The featured-packed new delay from Kansas City builder Junior Thomason sounds heavenly, but can be a beast to navigate.
Many beautiful delay tones. Nice, subtle modulation. Double-delay algorithms sound incredible. Big-box functionality in a small footprint.
No delay time knob. Requires a lot of time to memorize its color-coded operations. Difficult to quickly navigate settings on the fly without a MIDI controller.
$299
JET Pedals Eternity
jetpedals.com
Maximalist pedal engineering—the kind that finds dozens of functions crammed into small enclosures—isn’t for everyone. The impressive capabilities of these units test conventional thinking about how much tone shaping power you can fit in a single compact housing. But such pedals can also test your patience if you’re the plug-in-and-go type.The JET Pedals Eternity Delay is likely built with patient tinkerers in mind. It's rich with fascinating delay sounds, but to unlock its ample power, you’ll have to keep your wits and do your work with the manual up front.
Bright Lights
There’s a lot going on in the Eternity. It has two soft-click footswitches for bypass and tap tempo, four control knobs, a 3-way toggle switch, a MIDI jack, two input and two output jacks to run it in either mono or stereo, plus a 9V jack on the right side. These are all smartly arranged, so the Eternity doesn’t feel or look crammed. Its capabilities, however, are almost overflowing.
The Eternity’s four knobs are all clear plastic, and when it’s fired up, you’ll notice that the top two knobs—which control mix and repeats—double as LEDs. Along with the two LEDs above the footswitches, these knobs are the Eternity’s navigational signposts. Clicking and holding the bypass footswitch for one second changes the delay algorithm, which is signaled by a change in color in the repeats knob. There are six algorithms to cycle through: tape, digital, analog, dual, ESD, and JRD.
The Eternity’s preset mode, which is engaged by double-tapping the bypass switch, has room for six saved presets. The presets are cycled by tapping both footswitches at the same time. Presets, too, are color-coded, and indicated by the color of the mix knob. But connect a MIDI controller, and the world’s your oyster. That will allow you to program up to 127 presets, and remotely manipulate each of the Eternity’s controls.
Memorizing numerous color codes and varying LED light patterns won’t be easy for everyone. But the functionality goes deeper still. The Cntrl 1 knob functions differently for each algorithm. For example, in the tape and analog algorithms, it adjusts the level of the preset modulation; with digital mode engaged, it adds grit to the repeats; and in the custom delay modes, it sets the level of one of the two delay programs. Curiously, there is no dedicated time knob to quickly dial in or modify the effect.
Heavenly Sounds
JET Pedals boss Junior Thomason builds pedals for worship guitarists, so it’s little surprise that the sounds here are, well, heavenly. And no matter how you set it, it seems to possess a sparkle and three-dimensionality that turns a bedroom into a cathedral. The pedal boots up on its tape delay algorithm, which is thick and musty, and the adjustable modulation is gentle and tasteful. The otherwise pristine and endless digital delay can be dirtied-up via the Cntrl 1 knob. The analog algorithm nails the dark atmospherics of BBD delays, and the ESD, which stands for echo slap doubler, hits the mark for rockabilly echo.
Where the pedal really shines, though, is in the algorithms that feature two delays. The dual algorithm combines a customizable analog delay with a fixed dotted-eighth-note digital delay. The JRD (JET signature rhythm delay) similarly features a tweakable analog delay with a tight slapback. The dual is the most fun of the two, producing zany ping-ponging rhythms and encouraging attention to timing and phrasing. The JRD, meanwhile, is straight-up grand. It lends so much space and body to chording and single notes alike that it feels like a hack to sounding like a better player.
The Verdict
For the patient and invested user, the Eternity will yield a world of possibility. It’s a powerful pedal with a ridiculous swath of features and full stereo capability. Its delay algorithms sound brilliant and rich, and JET’s original double delay programs are engaging and rewarding. But fitting all of that functionality into a pedalboard-friendly package comes with hard-won compromises in operational ease, so it’s probably best to test the Eternity before you commit to exploring its deep well of sounds and functions.
Aping old-school digital echo yields a sweet spot between BBD and ones-and-zeroes delays.
Distinct, dirty, and colorful echoes. Very cool BBD-like overtones. Rangy tone and modulation controls.
No expression control.
$209
Crazy Tube Circuits TI:ME
crazytubecircuits.com
Even in the earliest days of the analog/digital delay schism, there was never a right or wrong answer about which was best. Each has their virtues and musical place. And both delay categories are far too broad to encompass anything close to a definitive sound. An analog Echoplex sounds pretty different from a bucket brigade Deluxe Memory Man. And a shimmeringly pristine Eventide DDL definitely sounds nothing like the smoky MXR Model 113 that helped kick off the digital delay era.
The 113 was, by modern digital standards, a filthy-sounding thing. It's also the sonic inspiration for Crazy Tube Circuits TI:ME digital delay, a flexible and smartly designed device that captures the lo-fi magic of the Model 113 and inhabits what many will consider a sweet spot between immaculate digital repeats and grimier bucket brigade repeats.
Relatively Clean Relays
MXR Model 113s are notoriously noisy—particularly as they age. The original also had a narrow frequency response of 20 kHz to 2.5 kHz, depending on delay time. The TI:ME uses a set of analog filters in the twin digital delay lines to achieve the grit and much of the tactile response of that narrow range while cleaning up the noise floor considerably. It doesn't replicate the Model 113's circuitry, but Crazy Tube Circuit's take on the filtering component of the 113's design helps the TI:ME nail the tone idiosyncrasies of early digital.
Unlike the Model 113's hodgepodge of push buttons and knobs, the TI:ME's control set is simple, familiar, and super intuitive. Mix, feedback, and delay time controls are arranged on the top row. Tone and modulation depth knobs are arrayed just below. A quarter note/dotted eighth/triplet delay divisions toggle is situated in the center. Apart from that, there's just soft-relay footswitches for bypass and tap tempo. You can hold down the latter to induce runaway oscillation effects. An internal switch enables you to select between true bypass or buffered bypass with trails.
The TI:ME maintains a just-right balance between BBD haze and percussive, distinguishable repeats.
Dirty Animals
When I say the TI:ME inhabits a world between digital and analog tonalities, I don't mean that it splits the difference. In fact, the TI:ME's fundamental tones are much closer to a bucket brigade delay unit. The closest tone match I could find among the digital and analog delays I had on hand was an MXR Carbon Copy, which is no small compliment in my book. The Carbon Copy and other analog delays I tested against the TI:ME all produced repeats that were more distorted and compressed than the TI:ME's echoes. By comparison, high-resolution digital delay tones sounded like sterile reflections from hard, cold tile.
Those differences get more interesting and pronounced when you situate a drive or distortion source upstream from the delay. Where bucket brigade devices tend to turn distortion into beautiful reverberative miasma, the TI:ME maintains a just-right balance between BBD haze and percussive, distinguishable repeats. You have to wonder if it was the original Model 113's ability to walk this fine line that attracted notorious tone hounds like Gilmour and Zappa to the unit. Certainly, the TI:ME's take on that balance offers intriguing near-hybrid analog/digital sounds that aren't as readily discovered in simple bucket brigade or digital delay units.
Additional analog-redolent textures lurk in the tone and modulation controls. Both have wide range and can help fine tune the TI:ME's echoes to suit the effects elsewhere in your rig. Used together, they can also add extra grime to the TI:ME's basically dusty voice.
The Verdict
The TI:ME is brimming with character that defies digital stereotypes. And while its voice has much of the color of a BBD analog unit, it has the capacity to be slightly cleaner in a way that gives nuanced solos, harmonics, chord detail, and overtones from your guitar and elsewhere in your effects chain more room to breathe. And while a streamlined 3-knob analog delay may be 30 to 60 bucks cheaper on average, those units are less likely to offer tap tempo, modulation this characterful and rangy, or dotted eight and triplet division options. Consider those features and a truly distinct delay voice, and the $209 price tag starts to look like money very well spent.
Crazy Tube Circuits TI:ME Demo - First Look
The darkness, dirt, and drift of early digital delay live in this inspired echo.More First Look videos: https://bit.ly/FIrstLookSubscribe to PG's Channel: htt...
An easy-to-use multi-head octave echo with solid foundational delay tones and weirdness on tap.
Deceptively deep but easy to use. Great for every day delay tones and deep freakouts.
Glitch and warp settings could get same-y over time.
$209
SolidGoldFX EM-III Multi-Head Octave Echo
solidgoldfx.com
The EM-III from SolidGoldFX starts with a foundation of warm, analog-like digital delay and builds a bevy of functionality on top. It's a powerful pedal, and thanks to a simple and well-considered set of controls, it's intuitive and practical too.
The basic delay sound is easily controlled via time, repeat, and level controls, while flutter and color knobs allow users to tweak modulation and tone settings. Switching the center toggle to the left selects up to three delay heads; switching to the right activates the pedal's octave-down setting. With these controls, it's easy to access solid, foundational delay tones or head for totally twisted, but controlled, sonic space.
The self-oscillation and tape-snap sounds should be considered a requirement for any "Maggot Brain" cover you have in the works.
The EM-III's secret personality is unleashed by holding down the bypass and tap switches, which have secondary functionality for glitch and warp respectively. The self-oscillation and tape-snap sounds contained in these switches can be as weird or as subtle as you want, depending on how long you hold them down, and should be considered a requirement for any "Maggot Brain" cover you have in the works. The EM-III is a heavy hitter with a heart of gold, tons of personality, and all the warbly bliss you can imagine.
SolidGoldFX EM-III Multi-Head Octave Echo Demo - First Look
