Filthy delays—when regular analog dirt just won’t do.
The first section repeats the same phrase four times, using the both-pickups setting on the guitar, first with the Dirty Delay off, then on with Dirt knob at minimum, then Dirt knob 50%, then Dirt knob 100%.
The second passage (at 0:53) is on the guitar’s neck pickup, with more moderate Time, Reps and Blend settings, and 0% Dirt.
The third passage (at 1:26) is on the guitar’s bridge pickup, with the Dirty Delay set for slapback, and about 40% on the Dirt knob.
RatingsPros:Characterful analog delay cleverly designed to enhance the distortion inherent in classic tape echoes. Well built and simple to use. Cons: Less dirt at lowest settings would expand potential. Advanced dirt knob settings get hairy fast. Street: $199 Daredevil Bootleg Dirty Delay daredevilpedals.com | Tones: Ease of Use: Build/Design: Value: |
One of the real peculiarities of electric guitar tone is that a little distortion sounds good with just about anything. Certain playing styles and musical genres just don’t even work without some distortion coming from the amplifier. Similarly, many guitarists hooked on delay just can’t dig in quite right without a little analog fur hanging on the tail of each note.
Enter the Bootleg Dirty Delay, made by Daredevil Pedals of Chicago, Illinois. This digital pedal replicates the distortion inherent in analog delays, then emphasizes and enhances it by intentionally adding extra (and adjustable) dirt to the brew. In doing so, it suggests the preamp drive and tape distortion of old-school tape echoes, and the extra drive from analog units like the Deluxe Memory Man, while adding new twists and extra aggression in a compact easy-to-use pedal.
Repeat Offender
The Bootleg Dirty Delay is housed in a die-cast aluminum pedal box and loaded with familiar, requisite functions for any basic analog delay. Blend (aka mix), reps (repeats), and time (delay time) do exactly what you’d expect. The dirt control, however, adds extra gain to the repeats as you turn it up. There is another important difference between the Dirty Delay and most tape and analog delays: Decays become brighter as they tail off—the opposite of most tape and analog units (and their digital emulations, for that matter). Maximum delay time is 560 ms, which is in the ballpark with the Maestro EP-3 Echoplex and most classic bucket-brigade delays like the Boss DM-2 and MXR Analog Delay. And while a little over half a second might not sound like a lot by modern digital delay standards, it’s plenty for long, atmospheric echoes.
In addition to its standard mono input and output, the Bootleg also has a 1/4" jack to connect an external momentary pedal for tap-tempo selection. The 2.1 mm center-negative connection for an external power supply (not included) accepts 9V DC supplies only. No internal battery connection is available.
Inside the pedal, neatly handwired connections are made on a tidy, through-hole PCB that’s home to all circuit components, including the Princeton 2399 IC responsible for the pedal’s sweet, dirty, tape-like sound.
Dirty Dancing
I tested the Dirty Delay with a tweed Deluxe-style combo and a Friedman Small Box head and 2x12 cab, using a Gibson Les Paul Reissue and a Thorn SoCal S/S with TV Jones Classics. With each combination, the Bootleg Dirty Delay delivered mightily on its promise of crud-encrusted echo. And while it can perform a lot like a traditional semi-dirty analog delay pedal, it ultimately reveals itself as a very different creative tool compared to the average analog delay.
To be clear, there’s always at least a little distortion on the repeats from this unit. But rolling up the dirt control adds a lot of fuzzy, gritty character that’s bold and very apparent in the repeats and remains evident at high rep and blend settings. The dry signal, meanwhile, stays clean and unsullied.
I found the Bootleg particularly adept at enabling nasty rockabilly riffage, lending the edge of a half-busted Echoplex or a voltage-starved EchoSonic to everything it touched. Psychobilly, here we come! Longer delays also benefited from judicially enhanced echoes, which spiced up rhythmic Edge-like dyads (thickened with just a little dollop from the dirt knob) and propelled gnarled long-delay excursions.
Though musical, the Bootleg Dirty Delay isn’t exactly subtle. Guitarists who only need the usual little bit of analog distortion inherent in traditional tape and bucket brigade delays might find there’s too much extra distortion even at the slightest dirt settings. Curious texturalists, noise-crafters, and other delay fanatics, however, will likely enjoy exploring these more unusual textures.
The Verdict
If you’re the breed of delay fan that feels like you’re not reallyhearing echo unless there’s dirt on it, the Bootleg is a pedal well worth checking out. It’s a clever and compact design with just enough features to get the job done and no excess clutter. It’s also built robustly enough to stand the kind of abuse I suspect many distorted echo fans tend to dish out.
Watch the First Look:
The final day is here! Enter Stompboxtober Day 31 for your last chance to win today’s pedal from Keeley and finish the month strong!
Keeley Octa Psi Transfigurating Fuzz Pedal with Polyphonic Pitch Shifting
Meet the OCTA PSI Transfigurating Fuzz – The Ultimate Combination of Pitch-Shifter, Octave Generator, and Tri-Voiced Analog Fuzz! Key features include: Instant Effect Order Switching, Flexible Output Configuration, Momentary or Latching Octave/Pitch, and more! Each pitch shift mode includes an up, down, and dual setting, resulting in 24 different modes.
A 1000-watt speaker cabinet crafted for musicians who demand power and precision. Sunn Amps intends to reinvent the standard 4x12 configuration with the introduction of this new cabinet.
The Sunn Amps DoomBox is built to accommodate both guitar and bass, offering an impressive 1000-watt handling capacity—making it the first commercially available 4x12 cabinet with such high power handling. With four specially designed 12” drivers rated at 250 watts each, this cabinet provides clean, unrestrained sound levels that can maintain power integrity across all frequencies, ideal for high-volume performances.
Inspired and developed using feedback from artists and bands who rely on the depth of lower tunings and high volume genres, the DoomBox was engineered to meet the unique demands of professional musicians looking for a robust, high-efficiency cab that can translate the raw power of their sound without compromise.
Premium Craftsmanship and Materials
The Doom Box cabinet is crafted from solid finger-jointed Baltic Birch plywood, ensuring both durability and tonal clarity. Each cabinet is constructed by hand in the U.S.A. using original 1930s machinery, the DoomBox reflects Sunn’s historic commitment to quality, contrasting with some of the mass-produced, MDF-based cabinets on the market today. The cabinet’s aluminum basket, ferrite magnet, and custom Sunn weave Tolex with a custom grill design complete its professional-grade build.
Technical Specifications:
• Power Handling: 1000W
• Inputs: 1 x ¼”
• Impedance: 8 Ohm
• Drivers: 4 x Sunn 12S250
• Construction: Marine Grade Baltic Birch
• Dimensions: 29.25” X 30” X 14”
• Weight: 107 lbs
• Price: $2399.00
With clear low-end punch, even sound response, and ample air movement, the Doom Box ensures that every note reaches the audience with clarity and power. This cabinet is a game-changer for musicians who need high-performance, road-ready equipment that enhances their unique sound.
Does the guitar’s design encourage sonic exploration more than sight reading?
A popular song between 1910 and 1920 would usually sell millions of copies of sheet music annually. The world population was roughly 25 percent of what it is today, so imagine those sales would be four or five times larger in an alternate-reality 2024. My father is 88, but even with his generation, friends and family would routinely gather around a piano and play and sing their way through a stack of songbooks. (This still happens at my dad’s house every time I’m there.)
Back in their day, recordings of music were a way to promote sheet music. Labels released recordings only after sheet-music sales slowed down on a particular song. That means that until recently, a large section of society not only knew how to read music well, but they did it often—not as often as we stare at our phones, but it was a primary part of home entertainment. By today’s standards, written music feels like a dead language. Music is probably the most common language on Earth, yet I bet it has the highest illiteracy rate.
Developed specifically for Tyler Bryant, the Black Magick Reverb TB is the high-power version of Supro's flagship 1x12 combo amplifier.
At the heart of this all-tube amp is a matched pair of military-grade Sovtek 5881 power tubes configured to deliver 35-Watts of pure Class A power. In addition to the upgraded power section, the Black Magick Reverb TB also features a “bright cap” modification on Channel 1, providing extra sparkle and added versatility when blended with the original Black Magick preamp on Channel 2.
The two complementary channels are summed in parallel and fed into a 2-band EQ followed by tube-driven spring reverb and tremolo effects plus a master volume to tame the output as needed. This unique, signature variant of the Black Magick Reverb is dressed in elegant Black Scandia tolex and comes loaded with a custom-built Supro BD12 speaker made by Celestion.
Price: $1,699.