Use of Dual Delay

[Barry Yasika]

Years ago I went to see a steel player in Orlando were I lived. He was really good and he had a big sound but wasn't all that much louder than any other steel players I'd seen back in the day. I spoke to him about his sound a little and he mentioned he used two different delays. He allowed me to try his guitar out for a little during the break and I could see what he meant. I never did take note of what kind of delays he used, if they were digital, analog, maybe a combination of both? I never thought to ask him how he had that set up either, was one short the other longer? I'm not even sure if he was using two amps with two different delay times but the sound was huge. Has anyone ever done anything like that? I've actually played through two amps back in the day but one had the reverb and delay and other was dry and that gave me a fairly big sound but his was much fuller somehow and I wished I wouldn't gotten specifics. Sadly, there was an impatient gal I was entertaining who wasn't at all interested in any of that kind of small talk and in the end she won. So.....again if anyone has done or does do something like this I'd like to know how you set it all up. I've tried different ways myself but can't seem to stumble on what he'd done. Gracias Amigos/Amigas

[Dave Grafe]

A 20ms - 30ms delay is a doubler that fattens up the signal. Shorter than 10ms plus a bit of modulation and feedback and you are in chorus territory. Treat this like part of the uneffected signal and feed the combined mix into:

100ms - 400ms delays are discrete slapbacks or echoes that promote sustain and sense of space, especially when fed to a good reverb.

Try GTR > VP > 26ms Short Delay (double) > 270ms Long Delay (echo) > Reverb and you'll likely find that which you seek

[Barry Yasika]

Thanks for the input Dave, I'll give it a shot if I can find a delay that actually tells me how many milli's, the delay is set for. At the moment I have one that does and the other is a dial by ear. Be great if it's what I'm shooting to get.

[Dave Grafe]

I'll give it a shot if I can find a delay that actually tells me how many milli's, the delay is set for. At the moment I have one that does and the other is a dial by ear.

Actually that's perfect, the short delays are best set by the numbers and the long delays can best be set by ear anyway.

Hook them up so that your effects signal goes from volume pedal to the delay unit with the display (start at 26ms with feedback and delay modulation off and mix at 30-40%), out of that short delay into the non-display, long delay unit. Set the long delay so that it repeats 3 to 4 times per second and then turn the feedback down until the second echo is only a hint you'll want to set the mix by ear as well . If you use outboard reverb that would be last in the chain. I have very good reverb in my amps so that's what I use.

The idea is to use the short delay "double" to get the effect of two voices together (or more with subtle use of modulation, feedback and phase) so it needs to be much stronger in the mix than the long delay or reverb that complete the effect. Some folks skip the long delay unit altogether and just feed a doubled ~26ms signal through to the amp and use its reverb, so you might even try that also.

Keep us posted on your adventures

[Barry Yasika]

Will Do Dave, Just read this but plan on giving this a run in the next day or two. What your saying seems to be in line with what I was hearing that night. I've heard it done on recordings as well, at least I heard that sound on some different recordings big and thick but not in your face loud. I always wondered if they used the dual delay set up. Find out soon enough, really appreciate your input and I've always found your posts interesting.

[Ken Metcalf]

For me Tap Tempo is the way for delay.
I use a NUX Atlantic Delay & Reverb Effects Pedal

[Dave Grafe]

For me Tap Tempo is the way for delay.
I use a NUX Atlantic Delay & Reverb Effects Pedal

Tap functions are helpful for setting long delays to song tempo but the OP was asking about short delay effects, i.e. chorusing and doubling, which consists of delays between 1ms and 30ms, and you can't tap that fast, never mind perceive it as a discrete delay.

[Ken Metcalf]

Tap functions are helpful for setting long delays to song tempo but the OP was asking about short delay effects, i.e. chorusing and doubling, which consists of delays between 1ms and 30ms, and you can't tap that fast, never mind perceive it as a discrete delay.

For Chorus I use an Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork Pitch Effect Pedal. It will detune my guitar to Eb and has the best sounding chorus I have heard in a stomp box.

[Dave Grafe]

Tap functions are helpful for setting long delays to song tempo but the OP was asking about short delay effects, i.e. chorusing and doubling, which consists of delays between 1ms and 30ms, and you can't tap that fast, never mind perceive it as a discrete delay.

For Chorus I use an Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork Pitch Effect Pedal. It will detune my guitar to Eb and has the best sounding chorus I have heard in a stomp box.

Excellent, but a chorus pedal is still not capable of the doubling effect sought by the OP. Chorus operates in the 1-3ms range with significant modulation and feedback, while doubling occurs at ten times that, i.e. 24-30ms with little to no modulation and feedback, and is best when applied prior to chorus effects and other ambient processing, simulating a second unison voice. Different animals entirely.