Boss DD-20

ok everybody listen up! you can HAVE A 2,4,6 BAR STEREO DRUM LOOP AND LOOP A LONGER GUITAR PART OVER IT,AND RE RECORD THE GUITAR PART OFF AND ON AT WILL WITHOUT ERASING THE DRUM LOOP!!!

here's how:

1. get a stereo A/B(VCR/DVD switcher could work) and a tap tempo pedal
2. CD player/ drum loops in one stereo channel, guitar in other
3. set DD 20 to anything BUT SOS, 23 secs of delay, full feedback
4. make sure effect is off
5. play your drum loops. when ready, hit effect on
6. tap tempo to make it start looping
7. use your big toe to switch to SOS. the drum loop will continue
8. hit SOS and lay down those chords
9. hit SOS again and hear your chords IN STEREO OVER A STEREO DRUM LOOP. start wailing over it
10. hit SOS again, do your next bunch of chords and throttle over that

One little thing: you can't switch to the memory 1 slot while doing this or the drum loop will dissappear. if you want some delay on your lead solo, get a boss DD 6. put it in so that it doesn't affect the other parts (drums and chords)

great for pat metheny's "Have You Heard" solo. it's clean and won't hum with other things in your chain like LIE 6 (line 6) products.

probably won't break. like toyota, japanese companies tend to keep up the quality control

i live in taiwan. the Roland people here are total jerks. but i don't care. i know more about their products that they do! that's why they don't like me. everybody in taiwan knows me. you'd think that would translate into artist endorsement, but i don't suck up to them enough and went beyond what they thought their product (GR guitar synth) could do."just play what we tell you". go figure.

i play jazz . i suggest using the BOSS OC 3 for your bass parts. you can have the bass sound on JUST THE 5TH AND 6TH STRING WITH THIS PEDAL!! you can have bass on the left, guitar on the right going thru your DD 20 and it sounds GREAT!
LOOPERS UNITE!!! WRITE TO ME!!

twin pedal functions are great. knobs are easy and set up nicely. time knob w/display screen is nice to have. get an external pedal for tap, though.

using gibson with seymour duncans into mesa nomad. Not noisy at all. no tone loss noticed. one thing you all must remember: this is a digital pedal! no matter how much the dd-20 tries to be tape or analog delay by cutting the highs or decaying, it will still act like a digital delay. not bad relplications at all, however. slap back (120ms) seems to work fine. analog and tape settings can definatly pull off some convincing emulations, but i need the real thing. getting a ibanez ad-9. consider this before purchasing if your intentions are for its tape and analog emulations. these 'digital' characteristics are very noticible when using short delays; up to about 200ms.

display screen will have to be kept safe. knobs are plastic and look cheaper than normal boss stomp-box knobs

good.

i hate dealing with programmable pedals and their sterile digital sounds. this twin pedal, on the other hand, i really have no problem with. easy to use. no tonal loss. verisitle. good job, boss! just remember, buy it cause you know its digital.

I've just had this pedal for a couple of days, but it seems very easy to use. The manual is a must for some operations, but right out of th box it's easy to start messing with. Getting sounds is very easy and storing is super easy as well. Knobs laid out well.

My set is either '68 reissue strat or '77 les paul custom into keeley mod ds-1 into the dd-20 into fender hotrod deluxe w/volume box...sometimes use an old flange pedal or fuzz as well. This pedal is dead quite for me, no hiss, no switching noise, and patches flow from one to another. I bought this as a main delay pedal and I'm pleased with it. In the 80's I used to have the japanese analog pedal that's going for way too much on ebay. I like digital stuff too, and while I'd love an analog...digital is very flexible and useful, and the sounds on this unit are awesome.
The only drawbacks I've found which I can live with are: You cannot make the effect level louder that the dry level....I love to sometimes have the delay 25 or 50 percent louder than the guitar. It almost sounds like the effect full on isn't even quite as loud as dry. This makes no sense to me, but I can live with it. Also, while I like the fact that when you switch the pedal off or change patches the delay still fades out, sometimes I like an abrupt stop to the delay...especially when I've got a long feedback setting. I haven't quite figured out how to have a long feedback setting on this and kill the sound quickly without obviously bending down on turning the feeback down and waiting for it to die out. It would be nice to have the option. I also agree that twist and whatever the other setting is are silly...this unit feels pro except for those settings. But, there's always a way to use a sound somewhere.

I've never had a problem with Boss pedals and this one looks tough as well despite the read out screen....but I'm pretty easy on pedals.

Never had a dealing with.

Music I like/styles...Hendrix, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth etc. I've been playing for about 20 years. This pedal definatly is fun to play with, sounds awesome and a great value. I don't base my playing on a pedal, I like a pedal to compliment what I'm after. Though there's 23 seconds of delay here I tend to use short delays mostly, but I do like to experiment and find ways to use longer delays. The last thing I'd every what to sound like is the Edge, yuck. I've always steered away from delay because of him...but, I think there's so many ways to use delay other than that. I love the way Boss stuff feels solid and dependable. I choose this pedal 'cause overall it seemed the best value...I hate Line 6 stuff, though honestly I've not used much of it...it just seems cheesy to me. I really wish I could make the effect louder than the dry signal is my only complaint, but otherwise this is a great pedal, seems classic.

if this is your first stompbox, you might be a little confused. i've been a gearhead for a while, built a synth, so this wasnt really an issue. i bought this pedal because of reviews i'd read here and i dont regret it for a second. this is such a good site. the blinking light is cool (way too bright true) but useful. i dont think it could get much simpler, saving, recalling etc.

i was worried about it sounding cold. not an issue, but then again i use tube amps. last night it was making a barely audible clicking, without the effect engaged. this is probably my problem, i just got my 1st pedalboard in an effort to get my act more polished. but there was so much gain in the loop that you would never hear this random flutter. anyway. i love 'analog' mode. smells like slowdive. i've never owned a true analog delay because i am not thurston more, and buy gear very sparingly.

yes. get the power adapter. or a pedalboard. i cant stress this enough. i was playing a sports bar solo (bad idea man) the week i got it and the batteries ran out. ouch.

nope

it's a question of $$$. a new boss delay pedal costs 120. this one has all the features plus many more for 200. and you can save patches.
amazing. more things should be built like this. simple, metal, easy.
this pedal is a real pleasure droid. some cons: TWIST MODE!?!? you step on the pedal and it goes "WHOOPWHOPPWHOOP" much louder than anything in your signal chain! completely the same every time. and in the manual it says 'perfect for ending a song' and thats it. silly boss. i'm sure in a year there will be countless albums with whoopwhoopwhooop at the end. i'll let this slide. it's a great stomper.

If you read the manual (short and easy), figuring out how to use this thing is really easy. But for some stuff, you really do want to read the manual. I've found that it's really important to get an extra momentary footswitch (you can get em at Radio Shaq for $10). That way you're able to turn it on/off, change patches, and use the extra switch as a tap tempo. Without that switch, you can't change patches and tap tempo unless you want to stand on the right switch for two seconds, which isn't practical live. It's a drag that the light goes off automatically and you have to turn it back on, but that's not a big deal.

I generally hate digital delays, and I generally hate stuff Boss makes (it usually sounds too thin to me). I had an old Boss delay/sampler that gave up the ghost, and it blew. The DD20 is great, however. It doesn't color the sound unless you want it to, and when you do want it to, you can do some pretty nifty stuff. It's also dead quiet if you use the right adaptor (just go buy the actual Boss adaptor and you'll avoid some real hassles) and good cable. It's hard to get real freak sounds out if it, if you're into that-- like you can't grab the time knob and wing it around to get weird pitch bending, but the fact that you can get 23 seconds of delay rules, and that looper is extremely addictive. If you have a stereo instrument, the DD20 works nicely, because it's stereo all the way through. I run a Warr guitar into a mess of effects feeding each side, and it keeps them nice and separate.

Seems dependable. I keep it nestled in a pedal board and don't smack it around. I use it without a backup-- I'm not made of money. I should say that despite Boss's acclaimed reliability, I've managed to kill two of their pedals even with gentle treatment.

Unless you want to shell out twice as much, you won't find a better-sounding, more versatile delay. It's tempting to incorporate it into everything musical you do, because it runs the gamut from really subtle to opaque sounds that most people wouldn't understand. Like some others have said, definitely get this before the Line 6 (those are inexplicably renowned-- I think it's because Guitar Player loves them).

Pretty easy to use. I come from rack stuff so this is kinda like a toy. Seamless patch changes work well.

I'm using this in the FX loop of a Soldano Decatone head.

It's not noisy, and apparently the buffer is pretty good.

I'm using it in wet/dry mode, using the 100% wet output and blending in the delay signal with my amp's parallel fx loop mix knob.

To be honest, this unit doesn't sound that great as an fx-loop device. It sounds decent with a guitar plugged straight into it, but that setup doesn't work for me because I use a high distortion preamp, which requires delays to go after the preamp (fx loop).

I find that the overall quality of the delays is poor. Even with the tone knob turned full right (enhanced treble frequencies), it has a lot of trouble cutting through. Output is just kind weak. The majority of the "models" are gimmicks. In fact the only one that's decent is just the "standard" delay. The analog sucks, the tape is a joke, twist/warp are ok but kinda useless... sound on sound works right i guess. The modulation delay is pretty good actually.

The one that really pisses me off, is the Dual Delay. Why didn't you morons actually try this one before reviewing it? It's absolutely worthless! By "Dual Delay" you'd think it's like any other dual or stereo delay, with two independent delays running in series. Well, it's sorta that, but the first delay is limited to 100ms or less!!!!!! WTF are you gonna do with that? So all you can get out of it is a doubling effect proceeded by a normal delay... there are no rhythmic possibilities as one would suspect. You people need to check these things out before you come on here giving perfect reviews on your new toys.

Overall I am very disappointed with this unit, as it simply sounds crappy in an fx-loop setup.

BTW, yes I have tried the -20/+4 output level toggle, this is poorly implemented as well.

Seems well made, steel. 5 year boss warranty.

n/a

This has a great feature set and is a great concept. For some people, particularly those using it in front of their amp, it will work well. For FX loop users, I would caution you. Go try it at the store first or something. If you want to go the FX loop route, get a rack unit instead.

In general, this delay is incredibly easy to use. If you've only used straight stomper delays before, it's pretty much the same. If you've used anything with memory presets before, it's pretty much the same. The only thing I imaging could be made easier is the beat ratio settings (the ratio of the number of delays per foot tap. The display could be used to show this a lot better - there's no way to discern what the current setting is if you're playing it live, as it uses tiny eighth/quarter/half/whole icons with tiny dots and triple icons... then again, I've never seen anything else do this well either.

I've only had it for 1 day, but combined with my experience (18 years of delay pedals) and the 4 hours of use (butt on the floor tweak time and stand up loud rehearsel) I do feel comfortable reviewing it this early. I've tried it in 3 scenarios so far - in an effects send/return off a mixer to check on some older tracks (A/B'd with some cubase tape sims), Through a Mesa Boogie Maverick into 1x12 EVM loaded Thiele, and with a Mesa Boogie Mark IV into a '73 Marshal greenback cab (along with a fulldrive II and Ernie Ball volume).
Every mode is extremely quiet - as quiet as it gets. This is a bit strange though when using the analog mode - my old boss dm-3 was not quiet at all - not something that I appreciated. I noticed that another reivewer mentioned that he had tried two and that they were both very noisy - sounds strange to me... perhaps the output mode setting (-20/+4 db) was set wrong? I should add that this feature was a wonderful surprise, as I can now use this pedal as a DI for and get instrument level inputs into my mixer that I didn't have before - strange that noone mentions this. The only other problem I can imagine with that previous user had is that perhaps they're unable to discern the difference between the pedal noise and other sources ( pickup, excessive gain, compressors, etc.)
Effect wise, Tape, analog, standard, dual, pan sound amazing to me. It's been over a decade since I've tried a real echo plex, but I hear them all the time from some studio work my band has done (before I showd up)... I do believe it could fool anyone with in depth experience, but I'm not that guy, so mind the grains of salt.
I found it embarrassing when some Edge sounding licks popped out - only natural when you've got the same kind of syncopated delays - The first and last time I'll ever play Pride, In The Name of Love.
Two strange effects for allt he RadioHead fans out there - Twist and Warp. Both modes are normal delays until the on/off button is held down - "Twist" sounds just like when you tweak an analogue pedal's delay time shorter and "Warp" sounds like manually turing up the feedback and level on an old analogue delay. Releasing the on/off button lets the cacophonic swell die down back to a normal delay. Again, I could never see myself putting this up on the back-beat, but for review's sake, I though describing these cheesier effects might help some reader out there.
The "Smooth" effect was another unexpected treat. This is basically a delay where the tap adds reverb onto them. The reverb sounds very plate-like, and in conjunction with the tone knob and a very tight, one slap delay, you can get just the right rockabilly slap back. I was amazed at how well this worked out in conjunction with the thick reverb on the Mesa Maverick, and the MIM Telecaster never sounded more 50's
I don't really believe in the 10 score unless you know that nothing could ever top what you're rating. I give it a nine because of the modulated delay, which I found a little weak . I had an effect like this on the old Digitech Multitap some 12 years ago - too long to recall which would sound better as my ears have probably changed more than dsp chips have in the same time. However, I just don't think that the modulated delay sounds very musical. I imagine that a wet or stereo chorus or vibrato would sound far better than the modulation built in to this effect. Also, with two extra "deep" parameters to control this (rate and depth), it's cumbersome to dial it in to sound just right.

I really couldn't say...It comes with a 5 year warrantee, but did the last Isuzu I bought, which turned out to be a mistake...

I paid an extra $20 for expedited replacement service (just drop it off at UPS, and Boss mails back a check for the price of a new one.). I bought this because of how impressed I was with the pedal while demoing it. I would need a replacement for this right away if it pooped out on me.

I've been playing guitar for 18 years, with over a decade of drums and violin beofre that. I currently play in 2 bands, ready to start playing out again. One very alt.folky, ballady, replacements sounding quartet with a country "edge", and the other is punky/emo/indy mixed up band. This pedal hits all the bases and most any kind of delay sound I want is easily summoned up. The trendy analogue sound is only missing the noise artifacts, but that's not missed. Crystaline bouncing shimmer, PBS space documentary intro music, "Creep", "How Soon is Now", "Whole Lotta Love", "Wind Cries Mary" - it's all there. I know that I could tweak 50's rockabilly slapback sound into some great country lead sounds.
I compare this to the delays on many other units I've tried, multi effects and standalone: A Boss DM-3, a Digitech MultiTap, Boss DD-2, Digitech RP-12, Didgitech 2120, Lexicon MPX-G2, Boss GT-5 and more recenly a Danelectro Wasabi forward reverse delay. This is as good or better than anything I've used. My last attempt at a delay, the Wasabi, was returned in exchange for this - the tone cut on the Wasabi didn't do enough to warm it up and do the fake analogue/tape thing at all.
The pedal could be made more useful if it had a third foot switch (i.e., smaller, like the Line 6 delay modeller) so that memory and tap functions could be done more easily. The idea of using a separate switch and taking up more real estate on the pedal board is a real drag. I've yet to try the "Mode 3", where memory bank switching is done by hitting the two-pedals simultaneously - this might appease me.

It's pretty easy to get a good sound. The editing is a little complicated and not entirely obvious, but if you just play around with it most everything sounds good, even if it leads you someplace you weren't expecting. The manual is good, but it does take a while to check everything out because there's a lot of functions. I wish there were some more shortcuts, because I still haven't figured a lot of stuff out. It doesn't sound bad because I haven't figured it out yet, but I don't have full control of all it's capabilities yet.

I plug into an Ernie Ball volume pedal into a TU-2 to a Fulldrive 2 into a modified Boss SD-1 overdrive, into the DD-20. It goes from there straight into a Peavey Delta Blues. The delay is not noisy at all. It's all good. I've used this with my Les Paul Junior and Tele Custom.

It's a Boss.

I've been searching for the right delay for years, going through a lot of pedals on the way. I had a Guyatone MD3 most recently, a Boss DD-5 before that, the Dano PB&J delay, a Zoom thing, and some other stuff I can't remember, all gone on e-bay. This has tap/tempo, dual delays, good vintage delay sims, the reverse thing, looping of a sort, and a place to store favorite settings. Makes me sound like Robert Fripp or The Edge. I haven't had it long enough to go more in depth, but it seems like most everything it produces is extremely musical. Well worth the price. My search for the Delay Grail has ended (I think)

Lots of features... I'm too lazy to list them all. see other reviews.
Very easy to get a basic dealy out of it.
But getting the best out of it requires some time... or extensively reading my review ;-)

It is a digital delay so it doesn't perfectly sound like an analog delay or a tape echo. The simulations are close enough though, but it's not what I use the most. warp, modulated etc... are not my thing. I like digital delay when it's used properly anyway, and remember there's a tone knob to cut off the high end.

BUT... the potential of its digital delay is amazing, and that's what makes this pedal stand out. dead quiet (of course!). Reverse is excellent. I love the smooth setting too (try 130 ms with a long feedback and play arpeggios). The delay time starts at 1 ms ! the quality is pristine. No rack lexicon or TC or whatever sounds better than this. Now wait...

ATTENTION PLEASE!! The reason why I'm writing this review is that most people don't realise the DD-20's full POWER. A lot of people say the Line 6 is a better looper... they're wrong. Do yourself a favor and get a extra pedal for tap tempo. Now set the right pedal to switch between manual and one saved setting. Set both on digital delay, infinite feedback and 23 seconds of delay. Using the tap tempo pedal to start and end a loop, you can use the DD-20 as a TWIN LOOPER, running two loops in parallel. Get it? One tap, play, one tap, it loops. Use the left pedal to overdub phrases. Memorise the time shown on the display. Switch to the other delay (manual/saved) with the right pedal. You can set the time to be the same (parallel loops), half, or off-tempo if you wish. CHAOS! The feedback knob allows you to have loops fade away if you wish.

I told you to use the 'digital delay' setting, but you don't have to! that means, you can make loops with the analog simulation, or tape etc...!!!

I also told you to set the delay time to 23 seconds, but you can also set it to a normal delay time, that way you can LOOP A DELAYED SIGNAL.

One last thing: Put an A/B box in front or your DD-20, and do this parallel looping thing IN STEREO. If you don't have a stereo set-up, try with earphones first, I guarantee after a few minutes of this you will drop your guitar and run to the shop to buy another amp.

There are other features I love about this pedal. I love the stereo routing. You can use the DD-20 as an A/B box, run the delays through a reverb with the dry/fx output mode, etc...

The only thing I DON'T like about this pedal is that you can't turn the rate knob smoothly. I wish it would self oscillate like a DE-7 or at least pitchshift like a basic DD-3. Buy a DE-7, put it in front of your DD-20 and you have an amazing delay combo. Some say the best, I don't know, I haven't tried all those low-fi 80's kaputt delays and loopers. So anyway when you turn the rate knob ou get digital farts. So people love that (there's a review below with extatic comments about those 'rythm patterns'), I don't. That's really the only thing it lacks, but well, a DE-7 isn't expensive.

That's it. Print this out and go to your closest guitar shop. If you still have questions after that, post them on the guitargeek forum: www.guitargeek.com. The geeks are friendly and will be happy to help you out.

It's a boss. 5 year warranty
It's got a display though, so I'll take care of it.

No idea

I love this pedal. It's a songwriting tool + a unique looper + a great programmable delay pedal for live use. Fantastic value. Go try it.

Well here we are back in Roland-land after trying every goddam delay there is. And guess what, it's the DD-20 that cuts the mustard. So anyway, ease of use: well actually it's not the easiest pedal to get your head around! I needed an hour with the manual and I have an IQ of 6.3 billion (but then again I am the alien he surfed with). But really if you just want a straight delay then twiddle the knobs, tap the tempo pedal and you're away. If you want to save stuff, mess with the chorus (yes there is a CHORUS in this pedal) or get your loops right you need to sit down, read the book, and try things out. So not totally intuitive, but what can you expect with only 2 control pedals?

Outstanding. All the delays are superb. Plus you can tweak them with the tone control, tap the tempo, twist this, warp that, you name it.

Running straight into my THD head at -20db it is great, running in the THD fx loop at +4 it is great, running in the post-master-vol fx loop (i.e. straight in the power stage) of my Torque acoustic combo it's a bit hissy but what the hey (who puts an fx loop after the master vol anyway? Idiots). Bypass may not be true, but it's pretty darn good and you'd need a scope to measure the difference when the DD-20 is out of circuit.

The "standard" delay is pristine, the analog and tape delays are retro, the chorus is actually not bad (tip - delay to 1ms then you have a bog standard Boss chorus effect) plus you can tweak rate and depth.

The gimmicky stuff, well "warp" and "twist" actually do little for me after the initial fun moments but who knows, I might get into them. Dual and 2-head delays maybe aren't that gimmicky, but they're not straight delays either, andway they're good. Same for reverse.

And now a special mention of SOS (sound on sound / loop sampler or whatever it is). So I'm new to this, but once you've got the hang of the timing of starting and stopping the loop, it is truly excellent! American Life track 2 here I come... hours of fun :-)

Boss/Roland gear has never, ever let me down. And I've been using it since the early 80s.

I thought of trying one of these and emailed Boss saying I wanted detailed info, they sent me a manual in the post next day. These guys have the right attitude.

This really is the best stomp box delay I've ever used. Maybe it could have more delay models but lose the gimmicky stuff, but who cares - it's great, I love it, it's now on my pedalboard. I can't wait to see what they bring out to replace this with!