JHS Pedals has launched a new delay pedal. It is called Flight Delay, and it is a reassuringly simple yet versatile design, offering analogue, digital and reverse modes, all inspired by classic stompboxes.
There are no LED screens. No menus to scroll through. There is a good chance that you might not need to consult the manual before taking it for a test drive. But JHS Pedals says it has everything that you need.
And for many players, they won’t be wrong. Not only do we have these analogue, digital and reverse delay voicings, there is also a modulation section for adding chorus or vibrato to your repeats, and that subtle movement that is often the secret sauce in a great delay sound.
There are also selectable subdivisions and you’ll find tap tempo via the right-hand footswitch.
All you need to acquaint yourself with are a couple of footswitches, a trio of clearly indicated toggle switches, and dials for Mix, Time, Repeats, EQ, Mod Rate and Mod Depth. Mix controls how much of the delayed signal is mixed with your dry signal.
Time allows you to dial in a delay time anywhere between 50ms to a full second. Repeats controls feedback, or the number of repeats in your signal, and at extreme settings you can get that self-oscillating thing going on as infinite repeats cause havoc. Lots of fun to be had with that.
EQ, meanwhile, brightens or darkens the tone of your repeats. And that’s it. If you want more, well, the jacks are located at the top of the pedal and include a connection for an external expression pedal or tap-tempo switch.
The sounds themselves are designed around some old pedalboard classics we all know and love. The analogue mode is filtered BBD delay inspired by the Electro-Harmonix Memory Man and Boss DM-2.
The Memory Man can also claim credit for inspiring the modulation section. The Flight Delay’s mode is based on “early DSP” designs such as the Boss DD-5 and the long out-of-production (and cult classic?) Ibanez DE7. Reverse is a little more outré and will call to mind the sounds of a Danelectro Back Talk and the reverse mode on the seminal Line 6 DL4.
The subdivisions toggle allows players to select quarter note, eighth notes and dotted eighth note repeats. Hold down both switches to toggle trails bypass mode on and off.
Flight Delay is available now, in blue or in white, and it is priced £239/$249 street. For more details, check out the official demo video above and/or head over to JHS Pedals.
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