1313 Analog Delay
114
GUITARIST APRIL 2019
1313 Analog Delay
MN3005 bucket brigade chips ensure an all-analogue, all-authentic sound
MANUFACTURER
SUPRO
MODEL
ANALOG DELAY
CONTACT
JHS 01132 865381 / WWW.SUPROUSA.COM
PRICE
£259
PEDALBOARD
PROS
Typical analogue BBD sound; flexible
tonal control of the repeats; foot control of
crucial parameters; 600ms delay (longer than
many vintage units); voltage doubling with
15-volt power rails for increased headroom
CONS
Some players might bemoan the lack
of onboard modulation
Words Trevor Curwen Photography Neil Godwin
T
he heyday of the bucket brigade
analogue delay may have been
in the late 70s/early 80s before
digital took hold, but the sound that blends
so well with guitar tone still resonates with
players today. And the fact that BBD chips
are being manufactured again means it’s
just as easy to buy an analogue delay today
as it was back when the likes of the Boss
DM-2, the green MXR Analog delay and
Electro-Harmonix Memory Man pedals
held sway. This new Supro 1313 Delay has a
solid connection to that era, with circuitry
by Deluxe Memory Man designer Howard
Davis – and added features that increase
versatility means it’s no retro throwback.
With analogue sound based around a
pair of MN3005 chips, the pedal has the
expected knobs for delay time, repeats
(feedback) and volume, with an additional
Filter knob to tonally shape the repeats.
Encompassing both low-pass and band-
pass functions, its practicalities are that
you can go from fat and murky sounding
repeats through a whole range of shading
to brighter, thinner and more percussive
sounds. Somewhere between the two
extremes we were able to match the tone
of the repeats to our vintage Boss DM-2
and Ibanez AD-100 BBD delays, plus the
tape sound of a Roland RE-201 Space Echo.
For anyone who wants to add an extra
layer of expression to their playing
without getting down on their knees,
an expression pedal can be assigned to
take on the individual functions of the
three other knobs. Setting delay time by
foot pedal might be less precise than a
tap tempo switch, but it’s smoother and
will give you those weird pitch-shifting
transition sounds if desired. The old staple
of turning up the feedback to the point of
self-oscillation now has the possibility of
being conjured up and pulled back from
the brink while you continue playing, but
it’s probably the less-gimmicky control of
volume that’s the most musical, swelling in
repeats or pulling them back for particular
notes or phrases.
VERDICT
With all of the multi-effects-style delay
pedals out there, you probably wouldn’t
be looking at this if the pure analogue BBD
sound wasn’t exactly what you wanted.
That being the case, its tonal variations and
expression options make this a smart way
to put that sound on your ’board.
SUPRO
ALSO TRY...
This revival of the iconic Boss analogue delay
pedal (which was discontinued in 1984) gets the
company’s Waza Craft treatment here, adding
switchable sound modes and expression pedal
input for foot control of delay time.
Analogue delay with modulation? We’ll have some
of that – and what better than Electro-Harmonix’s
latest version of the classic Deluxe Memory Man,
which was at the core of The Edge’s guitar sound
back in the early U2 days.
DM-2W £189 Deluxe Memory Man £190
MXR BOSS ELECTRO-HARMONIX
It’s hard to believe that this pedal has been around
for 10 years, but MXR’s Carbon Copy pretty much
spearheaded the revival of compact bucket
brigade pedals with its simple three-knob setup,
plus a button to add modulation.
Carbon Copy £193
VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
GIT444.peds_supro.indd 114 2/21/19 1:00 AM