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MXR Carbon Copy Delay Review

In the seemingly never-ending array of delay pedals and devices, it’s hard to come up with something new. The Carbon Copy is certainly in that category. Past attempts have

MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay
In the seemingly never-ending array of delay pedals and devices, it’s hard to come up with something new. The Carbon Copy is certainly in that category. Past attempts have always fallen a bit short of my expectations; this pedal is the first one that hasn’t.

The first commercially produced tape echo devices truly sounded great, but they had a few inherent problems, such as tape breakage and stretching, and they were unreliable. The devices designed to replace them were born of the early generation of chips and components—analog circuits. They were pretty good sounding units, but some felt that the repeats were not clear, especially with longer delay settings.

The Carbon Copy delay does not seem to have any of the inherent problems that plagued earlier analog units. This unit can produce long delay times that still retain great tone—not “clanky” or brittle. The short slapback delays, like those used in country music, are tight and do not muddy up. The regeneration or repeats setting on this pedal provided a naturally occurring trail of echos that was never apparent on most older units—never too much or too little. The Mix knob is graduated to provide exact amounts of delay versus dry. There is also a modulation that replicates the tape warble found in older tape units. I think this is a great feature.

The MXR Carbon Copy is one of the most musical analog delays I’ve ever tried. It’s well made, as are all MXR products. The controls are very easy, and a great tone can be achieved without much effort. A great pedal. – KR
Buy If...
you’re looking for a great, useable delay for all genres of music.
Skip If...

you’re looking for the harder sound of a Digital Delay.
Rating...
4.5
MSRP $254.61 - MXR - jimdunlop.com