Guitar Gear

I got an original hand-wired Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay back in May of 2010. It was a huge expense for me at the time, costing $325.00. It was one of those pedals that, once I played it, I just had to have it. I remember that queasy feeling I had when I bought it, practically draining the money I had available in my checking account. But it sounded so good that there was no way I was going to leave the store (Gelb Music in Redwood City, CA) without it.

I didn’t use it much during the pandemic lockdown as there were no gigs to play. But leading up to that, I was doing a minimum of one-hundred gigs a year between 2010 and 2020, and the Deep Blue Delay was on my board the whole time.

That’s a picture I took of it this evening after I cleaned and tightened the pots. It was pretty beat up. It’s scratched, the lettering and line art were pretty dinged up. And although I hadn’t used it since before the lockdown, it needed some TLC. The pots were scratchy when I turned them, and I also noticed they were loose as all get-out! But once I was done, it was back to sounding like its old self!

Opening the enclosure was a little nerve-wracking. This is a hand-wired pedal, and the enclosure was filled with wires attached to the pots and a small PCB board. I am not electrically inclined, so I was worried about breaking any solder joints. But it went well, and I closed the bottom and tested it.

The sound was beautiful! And to think that after all these years and all the gigs I’ve played with it, it’s still working like the first day I bought it! It’s amazing!

There’s nothing like the Deep Blue Delay. Not only is the sound totally smooth, the pedal is incredibly responsive to pick dynamics. When it first came out, it was known as one of the most well-behaved analog delays to play with drive pedals. So many other pedals turned the sound to mush when played with overdrive and distortion pedals, but not the Deep Blue Delay. You could play fast runs and your notes would still be articulate. Only when you paused was the delay apparent.

Out of all the pedals I’ve owned, this one has been my hands-down favorite over the years. I’ve used it with both my electric and acoustic rigs. I’ve especially loved it when playing with my acoustic guitar. It gives my sound a haunting, dreamy feel.

As of late, I’ve been using my BOSS Waza Craft DM-2w, but that’s going to take a back seat to the DBD yet again. I’m excited to be putting it back into action!