Can I Leave My Delay Pedal Always On?

I’m assuming you’ve discovered the joy of having a delay unit on your rig. Suddenly, you get nice and warm repetitions (if you’re using analog delay) or perfect, pristine, locked-in echoes (if you’re using a digital unit). I’m pretty sure you’ve also noticed that your playing sounds more interesting now. Dull guitar parts are now coming alive and even simple riffs are achieving new levels of expression.

Now you’re asking yourself: “Everything sounds so good now. Can I leave my delay pedal always on?”.

The short answer is a resounding YES! You can pretty much leave your delay unit always on. To the point of sounding repetitive (no pun intended), having a delay unit engaged will enhance your sound. It will also make your guitar tone bigger; even a simple arpeggio can become a recognizable anthem with the right amount of delay.

In this brief post, I would like to share with some simple tips (and my thoughts) in case you want to keep your delay pedal always there.

A Brief Observation

Before going to the tips, I would like to make an observation. I’m going to address this topic from the perspective of someone who will actually leave the pedal always on, regardless of the tempo of the song.

This can be the case if all you have is a simple delay, but you still want to somehow enhance your sound. Also, eventually you will play with some other people (maybe in a band, in church, your school, etc.) and trust me, you don’t want to sound off.

There are some nuances to this -like adjusting every now and then the delay time depending on the tempo of the songs-, but with a little practice, you’ll learn to use what you have to achieve the best possible outcome.

Also, the main trick (in my opinion at least) is to make your delay usage subtle but recognizable; what I’m trying to say is that you will notice is there, but it fits nicely with everything else.

With all that being said, let’s go through the tips.

Tip #1: Use Simple Settings

First of all, take into consideration the mix level of the pedal. A higher mix will put emphasis on the volume of the repetitions. As it was mentioned in the section before, the idea is to be more subtle. I will suggest not using a mix level beyond the 10-11 mark.

This allows you to play a little bit more with the repetitions. Because the mix level is not that loud, you can have the luxury of using more repeats (feedback), even if they’re not completely synced with the tempo. This can help you create a sound layer sort to speak. I will recommend using a feedback level around the 9-10 mark.

Finally, you have the tempo. Here’s where it can get a little complicated. What I normally do is to set the delay/time knob in the middle. What I’m trying to achieve here is a delay time that’s not too fast but also not to slow, in essence, a tempo that’s always in between.

Because I use my analog delay to do this and it’s maximum delay time is around 550 milliseconds, placing the knob in the middle gives me that desired effect. If you have a delay with more delay time, say, 800 milliseconds, then probably that sweet spot is between the 10-11 mark. As you already noticed, this varies according to the pedal you have, so you will have to experiment a little with it.

Some Examples

Here’s a setting that I used most of the time with my Memory Boy:

Memory Boy Setting — **Image 1:** An always-on setting on the Memory Boy.

You can use either the Exp. Pedal mode or the Chorus Mode. Both settings will give you a nice modulation rate but I do have to say I tend to stay on the Chorus mode.

In case you have a pedal like the DD-3, here’s a very nice way to use it:

BOSS DD-2 Setting — **Image 2:** Here’s an always-on setting on the DD-3.

Also, check the link in the Resources section for a great video with some “always on” DD-3 settings.

Tip #2: Use an Analog Delay

Analog delays are great for adding warmth to your sound. They also blend really well with your overall tone. This is because contrary to digital delay, the echoes produced by an analog device are not perfect and degrade with each new repeat. That’s exactly the type of outcome that we need because again, this allows you add dimension to your sound, without being too noticeable.

Most analog delays also tend to have some sort of modulation. This is very handy because now you’re adding some extra texture to your musical canvas; adding the right amount of modulation will help the repeats to blend even more in into the overall sound produced.

I’ve always used my Memory Boy this way and the setting is very similar to what was shown in the previous section. This pedal also lets you chose the modulation rate and it actually has a chorus setting. Nonetheless, I sometimes position the toggle switch on the middle (Exp. Pedal) because it also sounds good this way.

Another Example

Here’s a simple setting on the Carbon Copy. Notice again that the magic happens when you get the mix and the repeats (Regen on this pedal) combined in such a way it’s subtle but noticeable.

Carbon Copy Setting — **Image 3:** Carbon Copy always-on delay setting.

The Boss DM-2 is also very similar in structure. Here’s a setting that works really well:

BOSS DM-2 Setting — **Image 4:** BOSS DM.2 always-on setting.

Notice that the controls on the DM-2 are named a little different. They also behave counter-clockwise. For instance, the more you go on the right with the Repeat Time, the fewer repetitions you get (it’s weird I know). Since we are talking about this pedal, here are two more settings:

BOSS DM-2 Setting 2 — **Image 5:** Try this setting on your DM-2.

You can listen to these DM-2 settings on the video featured on the Resources section.

Alternatives

What if you don’t have an analog delay? Don’t worry, as mentioned on Tip #1, a simple setting on a digital delay will work just fine. I do have to say, I sometimes tend to prefer the sounds of analog delays. I guess this obeys to the fact it was my first delay pedal, and I’ve learned how to get away with it sort to speak.

Also, there are some digital delay units that offer you some analog presets, like the Boss DD-7. Another great example would be the Lucky Cat, from JHS, that allows you to darken the overall tone of your delay.

But as mentioned before, don’t worry, you can use a digital delay. Here is one more example using a DD-3:

BOSS DD-3 Setting 2 — **Image 7:** Try this setting on your DD-3.

If you’re interested in how this setting sound, check the link in the Resources section for a great demo on some always on settings for this delay.

Also, keep in mind you can translate pretty much all these settings to the delay of your choice. I decided to use the Memory Boy, Carbon Copy, DD-3 and DM-2 as examples because they are popular pedals.

Tip #3: Sync Your Repeats

I know the main idea behind this post was to offer some settings that you could use all the time, regardless of the tempo of the song. But sometimes you need to play rhythmically. To do that, you just have to sync your repeats.

You can do this in two ways: manually or using the tap function of your pedal (provided the pedal has one).

Adjusting the tempo manually means you will have to position the delay time knob according to the song’s bpm in milliseconds. This is sometimes a little bit tricky, and doing it on the fly between songs, can be a little complicated. Nonetheless, if you’re interested to know a little bit more about delay times and how to calculate them, you can read this post.

But as mentioned before, it can be that having the repeats to the bpm of the song can be crucial for you.

If you really need everything to be synced, then you just a need a delay that will allow you to achieve this easily. My recommendation is that you get a simple digital delay with tap tempo feature. I’ve recently written a post about the best 24 delay pedals with this option and you can read it here.

Tip #4: Experiment With Different Delay Time Subdivisions

This tip is a little bit related to the previous one. It also becomes noticeable when you heavily relay on delay for rhythmic parts.

For instance, suppose you have a song that has a bpm of 120. Also, suppose you tap your delay to the tempo of the song.

If you tapped your delay with Quarter Notes (the typical “4 on the floor” rhythm), then you will get… Correct! You get repeats in Quarter Notes. What if you want Eighth Notes?

Well, to do that, you will need to tap the subdivisions. That means you’re gonna have to tap the beats between the 1 and the 2, 3 and the 4. Usually, this is noted like this:1 & 2 & 3 & 4. The result that you get is to some extent different. Now, you have more repeats per beat. This is something desirable if you want to sound fuller or “busier” and can really help a lead line to soar.

I’ve covered delay time subdivisions with a little more detail in a previous post, so if you’re still curious and would like to read (and hear some examples) about it, I recommend you to check that post here.

Delay Time Subdivisions: Do They Really Make a Difference?

Yes, they do. A certain delay time subdivision will accentuate your guitar playing. This is very noticeable when you use them heavily for rhythmical parts.

I attended once a workshop held by Outbreak Band, which is a very famous Worship band in Germany. At some point, they were talking about effects and how they used them. Back then I was really curious about how to pick the best delay time (subdivision) for a song. Their answer left me surprised, but happy; they basically told to use what I liked the most, “just keep in mind that some subdivisions will tend to sound more galloping.”

I know that for some people this answer was not the best, but I’ve got their point. You can pretty sound good with any delay time subdivision that you want, as longs as at least, you’re synced with the tempo of the song.

So just experiment, dotted eighth might sound cool (and I love it), but sometimes, quarter notes might be all that you need.

Some Final Thoughts

I hope that after reading this post, you can have at least one idea of how you can use your delay pedal, so you can leave it always on. As I mentioned before, this is something I tend to do. I know it may not be ideal, and sometimes it can complicate things, but hey, I like it.

Doing that also taught me to find a way to sound “good”. This simply means that often times I had to make little adjustments to the way I played so I could get away with it. It was a fun and very educative process.

By the way, I used the word “can” instead of “should”, can you notice the difference? I wanted to stress the fact that there’s nothing wrong with this possibility. However, the real question should be “should I leave my delay pedal always on?”.

And that’s something I want to hear from you. Should someone leave the delay pedal always on? Do you think it is a good idea? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Share your knowledge with other readers, don’t be shy :).

Until the next time,

M.M