a Teisco Del Rey ET-460, a ’60s Gibson
Firebird with P-90s, and a reissue Fender
Jaguar. I also tested the DelayLab alongside
a number of vintage tape echos, analog
delays, and digital delays. And despite
what could be considered an unforgiving
environment for side-by-side testing, one
thing was clear: at stage volume with a full
band playing, the DelayLab does a great
job copping the originals. It may not replicate every last intricacy of your favorite
Echoplex, and if you’re a stickler for vintage
authenticity, you might be happier using
your esoteric gems in the controlled environment of the studio. But as a live performance machine—and for studio situations
that don’t demand to-the-letter vintage
accuracy—the DelayLab excels.
Many of the DelayLab’s functions are
exceptional. The Echoplex-style sound-on-sound looping is excellent, and the analog
delay is especially convincing and accurate.
One of the DelayLab’s greatest strengths,
though, is the ease with which you can
add odd effects such as reverse, lo-fi, and
pitch delays to your presets. Being able to
program three banks with, say, a rhythmic
RATINGS
Pros: Solid construction. Easy to use for its depth. Clever
functionality.
Vox DelayLab, $229 street, voxamps.com
Tones
Ease of Use
Build
Value
Cons: A little big. Some delays less than totally authentic.
digital delay, reverse delay, and a tape-style
emulation, you can go from a My Bloody
Valentine-like wall of guitar, into an Adrian
Belew-style reverse guitar, and then blend
seamlessly into a David Gilmour-esque
lead part in a single bound. And with all
that firepower harnessed in such a compact
package, it will help you focus on your
playing instead of your feet.
While the looping mode does not allow
you to save patches, it is extremely easy to
use. You do sacrifice tap tempo capabilities in
looping mode, though you can apply three
different delay types (digital, analog, and
space) to the loop that can also be customized. And with 28 seconds of record time, it’s
easy to get lost in a land of delay loops as if
you were a kraut rocker adrift in space.
The Verdict
The Vox DelayLab is certainly a jack-of-all-trades, but to call it a master of none
would be terribly unfair. The DelayLab
gives live guitarists a wealth of delay tools
to work with. While some functions like
the pitch delay may not be best in class,
they are still highly expressive tools that—
when factored in functions like the top-notch analog and sound-on-sound emulations—make it a delay of formidable versatility. The real strength of the DelayLab is
that you can easily create a patch, and then
set it, forget it, and focus on playing. And
if you’re a performance-centric player that
values that kind of simple programmability
and sonic versatility, the DelayLab is your
ticket to ride.
“Hold me Harry,I‛m scared ofspiders.” “Hold me Harry,I‛m scared of spiders.”
Smith & Young
resonator guitars
(made by National
with spider cones).
Smith & Young
resonator guitars
(made by National
with spider cones).
629 FOREST AVE.• S.I., NY 10310
718-981-8585
mandolin@mandoweb.com
629 FOREST AVE.• S.I., NY 10310
718-981-8585
mandolin@mandoweb.com
