VOX
DELAYLAB
BY TYLER GREEN
A delay pedal, under the control of the right musician, can be an instrument
by itself. From simple doubling and echo
to shimmering walls of sound and endless
oscillations, delay pedals can transform
guitar tones in ways that range from subtle
to otherworldly. Delay can be addictive
too. And like mad scientists, some guitarists will lock themselves away with a horde
of delay pedals, conducting unfathomable
tone experiments in search of just the right
texture for a verse, chorus, or bridge. No
wonder some guitarists look like cast members from Lord of the Dance while frantically
trying to switch between pedals on stage.
Vox, which has a history of rewarding
curious musicians with even more curious
sounds, almost certainly considered these
delay fiends when they designed the new
DelayLab. With 30 delay types, three different looping modes, expression pedal capability, and a very intelligent preset system,
the DelayLab is a solution for insatiable
experimentalists, as well as players that need
to inhabit a delay domain that’s more traditional. It’s a pedal that’s versatile without
being so deep that it’s unusable. Everything
you need is accessible, easy to use, easy to
configure, and the sounds are solid and cover
everything from standard tones to more
extreme textures. If you find that delay pedals have been multiplying like rabbits on
your board in the quest to cover every flavor
of echo, this pedal might be the cure.
Looks Good in a Lab Coat
On the surface, the DelayLab looks like
a distant cousin to Vox’s ToneLab stomp-boxes. The cast-metal chassis is rugged
and has a solid-white finish, along with a
black brushed-metal faceplate, red LED
indicator, five black push-buttons, six
white chickenhead knobs, and green/red
LEDs for the four heavy-duty (but silent)
footswitches. It’s a busy control set, though
for all that the DelayLab has going on, it’s
pretty easy to tell what you’re looking at
once you get familiar with the layout. The
to hear audio clips of the pedal at
premierguitar.com/may2012
CLICKHere…
11-position rotary-knob on the far-left
side switches between the 10 delay types
and the looping mode. The other five
chickenhead knobs run the specific delay
parameters, while the push-buttons control
functions. This leaves the four footswitches
to control bank selection, presets, effect on/
off, and looping functions when the looping mode is engaged.
there are 30 preset slots, 30 delay types,
10 banks, a footswitch dedicated to bank
selection/tap tempo, and three footswitches
dedicated to individual banks. So it’s possible to create 30 different patches for 10
different songs, with a different delay for the
verse, chorus, and bridge for all 10 songs—
an impressive palate for any player to have
at their disposal. And with that many delays
and a looping mode, there are plenty of
ways to get the right sound at any time.
Other slick features that enhance the
DelayLab’s functionality include the sync
At stage volume with a full band playing, the
DelayLab does a great job copping the originals.
While there are 10 delay categories, you
can actually access 30 different presets by
using the function key to switch through
delay types like analog, tape, and tap
tempo, to digital lo-fi, dynamic, modulated,
and pitch-shifted delays that you tend to
see in more advanced DSP-based delays.
The DelayLab is designed with the stage
and performance in mind to a significant
extent, and its functionality in that environ-
ment will not disappoint. Consider that
button, which assigns note values to the tap
tempo so you can create complex delay pat-
terns. There are also programmable bypass
modes, as well as the ability to blend between
two presets by using the programmable expres-
sion pedal and assigning one patch to the heel
and another to the toe. How cool is that?
10 delay
categories
Looping
mode
