Guitar Delay, Echo & Reverb Pedals
Amongst all the different guitar effects available, delay, echo and reverb are three of the most popular. It’s almost certain you’ll find at least one of these effects on all guitarists’ pedalboards.
Delay Pedals - slow the signal down and repeat it. They can be used very subtly or obviously.
They feature different delay effects including:
- Ping pong delay – delayed signals bounce from side to side of the stereo field with none in the centre
- Slapback delay – short delay time with a lot of wet (delayed) signal mixed in. Can be achieved with most delay pedals
- Stereo delay – allows two signals to be delayed. Often used to create the perception of a widened stereo field by applying very short delays to both signals and having one delayed slightly more than the other
- Can be used to create ambient tones, rhythmic delays and unique sounds using modulation
- Feature controls to set the delay time, number of repeats and volume of the delays
- Specific pedals may also have controls to determine the style of delay, modulation and tone
- Many delay pedals feature tap tempo allowing you to set the speed of the delay by pressing the control
Reverb Pedals - make your guitar sound like it’s being played in an environment/ space.
They:
- Can feature settings to mimic many different spaces such as Cathedral halls and large rooms
- Can be used subtly or obviously
- Can be used to create ambience
- Digital reverbs usually mimic a number of different types of reverbs
- Common controls on a reverb pedal allow you to set the length of the reverb, pre delay and the amount of reverb applied to the signal
Delay and echo is essentially the same thing and many people use the terms interchangeably.
In technical terms, echo would refer to a very long delay that mimics the natural kind of echo effect you could cause in a cave for example.