As a metal player, the need for a delay pedal can be…. Let's say "limited". You'd usually just look for a basic digital delay that will give you some clean, uncluttered repeats, and call it a day. Metal guitarists' pedalboards often lean toward an "only the basics" approach: a wah, (maybe) an overdrive or distortion to boost the signal going into the amp, and not much more. Of course, there are those of us who not only like to get some unusual flavors and colors in our smithy o' doom, but also branch out into other styles here and there…. and for us, pedals with versatility, character, and personality help maximize our pedalboard space. A truly musical delay pedal transforms the signal you plug into it, ideally enough so that the pedal itself could almost be considered a separate instrument on its own. This is the breed of delay I was after.

Sound
"Tone" is a VERY subjective thing, so it's difficult to say with any authority whether a particular sound is "good" or "bad" - your mileage WILL vary. With that said, I made sure to check out as many reviews as I could find online to hear what the Deluxe Memory Boy actually SOUNDS like before I bought it. Mine sounds more or less exactly like what I heard online, after correcting for the sounds of my own rig that it's being plugged into - and I LOVE it! Rich, warm, chewy all-analog BBD repeats for days, plus all-analog chorus/vibrato/crazy modulation that stands alone even with the actual delay functions… read more turned down to "0". If you're looking for pristine, sample-accurate repeats, keep walkin' - this is an ANALOG pedal, and it's proud of it. The repeats decay as they're fed back through the BBD chips, just like they're supposed to - and the result is glorious! The short slapback tones, psychedelic "outer space" sounds, and long, cavernous echoes aren't just "realistic" - they're The Real Thing. It's not EXACTLY the same sound as its ancestor, the revered 1970s Deluxe Memory Man, but you can definitely tell where this pedal is descended from that one. The only "gotcha" to look out for is power - EHX includes the required AC adaptor, which is regulated, but I noticed that the pedal's clock can "leak" into the amp signal if the grounds for the pedal and amp aren't on the same rail. Nothing big, and easy to fix, but it took me a minute to figure out why a true-bypass pedal was "ticking" in my signal when it was bypassed. Pro tip: The DMB includes a low-cut/high-pass filter that you can use to adjust the tone of the repeats! This isn't obvious by looking at it, so as with any new device, RTFM.

Features
I mentioned that this pedal is a descendant of the immortal classic Deluxe Memory Man pedal from the 70s, and shares some of the features that made that unit into a legend. However, this modern edition actually has MORE options than the original! Of particular note is obviously the tap-tempo feature, which is one of the key reasons that I (and doubtless many others) short-listed this unit in the first place. This works even better than expected, with excellent precision - if your foot can tap in time, this pedal will follow it! Having 6 different note divisions to choose from is phenomenal, this may be more than any other analog delay I've seen. That's not all, though - the chorus/vibrato functionality of the classic DMM is replicated here, and some might even say it's slightly improved with greater range and new options on the "Depth" control. I do have to say that the right (clockwise) sound of this knob is puzzling; the square-wave modulation does something odd as it ramps up and down that I haven't figured out how to make musical use of yet. It's hard to describe, but you can hear it in many online reviews. However, the left (triangle-wave) side of the dial more than makes up for this - the range is TREMENDOUS! You can go from an almost-imperceptible shimmer to seasick sweeps to completely outrageous pitch bending, all controllable with the "Rate" knob next to it (which also has incredible range). Just like on the classic DMM, the "Blend" control can be used to tune the functionality of the modulation from chorus to vibrato to outlandish effects that don't really have a name, and these can affect just the delay repeats or your entire signal depending on the delay settings. Another new feature is the "Gain" control. This replaces its ancestor's "Level" knob, and if you drop the delay and modulation settings to "0" and crank the "Blend" control for an all-wet signal, you can use this sucker as an overdrive! Pretty cool. Finally, the pedal's additional I/O includes an FX loop so you can add even more tones to your delay repeats by patching in other effects, and an expression-pedal input that lets you control any knob except Blend or Gain with a treadle. This allows for some CRAZY effect sweeping at the tips of your toes, and IMO is something that more delay pedals should implement. There's even more to dive into with everything this pedal offers, but this review is already stretching its capacity so I'll let you play around and discover for yourself.

Ease of Use
If you've played with analog delay before, most of the basics are pretty intuitive - but with that said, READ THE MANUAL. I cannot stress this enough. If you don't like manuals, don't use technology. Just do it, and don't complain about it, either - the manual is your friend. It's not super-complicated, but the manual does a great job of explaining how the various knobs and buttons work together, and it reveals a couple of "easter-egg" functions that aren't obvious at a glance. Once you know how to operate the controls, the DMB is not just easy to use, it's insanely fun to experiment with how all the functions interact to create tones from the classic to the bizarre.

Quality
Like every EHX pedal I've ever encountered, the DMB is built like a tank, and all controls feel solid and substantial. The powder-coating on the pedal's face is nicely cured, easy to read, and (I think) nice to look at. Best of all, they used the right kind of (non-latching) footswitch for the tap-tempo control - excellent!

Value
I got mine on sale for just over $150 USD, but even at the "full" price of around $195, this thing is an unbelievable bargain. Just try to find another all-analog delay with tap-tempo for less than $200 new…. Go ahead, we'll wait ;) Then, IF you find one, compare the features and sound quality to this unit. I'm guessing you'll find yourself buying one just like I did.

Manufacturer Support
I've never needed to contact Electro-Harmonix for any other units yet (I'm still loving my Battalion bass preamp that I got several years ago), and I don't anticipate that I will. But if I do, they have a long-standing reputation for taking care of their customers, so I'm not worried.

The Wow Factor
Yea, you can say that again! This pedal is AMAZING. Sure, there are things it won't do, but it's not supposed to - you don't use a saw to drive screws, and you don't use an analog delay for crystal-clear repeats. But if you're after an all-analog delay with tap-tempo, super-flexible modulation, gain staging to fit any rig, and personality that prompts you to have full-on musical conversations with it, it's easy to do worse and nearly impossible to do better.

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