Need advice on buying Delay Unit

[Sumit Simlai]

What would be a really good digital delay unit for non-pedal console steel? My amplifier is Roland Cube 80GX. I’m planning to buy after verifying here as I have been given these options -

Strymon Volante
Strymon Timeline
Boss DD-200
Boss DD-8
Boss SDE-3000D

[Erv Niehaus]

I pretty much stick with a Boss DD3.

[Fred Treece]

The Cube has a built-in delay effect, probably based on the DD-3. You could get a GF-AC footswitch, plug it into the Cube, and have access to the delay and all your other internal effects, plus channel switching.

[Dennis Detweiler]

Ibanez Analog Mini Delay. I own several delays. This is my favorite.

[Lee Rider]

I really like the Hilton Legend Pro Delay for digital and the MXR Carbon Copy for analog.

[Richard Sinkler]

Out of those you listed, I would choose the Strymon Timeline. If you are after a "digital delay" sound, the Volante is not going to get you there, as it is a tape delay type of pedal, my favorite type of delay.

[Sumit Simlai]

My main objective is to get a fatter / thicker stroke, not dull but loud and sharp. I understood something much smaller than slapback, about 20 ms will do the job. I do not want repeats at any cost.

[Tucker Jackson]

If you are wanting a natural sounding delay -- that is, one that emulates the way echo works in nature - I would encourage you to look at something other than a digital style. There have been some good recommendations here for analog delay units:

Ibanez AD
Carbon Copy MXR
And I will add:
Electro-Harmonix Memory Toy

The Strymon gear is fantastic and it's what I use, but depending on your needs, it may be overkill. And it will be very expensive. If you are buying a first delay pedal, it may make sense to buy a simple, inexpensive unit first, like one of the ones listed above and see if that works for you.

Many steel players who want to thicken their sound (or are going for the natural sound of playing in a large hall, where the sound bounces off the back wall and echos back) set the delay unit for 1 repeat (1 Echo... or up to 3 Echos). Set the Mix or Volume to about half the level of the original signal, and then set the delay time to be about 1/3 of one second (330 ms). This can be used as an 'always on' setting, and it sounds a little bit like a short, fat reverb. In fact, if you use reverb, having the delay turned on means you can probably cut way back on the reverb. You can also try the 20ms you mentioned, but in my opinion, that would sound strange. I'm not sure I've ever heard a steel with a delay even shorter than the 'slap back' on it but it costs nothing to try it out.

Another options is to manually set the time of the delay or echo to be in tempo with the song, like eighth notes on slower tunes, and quarter notes on faster tunes. That way, you can turn the unit up higher and get more effect without it calling attention to itself because the echos fall in line with the rhythm of the band.

[Sumit Simlai]

The Cube has a built-in delay effect, probably based on the DD-3. You could get a GF-AC footswitch, plug it into the Cube, and have access to the delay and all your other internal effects, plus channel switching.

Thanks. I did buy the GA-FC. Just wondering if the DD-3 is already built inside the amp, why bother buying, provided it offers me the option of 15 ms or so, just to get a fat sound. Clearly I should not be needed a gadget for that, but I feel that setting such short ms timing is not going to be possible or easy.

[Sumit Simlai]

If you are wanting a natural sounding delay -- that is, one that emulates the way echo works in nature - I would encourage you to look at something other than a digital style. There have been some good recommendations here for analog delay units:

Ibanez AD
Carbon Copy MXR
And I will add:
Electro-Harmonix Memory Toy

The Strymon gear is fantastic and it's what I use, but depending on your needs, it may be overkill. And it will be very expensive. If you are buying a first delay pedal, it may make sense to buy a simple, inexpensive unit first, like one of the ones listed above and see if that works for you.

Which Strymon do you use, Timeline or Volante, as they are different animals? I was hoping to find something that gave me the kind of sound that I have been listening to on all Sunil Ganguly recordings past 50 years. Trying to figure out if at all delay was used, or was it only the art or technique:

https://youtu.be/bDF810UxcXU?si=wJQL6jk99bIM-Yp8 (a Bengali Film song)
https://youtu.be/BUHhtLyzgj0?si=zdbXHzDSFnqKKA2Y (A Bengali song)

This is my dream stroke, my dream volume control using picking, and the tonal quality. Unfortunately the maestro passed away in 1999.

[Tucker Jackson]

I use the Strymon El Capistan. It emulates an old tape-delay machine. Interestingly, I've turned off the features that most make it sound like a tape machine (the Wow and Flutter and the Tape Crinkle) so it now it just sounds like a simple analog delay.

Listening to the Sunil Gunguly song, it does not sound like he is using any delay. To me, it sounds like he has turned the treble down on his amp to get a fat tone, then added a LOT of spring reverb, but with a short decay, like 1 second (or a longer 2 second or so, on the film you posted). Do you have a good option for reverb?

Also, he may be picking the strings further away from the bridge, since this will give you a fatter tone.

[Fred Treece]

The Cube has a built-in delay effect, probably based on the DD-3. You could get a GF-AC footswitch, plug it into the Cube, and have access to the delay and all your other internal effects, plus channel switching.

Thanks. I did buy the GA-FC. Just wondering if the DD-3 is already built inside the amp, why bother buying, provided it offers me the option of 15 ms or so, just to get a fat sound. Clearly I should not be needed a gadget for that, but I feel that setting such short ms timing is not going to be possible or easy.

Right. You have to program the delay every time you plug in, and it’s pretty hard to tap 15ms!