Belcat DLY-303 Delay

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

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

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

dont think they would give a crap

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

Can't get any easier. No manual necessary. (there isn't one for that matter)

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.

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.

I do not speak Chinese..

Great for the money. Absolute steal. Do not expect to get a boutique delay pedal, just a simple delay.

Very easy to use, easy to find the echo you want

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

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

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It alright but my main problem with it is above

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.

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.

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.

Have not contacted Belcat, nor needed to.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Not Applicable..

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.

3 Knobs: Rate/Depth/Repeat, no scale. Pots are weak, almost move by themselves.

Amazing. This is a very warm, very analog sounding pedal. Great slapback, nice kind of lo-fi, vintage delays.
Imagine the contrary of a Boss digital delay.
It sucks tone, ok, but less - or different - than my ibanez fl-9 and pt-9. It??s quiet.
I own an TC vintage delay and a MEK PT-80, both fantastic, analog sounding delays. The Belcat is a piece of junk with trashy pots, jacks and switch - but its sound is comparable.
I used it with a JTM-45 clone and my custom-made "Jazzcasters" with Texas Specials and Reverend P90s. I liked it.

I had it on my board and removed it - carefully . If I would have kicked it off, it would be broken now.
If you want to know if you can depend on it, open it. It??s a joke!
Do not step on it.

Ever dealt with China?

If you want I warm sounding, very musical delay for less than a good cable costs - buy the Belcat.
With eyes closed it sounds like 5 times its price.
I??m playing for 18 years starting with metal and ending up with Jazz. I do a lot touring with a pop/rock-coverband. I play without backups so I need stompboxes to stomp on.
If you use it at home and switch it by hand - you??ll like it.

Easy as falling off a bike, though less painful.

It has character, and for $50AUD it really is good value.
Little muddy, little dark

Generally short timed can be pushed by a bit of voltage on the middle pin of the delay time knob to go longer, but then you degenerate into static.

Can't be modded to self oscillate :(

I'm using it on synth and guitar. Can be modded by CV sources to do some unusual and cool things. Vibrato on pitch dropping echoes for one ;)

I actually broke it when circuit bending but some how it works BETTER than before.

Longer delay than before too!

The case is solid and the foot switch is of a decent design.
Its all surface mounted devices so not really "modder" friendly.

But if you DON'T go poking around it'll last years and years.

Its a good match for anyone who wants to get into delay on the cheap.
I've been playing since 92 but never really got into delay until relatively recently.

I've owned Line6's DM4 and have a Malekko Echo Dark as well as an Electro Harmonix #1echo.

Its pretty nice for the money, I prefer it over digital though it ain't going to beat the Malekko for pure degenerated dirt.

Three knobs.Very easy to use.Provided new with no manual.But do you need one?Bit of a one trick pony when it comes to getting a sound out of it.

As i have said....sound wise a bit of a one trick pony.Some people will say that it sounds warm others will say muddy.But for me it sounds fine.I do feel that Belcat would be onto a real winner tho if this pedal had controlable self oscillation(or infinate feedback).Will somebody respond to these reviews to say if there is a mod that will work to get self oscillation, and one that is user adjustable?

Only owned for one week.But looks like solid unit.

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Good but very basic pedal.Would like to know if any modifications to this pedal would work.

Branded in Australia as "Crossfire", with a little sticker on the front.

Simple to use. Three knobs, RATE, LEVEL, REPEAT.

Up to 350ms which is perfect for me. On prior digital units with several seconds of delay I liked to use 333ms so this unit is perfect for me.

Great sound quality, no background hiss (unlike the chorus, grrr). Repeats are clear and juicy. It is amazing just how harsh and cold digital delay is after using this.

I have had digital delays, a Zoom 2020, Zoom 5050, G2.1u, and an Ibanez CS-5. The CS-5 rocks if you can cope with a short delay. The Belcat stomps over all the above for clarity of sound and fullness of tone.

Never missed a beat yet. Some things about it are that everything is mounted to the pcb, the switch, the plastic jacks, the pots. The case is strong and compact. As long as you don't step on the guitar leads plugged into the jacks which I imagine would break them, it should be fine.

I emailed them about hiss in my chorus. They wouldn't provide a schematic or layout but they did at least reply in a timely and nice fashion. The chorus got put on eBay about 5 seconds after receiving this email.

I really believe in the good sounds this pedal makes. It has good low noise, no hum, clicks, tick, pops or miscellaneous nonsense a bad design can cause.

It is a really fantastic pedal. I liked the chorus heaps to, but it has this hiss which through high gain amp sounded all the worse. This delay has no such shortcommings.