the Mod switch allows for a lush chorus effect to be added too...oh and the pedal is pretty small too (hence the Nano name).

The TC Electronic Flashback Delay and Looper Pedal is a relatively new pedal that has proved massively popular due to its great range of delays types, high quality tone, great build and the excellent toneprint technology. 11 Delay types are featured, up to 6 seconds of delay, true bypass and Delay Time, Feedback and Repeat controls – give you total control of your delay sounds...there is even a built in looper! The TC Electronic Flashback X4 is the bigger brother of the original Flashback. With its larger footprint, 12 delay types, 4 Toneprints slots, 3 presets, tap tempo and added foot switching control of your looping it really delivers a lot in one unit.

Next we have the BOSS DD3 Digital Delay pedal that provides outstanding tone and legendary rugged build quality It features an Effect level, Feedback level, 3 Delay Time
modes, and a Delay Time control giving you speedy, precise adjustment of delay time continuously within a range of 12.5ms to 800ms. The DD3’s bigger brother the BOSS DD7 features a similar host of great features and includes a Modulation Delay that provides chorus-flavoured sounds and an Analogue delay mode models the classic warm BOSS DM-2 analogue delay sound.

For those willing to splash out a few more pounds then options like the Blackstar HT Delay that offers a vast array of classic delay tones alongside a built in tube (for real valve compression), the Akai E2 Headrush with its user selectable delay options, 4 head analog tape simulation and looping or the MXR M189 Carbon Copy with it’s completely analog path for great tone, are all great choices available from top brands.

This is our guide to a range of ever popular guitar delays pedals - there are many more models available at GigGear which can be found here.

As with most FX, testing and experimenting is the key to finding what is right for you, so feel free to pop into out Harlow Superstore where we have a great range available on display to try out or if you can't get down just give us a call (01279 432900) and our friendly, knowledgable staff will be happy to help.

Posted on 9th March 2012 by Rob Evans