Blackbox Quicksilver

Not that easy. If you don't use the modulation it's OK - but if you do you get an OK chorusy vibrato on the delayed signal if you set it for the short channel and an over-the-top warble on the long channel. Vice versa if you set it OK for the long channel it's inaudible on the short. Nice idea with to channels - but in reality you need to set the knobs individually for each channel...

Also, you'll have trouble to power it reliably with a normal Boss PSA power supply. The hole drilled in the pedal chassis is just a bit too narrow to stick the pin all the way in. This causes the power to go if the pedal gets kicked around. (And we all know that happens live...)

Sounds sweet! Lovely lush delay, good tone shaping feature and really nice modulation. Absolutely LOVE the FX loop - brilliant! The possibilities are endless!

But the instructions here says "Be critical" people! At least mine hisses too much to be OK for a digital delay. I always use delay before my amps, and the amp is my main source of distortion - so whatever hiss a pedal produces gets, well amplified...

I own 4 delay pedals at the moment and have played more than I can count - and the level of background hiss is just too high on this one for me. Too bad 'cause it's a great pedal otherwise. It's just not OK for such an expensive pedal. Seems like Loren went for all the bells and whistles here and missed out on the basics...

I e-mailed Loren and got a nice quick response. He said there was a trim pot inside that might remedy the problem. Fiddled with - the hiss didn't go away...

Been playing for 25 years and own 7 guitars, 6 tube amps and around 50 pedals.

What's wrong with people here at H-C?

1) Are they incapable of making critical analyses?
2) Do they write "honeymoon" reviews before they know what they're talking about?
2) Is it the need to justify buying expensive gear?
3) Maybe they simply don't know what good tone is?

Have a look around HC yourselves! S**t gear get great reviews. It kinda defeats the purpose of this site - to help consumers make enlightened buys.

I'm not saying this is a crappy pedal - only that it has a flaw that no one here mentions.

Maybe I got a dud unit? I don't know, but what I do know is that the hunt for the ultimate delay continues...

It may look complex, but if you're an experienced player it's easy to get a good sound. With the dual switch you get a short slap-back type delay, and a longer analog-sounding echo-type delay. Both are useful; the unit is always "on" on my board.
I got it used with no manual, but there's plenty of info on their website.

You can get a really nice long echo with the Quicksilver; think David Gilmore, The Edge etc. The real key to unlocking the Quicksilver's potential is using it with a compressor in it's effects loop. I use it along with a Blackbox Oxygen, and I got chills the first time I heard it. Total Echoplex tone; complete with as much modulation and tape wobble as you want. The compressor adds realism to the repeats, and it sounds totally analog 1968!

It seems very well built and solid, and have had no problems.

They have a good reputation, but I have not had to deal with them

I play mostly in a praise and worship band, and the Quicksilver adds a nice dimension to my playing. I've been playing for 42 years (yikes!)nad have owned over 30 guitars and amps. My set-up currently is; '51 Fender Nocaster Relic>Diamond Compressor>Tonefactor Dual Copperhead OD>BJF Honey Bee OD>Catalinbread Semaphore Tremolo>Blackbox Quicksilver>Oxygen>Siegmund Double Drive microtube preamp>direct box to house and monitors.
Ilike this delay much better than any Boss DD-3 or Toadworks Redux.

The Quicksilver offers quite an array of functions, some that are pretty unique, and most boxes I have tried that have as many knobs are a pain in the back side to set up, you're never *quite* happy with the sound and it ultimately ends in a thumbs down... Not so with this magical device! Somehow Blackbox Electronics have created a pedal which a perfectionist impatient for a decent, usable sound can attain - in fact several! I've given it an 8, because inherently this pedal is far from basic - quite a big and daunting pillbox, armed with 5 jack inputs! secondly, it is not a switch it on and itll sound good whatever settings it's on -and few pedals are. these 2 points prevent it from getting a 10 IMO, but this in no way detract from the pedal -it can't help it!

Seems to be pretty sturdy and inside the circuit installation and soldering is exceptionally good. I would trust it will carry on indefintely as far as build quality can suggest -i ahvent owned it long so only time will tell -lots of pots and knobs, but everything seems solid and the knobs have a good resistance to ensure your settings are retained - you have to be very precise with the "wobble" to get a really sweet modulation for example - it is overkill above 3 o'clock!

Haven't dealt with them personally but their website seems understated but professional and their instructions are fairly basic -their fx loop is something they're clearly proud to explain-and from the little i ahve tried it it could certainly be used to great, if limited effect - the rest they leave up to you with only a few suggestions, but tbh, these pedals sell themselves, and their insturctions page welcomes opinions, rants and complaints!

I'll give them full marks because this guy is committed to supporting the creative guitarist, and im confident he would be glad to help - a leap of faith im prepared to make.

The bad points?

The silver marker rubs off!!! othewise great finish, but im having this checked out pronto.
Difficult, stiff input.
Shortest delay time doesnt quite cut it as a "reverb" - another delay
pedal may be needed for this the "long" channel is where this pedal really sings -superb echo.

??240 is alot in most peoples books, and i had to haggle fiercely to get it down from ??275, and even on the relative scale of things it's certainly a boutique pedal in price. all the handmade, the import fom america etc... exclusivity? - the back plate has mine signed, and is no.209...! i havent bought it for that reason -if boss's bog standard fx sounded great that would be superb for everyone. they just don't -and ive owned/used quite a few!

bloody fantastic sound is the bottom line and several cracking features. bollocks to the Diamond, and certainly at the frankly extortionate ??350 UK price! Good on you Loren, and its nice to know players of other instruments can enjoy it! -sounded great through my bass players Trace Eliot too...!

it gets a 9 for the bloody marker rubbing off - lousy! - but the sound is what matters...

So-so for figuring it out. It's straightforward, but there are lots of knobs and jacks.

I don't want to list all my gear but my main amp is an Allen Tonesavor 2x12 and a Hamer Newport and parts casters. This pedal is really good and offers some compettition to the much newer Memory Lane which I tried in a store. The ML is very good, no question about that. However, I like a bit more than .55 seconds of delay, so that overshadowed the beautiful analog sound somewhat. The tap tempo is awesome too, but the modulation is not nearly as intense as the Quicksilver. It also needs its own power adaptor and it's a fairly large pedal (Tonebone size). Anyway, I think anybody would do equally well with the ML or the QS. They're about the same price but each has its pros/cons.

The QS is digital in function, but the designer made every effort to make as much of the circuit analog as possible. The tone and mix knobs also allow you to dial in analog/tape simulation with great success. It smooths out the "1s and 0s" of the digital repeat chip. I hear it's a 24 bit ADA converter which is decent. The bottom line is that I can only REALLY tell it's digital when using distortion and drive pedals. That's where the character of the breakup becomes a little more evident (and only at high volumes anyway). NOT a big deal in my opinion, and as they say, your average member of the audience can not hear that 20 feet from the stage. Heck, I'm probably the only one that can tell at all. **I want to stress that the sound quality here is second ONLY to the Memory Lane. Some purists will hear it and recognize that it's not analog, but it's a far cry from your regular Bodss pedals (I have yet to hear the DD-20 however which many people like). When I tried the ML for over 30 minutes in the store, I finally decided that it was not worth unloading my Quicksilver in place of the ML even though I liked the sound a little better (it also has unusably bright settings on the tone knob BTW).

Somebody below said that it's the kind of delay that Zachhary Vex would make. In fact, he has recommended Lorren's Quicksilver on his forum, so it's a very accurate statement (they're friends apparently).
I also own a Blackbox Cobalt which I think is one of the best kept secrets of the boost/light drive market. You can read my review on that one. To close up, I wish I could afford the opulent Echoczar, but I think I spent enough on my Quicksilver. If the QS had tap tempo, it would be sickly amazing. (I contacted Jon Cusack for a tap tempo mod, and though he thinks he could do it, he may release his own delay pedal in the future) I intend to convert a volume pedal to an expression pedal for the QS. One difference is that the Memory Lane's expression jack controls the number of repeats so you can get feedback, and the QS exp jack controls the delay time, so you can get the pitch bending effect like when you tweak the delay time knob. Much cooler this way, IMHO.

Looks very solid! One small quirk is a design "flaw" that could not be fixed; when you switch between long/short delay times (the left footswitch), the chip has to finish the previous repeats from whatever you had stored before. That means that you can have a snippet of your last lick play immediately when you want to change delay times. I get around it by using only one setting at a time in a song. When I asked Lorren, he said he knows and there's no way around it (design-wise). It would have to cut power to the chip or something and it would cause other problems. This is not a major problem to me and I don't think anyone would avoid this pedal for that reason.

Lorren e-mailed me quickly when I had questions (in fact, this is a special edition paint job that he sold on ebay, so I bought directly from him). He's a pro!

I play many kinds of music, and this pedal fits almost everything. I could not really ask for more to be crammed into a small package that runs on 9V. If tap tempo could be added, cool. If I could get sound-on-sound like a Boss, fine. But I can live without those things, and even the Echoczar doesn't have tap tempo. The previous delays I owned are the DD-3 and the Ibanez DE-7. efore buying this one, I considered the SIB Echodrive Plus, the Guyatone and others. I wanted a true bypass top-notch boutique delay because I hate toying around with mediocre performance out of my gear. I have a pedalboard that I do not feel could be (realistically) any better and that's peace of mind. I recommend the Quicksliver.

I have lots of boutique gear, and I'm not trying to brag, but all of us guitarists are on the search ofr the best possible tone, and I think these are like the golden years for equipment. With the Internet, it's easy for anyone to research and get the best possible gear they can afford. There's real good stuff out there and for good prices too. I've tried TONS of pedals to nail down what works best for me, and I built and tweaked my amp myself, and I now build my own parts guitars to taste. I'm babbling now, but the Quicksilver's a very good choice if yo can afford that much for a delay. The Fulltone TTE and Echoczar and the Memory Lane and Maxon/Ibanez AD series are the top delays on the market not counting the vintage gear. And even Boss upped the ante with the DD-20, so deciding which of these is best for you might be tough, but thank God for HC reviews. Hope this one helps...

Pretty simple and very smart. Two foot switches, one for bypass and one to switch between longer & shorter delay settings. Finally, someone figured that out (why do so many other manufacturers build pedals that require the long/short delay switch to be engaged by hand?) It has an adjustable "wobble" knob which gives you a lush heady kind of swirl reminicent of earlier chorus'(my 70's Electro-harmonix Echo-flanger in particular, which crapped out in the 80's). And most importantly to me, it has a tone control for the delayed note which allows you to make your delayed note as crisp or as muddy as your heart desires. Finally!! Someone figured that out. The rest is what you'd expect for your typical delay in a stompbox format. Also true bypass.

-My guitars: John Carruthers custom tele, 61 SG reissue w/two burstbucker #2s,89 Strat plus w/Lace holy grails, and a warmoth HSS custom jazzmaster.

-My signal chain: Fultone deluxe clyde way>analogman beano-boost>Pete Cornish NB2>P2>G2>SS2>Quicksilver>'01 Vox AC15TBRX or an '82 Marshall JCM800 series 4010.

Well after owning many delays and demoing many more, I've found the perfect one for me. God, I love this pedal. Its sound is huge, lush and cuts thru my loud-ass band's mix. I love that when engaged it does not alter the original guitar tone what-so-ever! And as I stated earlier, you can alter the delayed note to have as much or as little cut as you like. Major kudos for that. Nails everything from the Edge or Cold Play sounding delays to crispy chicken pickin' to downright stoney reggae. Also does a killer David Gilmour type delay (think of the solo from "Time").
I'm not going to get into analog vs. digital and all that crap. This is simply the perfect delay for my rig and my tastes. Try one if you can. As far as price goes, well, you get what you pay for, dont' you.

Only had it for about 5 weeks but it comes with a lifetime warranty so whats to worry about.

I've spoken with Loren just to tell him how much I loved his pedal and he seemed like a genuinely cool guy. Who knows, maybe not so much if I was calling to complain but I didn't get the impression that he was the kind of guy that would get all hissy if you had a problem, like some other boutique pedal designers out there. I really think this guy is a "cat" as they say and I have no worries about dealing with him, if need be.

I've been playing for 30+ years and this box reminds me of the stuff I played when I was a teenager in the 70's. It sounds so good I almost want to leave it on all the time which says a helluva lot for a delay pedal. Would most definately buy it again if lost or stolen. Great job Loren!

Took a little bit of time to dial in what I wanted but once i did...WOW!

I have tried or woned nearly every delay pedal in almost 30 years of playing. I use this mainly w/ a Fender Tonemaster and Strats. It is all over my latest record. Has amazing repeat tone that reminds me of what ZVex would do if they had a delay pedal. Just cuts through and has a sounnd all its own. Its organiz with ddigital control and the modulation is nothing short of unbelievable. Nothing gets a 10 and no other delay pedal gets more than an 8.

Seems built like a tank, haven't had any problems.

Got mine from Scott at axeandyoushallreceive. He's grteat and I'm sure there won't be any problems.

This pedal is great for anybody seeking a uniquely craftable tone. It blows awaay the cookie cutter delays out there. Is pricey, but your recordings and shows are worth it aren't they?

As an echo/digital delay you can just plug n' play straight out the box
To get all the tones out of this unit you need to spend ALOT of time
tinkering
? Individual Long and Short delay circuits
? Tone control for brighter or darker repeats
? Wobble and Speed modulation controls
? Effects loop for processing repeats
? Expression pedal jack for controlling delay time
? Long/Short switch
? True Bypass switch

The tones you can get out this box are amazing
Real time echo is a blast to use with a buddy
Very staight forward to all out wierd
This unit is for an artist wanting a new fresh sound
Kudos
Dual delays. Unique modulation. Generally quiet. Fat, warm sound. Effects loop. Expression pedal jack. True-bypass switching.

Hand built - heavy and solid
1 year and no problems ( not sure about Blackbox's track record )

N/A

My overall opinion is hampered by the price
The Quicksilver?s effects loop allows you to insert additional effects before each repeat.
This capability may be a tad esoteric for some users, but with a little imagination and experimentation, a nearly unlimited number of sounds and textures may be created. For example, inserting an envelope filter and adjusting the delay length to match the song tempo generated some extremely funky rhythmic accents, an aggressive compressor produced wild ?squashed? delays, and a distortion pedal created shimmering layers of sustained tones.
Although the Quicksilver is a digital device, its fat and warm delay sound is reminiscent of vintage tape echo units and analog delay pedals?and its Tone knob provides additional flexibility, allowing you to roll off the highs on the delay repeats should you wish to emulate the very limited bandwidth of the earliest analog delay pedals.Very cool unit , very well made , awwsome sounds , but a little too spendy for someone who just needs a digital delay . If you love vintage sounds and crave creative options, the Quicksilver could become an invaluable aid to your personal tonal alchemy.