The Truth About Delay Pedal Placement

Today, I'm demonstrating EVERY way you can use a delay pedal in your guitar rig, so you can rest assured knowing that you're getting the most out of your delay pedals!

Which delay pedal placement sounded the best to you? Which placement sounded the worst? Tell us in the comments below!

Table of Contents
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Our Objective
01:38 Key Terms
04:07 What Gear are We Using?
05:24 Analog Into a Clean Amp
07:35 Analog Delay with Distortion Pedals
08:50 Analog Delay in an FX Loop (YIKES)
11:06 Delay into a Dirty Amp (Not Great!)
12:46 Digital Delay in an FX Loop (CLEAN)
15:02 Digital Delay in an FX Loop (DIRTY)
16:52 Recap
18:57 Thanks for Watching!

Gear Used in This Video:

⬇BUY VERTEX PEDALS⬇

⬇ONE-ON-ONE TONE CONSULTING⬇

⬇PODCAST⬇

⬇DIY BUFFER DIAGRAMS & TEMPLATES⬇

⬇RECOMMENDED MATERIALS⬇

CREDITS:
Host/Co-Production: Mason Marangella
Video: Nico Sotomayor
Video Editing: Victor San Pedro
Co-Production/Design: Mason Mejia
Audio Engineering: Hunter Harrison

LOCATION:
Oakland, CA

#delaypedal #guitarpedals #rigdoctor

[VertexEffectsInc]

Which delay pedal placement sounded the best to you? Which placement sounded the worst? Tell us in the comments below!

Table of Contents
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Our Objective
01:38 Key Terms
04:07 What Gear are We Using?
05:24 Analog Into a Clean Amp
07:35 Analog Delay with Distortion Pedals
08:50 Analog Delay in an FX Loop (YIKES)
11:06 Delay into a Dirty Amp (Not Great!)
12:46 Digital Delay in an FX Loop (CLEAN)
15:02 Digital Delay in an FX Loop (DIRTY)
16:52 Recap
18:57 Thanks for Watching!

[sgtcaco]

Jack black and Dave Navarro had a baby.

[sequoia]

I really respect Mason and all of his expertise and wisdom, and I’m an effect noob, so I also appreciate the need for clear and articulate explanations. However, I’m also critically aware of the ever shortening length of viewer attention spans, including my own. As a parent, student, and full-time music industry employee, my time is always being split at least three ways. As such, I’m looking for content that is concise, well organized, and to the point. I take notes on Mason’s videos, but I usually skip 80% of the content and just write the major points, because pedal experts are becoming way too verbose on YouTube these days, this channel included. Thanks for making videos with such a tremendous wealth of digestible wisdom, and thanks for organizing and bulleting your videos for those of us that can’t be fucked to listen to Mason talk for 30 minutes about where to place delay.
(EDIT: Less talk, more rock!)

[jessejive]

I love this guys personality and style of speaking. The scenery looks beautiful too!

[dispersemedia]

Listen to Porcupine Tree - Incident. The sound of delay in front of a distorted amp is used throughout that album. That sound is also popular in Stoner Metal and Psychedelic rock. One tip is to keep the level of the trails down to prevent too much harshness of the sound. A dark sounding delay like the DM-2 is also more forgiving in this setup. Another setup I also like is to put the delay in between two drive pedals. For example, Tubescreamer -> DM-2 -> Rat. That way only the Rat is saturating the DM-2.

[BuddyBlues]

Unrelated to the subject of the video: I'm REALLY loving the Vertex video quality and lighting these days! Rig Dr bouta hit GQ

Related to subject: never thought of delay and fx loops that way. Awesome insight

[massimos]

Great video Mason
Beautiful playing !! really enjoyed this video and great information. Cheers

[michael_caz_nyc]

Love my DD500 = an entire toolbox of useful delay sounds. Great stuff Mason - always sharing useful & relevant knowledge.

[RBL]

Man I’m totally diggin these comprehensive effects videos !
Maybe one on compressors some day 🤞🏼

[Starchbcda]

I use delays and reverbs in front of a fully distorted Boogie Mark III. Its GLORIOUS 🤯

[danielfrabotta]

Wow, I never thought about how effects loops were set up in terms of levels before. That's really helpful to know. I'm wondering if you could mitigate that clipping on the vintage delay by placing a volume pedal in front of it in the loop and calibrating to taste as a workaround. Just a thought. Anyway, great video as always and keep rocking.

[davidjameschamberlain]

I appreciate the fact that you don't push the everything in the effects loop mentality. I'm an analog delay guy, and an edge of breakup kinda dude. For me, I like my mix lower, everything in front of the amps. I get some amp character on the first repeats, then it sits back and chills.

[Suicaedere]

Incredibly well done and thought out videos. Thank you Mason and Co.

[umatgeratonleik]

I have to say that a delay into a overdriven amp is my favourite solo guitar sound. Not least because Mike McCready does it all the time, and it's all over some European rock bands' records (and I'm not talking about shoegaze), but It also sounds beautiful when you do it. When you play to it by keeping to certain tones and really pouring some feel into the notes, perhaps together with some controlled feedback, you get this glorious, wash of heightened emotion.

[Andyanddiana]

East Bay Ray of the Dead Kennedys would run analog and tape delays into dirty marshalls - he liked the way the delays would clean up as they repeat. It's not a bad sound for some of that grungy punky stuff. I run a DM3 into a slightly driven amp and it's kinda cool.

[PhishBanjo]

Great video! This video provides the clearest explanation I've heard of the benefits of using a Reverb before a delay.

[mohanarjit]

listened the intro in the morning felt me like i'm on a mountain peak having peace

[thedddemon]

Well done for mentioning the caveat of using restricted echo in front of the amp. Not many people are aware of that. Cheers

[mattengler]

Mike Soldano’s loop is a unicorn. Not only is it line level but it’s placed before the tone stack. The majority of loops in amps built in the last 20 years are either selectable line/instrument or just instrument level. Even Mike caved in.

[zoomzoom]

Good, informative and thorough demo.

Well done!