Off Topic Double Delay

[wheres my pick?]

Hey guys,

Recently I was in GC and picked up a used transition delay for a great price, couple scratches but it works like a charm. This means that I now have two delays at my disposal and would welcome your opinions on how to use them. I have heard a good amount of talk about players like Petrucci, Satriani, Holdsworth and others all using two delays, one short and then one long to achieve that, for lack of a better word, "big" sound. Does anyone here use two delays? If so what for and how are they set.

Thanks in advance, and cheers

 

[peterd79]

Ive been toying with the idea myself... i'm looking at needing a new delay for flavoring.... but not sure if i should trade my current delay (tap-a-delay) for a nova or time factor or just but one of the others to add to my rig...

i really like the option of having more than one delay... which is were presets could come into affect.... or effect... but yeah in short i'm a big fan of multiple delays... i know the nova and time factor have a dual delay setting which in a sense throws a short delay and long delay in the same signal...

 

[wheres my pick?]

Now I have the flashback x4 and the transition so I was planning to run the transition as my base short delay, and then change the overall "tone" of the delay (echo, to slapback, to dotted eights etc...) with the 3 presets on the x4 set longer. I'm thinking I will run them in parallel so that they don't become get in the way of each other, as soon as I get some more cables I'll give this a shot . I'm hoping that just as setting a single delay in the effects loop puts it "out of the way" running them in parallel will do the same, essentially making a "delay- loop".

As far as delay presets, I love having more than one accessible, though I'm not crazy about scrolling through banks of settings, which is why I like the x4, it's very potent but also very user friendly.

Cheers

 

[TNT]

LOVE delay - it's my thing!! However, one is all I need!

 

[peterd79]

just finsihed re-wiring my board... i tossed on a MXR Phase 90 (the red, white and black striped variant) in doing so i found room for a.... a.... a.... nother delay... ay... ay... ay...

 

[wheres my pick?]

There always seems to be a little bit more room no?

 

[peterd79]

absolutely... there's a few pedals that just simply won't come off my board... EB WAH- and EB VPjr... and then i just move everything around and tighten it up a bit viola... you have room for a new pedal... or two... LOL

 

[beej]

I like having two- ~250ms and a ~450ms, but usually not at the same time.

If you're running in stereo, having one slightly less than double the shorter one yields some pretty cool sounds.

 

[auxren]

Or you could just turn the feedback all the way up on the delays and vary the delay time to get an oscillator and make some experimental synthy sounds?

 

[Roubster]

I love delay. I almost never play without it on. My most recent acquisition is the Empress Tape Delay. They took the algorithm from their Vintage Modifies Super Delay, and it has plenty of great options with tap, and also 3 available presets. It is the best sounding delay I've had yet. It replaced my flashback x4 since it was just too damn big and I was mainly using the tape modes anyway. I will also probably get a second delay so I can run them together for a rhythmic type of delay like Andy Timmons. He usually runs two Memory Man delays together as Beej described. I'll probably get a carbon copy or a standard flashback so I have a looper also.

 

[AgustinJP50]

I use two different types of delay for my lead sounds. For faster passages I use a shorter delay (so that the notes can still be distinguished from each other in fast lines) and for slower solos I use a longer delay. However, both delays are dual delays and are set in halfs (lets say 200 and 400 for the short delay and 350 and 700 for the long delay). They both run through a serial loop with a mix of 40% and the feedback amount is set somewhere between 40 (short) and 60% (long).
What beej said is also true, those settings give you some pretty cool sounds.
Hope it helps!

 

[wheres my pick?]

Thanks alot for the replies guys, the settings are much appreciated and I'll try them out as soon as I can get this running. I've hit a bit of a speed bump with the routing aspect of it. What I am currently doing is this:

-from the fx loop the signal goes into a chorus with stereo outputs (and inputs)
-one stereo output goes to the x4
-one stereo output goes to the transition
-from the delays the signal goes into a flanger with stereo inputs (and outputs)
-the output of the x4 goes to one stereo input
-the output of the transition goes to one stereo input
-it goes through the flanger and out in one output

You could think of this as using the chorus as a splitter and the flanger as a condenser. My problem is this, the only delay im getting is the one that is plugged into the top jack of the flanger. I have tried switching the chorus and flangers spots but the problem persists. What I suspect is that pedals with stereo outs and ins are only capable of splitting one signal into two, not condensing two signals into one. Is this the case? If not can anyone enlighten me on how to route this so that the delays are running in parallel.

Thanks in advance, and cheers

 

[beej]

Yeah, sounds like your flanger won't mix the two input signals (most stereo pedals won't). For that you need a dedicated mixer, of which there are a ton available (I use an RJM mini line mixer to run reverb & delay in parallel). Get one and you're good to go.

One note on using the chorus as a mixer- you may or may not have some trouble with phase cancellation. Once you get a mixer, try combining the two chorus signals without any delay in the signal path. You'll know right away. Worst case, run the chorus in mono and then use something else as a splitter (like a Y cable from a buffered pedal).

 

[wheres my pick?]

Would it be possible to use the y cable to mix the two signals from the two delays (both which have a buffer)?

 

[peterd79]

Would it be possible to use the y cable to mix the two signals from the two delays (both which have a buffer)?

i've never done that before... but it certainly wouldn't hurt anything i wouldn't think...

 

[beej]

It's not generally a great idea. I would suggest a good active mixer. You'll avoid a number of potential problems.