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Home > Effects > Effects Reviews > Belcat > DLY-303 Delay

Belcat DLY-303 Delay

Summary
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Manufacturer URL http://www.belcat.com/2005/
Ease of Use 9.5 (20 responses)
Sound Quality 7.7 (21 responses)
Reliability 6.9 (17 responses)
Customer Support 5.5 (6 responses)
Overall Rating 7.9 (18 responses)
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Page: 1 2 3 (Show 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 reviews per page) Showing 1 - 10 of 21 reviews
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Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: GBP 24
Submitted 10/28/2009 at 08:48am by David Fairhall

Ease of Use : 10
Easy to use, only 3 dials

Sound Quality : 8
The delay effect is alright considering how cheap the pedal is, I wasn't expecting anything mind blowing, just something to colour my distorted tone and add a bit of something to my clean tone, only oversight I had was how distortion works where the effect is a lot more present at lower sets than it is on clean but that was my oversight.

Reliability : 8
seems reliable enuff, only got it 2day....

Customer Support : No Opinion
Haven't had to deal with Belcat but I imagine it being a Chinese company there won't be much, but again I haven't dealt with them

Overall Rating : No Opinion
Its pretty good for what I bought it for, give it a go it was cheap enuff


Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 10/21/2009 at 05:44pm by chuck
Email: kermit230 at aol<dot>com

Ease of Use : 10
3 knobs. Easy.

Sound Quality : 1
WARNING - THIS IS NOT AN ANALOG DELAY! There is no BBD inside this pedal. This is a digital delay, and a cheap one at that. There is noticeable bleed and tone sucking in bypass, and when enabled, it is noisy and buzzy as well. Do yourself a favor and save another $30 and get a MXR Carbon Copy or something.

Reliability : 1
Cheap crap.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 2
It gets a two, in that there are even worst imposters than this pedal that claim to be analog.

Bottom line, Bucket Brigade chips aren't cheap. Even the clones will run around $4.50 a piece in high volume. Add the other components, a silkscreened PCB, labor, and the parts/jacks/case, and even a commercial company is looking at $35-40 a pop to build one. And they sure as hell aren't going to sell it for less than $60 if that's the case.


Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: 25
Submitted 07/28/2009 at 06:11pm by mike

Ease of Use : 10
there was no manual but this pedal is pretty straight forward with 3 knobs, rate, repeat and level, i think you could figure it out even if you didnt speak english just by listening to the effects of moving the knobs.

Sound Quality : 7
i play through a cheap les paul copy with a bareknuckle nailbomb pickup to a laney lx65r which is a small solid state amp but it aint so bad and the delay sounds good through it i usually set it with low rate and repeat for reggae and a little more crazy for my alt rock band and it sound great for both

Reliability : 8
the pedal seems pretty well made although its made of quite thin metal. the on/off switch seems pretty sound and the knobs seem sturdy. i use it without a backup at gigs and i know i can rely on it.

Customer Support : No Opinion
ive never spoken to them and as i dont speak chinese i doubt i will

Overall Rating : 9
i play mainly alternative rock and reggae and this pedal is great for both. obviously it is far from perfect in many ways but this pedal cost me ??25 so i dont think anyone can have any complaints if it was lost or stolen i would probably upgrade to a boss as they are also great but if i were strapped for cash i'd definately repurchase. things to consider are that it is extremely cheap less than 1/4 of the price of a boss, it is not true bypass but it doesnt suck tone too bad, it is made of metal unlike many other cheap pedals, there is limited delay time 130ms~350ms and lastly if you get a chance try it for yourself as only you can decide if it is right for you


Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 06/27/2009 at 05:07am by tadpole

Ease of Use : 10
Easy as, 3 knob delay pedal, pretty standard affair - rate, level, repeats, in/out, on/off, 9V battery or adapter. Its simplicity is what really makes it work so well. Less is more. Sold as 'Crossfire' in Australia

Sound Quality : 10
This is great for basic echo/delay type applications. It does not offer big delay times (350ms max) and has limited repeats, no self oscilation madness. It does great slap back and very usuable short delays giving you a more open tone. It has a character all of its own and it the most conveniant little delay I have every used. It just hits the spot all the time without to much fuss. Alot of people overuse their delay's especially when they have so many possibilities and settings to adjust. This limits you to a few options and in the end you sound so much better. It doesnt colour your tone and your guitar stays 'your guitar' and really sounds as good as any basic delay pedal for much much less. I see too many dudes shoegazing with these $1000 dollar pedals they think are 'essential' to their tone. Last time I checked I play guitar not an effects box - If you want to add a bit of space to your sound and not get bogged down in settings and gimmics this is for you.

Reliability : 10
Rock solid I have had three units over a few years now (friends keep stealing them from me!) good on battery life and never let me down.

Customer Support : 10
I buy these from a shop in Melbourne AUS (Fretted Instruments in Fitzroy) and they take care of me so its all good, otherwise they are cheap so you dont have much to lose.

Overall Rating : 10
I have played for 20 years recording and live. I have used just about every delay out there as I love them! Visual Sound, Boss, Eventide, EHX, DOD, Roland Tape Echos, TC Electronics, Ibanez etc. This is the only delay I will use at this point in time. The other delays sound fantasic but it the simplicity of this unit that works - Compared to the Eventide units I used this is a breath of fresh air, as you get on with actually playing your instruments and not fiddling with knobs all day.


Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 06/14/2009 at 06:58am by reader

Ease of Use : 10
very easy to use! you can get good tones out of almost any setting... plus you can mod it for longer delay time ive read from other reviews down there

Sound Quality : 9
first of all this... this pedal is a hybrid of analog and digital.. it has an analog circuitry combined with just ONE chip, that explains why there is no oscillation, why it it makes a sweeping sound when you move the rate knob, and also why it has a long delay time for an analog delay that is... i did not buy it yet but i tested it in a shop, oh b4 i 4get, this is a review for the 503, anyway its almost exactly the same with the 303 i guess, i just want to make sure b4 i buy it,,,, btw is belcat the EXACTLY the same as modtone? ive seen pics of their boards and they do look the same, but why such a big price difference?? does modtone just have higher quality components??? anyway.. you can really get that sound you would want from an analog delay.. and don't ever worry about that single chip in its board, it does not effect its good sounding analog delay.... i might buy it cuz there ain't any other competition for this pedal's price range, i'm not even gonna give behringer a try.. no way

Reliability : 7
it LOOKS sturdy i cant tell if its made of a thin metal or if its made of die cast or whatever,,, my first impression was of course it really looked liked an MXR pedal, but when i held the thing it was so light.. and it already had a battery in it..... but still sturdy enough for gigs and stuff, why the hell would you jump on the thing anyway all it needs is a soft press

Customer Support : 1
dont think they would give a crap

Overall Rating : 9
this is NOT A DIGITAL PEDAL, its a HYBRID! so its not just trying to emulate anlg dly sounds it really has... probably it has that chip in replacement of bucket brigade... which makes it a lot cheaper.. i would probably use it like an echo, cuz it i really liked how it sounded that way... but what really makes me want to buy it is its sound for its price! mxr carbon copy is better but this pedal can really compare


Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: Euro's 26
Submitted 05/09/2009 at 04:11am by Giacomo di Lindini
Email: blamkol<at>hotmail dot com

Ease of Use : 10
Can't get any easier. No manual necessary. (there isn't one for that matter)

Sound Quality : 8
Downsides first:
1) This is not an analog pedal, whatever anyone says or whatever the salesman says. No Bucket Brigade to be found! It is as digital as can be, and it 'reproduces' the analog sound by using crappy components 'around' the digital chip. The max delay time is 350 ms, but it is possible to mod tit to 700 ms, which would be impossible with a single analog delay.
2) When using more extreme settings, there is a bubble of noise that is almost as loud as the repeats. Therefore it is not possible to use the pedal for "Cathedral" or U2 kinda stuff.
3) The footswitch is not real, and is likely to get broken when used intensely.
4) It looks like the solder joints inside are done by hand, and not a very experienced hand.
Upsides:
1) CHEAP!! I got this for 26 euro's from a shop in Singapore, shipping included. I don't know how anyone can raise a profit out of that.. Even a battery is included.
2) It works! In spite of the crappy soldering etc. it works like it it supposed to.
3) Metal housing looks sturdy, unlike Behringer crap.
4) When used only to add some room to the guitar sound, to make the sound a bit livelier, it sounds great! Almost analog-like. It is only half a preset in a Boss DD7, but that is OK.

Reliability : 5
I believe this pedal is also sold by German brand Excalibur. (Excalibur AD350) They say it is analog but it is not. Excalibur charges 85 euros for it.

Steel metal housing will protect the (small) PCB. When it craps out, don't try to fix it, just import a new one, these are cheap throwaway pedals.

Customer Support : 1
I do not speak Chinese..

Overall Rating : No Opinion
Great for the money. Absolute steal. Do not expect to get a boutique delay pedal, just a simple delay.


Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 08/31/2008 at 10:40pm by John Mckay

Ease of Use : 9
Very easy to use, easy to find the echo you want

Sound Quality : 3
This is my problem with this pedal, i am still getting a small bit of echo when the pedal is off! Its very annoying.

Reliability : 8
Its metal but i would say the footswitch could go easily enough.

Customer Support : No Opinion
?

Overall Rating : 5
It alright but my main problem with it is above


Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: NZ dollars 52
Submitted 07/28/2008 at 01:40am by Corey

Ease of Use : 9
The belcat delay is really easy to use. Has three knobs, and with minimal fiddling a good sound can be created.

Did not come with a manual.

Sound Quality : 6
I use a 2006 Mexican Telecaster -> Ernie Ball VP Junior -> Korg DT10 Chromatic tuner-> Dextermods run-off true bypass pedal -> Cry Baby Wah -> Belcat OD -> Marshall Jackhammer -> Electro Harmonix Poly Chorus -> Belcat Delay -> Electro Harmonix Hum Debugger -> 1965 Jansen Bassman 50 (New Zealand Made Fender Bassman copy)

Both the overdrive and the delay add excess noise to my rig (but I'm running a vintage tube amp which is somewhat noisy anyway). When the hum debugger is engaged a good portion of the noise is reduced.

The sound quality of the pedal is okay. I can get some pretty good sounds out of it ranging from U2 kind of echos to crazy psychedelic delays. The pedal adds an unpleasant slap back echo sometimes which is unacceptable. I regularly gig with this pedal. I purchased it for $52 NZ. For the price it's pretty good.

Reliability : 4
I have had this pedal about 7 months. I gig weekly sometimes more. The footswitch has recently come loose or broken. It is still useable but the switch is definitely not very sturdy.

I use it without backup because I can't really afford a better one at the moment. If money was not an issue I would use something else.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Have not contacted Belcat, nor needed to.

Overall Rating : 5
I play and help direct the youth band at a fairly large church. I also play in the main worship team. The styles of music we play include rock, pop, gospel, mellow worship etc.

In my own time I play a lot of rock, blues, indie and pyschedelic rock. This delay pedal is fine for all the things I use it for.

I have been playing guitar seriously for five years. If this pedal were lost or stolen I would not really be too bothered. It is pretty mediocre, but for the price it is an adequate pedal I suppose. When I purchased this pedal it was always with the intention of upgrading to something better. I am currently considering which delay I will save for in the future. I would probably go with something like a line6 dl4 or a boss dd7, or maybe a tc electronics nova delay or even a biyang analog delay.

The reason I bought this pedal was because it was cheap.


Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: GBP 25
Submitted 07/25/2008 at 05:03pm by mark

Ease of Use : 10
I just got my Belcat dly303 from ebay for ??25 and trust me i was'nt disapointed, this pedal was perfect for exactly what i wanted to have for rehearsals and gigs. I put the battery in, plugged in and started playing. Ive read some reviews on here and ive heard that the knobs are very easy to turn, and thier right they are, but...the settings that i want are so simple its not hard to redial in the delays i want. There was no manual with the Belcat but to be fair you dont need one its that simple.

Sound Quality : 10
I have an ibanez RG321MHMOL (Mahogany Oil) a Korg tuner and a Marshall MG100DFX, instead of using a delay on my amp i can now use the Belcat for delay and then use the chorus on my amp instead.
The pedal is clear as crystal, its fantastic. I was so amazed with the clearness that i even spent time trying to find a noise that i could find from it so i could put it down but i couldnt. I love the fact that you can get a very nice short delay for rock and rolls, or a pink floyd "another brick in the wall" delay. its also so easy to dial in the delay for Dave Weiners "Dave's party piece"...i look forward to playing that a few times lol.
all in all i cant find nothing wrong with the sound of this ??25 pedal what so ever.

Reliability : 10
ive only had it this morning so i cant realy comment, but in the hand its very sturdy and i know it will take alot of gig'n to break this....(not that id want to)
i would deff gig this pedal, id be a fool not to.

Customer Support : 10
to be honest the pedals so cheap there would be no need to deal with Belcats customer support, id just buy another one....if IF....it ever goes wrong/breaks.

Overall Rating : 10
I play in a covers band with alot of rock and roll, blues, country, rock/classic rock, and metal (when called for) and i cant wait to try this pedal in a practice. I have been playing almost 25years, ive owned all sorts of gear after having this pedal i realy do feel like a kid in a sweet shop lol.
If this pedal was ever lost/stolen/or broken i would deff buy another...i am considering buying another one just so i know ive got another, not because of the reliability, but just because its so good for what i want it for i just realy want another before everyone gets one and they become rare lol. Ive tried loads of pedals over the years and all diff prices, i can honestly say that this pedal is deff just as good as a boss or digitech delay....ok it wont do as much, but for me and what i want it to do its perfect.
I realy like the simplicity of this pedal, theres nothing that id change about it. It has made me what to play that little bit longer each time i turn it on....how this pedal hasnt made ebay i dont know.....as soon as i can i deff will put some demos of this pedal on there.


Product: Belcat DLY-303 Delay
Price Paid: GBP 20
Submitted 04/15/2008 at 06:12pm by SuGoi

Ease of Use : No Opinion
Typical delay/echo pedal with 3 knobs to control amount of repeats, time between repeats, and volume. complete with input jack, output jack, 9V adapter input, battery compartment and on/off footswitch. an LED tells you if pedal is engaged or not.

Sound Quality : 9
I'm really impressed. I have owned a DOD fx96 echo/delay pedal in the past and that was analog and not particularly cheap to buy. this cheaper belcat pedal doesn't sound any different to it, but comes at a much cheaper price. i tried the delay/echo features built into a zoom G2 pedal also, and although that was digital, sorry but i still thought that sounded pretty good. anyway the belcat is no worse than any of the other delay/echo pedals i have tried. i have read around and people say this belcat pedal stands up to many old classic delay/echo pedals like the old boss japan ones etc but once again, at a much cheaper pricetag. i use a decent valve amp and a decent gibson guitar by the way. ok so how does the belcat sound? well, i like the sound of old tape echo machine units. now obviously im not actually saying this pedal is exactly the same sounding as a real old wem copicat echo unit, but in my opinion it does a great job of giving you that old type of warm, spacey, analog, magical type of vibe thing. some people have complained that with this belcat pedal you cannot get a long amount of delay repeats and not a great deal of time inbetween echoes, but for me it's perfect as the echo settings i want (which are just a few repeats and not too much time inbetween) are within the pedals range as standard (im not interested in infinite repeats, self-oscillation or any of that new age techno bollocks). by the way, i use this pedal both with distortion and without, and think it sounds good in both instances. the pedal is fairly quiet to use, but (like most other pedals) only as long as you dont start cranking all the knobs right up. if i had one complaint, it's that there's a certain point when using the level (volume) knob where i like to set it around, but i really have to move the knob so slightly as it's a bit too sensitive. ie. i go from no echo volume to clear echoing just by moving the knob a very very small fraction. a bit more room for adjustment there would have been nice, but anyway it's not the end of the world. by the way the pedal doesnt seem to colour my sound in any negative way and i tested it by turning it on, off, on ... off.. and seeing how it affected my tone, but to be honest i didnt notice any change at all. by the way i took a look inside the pedal and the components are the modern type of 'surface mount' components (you know, very small little square looking resistors and capacitors like you get on a PC mainboard). I thought that was interesting you can get such a nice analog sound going without using the old traditional type of circuit design and components. purists might moan about that kind of thing, but i simply say.. plug in... close your eyes... play.. and use your ears dammit! ..it sounds great!

Reliability : No Opinion
for the price i dont think it is built too badly at all (especially after reading some of the other reviews here). i mean, come on, it is actually housed in metal casing as opposed to Behringers plastic casing they use! i admit the footswitch itself isnt the best designed, strongest, most solid thing, but this doesnt affect me personally as in my band i am actually a drummer not a guitarist, so i only use this pedal at home and would never 'step' on it anyway.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Not Applicable..

Overall Rating : 9
I love it, and if lost or damaged probably would buy it again because for the price and what it does (a nice analog sounding echo/delay) it's really cool. highly recommended for those who want to add an extra sprinkle of life, magic, space, warmness, presence (or anything else you want to call it!) to a valve amp.

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