Boss DD-2

My DD-2 was used and in questionable shape when I bought it, but I worked on it to the point where I think I can rate it fairly! The controls are fairly self explanatory (level, echo, feedback, delay?) with a couple of exceptions...I didn't have the luxury of documentation, so maybe this is obvious if you have a manual. First, don't crank the level too high -- anything over halfway will make the echo louder than the original note. Second, the "Hold" option (the last setting on the delay time knob) isn't an off switch, it's for sampling the note played when you depress the pedal. In other words, you still need to unplug the pedal when it's on hold, or it'll still be using power, just less of it!
Other than that, the DD-2 is pretty simple. The trick is in the setup below.

Sound quality will depend a lot on what you have before this pedal in your signal. If you are going straight from guitar to amp (ie. don't have/use a separate effects I/O loop in your rig), put the delay AFTER a distortion pedal...if the delay is first, the echo will get distorted and turn your tone to mud. You wouldn't have a distortion pedal in an effects loop, but put things like tremolo, wah-wah or flange before the delay as well. My DD-2 seems more prone to hissing than some of the newer pedals, but I'm also using the max hold time for my guitar leads. It doesn't behave nicely with a lot of chorus or reverb effects around it...you never know where you're going to get clicks from your pick or finger-tapping. Still, most of the problems are from the original signal, not this pedal. It's an older model, so you're not going to get eternal echo without holding down the pedal. With feedback and echo set at about 50% and level just a little lower, I get the ideal sound for Maiden-style solos (this is what Dave Murray uses on "Live After Death")at about 800ms hold time. Those settings will give that nice, shimmering "liquid" sound on the clean channel if you back off the tone and switch to single-coils. But when the solo is over or I want some really thick crunch, I step off and use amp or processor reverb instead of the pedal.
Note that it will also do an acceptable job for bass guitar if your amp doesn't have decent reverb...I can get David Ellefson's lead bass tone from "Dawn Patrol" on my crusty old Randall RB-60 with it.

I'm a little concerned about how my pedal can handle abuse, but the previous owner kicked the living $#*! out of it, so it might need more repair than what I can give before it's roadworthy. The main problem seems to be that it doesn't always respond on the first stomp, which I've heard a lot about various BOSS pedals. Also, you better have an AC adapter for power, because this thing eats batteries like crazy. I left it plugged in overnight once and it was dead in the morning. I'll still use it live for now since I need a dedicated delay pedal and don't want to shell out hundreds of dollars for something better. Like all BOSS pedals, it's metal and feels pretty solid, so I trust it for practice and studio work...but a backup NEVER hurts.

I've never contacted Roland, but I've had it for six years and if it dies, it's from old age.

My taste in music is purely metal, but delay pedals are for everyone, at least where lead guitar is concerned. If you use it for clean playing like I mentioned above, it's great. I've been using this pedal for bass as well, and it's even seen some use as a vocal echo box.
Since the most current model is the $200 DD-5, that would be the logical upgrade. BOSS wrote the book on digital delay, and the DD-5 has a better sampling feature. But for a fairly simple delay pedal with stereo outputs and considerable durability, this DD-2 was a bargain. If you have the opportunity to get one for fairly cheap, you might find that it does what you need without paying through the nose for something fancy!

Just wanted to clear up the mistakes in my previous submission: The Echo Level knob controls the volume of the Echo (imagine that...), the F. Back knob controls how many times it echoes, and the 3rd knob handles the speed of the delay. The 4th is obviously for choosing how many milliseconds of delay you want. And the Hold function is pretty neat, too. With the pedal off, play a phrase, then click the pedal on, and HOLD it down (in Hold mode). It will continuously echo what you played and allow you to play overtop.

WEll, I think that there is something wrong with mine, because I have to stomp on it multiple times as HARD as I can to get it to turn on. But once it's on, watch out! Knobs are Echo Level, which I haven't really figured out yet, but just adds Reverb or something (?), Feedback determines how many times it echos back, and Delay signifies the Delay time. And there is a switch for 200 milliseconds, 400 milliseconds, and 800 milliseconds, along with a hold switch, which I THINK bypasses the effect (?).

It sounds amazing! It's the only delay pedal I've ever owned, however, so perhaps I'm speaking out of ignorance. But it really sounds scary!!!! With all of the knobs rolled up, it echoes endlessly! But, it only has up to 800 millisecond delay, no 2 seconds or anything. But that's fine for me, and if you play in a Sonic Youth type band and want heavy, thick noise, try it out! Sounds kinda like the Beatles' Revolution 9! Especially in Drop-D, cuz the pedal will turn the lows into an amazing, spooky organ sound that gets more intense every 800 milliseconds (I guess). Mixing high D's and Low D's is a breeze, and sounds amazing! On 400 milliseconds, it's very easy to get a quick, wild echo, and on 200 ms (?) you get a very odd chimelike percussionistic (yes I made that up) ring. Definitely cool. On a bad note, it repeats everything! If you tap the headstock, it repeats a clunky wooden sound. If you scrape your pick or slide your hand up the strings accidentally, get ready to hear it played back endlessly...

Well, like I said, Mine sometimes fails to come on...but I think that's something wrong with just mine, cuz I bought it used. It often it'll not turn OFF when I want it to, so... It's a BOSS though, so don't worry about breaking it.

Never had to deal with the company.

I only wish that mine would work when I wanted it to. Other than taht, it sucks batteries like you wouldn't believe!!!! But it sounds great, but I think that if I had the choice, I'd buy a DD-3 or maybe even a DD-5, but that's a little unnecessary (P.S. What happened to the DD-4?) Ultimately though, I'm glad I made this investment, and I think it'll last me a long time.