Boss DD-7 Delay Pedal

So I recently invested in Boss’s new DD-7 delay pedal and thought I’d write a little something about it here. With a seemingly infinite array of delay pedals available, and given the tastes of each musician, it’s certainly not my place to tell you what pedal to buy. However this particular take on the lead guitarist’s best friend offers some more interesting features under the bonnet.

My previous delay pedal (which will now be temporarily renting a home on eBay) was a Boss DD-20. A brilliant pedal with pretty much every delay flavor available and over 20 seconds of delay time! However I didn’t need all its features and as a result pinned my hopes on the now ‘last week’ DD-6, or its little brother the DD-3.

I found myself once again making the mistake of wandering into a guitar shop. Hoping the DD-6 may be down in price considering the new kid on the block. While I’m all for a good deal I had to see what the new pedal had to offer, and while all fundamental delay duties are covered this is quite a clever little box.

I’d always toyed with the idea of getting one of those loop stations. You know? The boxes which record your playing then you can play over the recorded ‘rhythm’ track or add more loops for a bigger sound. These pedals on their own can cost a lot, but the DD-7 will record up to 40 seconds of audio (20 seconds stereo) when required. While you of course lose the delay in favor of a loop, the fact this pedal is technically two pedals in one is just plain awesome.

I’ve always enjoyed the fact I can get my pedals to do more than they were meant for. My flange pedal works as a subtle chorus and even a tremolo. My overdrive pedal can be used as a simple volume booster, and don’t get me started on what the pitch shifter can do!

Anyway it’s all about value for money, which is what I believe you get with this pedal. Getting back to the delay side of things it has more than enough options time length wise. There’s also a reverse delay, a modulating delay and an analog effect delay. Pretty much every desirable delay ’sound’ lives in there, and while it might seem like overkill at first, once you realise how much it can do it all becomes worth it.

You can also tap tempo and attach an expression pedal or external stomp box (again for tap tempo). Attaching the expression pedal will adjust the volume of your recorded loops, perfect when you want to finish without a clumsy miss-stomp, or you could even fade out slowly like an album recording if you so desire!

As a musician who predominately writes songs on an acoustic guitar, there is always the task of playing songs on my own,. Recently I performed at a great little bar in Hayle, Cornwall called The Salt Bar. With the ability to set up a subtle backing track at the end of a song and perform some Pat Metheny-esk solos it made the night a lot more fun sonically.

Delay always comes in handy for thickening a sound, be it for a solo or just a subtle boost during choruses, but I don’t think I’ll have to buy another delay pedal for a long time after getting this one… unless I dunno, they put lasers on it and it can transform into a car or something. Yeah I’d buy that!