Guyatone MD3 Micro Digital Delay

pretty easy to use...its a pretty basic layout, no fancy extras here though if that is what you are looking for.

my setup is as follows- G&L legacy with 2 stock single coils in the neck and middle position and a seymour duncan p.a.f. in the bridge into a fulltone ultimate octave fuzz, budda wah +, fulltone dejavibe, maxon sd-9, old mxr phase 100, boss tuner (outside loop), boss ce-1 chorus into the guyatone...all this is powered by a voodoo labs pedal power (except the dejavibe) and runs thru a sweet mesa f-50 combo...how does the guyatone sound in the chain? perfect...for me at least. i've always hated cold "digital" sound of the other delay pedals i've had. i would like them for a bout a week after the initial purchase, but then absolutely hate it and just end up taking it out of my effects chain. i havent experienced any noise issues with it, but mind you, i keep it a very low (dry) level most of the time except when i want to get really crazy ambient sounds

ive had it about a month and no problems so far...

havent dealt with them except to ask before i got if the pedal would work with my pedal power power supply- they called me back within 1 hour and answered my question

for the longest time i have struggled with finding a delay pedal that i liked that i could make a permanent part of my effects chain...ive gone thru 3 boss delays and some other piece of doo-doo, but was never really satisfied. the thing that makes this pedal a keeper for me is 2 things; first, my immediate gauge of a pedal being a good one is this- does it MAKE me want to play and inspire me on the spot (yes!)and, 2)does it add to my sound?- yes again...the bonus on the latter is that it immediately adds to my sound, but in a sense, its almost as if it is not there- like i havent added a new pedal to my chain, yet it all sounds better though. cant complain about the battery compartment issue as i use the voodoo labs pedal power...it does look kinda small though....if i lost it i would get another one immediately

Very easy to get a good sound out of this unit...very flexible, rackmount quality that is easy to change on the fly without scrolling thru patches,menus, etc.No one has mentioned this in the "ease of use" section...altho' everyone has mentioned it in one way or another.The dreaded Guyatone battery compartment.This has to be the single stupidest,most flawed design ever on an otherwise great pedal.And let me tell you, you WILL be opening this often unless you get the specific adapter because this thing eats batteries like all git out!The good news is that you get used to it after a while and it becomes easier to open and close quickly.Not rocket science, but annoying.A very sloppy, makeshift, unprofessional design.I will still be getting ready to spring for the Godlyke adapter as it will be cheaper in the long run than all these batteries!

Using this with a VHT 50-12 combo, Gibson Les Paul Classic, Carvin DC127T and some other mutant guitars.Effects are as strong or subtle as you want via level control...I have an exceptional effects loop with controllable level on my amp, so it certainly adds to the flexibility of the delay. This has a itsy-bitsy amount of signal loss,but the bypass is much better than MANY other brands of pedals.
Now...on to the actual sound quality...very natural, organic and TRUE repeat of the original note.It really gives the benefit of digital precision without harshness or sterility.I would say this is actually as good as the delay in my GSP2101 and that is saying a lot.I don't really try to emulate other artists specifically,but I'm sure this would cover any digital delay duties necessary and some analog as well with no problem.Delay is an integral part of my sound, but I really use it as more of a means to give depth or an ethereal quality to things...not to make spaceship noises or whatever.Great for use clean or distorted (remember...most delays will sound like crap-ola in front of a dirty amp...I run this only in the loop.)I would strongly recommend this unit for pristine sound quality from a floor unit, ease of use and portability (it is tiny!).BUT get the adapter.

Looks a bit on the flimsy side.I baby my stuff, but the battery compartment, aside from being a very cheesy design, has the battery touching the circuit board,it is a bit cramped with the cables...the switch is a non-clicking design which seems like a great idea for silent use.Given the thought they put into making this a great effect,one would think that they would have designed the casing better.Anyway, I do not mean to slam the unit in this department,as I really do love the sound.I would not gig without a backup, as delay is important to me.It has not failed on me in any way, but I can't give it a real high rating because of the flawed design.A goofy rubber gasket holding a tin plate on? Hmmmm... not the ticket for no problems.

Never dealt with Guyatone...I bought this thru Zzounds.They are supposed to be better than Musicians "friend" and all those other companies...we'll see if there is ever a problem.

Been playing 20 years.I play hard rock,metal,fusion,classical, jazz,shred,blues,psychedelic,country... whatever!This is a good match for anything.I have several guitars,Running a/b/y config with a Digitech GSP2101,carvin T100 and 2 celestion vintage 30 1-12" cabs with my 2-12 VHT combo. Killer combination and this fits right in.I love the sound and strongly dislike the design FOR BATTERIES. With an adapter, it is more manageable, because you really won't worry about the battery in the compartment,etc.
As for other delays,I tried the Digitech Digiverb and had an Electro Harmonix Memory Man(true bypass).I did not care for the digitech, and they are making that pedal in China.I will buy Japanese stuff, but the Chinese...well, I have some moral/ethical/nationalistic issues with that...not to mention all our jobs in the States that seem to be evaporating because of our inability to compete.I try to buy American.The Electro Harmonix was good, true bypass, but it was definitely analog and I was looking for something more versatile.
I guess the only thing I would want from this would be True Bypass and a better pedal design...otherwise, it is a solid winner.

This is my first delay pedal. I bought it from Pedalgeek.com and it was delivered in less than a week, shipping prepaid. My decision for this pedal was based on the reviews below. I have only had the pedal for about a week. It seems relatively simple. I did check out the Guyatone website to get some suggested settings since the manual was worthless. As noted by others, the battery compartment is miserably small and the rubber gasket for the bottom is a pain. I have already purchased a wall wart.

I really like the sound. It is very quiet. The pedal was bought to do some 50's slap back sort of stuff and it sounds great. I have a relatively simple set up, Fender Strat or Tele into FD2 or Klon Centaur then into a Clark Beaufort (Tweed Deluxe) with a Celestion Blue speaker. I don't anticipate using the delay alot but we'll see.

Because of the small battery compartment, and I assume me being new to the pedal, it has cut out a couple of times playing. It looked like the battery connector was smashed when I put the bottom on. With the new wall wart so far no problems.

This is my first Guyatone pedal and I sent an email to Godlyke prior to my purchase. I recieved a prompt response.

I play blues and classic rock. It sounds great on the James Burton version of Suzie Q. I've been playing electric for about 7-8 year and I also play classical guitar. I have 4 Strats, a 57 RI, 56 CS NOS, an American Standard, and a Lone Star. I have 2 Tele's a 3 pickup American Deluxe and an American Standard. Amps are Clark Beaufort, Carvin Vintage 16, Fender Blues Deluxe, Jr, and Pro Jr. I orginally wanted an analog pedal and seriously considered the Maxon AD9 and the Memory Man Deluxe. As I mentioned above, however, I bought the pedal based on the recommendations here and I don't think that I was lead astray. For now I'll keep the Guyatone. If it were stolen I would probably pop for the Maxon AD9 but it's $300 + as compared to $99.

Very easy to use. Three knobs, clearly marked range selector. Only complaint is the access through the back of the unit to replace batteries, the rubber grommet is a pain. If you?re not accustomed to having to dial in a delay it may take a bit of time to learn the parameters.

Setup~~ >>> Parker Fly / Fender Stratocaster>>>EHX Clone Theory>>> Rotovibe>>>Dunlop 535Q>>>Boss MT2>>>Guyatone MD3>>>JCM900 w/ 4/12.
Sounds awesome. The ability to get the unit to roll over and feedback on itself is great. You can get the whole range of raygun and UFO effects out of it with some artful tweaking. This is simply one of the best digital delay units I?ve used. This replaced my (shelved) Ibanez AD-80 and I have no qualms about the switch.

Sound construction, once again? the only design flaw I can critique is the battery access.
The knobs are sound, the I/O jacks are solid, the switch is hefty, and the case is metal.
It eats batteries a bit, preferably use an adapter and keep a fresh battery in it. If your using an adapter, theres no need for a backup.

Never dealt with them, probably never will.

This thing is a kick ass little unit, the price is right, the sound is right. There?s a lot packed into it. Been playing over 20+ years with many delays ...analogue, digital, and the odd tape unit. I would buy another one of these in a heartbeat if I needed to. I shelved my Ibanez AD-80 so it wouldnt get stolen at gigs, and the MD3 covers for it nicely, and is superior in some ways (if you wanna complain about power hogs track down a AD-80).
Theres only one small improvement I would make, and that would be a 100% wet feature as opposed to a 50/50 level mix on the MD3. Its still a GREAT pedal regardless.

Very easy to use, with an insane range of delays to play with. The sounds are very clean and warm and varied. Deciding which sound will work is a bigger problem because it does a wide range of sounds really well. The little tiny switch for short-medium-long settings is just plain hard to switch, but probably okay since once you set it you can probably just leave it there. Sort of small knobs for dialing in such a wide range of delays. The manual is more of a brochure than a how-to. The on-off button is easy to operate and is very quiet.

I play a modified Epi Sheraton II (better pickups)or a modified Tele '72 Custom Reissue (Dimarzio Fast Track T in the bridge) through a FD2 fulldrive, MC-2 chorus, either modified (TS808)SD-1 or a Dano Tunamelt, MD-3 into either a Peavey Classic 30 or a Delta Blues 115. It's not noisy at all. The effect is very strong, maybe a little too strong. I tend to just use a little delay most of the time.

I think Guyatones are very reliable. I would gig without a backup.

I've never dealt with them.

Roots-y sometimes ambient, textural semi-classic rock is my style. Pete Townsend-like maybe. I've been playing 30+ years. I have a Fender 400-8 pedal steel that I just got, plus various other stuff. I got the MD-3 because I liked the chorus pedal a lot and though I had a Boss DD-3 and a Dano PB&J delay pedal, I wanted something that would fit into my pedal board better and heard mostly good things about the sound of this pedal. Most of the negative things seem to be about the rubber gasket which I've never had a problem with. I did have the Guyatone OD-2 overdrive which I thought was too 1-dimensional, and the ST-2 compressor which I thought squashed my sound too much, so I sold them. So I'm not just Guyatone-crazy. The delay on the long setting is way longer than the Boss DD-3, but I don't know if I'll use it much at that setting because is a little too long. You can do some loop-y type stuff that is fun and experimental, but I find this best on a medium setting for a large hall sort of sound with just a touch of the effect level. It's very clean and seems sort of warm. I probably would buy this again, as it's pretty nicely designed and has a lot of versatility. It doesn't get in the way of making music, because if it did I'd just turn it off!

Have to agree with a lot of people, the battery set up on this and all Guyatone micro pedals is a terribly engineered job. The gasket is a pain to wrap with the back bulging out. I smashed it down and it got a little better. The cheapo Jap battery that came with it didn't work and I installed a new one and it was fine. Until the next day when it didn't work again. This thing is either a MAJOR battery hog or I left the input jack in?(even still, to kill a battery in one day is unheard of, at least with any other pedal I have used). Other than that, no complaints, easy and straight forward to figure out.

Tele w/ Fralins>Guya SV-2>AnalogMan Comprossor>Route 66>MD-3>'65 Deluxe Reverb. This is probably the best sounding delay I have ever heard. Extremely quiet, fantastic flexibility, noiseless switching, etc. You've got everything from some great Dick Dale / Setzer slap back to crazy psychedelic delay self oscillating stuff here. Very cool. Sounds really cool with the Guya SV-2 in front of it for some early Genesis / Hackett type volume swells.

Time will tell, plan on getting a Boss power supply and hope I don't get the hum that other guy complained of. I would feel much better not having a battery in there rubbing up against the PCB board and leaving that hideous gasket alone.

Haven't dealt with them.

There are a lot more pluses than minuses here. This thing sounds better and is way more versatile than my old AD-9, which are going for rediculous prices these days IMO. Re-engineer that box and you've got a classic.

Sound-wise, the thing is cake. Like every other pedal.. the only variation here is the dip switch which works fine given the unit's small size.

But I give it a 4 because of that danged battery compartment. I only intend to use this thing with batteries and man what a flawed design. I had the pedal for a day before I threw out that ridiculous rubber contraption and decided to hold the battery compartment in place with a good-old heavy-duty rubber band. If you can get over that, I guess it's a snap to use. But I couldn't - What a pain.

Sounds great, no complaints there. What you put in is what you get out.. no coloration to speak of, which is nice. I also like that you can get that whole regenerating feedback thing, great feature.

I've only had it for a few days really, so I can't make the most informed comments here. I wouldn't gig without backup batteries (I hear that this unit is a power hog).. and now I also get to gig with back-up rubber bands! Great.

N/A

I have about 6 other delay units at the moment - analog and digital circuits with tubes, early digital, boomerang, echoplex, you name it.. and all I really wanted now was a transparent delay with a small footprint that I could use without having to plug into an AC adapter; basically something to gig with. The Guyatone - although it does all of these things and sounds fine - is essentially a flawed design. That battery compartment is inexcusable. Although if that is something you're sure you'll NEVER want to use, then the Guyatone might be a good value. But for me it's just a royal pain in the butt. If I had the time and patience to return it, I would. If it got lost or stolen, I'd buy a Boss, no question.

Despite the manual being very vague its not too hard to get a decent sound. The white delay setting switch is puny and sometimes cumbersome to adjust in the middle of playing. I also agree with Marty below, the battery compartment is a chicken-shit design bcause I am also having a problem closing it. Its like trying to pack 60 pounds of shit in a 6 pound bag! I'm fearful of over time it may put stress on the battery leads and cause them to be pulled out. Guyatone could have done a better job than this crap! This thing is also a battery hog so you might want to go ahead and get an adapter!

I play mainly Strats through a Traynor YCV-80, but every now and then I'll pick up my Tele. My MD3 seems to be super quiet, no buzzing or hum. Delay sounds come back crystal clear with no noticeable tone drainage or alteration(are you listneing DOD, Digitech & BOSS?!). It doesnt have quite the warmness of a tape delay unit, but it comes pretty close. Switching it on/off is super quiet.

Seems to be pretty reliable. I dont use delay all that much so if it crapped out, no big loss. However, I feel that one day the battery intallation hangup may lead to future problems. At least its made in Japan unlike China which in the past has made a load of cheap bullshit!

never dealt w/'em

All in all for the money, this is a good pedal! I have been playing for about 20 years, mainly rock and blues and have tried out many delay units. Overlooking a few design flaws the MD3 is well worth it!

It was very easy to dial in the sounds you want. The micro-dip switch was somewhat annoying. The battery compartment was way too cramped. Everytime I put the battery in, it would not sit correctly and caused the thin back cover to bulge. The on-off switch was nice and quiet. The owners manual is poor, but it doesn't really matter that much

Using an Epi Les Paul & Fender Strat Plus with a Fender Princeton Chorus and Peavy Classic amps. When I used the unit with the battery, it sounded real nice. Adds no color to the sound just as advertised. The self-oscillating feature is a waste, but hey..to each his own. The delays were nice sounding with no metalic digital artifacts. With a power supply hooked up, the unit hummed only at certain delay settings. I tried three different brands of power supplies and each one had the same effect, but to varying degrees. This was extremely annoying !!!!!!!!!!

Seems like it would hold up in the long run as long as you don't jump on it. But the hum is and sensitivity to power supplies sucks.

Customer support was prompt with the emails. I described my problem to them and they suggested that I buy their power supply. I refused to by it from them as I will not get raped for $30.00($25 for unit + $5.00 shipping) for a power supply

The sad part about this box is that it is so close to greatness. Why not just put it in a normal size box so that the battery compartment won't be such an abortion and you won't need the tiny dip swith. The micro size offers no benefit to the user. Also, having the input/output on the front of the unit just makes it somewhat inconvenient with my Boss, Ibanez & DOD boxes. Why fight the standard? Maybe they should address the problem of not having a unit that works with any power supply like my other boxes do. The hum is really not tolearable. What I find so disappointing is that with the battery the MD3 sounds really nice. You can actually keep your tone when using this box. Again, they were so close with this unit but still miss the mark. Keep the guts and redesign the box, make it less sensitive to power supplies and you will sell tons of these things !!! Oh...also get some better distribution. Nobody in the Phoenix metro area carries one, and it took some researching just to find a website that had it in stock....and it is even more difficult to get their power supply.

easy to use. No manual - I picked it up used. It's the little tiny blue box that I didn't trust at first because it's too small

My setup : tele clone >>> Carl Martin compressor >>> fulltone CS deja vibe >>> budda wah >>>> budda phatman with 12 ax7s changed to decent ones (Raytheon blackplates) >>> old TS 10 >>> delay >>> early version of Gibson GA 15 RV. I've used a guyatone tape delay for the past year. It's great but I'm tired of hauling it to gigs and I know those heads are gonna go someday... I have tried multiple digital and analog delays in the past. The Akai headrush and danecho were truly awful. The delays were thin and metallic and they destroyed tone even when in the off position. I have a 5 year old Ibanex AD 99 analog delay that's very warm but delay times are too limited. I am an anti-digital fanatic and am amazed how warm the MD3 is. It especially excels at the Setzer type (Stray Cat) stuff where I set it for 3-4 guick slaps. It is BETTER than my tape echo and my analog box at this (go figure). The slaps have more "bounce" and sound like a true echo. This unit is quiet and most importantly does not effect my tone (unlike the other junk by Akai, etc) This thing does not take away all the subtle dynamics. I am amazed because it's digital and does not have true bypass. Don't get me wrong - my tape echo adds that chorus-like shimmer to the echos. I can listen to that cool sound all day in my living room with the carpets, etc. But in a bar with all that wood to bounce off this little MD3 is preferable. It cuts better and doesn't muddy up like the tape unit does.

I'll be surprised if it crashes. It seems solid.

They have been helpful at Godlyke as far as extra tapes for my other unit.

I've played way too long (40 years) and have way too much stuff. I mostly enjoy playing pop-rock, R+B, and rockabilly for parties with dancing. I use a lot of slapback and some longer delays. This is the only digital thing I use (don't tell anybody I have a digital box ok?) I would replace it if lost (it cost less than 10% what my tape echo set me back!). If you want to zone out in your living room with the curtains and wall to wall carpet and get that great chorus tape echo warble go get a Guyatone RTE 3000 - it's awsome. But if you play in bars with walls to bounce off pick up one of these little blue boxes.