So why don't you hear the repeats most of the time? If you want this sound and have a delay that shows the time in milliseconds, follow these steps. Gilmour used the same 294ms delay from the Echorec plus the built in vibrato from an HH IC-100 amplifier, which was a very choppy tremolo effect. The Echorec 2 had a 12 position switch to select among various combinations of heads. Find the song tempo delay time as described above, so your delay is making one repeat per song beat, exactly in time with the beat. . David has used many different types of compressors throughout his career, but a few common ones are the MXR Dynacomp, Boss CS-2, and Demeter Compulator. Brian May (of Queen) did the same effect a few years later on Brighton Rock and Son and Daughter using his modified Echoplexes. There are so many different delays available now that it can be confusing to know which one is appropriate for Gilmour tones. The primary reason is becasue the delay time is usually set in time with the tempo of the song, so each repeat lands on the beat. delay time to simulate offset multi track recordings: 930ms -- feedback: 4-5 repeats -- delay level: 30-35% -- delay type: analog, Breathe - Pulse version (TC2290 Digital Delay): 614ms -- feedback: 6-7 repeats, Rattle That Lock: A key to the way David has done this is to run each delay in its own separate channel, parallel and separate from the line signal. Electro-Harmonx has made a few small boxed versions of the Electric Mistress, but these have different circuits and sounds as the originals. USING TWO DELAYS AT ONCE - David has sometimes simultaneously used two separate delays with different delay times to create a larger sound, similar to what can be accomplished with the multi heads on an Binson Echorec. Unless otherwise noted, all delay times are shown in quarter notes David Gilmour adjusting his MXR rack effects from April 1984, including the MXR 113 Digital Delay, and MXR Digital Delay System II. This is something us Gilmour fans have sought to recreate in our own playing. For real room reverb, mics were placed in different parts of the recording studio to capture the room sound, not just the speaker cabinet from the amp. 360ms -- feedback: 8 repeats -- delay level 100% -- delay type: digital, Great Gig in the Sky - live version Guitar stuff, gear stuff, soundclips, videos, Gilmour/Pink Floyd stuff, photos and other goodies. Song tempos are rarely exactly the same every performance, but the SOYCD tempo is usually around 140 bmp. His main analog delays were nearly always the drum type, like the Echorec, which only had high end-roll off as the magnetic drum and record/playback heads aged. buildup and arpeggio delay time: 300-310ms -- feedback: 7-8 repeats - delay level: 40% -- delay type: analog/digital, Eclipse The 3/4 time delay is 380ms and the second 4/4 delay time is 507ms, or one repeat on every quarter note (one beat). To add space to your tone, add a clean digital delay at the end of your signal chain. If you want to somewhat recreate his delay youre in luck, as its pretty simple. 234ms and 150ms also works. Below is a clip illustrating plate reverb from a Free The Tone Ambi Space stereo reverb pedal. It was used for the early live version of On the Run in 1972, the third Money solo, and used on Pink Floyd tours until 1975. He did sometimes use the Swell mode. solos: 660ms -- feedback: 6-7 repeats, Time: The simplest option is to use an online Beats Per Minute caculator, like this one. solo: 540ms, Poles Apart - Pulse version (TC 2290 Digital Delay): As the recording drum and playback heads aged there was a slight loss of high end that added a unique high end roll-off as the echoes decayed, . CATALINBREAD ECHOREC - One of my favorite simple Echorec style delays is the Catalinbread Echorec. Brian May (of Queen) did the same effect a few years later on, - The 1983 Boss DD-2 was one of the first, and best sounding digital delays to come out of the early days of digital effects pedals. David primarily used the Binson Echorec delay/echo unit for his early work with Pink Floyd. David has often usied very long delay times, so the repeats are not as obvious because he is playing the next bit of a solo phrase right when the repeats from the previous notes start. Members; porsch8. Hes got the sort of guitar-god charisma that comes with his insane talent. The 4/4 delay thickens space between the main delay repeats by double tapping your 3/4 repeat with a 4/4, creating a more bouncy rhythm. Syd's theme: 370ms and 480ms He used both in his 1980s live rigs, and continued to use the MXR System II up until 2016. The amp David used for the RLH studio recording is not known, but presumably it was a Hiwatt or Mesa Boogie Mark I. This is actually not quarter-note triplets. Great Gig Slide Guitar Breakdown, Here's another, starting with the dry guitar in the left channel, then the right channel with the 440ms delay. second solo: 750ms -- feedback: 4-5 repeats, Comfortably Numb - MLOR tour: He has a 2.2 second delay on the guitar so he can play over his repeats, building up layer upon layer of guitar repeats. USING TWO DELAYS - David has stated he used two delays, one in 3/4 time (dotted eighth notes) and one in 4/4 time (quarter notes). What delay pedal does David Gilmour? Often what I hear in the recordings is just natural room or hall reverb. 1 2. It was used for the early live version of, There is a misconception that David always used the Echorec for its multi-head function, but in reality he primarily used it in single playback head mode, just like any other typical delay. first solo and fills: 470ms Note that some people confuse mixing delays in parallel with "stacking" multiple delays or running a stereo setup with one delay going to one amp and another delay going to different amp. Blue Light Riff - with and without delay. Using spring or digital reverb does not even get close, but some people struggle getting a delay pedal to sound right. He used three delays there, but again, I can only distinctly hear two. When the IC chips became less expensive to manufacture Boss simply rebranded it as a new, lower priced version rather than lowering the price of the DD-2. Head 4 = 300ms (or 75ms x 4) .Head 4 = 380ms (or 95ms x 4) 310ms -- feedback: 3-4 repeats From long sustained notes that seem to go on forever, to the most tasty of blues licks, his sound is instantly recognizable. 5 Pedals or Less: How to Sound Like Dave Gilmour Back at it again, the hunt for tone never ends. Below is an example from 2016 of David Gilmour using three delays to simulate the Echorec sound in Time. For example, when he played Time for Pink Floyd's 1994 tour he used a TC 2290 Digital Delay and the dual delays from a PCM 70 delay. You may also want to try setting the second delay at 760ms, double the triplet time delay (380 x 2 = 760ms). Although he often blends different types of delays, creating rich textures and layers, I'm going to break it down into four signature setups covering each era. It also had had a rich and warm-sounding tube amplifier stage that gave it a beautiful and unique tone. Let's see some of the units he used over time. Some are actually too high quality for my personal taste. For the studio albums however, there is definitely reverb in many of the recordings, and in some cases much more so than delay. The tempo is much slower, but the delay is played in 3/4 "triplet" time, exactly like RLH. The other output went to a Sound-on-Sound interface built into David's rack, which fed a second Hiwatt amp and 4x12 speaker cabinet. If running the delays parallel, set for about 12 repeats on each. verse, solos: 450ms, Learning To Fly - Pulse version: Set one delay for 440ms, 2 repeats, 30-35% volume. Volume 85% The fact that these two delays were studio effects may explain why David never played the slide parts live in the original Dark Side of the Moon concerts. Fat Old Sun- 2015/16 live version: slide guitar solos: 300ms, One Of These Days - 2015/16 live version: Alan Parsons has said David was generating all the effects himself for the first solo, so this was probably spring reverb from the Twin Reverb David had in the studio. For example, I compared the 5.1 surround sound mix of the second On an Island solo with the solo in Castellorizon (from David's 2006 On an Island album). Its also easier for live situations as changes can be made on the fly. Head 2 = 2/4 DELAY TYPES - ANALOG AND DIGITAL - David has used numerous types of delays in his carreer, both analog and digital. If you listen to a song where the band is not playing at all, like intro to Pink Floyd's Coming Back to Life, the delay repeats are very clear. 5,744. That may be just my fantasy; I don't know. Adjust the tone to suit your amp/speaker tone. Both types have been described as "warm" sounding, which can get confusing. Its hard to give an estimate as every pedal will respond differently. 650ms delay first, with 2 repeats, and 1400ms delay second with 1 repeat. Its more compact, more reliable, and just easier to use. Below is a breakdown of how to play this effect. With regards to the actual sound of the echo repeats, there are essentially two types of delays - analog and digital. I'll keep this simple rather than going into an explanation of time signatures. I use the Tremotron from Stone Deaf Effects for this. The mode should always be set at 800ms, unless you want a short slapback delay for something like the dry solo in Dogs. slide solo: 550ms -- feedback: 4-5 repeats second solo: 370ms -- feedback: 7-8 repeats -- delay level: 20% -- delay type: analogSyd's theme: 290ms -- feedback: 7-8 repeats - delay level: 20% -- delay type: analog The early Boss DD-3 pedal had exactly the same circuit as the DD-2. It features two separate bass guitar tracks played in time with a single head delay (head 4) from the Echorec. The long delay, and multi tracked guitars add to the smooth, lquid feel of the notes. He has used this type of setup in his 1987-89 rig, his 1994 rig, and in his 2006 On An Island tour rig. 20K views 9 years ago My Delay settings for Run Like Hell as played by David Gilmour, Pink Floyd. He also used an Echorec PE 603 model from 1971-75 that had a maximum delay time of around 377-380ms. delay 2 time (second delay ADT effect): 80ms -- feedback 2-3 repeats - delay level: 30% -- delay type: digital, Sheep - 1977 live version: 430ms, Faces of Stone - 2015/16 live version: On the one hand, finally cracking one of my favourite guitar player's [] For his 2015 tour he used a Providence Chrono Delay and two Flight Time delays. Head 3 = 225ms (or 75ms x3) ..Head 3 = 285ms (or 95ms x 3) This gives the impression of a 920-930ms delay. - David from Guitar Player Magazine, November 1984, I have a bunch of pedals - 4 DDL's - which I use in different combinations, MXR Digitals and the little Boss DD2'sI usually have one DDL with a short single slap on it. When he played Shine on You Crazy Diamond in his 2015 live performances he used three delays to replicate the old Echorec sound, two Flight Time delays and an MXR Delay. 540ms, Take A Breath: MXR DIGITAL DELAYS - David began using digital delays in 1977. Delay times vary by song but anything between 300mms and 600 makes a decent one size fits all. One of the only audible examples of the multi heads in use in a Pink Floyd studio recording is the intro to the song, a few early live Pink Floyd performances of. I'm not saying David sounds nothing like this live, but you are hearing the natural hall or stadium reverb of the venue in these recordings and in many cases, studio reverb added in the mixing stage. 2nd delay 165ms. The tempo used in this demo is slightly too. Kits Secret Guitar, Gear, and Music Page I have one for specific time settings, for things like Run Like Hell and Give Blood, so I know in numbers (delay time in milliseconds) what setting I need to use. 8-10 repeats on the first delay and as many repeats as possible on the second, or as long as it can go without going into oscillation, which is around 3-4 seconds on most delays. FINDING THE "TRIPLET" TIME DELAY FOR A SONG - David has sometimes used a rhythmic 3/4 time delay, what he calls "triplet" time. The S-O-S rig allowed him to play sustained chords on the guitar which he could then play melody on top of. solo: 420ms But delay is not the only effect that Gilmour tends to use. I use two delay pedals for Run Like Hell. This is actually not quarter-note triplets. Gear used: Telecaster into a fender twin Reverb and Reeves Custom 50, Boss CS-2 Compressor, Tube Driver set for light overdrive, Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress, TC Nova delay. solos: 540ms, What Do you Want From Me? 570 x 75% = 427.5. Its not a cheap pedal (around 250$ new), but its way cheaper than an original. He would do this for each chord change in the intro to, David did an early version of sound-on-sound way back in October of 1970, in one of the few times Pink Floyd performed Alan's Psychadelic Breakfast live. 570 divided by four (4/4) is 142.5. The third solo also sounds like it has reverb, but that sounds more like room reverb or plate reverb added in the studio. The 3/4 time delay is 380ms and the second 4/4 delay time is 507ms, or one repeat on every quarter note (one beat). In the 80s and 90s David would mostly use digital rack models such as the TC Electronic 2290. You could nail his famous sound with a handful of pedals, though, which makes it that much more achievable. His first was an MXR 113 Digital Delay System, one of MXR's first rack effects. If using a 2 amp setup, you can try running one 380ms delay to each amp and keep the volume and delay repeats about the same for each, or you can run the 380ms delay to one amp and the 507ms dealy to the other for a slightly different feel to the stereo separation. second solo: (early in song) 580ms -- feedback: 4-5 repeats -- delay level: 25% -- delay type: analog Place the volume pedal before the delay in the signal chain so when you drop the volume to zero the delay repeats still decay naturally. David also used the triplet delay setup on many other songs such as One of These Days from Pink Floyd's Meddle, Give Blood from Pete Townshend's White City, Blue Light from David's second solo album, About Face, The Hero's Return from Pink Floyd's The Final Cut, among others. He notoriously used a Binson Echorec for his delays, and many other vintage pedals and studio outboard gear to achieve his tone. Too much can severely alter your guitar tone before it hits the amp, washing out the definition and clarity. Two guitars were multi tracked in the left and right channels. REEL-TO-REEL SOUND-ON-SOUND - David did an early version of sound-on-sound way back in October of 1970, in one of the few times Pink Floyd performed Alan's Psychadelic Breakfast live. Sort of a triplet on top of a triplet time delay. Head 2 = 150ms (or 75ms x 2)..Head 2 = 190ms (or 95ms x 2) Every aspect of his tone can change on different albums, even on different tracks of the same album! outro solo : delay 1 = 1000ms -- feedback: 1 repeat / delay 2 = 720ms -- feedback: 3-4 repeats, Take A Breath 2006 live versions: The maximum delay time of the Echorec 2 is not long enough for RLH, but David's PE 603 Echorec max delay time was 377-380ms, which is the RLH delay time. Below is a link to a song-by-song list of Gilmour's delay settings, compiled from measuring the echo repeats in official releases and bootlegs of live recordings, and from delay times visible on the LCDs of his digital delays. 380ms -- feedback 7-8 repeats - delay level: 90% -- delay type: digital, Run Like Hell - 1984 live versions - two delays in series, each with a different delay time (MXR M113 Digital Delay and Boss DD-2): The first delay is 380ms, 10-12 repeats, delay voume 95%. You can check this by mute picking a single note simultaneous with a drum beat, then listen to the repeats. It's a sort of melodic delay to use. WHY CAN'T I HEAR THE ECHO REPEATS IN SOME GILMOUR/PINK FLOYD SOLOS? He is also known for using the legendary Proco Rat and MXR Phase 90. solo: 380ms -- feedback: 5-6 repeats, Marooned - 1994 live version: The repeats in the RLH studio recording sound clear and clean, so the MXR was probably the delay used for the studio recording, and it was used for the 1980-81 live performances. To figure a 4/4 dealy time to work with any 3/4 triplet delay time, you can split the 3/4 time delay into thirds. Start new topic; Recommended Posts. You can replicate the tremolo effect with any tremolo pedal, but it is best to use one the that has a square wave setting. Kits Secret Guitar, Gear, and Music Page. This is the primary delay time you hear in the song. Copyright Kit Rae. The fill patterns played in the verse section sound dry, with almost no delay. If you are playing at home on your amp with delay, the delay sound will be much more apparent than when you are playing with a full band, where the delay repeats will blend in the band mix much better. For the middle section another piece of technology came into play: an HH amp with vibrato. One of the only audible examples of the multi heads in use in a Pink Floyd studio recording is the intro to the song Time from Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon. Killer Guitar Rigs Magazine is an online resource for everything guitar, from music news to gear reviews to interviews with your favorite artists we have something for every genre and skill level. Below is a breakdown of how to play this effect. verse / chorus: 435ms, Wearing the Inside Out: middle section: 1500ms -- feedback: 10-12 repeats ONE OF THESE DAYS - One of the first recorded uses of Gilmour's "triplet" delay technique using a Binson Echorec was in the song One of These Days from Pink Floyd's Meddle album in 1971. The third solo is also artificially double tracked, which you can simulate with a short 60-90ms slapback delay with one repeat. 8-10 repeats on each. I am talking about the natural reverb sound of the room or hall the amplifier or speaker cabinet was recorded in, or studio reverb added to simulate it. The PE 603 Echorec had similar controls, but rather than having a switch to select different combinations of the four playback heads, it had individual switches for each head. solos: 440ms -- feedback: 7-8 repeats - delay level: 15% -- delay type: analog Pink Floyd is known for their use of soundscapes and textures that would later characterize genres such as progressive rock and psychedelic rock. His delay times are slightly faster here. This way the echo repeat from one delay is not repeating the echo repeat of the other, and the original guitar signal is kept pristine rather than altered by going through two different delays. Below is an example of David using two digital delays (TC 2290 Digital Delay and the dual delays from a PCM 70 delay) for the intro to Time in 1994. That is an example where David seems to have set the delay speed by ear, rather than going by an exact Echorec formula. NOTE: This website is frequently updated. Below is an isolated excerpt of this part. intro: If you want to use a noise gate put it right before the delay/reverb. The Binson Echorec is an analogue echo unit made by Binson in Italy. A large part of that comes from Davids use of delay. It's actually a metallic disc that spins around. It also had a similar Sweep section to create chorus and flange effects, but every photo I can find showing this rack delay in David's live rigs shows the sweep knobs set to zero. Sort of a triplet on top of a triplet time delay. solo: 440ms. The delay time must also be precisely in time with the song tempo. The main rythm in the left and right channels of the studio recording is domantly the 3/4 time. Regardless, it is the combination of both delay and reverb that makes the delay sound so smooth in some instances. It helps to have the echo repeats of the first delay fall right in between, or on the repeats of the second delay, so it has a rhtmic feel. Alternately, you can use 380ms as the long delay and 285ms as the short time delay, equivalent to Head 3 and Head 4 on the PE 603 Echorec, but that creates a slightly different delay rhythm than the album sound. It takes some practice, and you have to be very precise with your timing or you can easily get out of step with the song tempo. - In general, no - but sometimes, yes. Play the note, let it repeat, then play the note a second time where the 1400ms repeat would be. The trick is not to overdo it. So why don't you hear the repeats most of the time? The slide parts actually were played on a pedal steel, a Fender 1000, but David just used it as a slide guitar and removed the foot pedals. Tweaking the delay time was simply more tweakable on the MXR Digital Delay. This may be a form of Automatic/Artificial Double Tracking (ADT) or simply a short slapback delay. Alternate (Pulse): Delay 1 = 430ms / Delay 2 = 1023ms, Hey You: Playing the RLH Rhythm Fills - with and without the delay, Playing the RLH Verse Chords - with and without delay. It sounds very complex because the delay is filling in and creating a rhythm in between the notes David plays, but it is actually rather simple to do. - David Gilmour from Guitar for the Practicing Musician, 1985, We also have an old MXR DDL (MXR Digital Delay System II) digital delay unit built into a rack unit. I usually try, in solos, to set the DDLs to have some rhythmic time signature in common with the tune. David would play a two note chord, then fade the volume in as he slides to the next position. Both delays are in series with the delay volume around 75% and about 9 repeats. Below is a link to a song-by-song list of Gilmour's delay settings, compiled from measuring the echo repeats in official releases and bootlegs of live recordings, and from delay times visible on the LCDs of his digital delays. - Be sure to read the section above. To get the second delay in 4/4 time, multiply 150 x 4 = 600ms. USING TWO DELAYS - David has stated he used two delays, one in 3/4 time (dotted eighth notes) and one in 4/4 time (quarter notes). Getting an original Binson Echorec these days is nearly impossible. The second delay should just be accenting the first, filling the space between the 3/4 repeats. When I'm recording I'll often set them in tempo to the track, so although they are just acting as an echo, the echo is rhythmic in away and has a triplet and the 4/4 beat in it. Use the feedback option to set it right where you think it sounds closest. The 3/4 "triplet" time will be inbetween in between these 4/4 and 2/4 settings on your delay. alternate 2nd Solo: 540ms second solo: 490ms, What Do you Want From Me? The shorter delay fills in the gaps between the longer delay repeats, creating a smooth delay sound, but the delay time on both makes the repeats fall inline with the song tempo. Then I have two regular Boss units (DD2) which I set so one works in a triplet and the other in a 4/4 time - they're actually set in time with each other, so they combine and make a nice sound. Sometimes he even uses two delays at once to create certain double tapped echo effects or to make a solo sound bigger. The other is more natural sounding because it is added post amplification, which is more like what real reverb does. Gilmour delay: '60s-'70s: Binson Echorec II. Again, I'll simulate that with only two dominant delays. 3rd solo: 430ms, Money solos - 2015/16 live version: intro slide guitar: 1023ms The Blue - 2016/15 live version: If you want to try the two-delay effect on one amp, it is best to place the second delay after the main 380ms delay in your signal chain, and set the second delay repeat volume MUCH lower, with roughly 1/3 the repeats of the main delay. David used the DD-2 extensively in the mid to late 1980s, as well as using a Pete Cornish Tape Echo Simulator (TES) in 2006, which was a Boss DD-2 circuit with a selectable roll-off filter added to simulate the worn tape head sound of old tape delays like the Binson Echorec. One of These Days - gated tremolo section isolated. delay 2: 275-290ms -- feedback: 5-7 repeats - delay level: 25% -- delay type: analog, Short and Sweet - David Gilmour live 1984 version (Boss DD-2): I use a compressor or a Tube Driver for this. Volume 65% Verse / Chorus : TC 2290 Digital Delay: 430ms When using both the mono and stereo outputs together (each running to a separate amp) the DD-2 produces a very defined stereo field, with one channel being the dry signal only, and one being the delayed signal only. When I'm recording I'll often set them in tempo to the track, so although they are just acting as an echo, the echo is rhythmic in away and has a triplet and the 4/4 beat in it. 1. MXR Digital Delay System II showing David's knob settings, Part of the effects rack from David's 1994 Pink Floyd tour rig with the MXR Digital Delay System II mounted in the middle, David's MXR Digital Delay System II rack unit from the On an Island tour showing a note for L channel -- 650ms with a single repeat, then another single repeat at 1850ms. The second is around 94ms, which is 1/5 of 470 (470/5=94). The settings Gilmour uses usually create a minimal effect, but his sompressors really helps to smooth out the tone and playing. I list a number when I can clearly hear them, otherwise 4-5 repeats is usually close. third (dry) solo: simulate studio ADT with a 40-50-ms slapback delay -- feedback: 1 repeat As the chord rang on, David could then play the melody lines through his main Hiwatt. outro solo: 430-450ms, One of These Days studio version (Binson Echorec): David was very much in control of his sound system We rarely added effects to his guitar in the control room. He always kept the Echorec in tip top shape, and after the MXR Delay System used a variety of digital delays, including the DD2 and later the TC 2290. David's T7E and PE603 Echorecs, and even the stock Echoplexes at the time, were not capable of anything even close to that length of delay. This the dominant delay, but there is also a 300ms delay low in the mix David's Echoes delay time of 300ms, one for the delay in Time, and 423ms in the display. Although it is not often that this roll-off effect was heard in David's use of the Echorec, you can clearly hear it in the echo repeats in the very beginning of the song One of These Days from Pink Floyd's Meddle album in 1971. Bass: 12 o'clock Mid: 1 o'clock Treble: 11 o'clock Delay: Time: 484 ms Mix: 40% Level: 75% Feedback: 50% Only about one audible repeat fading very quickly after that Reverb: Medium Room Time: 2.20 sec EQ: High Cut 4000Hz Level: 75% Mix: 50% Input Gain: 100%. delay time: 450ms -- feedback: 7-8 repeats -- delay level: 25% -- delay type: analog/digital mix, Another Brick in the Wall Part II (live): Starting with the finer details of the setup's tone like amp EQ and drive pedal levels and EQ will help you hear everything much more clearly before adding all the delay and reverb. Another interesting effect heard in the middle section of One of These Days is the use of that same "triplet" time delay along with a gated tremolo effect. That second delay should just barely be audible, as too much volume can make a double tapped mess of the main delay. April 9, 2022. by Joe Nevin. For most of his 2016 tour he used multiple delays for those parts, but switched to using a Boonar Multi-Head Drum Echo digital delay from Dawner Prince Electronics for the last few concerts. The 4/4 delay can barely be heard on the studio recording and is really not necessary, but it is fun to experiment with two delays. - engineer Alan Parsons, on the 1973 Dark Side of the Moon sessions, (left to right) Gilmour's Binson Echorec 2 and Echorec PE 603 stacked on top of his Hiwatts from 1973, and an Echorec 2 from 1974, Binson Echorec PE 603 like the one Gilmour used from 1971-74 in his live rigs. delay 1: 380ms -- feedback 10-12 repeats - delay level: 95% -- delay type: digital The specific delays he used were as I said the Binson Echorec, the MXR M-113 Digital Delay, and the TC Electronic 2290. - first is 380ms delay in the left channel, then 380ms+507ms in the right channel. The sustained verse chords and chorus chords (the "run, run, run" part) were also double tracked with the same delay time, but slightly less repeats. Listen to some of the 5.1 live tracks separately and you can clearly hear this. When he began using digital delays in 1977 he started to use longer delay times and specific times to rhythmically work with the song tempos. David's pedal board had two Boss digital delays, but he also had an MXR 113 Digital Delay System and MXR Digital Delay System II in his rack. delay 1: 250ms His delay times typically ranged from 300ms-550ms, with 5-8 repeats, but some songs required more specific delay times and settings, as detailed below.