Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about this post. Today, I wanted to put together a list that I’m calling My Top 10 List of Working Man Delays. So, how do I define “Working Man”? I wanted to assemble a list of delays in the $100 – $200 range. This excludes a lot of delays out there, but leaves a great group of delay pedals you see on a lot of boards out there.
I wanted to put a mix of analog and digital delays. There are some very common brands as you would come to expect, but there are some great “boutique” delays in there as well. I paired up the Boss DD-3 and Boss DD-7 since they both fall in this range, but some people would be interested in both, and I didn’t want to burn up 2 slots. There were a few I left off – that were hard. For example the Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master is one of my favorites, but I lean toward this being more of a reverb effect for me (how I use it any way), so I left this delay off.
Okay, let’s get to it:
My Top 10 List of Working Man Delays
TC Electronic FlashBack Delay
MXR M169 Carbon Copy
Line 6 DL4
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay or Boss DD-7 Digital Delay
Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Boy
Way Huge WHE701 Aqua-Puss
EarthQuaker Devices Disaster Transport JR
Catalinbread Belle Epoch EP-3
Moog MF Delay Minifooger
Caroline Guitar Company Kilobyte
The Line 6 DL4 is one that you see everywhere, but personally, I’m not a big fan. I own one myself, and it’s been on/off my board many times. The Carbon Copy to me is the best delay – dollar for dollar for a great sounding (always on type) analog delay. Hard to beat the foot print and ease of use. The EQD Disaster Transport JR is my jam for sure. I’ve played the SR version, it’s amazing – plus I love everything EQD.
I got some great feedback about my list, and thought I should add an “Honorable Mention” group of other delays that fall in this category that didn’t make it in my list of 10. Want to add more? Shoot me a message or comment below!
Honorable Mention
Ibanez Analog Delay Mini
Digitech OBSCURA Altered Delay
Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master
Seymour Duncan Vapor Trail
Dunlop WHE702S Echo-Puss Analog Delay
Let me know what you think. If you could expand this list, what would you add to it? Remember, the price needs to be between $100-$200. Comment below!
