Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man

It definately takes some getting used to. Its taken me a couple a months to find the sounds I really wanted and I'm still finding new settings. Pretty fun to play with despite the trickyness of it.

I use a Mesa Boogie tube amp pushing a Marshall cab and I play a 57 strat. I have to admit I've had to play with this thing quite a long time before I was satisfied with it. At first I liked the chorus and wasn't happy with the delay. But now I hate the chorusing effect and love the delay, now that I understand how to get what I want out of it. You can't really call this a chorus pedal. It's really a way far out echo/delay pedal, which is all I use it for. The chorus has a bad detune type tone thats really anoying. But to add a little chorus to the delay is kinda cool, although I still prefer just the delay alone. This also includes the vibrato effect which I think I like a little better. I'm still fooling with it so I really can't make up my mind. It is a lot of fun to play with if your into this type of thing. Although I wouldn't recomend it for the person who can't stand alot of tweaking. All around tone for the delay is some very beautiful echo's that rival tape delay. The Deluxe Memory Man is a sure winner but I am thinking about upgrading to a Chandler echo rack mount which is an echoplex clone without the noise.

I have no opinion here for the lack of time I've owned it, although it looks pretty solid and it doesn't have that easily breakable wall-wart I would say it's pretty dependable.

I havn't had to deal with Electro-harmonix.

With the style of music I play which is pretty universal I would have to say this works very well for me. I play mostly modern rock/pop and blues even a little bit for my church and I would have to say that I'm pretty satisfied with it althogh later in time I will upgrade for something better. It's too bad good tone doesn't come cheap.
My main complaint about this thing is that it does'nt have true bypass and I don't like the chorus/vibrato. Other than that the Memory Man is a winner!
I've been playing for twelve years and I now teach on the side. My pedalboard is as follows..........

Vox wah, MXR Dynacomp, Budda Phatman dual tube overdrive, Elctro-harmonix Small stone phase shifter, Electro-harmonix Memory Man, Fulltone Supa-trem, passive volume pedal with built in clean/dirty switch.

this is just an update to my previous post. I've had it for quite a while but always used it just for echo, with a little chorus thrown in to thicken out the sound. and along with most people who posted about this pedal, I was never able to get a really good chorus sound out of it using the chorus by itself (with no delay) but anyway tonight I finally found the setting that gives it what is the best chorus sound I've ever heard, except possibly the boss CE1. I've never tried a small clone but its what I think it would probably sound like, but with a chorus/vibrato switch instead of a speed control. just turn the delay down, feedback up, chorus up, and blend to half way, and it'll get that famous electro harmonix chorus tone. allthough I still would suggest it for a delay pedal as well, this just ads one more reason to why it is probably my favorite pedal. so check it out if you want delay or chorus..the chorus is just kinda hard to set right

This is a highly intuitive pedal with fun, simple to explain knobs. The only thing that sometimes trips people up is how to mix in the chorus vs. just using it as a delay. It's just a matter of spinning the knobs the right way.

There are some very interesting, musical things that can be done with this pedal. Almost every individual will find their own unique style and usage. It has wonderful, non-cheesy delay sounds that are rich and full. The chorus and vibrato sounds are some of the best I've heard. As of now, I'm using a wah, an overdrive, and this for everything else.

Hmm. I've had this pedal for a couple years now. About six months ago it was making horrible, horrible noises whenever the effect was on, then it started making awful sounds whenever it was touched. In its defense the pedal had been through a couple hundred shows and some road time, so it had absorbed some stomping. I guess I expect too much. It's not a bad idea to have a Boss DD-3 or something similar around just in case.

They were terrific. I sent the pedal in for repair from the road and had a nice fast turnaround. The pedal was waiting for me at home a week and change later. They were extremely considerate - normally the customer is to return the pedal to the store first - and bent the rules like good humans know they have to do sometimes.

I play original funk/rock music and use this along with a Crybaby 535 and a Sansamp Classic into a Twin. If it were stolen or lost I would get another one ASAP. I love the sound. If I could change anything I would put an "effect on" indicator light along with the power light and improve the switch. I chose this pedal because IT SOUNDED SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER than the others. It can be addictive in that you might overuse it at first, but after a while it fosters creativity and tasteful musciality. Consider me a fan.

Not the simplest of pedals, with five dials (controlling mix, volume, modulation depth, delay feedback, and delay speed), but ultimately not too tough. So many noises in this thing that even if you mess up what you're trying to do you'll probably be satisfied with the outcome. Plus, the huge knobs are nice and loose and easily adjusted with your foot.

I'm using this with a Strat Elite and a Les Paul Standard through a Fender Deluxe Reverb. I've also used this a lot with a mic'd viola. The sound quality is very very good on the delay. It definitely lives up to the claims about being sweet, natural, organic, watery. Can do some crazy oscilating effects too by cranking the feedback up and then just sitting down and playing with the dials.
The modulation, on the other hand, is pretty weak. There's a switch for "chorus" versus "vibrato," and a dial to control the depth of the sweep. It's not terrible or anything, but you can't do too much with it and it sounds thin and dry compared to many full-standing chorus pedals out there, including EH models. Very quiet operation, no extra noise, no switching clicks.
The major downside, in my opinion, is that when you turn the thing on there is a noticeable drop in the volume output, which is REALLY annoying and makes the MM unpleasant to play with live. Another volume related problem - the volume knob does not actually bypass, so you need to adjust it in your total set up and it affects the overall gain, thus messing with your sound, especially distortion pedals. Also clearly not a true-bypass unit. So like I said, good sound on the delay, but cheap components used throughout.

The Memory Man looks like it's built quite a bit better than the early EH/Sovtek reissues, but I'm still a little skeptical, though I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Everything seems pretty solid on the outside.

I have not dealt with EH/Sovtek.

OK, it's a fun pedal to have around, but more for recording applications (running this through a multitrack effects loop is a great time) than for use with a guitar. The basic sound is fantastic, but overall this is another example of EH/Sovtek coming up with a fantastic concept and then using the crapiest parts available. Do anyt of them actually play guitar? The MM is a little too big and clunky for me to care to bring it around with me, and the volume issues mentioned above are too much a pain - I need low-maintenance pedals. Next version they should leave that damn volume control off the unit altogether. Also completely overpriced - it lists for over $200! You can do better for a lot less.

just wanted to add an addendum to the previous post-- the guy falsely states that you cant hear the original note when you play it. this is completely untrue-- either hes got the blend knob rotated fully clockwise or his unit is faulty. one of the coolest features about this pedal is that you can determine how much delayed signal gets mixed in with the original. so for chords, you can just have these quiet, subtle repeats, or for distorted leads you can turn the blend over halfway and get that full, rich, double tracked sound. plus the mem man smooths out distortion, so if you set the blend knob carefully (or if you send the delayed and original signals to different amps) youll actually hear two distincly different guitars-- one fuzzy (original), and one smooth and violin-like (delayed). very cool! anyway, i just wanted to mention this so people wont get the wrong idea about the pedal-- i mean, who would buy a delay that canceled out the original signal? that would be absolutely infuriating...

It can be a long process to find a useable sound, but it is fun to play around with. It has level(to prevent clipping), blend(intensity),feedback(amount of delay/volatility),delay(controls the speed of echo),and chorus-vibrato(controls effect,depending which effect is chosen by using the chorus/vibrato switch)knobs. Lots of possible combinations!

This pedal is played through an Epiphone SG with a Mesa/Boogie Studio.22 amp. The vibrato is fairly strong with a medium speed. The chorus is pretty good. It is subtle, but not too modern sounding. The delay can be very short(one echo), to very long, however, when the dealy gets long, it also gets blurry. You turn up the feedback switch to increase the delay, and if you turn up the feedback too much, the sound swells up into a loud distortion, even without playing. You also have to adjust the level to prevent distortion. If you are playing with the echo on high(many echoes), then you have to hit the footswitch just to stop the effect if it is high enough. What I hate about this effect is that the original playing is not represented right away, for example, if you pick a note, you gotta wait until the first echo to hear anything. Actually though, you can get the echo pretty close to the original note, but then you have to set the delay quite fast. I'd love it if you could hear the original note; it would make playing less tricky!
Good sounds though.

It's held up good for 20 something years.

N/A

You've got to learn how to use this pedal, and once you do, you find that it's got some annoying limitations:(delay features,[see above] and easy clipping). However, it's got some cool sounds to make(some of the coolest are made just by experimentally turning the delay knob-you get these wobbly, warping, rewinding,pitch-changing sounds! This pedal of course is vintage, and it quite cool!

It's very easy to get a good sound out of it. To get some great, incrediable tones out of it takes some tweaking. Didn't get a manual because I bought it used from some guy in newsgroups.

I have so many different settings with this pedal, I had to make a chart so when my band plays live, I know what settings I need for each song. I give it a 8 for sound quality becaus when it was in my effects chain before my amp it added dog poop to my sound. The delay sound bleeded through when it was off. I fixed this problem by running the memory man through my effects loop. Now it sounds way better, and doesnt add bullshit to my tone. Also I dont recommend setting the feedback knob anything more then half way, on mine it makes this ARRRKKRWEKREKRK!!! noise, which is cool but gets annoying after awhile.

I give it a 1. It was probaly just a bum wiring job by the person who owned it before, but it blew up my amp once. Some how the wire shorted on the ac cord, sent a charge into my amp, which fried it completely... kinda sucked, but I got it fixed for $25, and now it works fine.

Never dealt with them

This pedal is a perfect match for my bands style [mix Portishead w/ heavy guitars and Primus] So it lets me do all sorts of wierd Portishead kinda sounds, which is perfect. I would definately buy it again if it gets stolen or something.

5 knobs, lots of twiddling. Look at all the above for in depth analysis

Sound is great, apart from on little thing, the effect doesn't have a true bypass switch (At least mine doesn't). I only found out 'cause I had the thing off (so I thought) and had my amp well distorted and I accidently smacked my hand of the strings and got a v. quiet slap-back delay. The pedal was still on, curses! What they've done is make the blend control be set to zero when you stomp on the switch, and while sounding like the thing is off, there is really just a very quite repeat signal at all times. Thing is, they have the right kind of switch you need for making it a true bypass, so a little bit of re-wiring sorted it out. However, now when you turn the feedback right up you don't get the total overload of cool sounds, that will only happen under severe distortion now, which is Ok cause that's what I use all the time :)

It fell from great heights and still worked.

Havn't spoken to them yet, see falling incident.

Some brilliant freaky sounds, see above for general consensus of opinion

This pedal has 5 knobs, a chorus/vibrato switch, a on/off switch, and the bypass switch. When it is off the effect cannot be used at all, when it is on it can still be bypassed, so I just always leave it on. the knobs are Level, Blend, Feedback, Delay, and Chorus/Vibrato. the Level is the same bypassed or not, but must me adjusted so that an overload light does not come on often which creates distortion. the blend control mixes between the volumes of the delay and dry signal. anywhere above half is pretty much unusable because that would make the delays louder than the original note, at full blend the original note is inaudible, which makes some very strange sounds. The feedback controls the amount of repeats, ranging from 1 to infinite. on max it never stops it just turns into a loud mess of feedback and distortion after a while. the maximum usable is about 10 repeats. though feedback all the way up does make those strange sounds. The delay controls the amount of delay, ranging from a slow slapback up to I think 300ms, maybe 400. The chorus/vibrato knob blends in the amount of chorus vibrato. The vibrato is always at the same rate of the delay and the chorus is a little slower, maybe about half. All the way down turns the chorus/vibrato off. They are selectable by a switch on the top. On this pedal it is hard to get sounds back, so write them down. There are so many possibilities, this is a very versatile delay. The manual is one page, but it explains the basic functions of each knob. A little better explanation couldnt hurt but some of their pedals dont include a manual at all.

The reissue sounds exactly the same as the original, except that it has a grounding chord to keep it quiter, which works well. Mine is very quite, I've heard that some of the older ones can get quite noisy. Of course with the feedback up on max it gets VERY noisy. This is the best delay I have ever heard, especially when mixed with chorus and vibrato. Many people have said bad things about them, but I just dont think they are usign them right. This isnt meant to be a chorus pedal or vibrato pedal, they are there to enhance the delay. Alone, yes they do sound like crap, but thats not why they are there. They are meant to be blended in to creates the best delay sounds around. Alone stay away from them, but add in the delay and you have the greatest delay sounds ever. The memory man by the way is analog, so its a lot thicker than many newer delays. Let me also point out that there are many weird unusable sounds on here, just for experimental noises. But thats the whole point of this pedal. The normal delay settings are great, but it also gets very very strange. especially with the ability to mute out the original signal, and when the vibrato is all the way up. A reverb effect can also be created by turning down the delay and raising the feedback. This is absolutely the best sounding delay EVER.

The originals are still around today 20 years later, and this one is basically identical. The circuit board looks a lot cleaner and professionaly made looking than the one in my 1978 E-H Deluxe Electric Mistress, less loose wires, which should improve reliability over the originals. I would trust this pedal without a backup, it seems very sturdy. Dont run it over with your car or anything but with normal use you'll be fine.

This pedal comes with a 1 year warranty. I havent needed any customer support and I doubt that I will. You can call Electro-Hamronix for help though.

Once you get used to the controls this is the ultimate delay. though some people may want a little longer, but this is plenty for me. I've been playing for 4 years. I use a Fender Lone Star Strat through a Fender amp. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another, though maybe a used these are kinda expensive, but well worth it. I compared it to that new Korg Super Delay, Boss DD-2 and DD-5, and I chose this one because the analog sounded so much thicker, and the chorus really makes it sound great. You wont get the same sound using seperate chorus pedal. Plus all of the strange sounds in it, no other pedal will do anything near the sounds this box can create. It can be used in almost any situation, it has the stranger sounds, the normal delays, or if you dont want any delay, it can be used simply to thicken out the sound or as a reverb pedal even if set right. If you would like one I got my from AnalogMan vintage guitar effects http://members.aol.com/AnalogMike/stock.htm It is a great pedal, one of my favorites.

If you're looking for the kind of effect where you can get the same sound over and over, look elsewhere.
It's not hard to get your basic delay sounds out of it, but to explore the full potential of the box, you can spend hours messing around with it. The unpredicatability and unexpected sounds you get out of it is part of the fun.

Here's the secret to this box:
For each knob, the settings one would tend to consider "normal" or "tasteful" are available in the first 1/4 of the dial. But what makes this thing amazing is that the makers let you turn the knob way past tasteful to a point where it becomes quite insane. Some on this board have complained about the chorus/vibrato (a switch lets you choose which you want) being a bit much. If you take it easy on the knob, it will give you a nice, fat chorus or gentle vibrato. If you turn it past 1/4 the way, you'll get some radical detuning.
The same goes for the "Blend" and "Feedback" controls. Turn blend up all the way and you'll get a sound way lounder than the one you played. Turn feedback up and you'll get an infinite repeat that will swell out of control, then it will distort. Sounds very cool! (Try putting a compressor after the effect, which solves the volume "problem", if you don't want to accidentally blow out your amp doing this.) Twiddle the delay pot during a repeat to get those great pitch-shifting, swooping time warp effects.
The sound is thick, pure and analog as anything. Definitely not a chilly digital sound.

Time will tell if it deserves a 10. It appears extremely solid.
But here's the story... When I got it home, it was producing a pronounced "humm", even when it wasn't on or I used the direct out port. It's an expensive effect, so you can imagine that I was not pleased. The place I bought it from didn't have another. So, I emailed...

...and they were great! I received a prompt response from not one but two guys at E-H. They were open, helpful and friendly. Both said to send it back. So I did, and got it back fixed within FIVE DAYS after mailing it to them! Can you beat that?
The shipping cost a couple more bucks, and it was $5 for the handling, but at least it was fixed in a prompt manner. The hum is gone and I can now say that it is a very quiet effect (unless you want it to be otherwise).

It was everything I expected and more. It really does inspire invention and creativity. It may take some time before you can work it into your live show, but you'll definitely have the potential to turn some heads with this thing. Haven't used it live yet myself (only in practice), but have found it great for many purposes. At the very least, it's nice for adding a little delay and/or thickness to your sound. When it comes to freaky guitar solos, it can practically be a whole instrument unto itself. Put a phaser before it, a little distortion, and you'll forget you're actually playing guitar. You'll just want to make nutty noises all day. I've made some very interesting and tasteful sounds with it, as well as some wacky noises that have made my other bandmates roll their eyes. They get nervous now when I reach for those knobs. The box is much feared for the unexpected madness it can produce. With more practice, I'm confident I'll be able to tame the thing and work it into my show.
I would definitely buy it again, and I don't think I'll need another one or a backup. I'll probably also get a digital delay/sampler at some point that can sample longer phrases (this one only does 400ms), and get more conventional and predictable delay sounds. This fulfills most of my delay needs for the moment, but I consider a completely different animal from a conventional delay pedal. I gave it one less than 10 because of the high price and the little hum problem I had when I first got it. Maybe it's a value for an analog device that can produce so many effects, but compared to all those digital multi-fx wonders out there, it's hard to look at this as a bargain. It's the best in terms of sound, however, and appears to be a solid investment.

Very easy to use, one of the things that i like most about EH pedals. Even though it's very easy to use, it's the most versatile delay I've seen.

The delay itself is excellent, much fuller sounding than any digital (Boss for example) delay that I've used. As for the chorus/vibrato, I'd stay away from those two. The chorus is more of a detune like effect than an actual chorus, and the vibrato is a just a fast chorus. Fortunately, the chorus/vibrato can be turned off.

Mine has taken quite a beating, and still works fine.

I would have to assume that the warrenty expired 15 or so years ago, so I can't really say.

I would definitely but it again, the music shop i was at had a reissue for $20 bucks more than the original so i figured i couldn't wrong. If you're looking to buy a delay I'd say it depends on what you're willing to spend, an original is going to be $50 + more than the reissue. Definitley worth it coinsidering that a Boss digital delay costs around $175.

This is a simple 70's analog delay. This is the model that has four knobs (delay,blend,feedback,and level) and no chorus. A/c power only, power switch with LED, built in "squelch" noise gate(only affects delay not whole chain), and overload LED.

The signal to noise ratio is 60db, which is not as quiet as new digital delays, however this doesn't mean much because it isn't really noisy. The delay sound is really nice and analog sounding not crystal clear and sharp sounding like a digital delay. It has only 400ms of delay which some may find to be not enough but I do.The Level control is an input level control and is kindas like a built in Linear Power Booster. I love analog delays also because of the weirdo sounds you can get. Turn the feedback up and you get this motorcycle sounding overloaded echo grungy feedback sorta thing which you can change the pitch by turning the delay knob. The only problems which I don't really like is that when the delay control is near or at maximum there is this high pitch ringing sound that can be annoying but is not too bad. Also the footswitch does not take the effect out of bypass fully. If you listen you can still hear the echo coming through, you can even hear the echo coming out of the direct output which is supposed to not have any echo at all.

My unit has an inspection sticker inside which says May 78,so if it can last this long than it is probably pretty dependable.All the other EH pedals I've owned never broke down. However,mine did break down once but it was only a bad connection that was easily repairable by a tech.

Electro Harmonix went out of business in 84 and I don't know if Mike Matthews (the owner of EH and now Sovtek) will do repairs out of Sovtek. Some of these old pedals will not be repairable if they break becausesome of the chips are no longer available, so keep that in mind.

I don't know if I'd buy it again since I don't really use delay much but if I did I doubt I'd ever get rid of it and I would buy again. The average price for these is 150-200$. I ordered a regular Memory Man from Daddy's Junky Music,for 100$ which is the average price for one of those and they sent me a Deluxe one, lucky for me. The only thing that bothers me with it is the bypass thing, but I can use a bypass box if I need to so it 's not that much of a drag. If you like Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr and want to make some analog noise like them then definately pick an analog delay up.