Best Delay Pedal

How does one choose the best delay pedal?

Everyone has their individual needs for sound, ease of use, or even just familiarity. Still, the deciding factor, for us anyways, is definitely the number of times we see it on an artist’s pedalboard.

For this list, we tried to stick to strickly delay-type pedals (not reverb) for their delay qualities, while also not excluding pedals mostly used for looping.

Best Delay Pedal with tap tremolo – Line 6 DL4

When it comes to delay pedals, there is no contest; Line 6’s DL4 is the delay pedal with the most appearances on the pedalboards we’ve reviewed. For that reason alone, we call the Line 6 DL4 the best delay pedal.

best delay pedal Line 6 DL4 Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Best Delay Pedal at Musician’s Friend
Best Delay Pedal at Amazon
This pedal is used by many artists, among them notable heavily delay users. Chris Shifflet of Foo Fighters. Johnny Buckland of Coldplay. Mike McCready of Pearl. Noel Gallagher of Oasis. Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam.

As we follow the evolution of these artists’ pedalboards, we’ve also been noticing how this pedal has been appearing more and more, sometimes replacing other popular delay pedals.

Why do artists prefer this pedal? What makes it the best delay pedal for them? The many options are definitely a selling point; it can do tap tempo, loops, echo and even tape reverse. It has four foot switches, which help to easily access these many features. And finally, the pedal, and it’s brand, is known for quality. Quite frankly, it delivers.

Best Delay Pedal Alternatives

Is this too much pedal for you? Then take the next best thing than the best delay pedal. Choose its stompbox alternative, which pares down some features to reduce it’s real estate, but still provides some decent sounds.

Line 6 ToneCore Echo Park Delay Guitar Effects Pedal
Musician’s Friend
Amazon
So there you have it. Let us know what you think the best delay pedal is (maybe you’ll change our minds!)

See other candidate for the best delay pedal