REVIEW > VisUal soUnd
VISUAL SOUND
DUAL TAP DELAY
BY JOE CHARUPAKORN
Visual Sound is among the fastest-rising manufacturers in the effects business. Touring pros who use the Nashville
pedal company’s wares in their rigs include
Robben Ford, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of
Leon, and Gym Class Heroes.
The Dual Tap Delay is the first pedal
from the company’s V3 series, and the first
new delay offering from Visual Sound since
the Garage Tone Grease delay. With the
Dual Tap Delay, Visual Sound successfully
integrates digital and analog technology.
But it also brings two delays together in
one unit with a master tap tempo, so players can tackle the challenge of needing, say,
slapback and long delays in a single tune.
striking Gold
Powered by a 9V DC power supply, the
Dual Tap Delay is enclosed in a sleek gold
casing that is slightly smaller and thinner
than a Line 6 DL4—which is to say, it’s
big, but still more compact than a lot of
dual-pedal devices. This casing is home to a
very streamlined, clean layout that basically
features two delays side-by-side with the
signal path going from delay 1 into delay
2. There are two sets of independent knobs
for each channel: time division, which gives
you four rhythmic repeats to choose from
(eighth-note triplet, dotted-eighth, eighth-
note, and quarter-note), manual delay time
(with a corresponding switch below that
chooses between manual or tap modes),
repeats, and effects level. With a modula-
tion knob for adding a chorus-like sound
to the repeats, delay 2 can also approximate
mild tape warble for a touch of cranky
Echoplex.
Kickin’ the Bucket
Armed with a Gibson Les Paul Standard,
I plugged the Dual Tap Delay into the
effects loop of my Fender Super-Sonic 1x12
combo. The first thing I noticed was that
the Dual Tap Delay is extremely quiet and
well behaved, which is a big deal when
you’re talking about delay. There have
been many occasions where I’ve run things
into my effects loop and was greeted with
squealing or crackling noises. It’s worth
mentioning that the potential for a delay to
exacerbate noise issues is considerable.
The Dual Tap Delay uses a custom
programmed DSP chip for the basic delay
and time functions. The controls and tone
shaping sections are all analog however.
And if you just listen with your ears, rather
than fixate on the digital side of the pedal’s
construction, you’ll find the Dual Tap
Delay to be among the warmest delays on
the market.
My explorations began with the chorus/
verb setting suggested by the included
instruction sheet. The setting subtly thickened my tone, especially when I goosed
the modulation knob a bit. With a little
overdrive, it can sound massive—giving
my guitar an authoritative voice that could
cut through a dense mix, even though the
Dual delays with independent controls
Modulation
control
Subdivision
controls
Tap tempo
switch
premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR FEBRUARY 2012 143
