Guyatone MD3 Micro Digital Delay

Relatively simple. However, I don't understand the very unneccessary overlap of delay time:

slow = 20 to 160 m/sec
med = 80 to 650 m/sec
long = 30 to 2600 m/sec

The two biggest problems are: The pedal is WAY too small at 2.5" x 4", and the knobs are also too small t ouse on stage in the dark. It disapears in my pedal board.

The pedal is Dark Blue, and you CANNOT see it on the stage when the lights are down or out.

Even in bright lighting, the lettering on the pedal is too small to read unless you bend down over it. What guitar player can or wants to do this in the middle of a tune?

I don't understand all of the the high points this pedal got in all the reviews below. I find the sound and tone of this pedal to be the most cold and digital sounding I've ever heard. There is no warmth at all to this pedal.

I have a Boss DD6 and the sound of the DD6 pretty much sucks, but sounds better than this Guyatone pedal in comparison.

If you like completely cold, soul-less, ice cold and useless tone, this pedal is for you. Otherwise AVOID THIS PEDAL AT ALL COSTS.

I would not risk gigging with this thing. The stomp switch feels like it could break fairly easily. The bottom is held on with a freaking rubber band sort of gasket. Come on, Guyatone, you have to be able to do better than this mickey mouse job. I mean, really, a rubber band holding the top and bottom together?

What a piece of crap !!!!

N/A

AVOID THIS PEDAL AT ALL COSTS. THERE ARE BETTER BUILT AND BETTER SOUNDING DELAY PEDALS OUT THERE.

SAVE YOUR MONEY !!!

Very easy to use. It has the standard three knobs for a delay pedal, one controlling the level of the effect, one controlling the time of the delay, and the last one controlling the feedback, which is the length of time the repeats continue. In addition to those three knobs there's also a three-position toggle switch that lets you choose between short, medium, or long delays.

OMG . . . . Wow!! I was stunned when I first heard this pedal and I'm still using it every chance I get. Just before buying it I had sold my Moog Analog Delay that I paid $700 for because it just wasn't doing anything for me. It always made my sound slightly darker, even when playing really high notes. I also got annoyed at the ticking noises it leaves you with when you have it set for a fair number of repeats. The notes degenerated into this "tick-tick-tick" sound that wasn't very pleasing to my ears, although from what I understand that sound is very desirable to some and it's known to happen with analog, bucket-brigade delay devices.

I bought this on a whim because I saw it had good reviews here and it was pretty cheap, especially compared to Moog's Analog Delay. When I plugged in and played through it I was blown away. I play a PRS 513 into an all-tube boutique amp and this creates some of the most beautiful delay sounds I've ever heard. The repeats are clear reproductions of what you play and they have just the right amount of sound degradation to make them feel like real echoes. They can be shimmering, bright, and clear, but they can also be dark and muddy. It all depends on what you're playing. The pedal will also self-oscillate at higher feedback settings so you can get those weird spaceship sounds out of it if you want those too.

My only minor gripe is that it's not true bypass but there are plenty of ways around that, and I can't notice any loss of tone when I don't use a bypass box to make it true bypass.

I have to take away a couple of points here because it's not housed in die-hard metal casing. I wouldn't subject it to the same rigor as some of my other more sturdy pedals.

I think it's superb. You can get up to something like 2.7 seconds of delay on this thing and the repeats are the most echo-like I've heard from any delay pedal. I know it's digital so that means it's supposed to be bad but I couldn't be happier with it.

This pedal is very easy to use. It has 3 basic controls: Level, Time, and Feedback. Level controls the strength of the effect, Time controls the speed of the delay, and feedback controls the amount of oscillation. There is also a 3 position switch which extends the range of the Time control.

This is the perfect sounding delay pedal! I use it for bass, but it sounds great on guitar also. I tried several delay pedals and found they all worked decent on a guitar but sounded thin on a bass. This is NOT the case with the Guyatone. It sounds great on bass!

This pedal is very solid. I'm not crazy about the removable bottom that's held in place by the rubber gasket. I think that could've been designed better, but overall it is a solid pedal that sounds great.

I bought mine used so I have no idea.

It's a great pedal. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a dedicated bass delay, or a pedal they can switch between guitar and bass. I love the fact that it is compact because it's easy to squeeze it in on a pedalboard, but it's so small that it can be hard to adjust on the fly.

A Real simple pedal to use. Has three knobs. Level, Delay Time, and Feedback. Along with a switch to adjust the length from short, medium, and long. Very easy to use. The only thing I wish it had was tap tempo.

Overall its a pretty good delay. It definitely repeats without much tone loss and it comes very close to the original sound. It's not hard to get a nice warm delay out of this tiny thing. It is very adjustable and you can have a lot of fun with it. If you were looking for an affordable delay that sounds great I would for sure go with this.

I have never gigged with it but it has never let me down in my playing. It may be small but it shouldn't break unless its an electrical thing or your just stomping on it. I would say its dependable.

For the price compared with the sound its a steal. If it were stolen or lost I would most likely buy it again, although I would like to give the Line 6 DL4 a try. This pedal definitely fuels inspiration.

It is extremely easy to use. It always delivers what you have in mind if you accept its limits. The manual is simple and puts even monkeys to the right track, but then even monkeys could do without it.

I play Fenders and a Gretsch. The MD3 is last in my boutique pedal effects chain, in front of my Fender Twin Reverb.
The sound quality is absolutely beyond expectation for a $99 pedal. It's digital alright but so warm, lush and inspiring that it doesn't matter, really. And very silent, too.
It can replace a reverb, it can land UFOs on stage, you can lay phrase upon phrase until you run out of ideas, or you can set a moderate speed with humble feedback and just leave it on to sip your overall playing into mysticism.
However. When I tried to pluck it with a battery, yep, the annoying sounds that other users have already told you all about it were there... I gave up the battery idea very soon (dear readers, it is a fact, the battery can not be put in properly or harmlessly, it is clearly a designing fault, full stop) and I used a power supply that eliminated the curious sounds for good.

With a battery, no way. I do use it without a backup all the time actually, but it's mounted. Plus if it dies on stage, I can still get the girls backstage.

Don't even know which continent they are on.

For now, it's a keeper. If it breaks down I'll throw it away and move on to something better, probably 4 to 5 times its price. Or I could buy 4 or 5 MD3s and hope one of them would make me consider it reliable. Don't get me wrong, though. I really like this little blue devil and so does whoever sees and hears it. It's just that it's like those girls you easily fall for them but they manage to somehow make you watch your back.

Very straight forward. It doesn't have that many features anyway.

That's where I have really mixed feelings about this pedal. I liked the character of the delay. A lot of people say it sounds like analog. I don't think it sounds like analog but it definitely has warmth. The repeats are clear and warm. Nice thing that you can twist the delay time on the fly and get your signal pitch sifted and time stretched in a quite musical way, if you're into this type of stuff, BUT...
In my opinion, there is a huge design issue with this pedal. The repeated/delayed signal comes out mixed with some ugly noise. The higher you turn up the knobs the worse the noise gets. That is something that in my opinion makes this pedal unusable. If you have the pedal on a low, discrete setting you might get away with it when playing live. On any other occasion the noise is too much to tolerate. Because of that, any creative musical potential of the pedal (like fiddling with the time knob on the fly) gets lost. Forget about studio use too. The noise was always present whether I was powering it using a FRESH battery or a REGULATED power supply. I ended up swoping it for a Boss dd-6. It was a straight swop with a guy I jammed with who had a brand new dd-6 and didn't like it. I thought the Boss had way more potential than the Guyatone. I got the dd-6 and never looked back.

That bottom holder is a complete joke!

Never had to deal with them.

As I said,...mixed feelings. I'm glad I got rid of it. I want to have one delay on my pedal board which can serve more than one occassions. The mainstays on my pedalboard are: a handmade overdrive with two channels, a volume/wah pedal and the delay (now the dd-6). All powered with regulated dead silent power supply and connected with George L's patch cable. I'm a fun of the "less is more" approach. For studio and recording I have a nice selection of some more toys to throw here and there if I need to.
The only way I could use the Guyatone was at a very subtle, almost reverb-like setting and nothing else. I've read a lot of complaints from various people about the same issue I had with this delay. Some people have come to defence of the MD-3 stating that whoever complaints should blame their power supply or whatever. Forget it! The thing is just noisy. Maybe there are quality control issues and half of the people get good ones and the other half get lemons...who knows? What I know is that although there is a nice voicing on the repeats of the pedal, the noise issue and other design flaws leaves little to be desired.

This little box is very simple to operate , much like an analog delay unit...but with up to 2.6 seconds delay..3 knobs,Level,Time, and Feedback theres a switch that allows you to go from more of a slapback range , to more of a common echo, to even a loop-like setting....experiment with the different settings...kinda hard to find a bad one, unless you put the feedback and level to 10!! and even thats kinda cool...

Im using an american fender chambered-ash tele w/stock p/u's and a re-issue fender strat with a bridge dimarzio humbucker into a HotRod Deville 2x12 (w/ JJ Tesla Tubes) ...I have a number of high end pedals I use in different combinations, all of which are true-bypass.This being the only non true bypass ,I usually have it on all the time for just a subtle amount of echo...I notice zero drain on my tone...the switch is also silent..it really is more analog sounding than digital ..it tends to get a little distorted when getting crazy using excessive repeats, so I'll deduct a point , but then again so do vintage echoplexes....

I have been gigging with this thing for almost five years...have not had a single problem...nor used a back-up...

N/A

I play alot of types of music from rock,country,blues,funk,jazz, reggae,jamband fusion,etc.. Ive been playing almost 25 years,I have toured extensively, done many a studio session ..I own alot of higher-end boxes,(fulltone,radial,keeley,etc)..to be honest most effects reviews are overhyped, but this pedal is worth every penny,completely blows away every other delay in its price range,(I have owned most of them)and rivals most of the ones double the price...I would replace this in a heartbeat, the one thing i wish it had was the true-bypass...but really has not been an issue thus far...overall Value Is a 10, but overall product is a 9

Very easy to use.This delay pedal has lots of great sounds.
It is digital but sounds and reacts like an analog pedal.
You can get any sound you want out it with little adjustments.
My model is stock and a small manual comes with the pedal.

Any sound you want is at your finger tips.It is very compatible with all my pedals.I am a Telecaster player and use lots of effects.
This delay pedal has a wonderful small,medium,and large switch that allows you to switch between three different settings quickly.
This is without a doubt the best bang for your buck delay available.

Very nice.I would gig without a backup.

I called them prior to purchase and was treated with respect.
They took lots of time with me and answered all the questions I had.

I play the blues and rock mostly.I would replace this pedal if something happened.I looked at alot of pedals prior to purchase.
This is a great value and all around winner in it's price range.I believe this pedal is under rated big time.It has a small foot print with is also nice for pedalboards.

3 knobs..how hard can it be?

all i can say is that guyatone md3 beats boss dd6 and dd3..or maybe a bit better than the dd3.dd6 is a joke.its not noisy at any of my settings well at least on mine.you can get a good delay sound on any setting.course it doesnt have those warp features and etc like the dd6 have but sound wise it totally beats dd6

for me it is..not too sure with others..

buy one and you wont regret it

it's pretty easey. three simple knobs and a switch to make the delay short, medium or long. there was a guy a few reviews down who apparently didnt like this pedal very much and gave it a 7 on the sound quality because of the difficulty he had replacing the battery. that just didnt make any sense to me. the 7 should have gone up here. but that guy must be a moron because the battery does fit (a tight fit, but it fits). just wiggle it around a little and it'll get in there. and it's really not that hard to put the rubber lining back on. the first time i tried, i had a little difficulty but once you figure out how to do it, it's really quite easy.

the sound quality is amazing. it actually sounds like your own guitar going over and over again. the way it's supposed to. that same guy who complained about the battery thing, also complained about the buzz he got when powering it up with his ibanez ac adapter. well of course it's going to sound bad. if you dont plan to use a battery, you should always use the recommended adaptor with any pedal you buy. if you know anything about electronics, you'll know that there are actual reasons for that. and again, alot of people complain about the "poor design" of the pedal. it's not a poor design, it's a money saving design. if this pedal was designed the same as boss's pedals, it would probably cost 200 dollars. because this thing sounds about a million times better. so the only way to keep the cost down is to make the casing cheaper to manufacture. this was what guyatone had in mind. great sounding effects at lower prices. the electronic components however, are very high quality. i compared this to a brand new boss dd-6 ($160 by the way plus another 20 for the ac adaptor) and the dd-6 sounded harsh. not defined at all. the repeats sounded like digital recreations. and if you tried to mess with the knobs while it was delaying, you'll hear funny pops and buzzes. what a piece of crap. with the MD3 however, you can do whatever you want to achieve the sound you're looking for and it reacts just the way you expect it to. ive never seen that in any other digital delay. and the sounds you can get... amazing. if you trun the level and feedback down, you can get these beautiful reverb sounds that are very unique. (impossible on the dd-6). and by turning the feedback up, that's where the spacey, ray-gun, ufo sounds kick in (that's what they mean when they say self-oscilation). and all the delays in between are simply amazing. and that's pretty much all you have to know to get any sound you could possibly dream up. no messing around with mode settings and all that crap. basically, this 99 dollar pedal is equally on par with reissue analog pedals costing $300 or more! everywhere i play, people ask me what pedal i'm using and where they can get one. the only thing i'm worried about is these things becoming too popular and mine will no longer be unique :( lol. quite simply, this is the best delay pedal out there.

the pedal broke down on me after a few months. but that's because i was apparently using the 12-volt power supply used for their Flip series pedals instead of the 9-volt powersupply. this actually ended up being musiciansfriend's fault. you can read below for mor info on that.

after contacting guyatones customer service, they were very helpful and understanding. we discovered that the problem wasnt with the pedal at all. musiciansfriend.com is actually to blame. they recommended the wrong powersupply. they guyatone 9-volt powersupply is the correct adaptor for the micro series pedals. musiciansfriend, however, recommended the guyatone 12-volt powersupply. in my excitement (and seeing guyatone's name on it) i never gave a second thought to the voltage. i have yet to find out if musiciansfriend will replace it for me. but they damn-well better. i'll let you know how that turns out. but guyatone deserves a 10 for being so helpful and quick with their responses.

i play a 2001 Fender USA Ash Telecaster through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10. my other effects include the Tonebone Hot British distortion, Digitech Whammy Wah, and Dunlop Classic Crybaby wah. and ive got to say, this is exactly what my setup was missing. this pedal really inspires me to creat new sounds and melodies. try hooking it up with a wah pedal. some very cool sounds there. or setting the volume on your guitar to 0 and rolling it on while the MD3 delays, some very cool etherial whale kind of sounds. also, the reverb/chorus kind of sounds are beautiful as well. just experiment. the MD3 will help you achieve any sound you can think of. to hell with boss's reverse delay and tap tempo and all that crap. if you want high quality delay, this is all you need.

3 knobs and a switch!

I own the Boss DD-3 and I have always been bugged by the overall sound! so I decided to take a chance with Guyatone. I must say I noticed a very nice difference when comparing the two! the Guyatone was the clear winner on repeated notes, they were clear in a good way! where the DD-3 sounded compressed or something? notes sounded dead compared to the guyatone? if that makes sense?

I have also been bugged that when I set the feedback high on my Boss (not all the way), they would die off abit too quick after several repeats! the Guyatone seems to be alot more nicer! it repeats alot more in a smooth way, the notes will very slowly die off, in no rush, u get the feel that the notes are walking away in their own pace

on another note? I was worried about this sound issue with the pedal some mention? what sound issue?? its a silent as anything! I have it connected in a chain using a boss adaptor, no problems at all. I think some people here might be using an un-regulated adaptor? or maybe an amp loop? I plug in direct at the front of an amp (guitar input)

Forget what some are saying! Guyatone beats Boss!

I look after my pedals and these are built well apart from the rubber ring thing? but I dont use batterys

I had a Digitech but never felt hapy with it! then I swapped for the famous Boss DD-3! then I found was never really that happy! I wanted a Boss DM-2 but have you seen the prices u have to fight for these!! so when I heard about Guyatone, I took a chance and im very happy :) I feel like ive missed out on something better when everyone always goes on about Boss! some think their the best ever but thats not true, they do have some great pedals but there is other company out there that have greater gems waiting to be found :)

My MD3 sits on a choice of two different floorboards I've designed.
The small board holds my :

'Red Witch' Pentavocal Tremolo
'Guyatone' MD3 delay
'Smart People Factory' Greenline Overdrive
amp channel selector

The board is the size of a piece of paper mostly and the small size of the MD3 makes it possible. It sits on the floor and I toggle between a Slapback 75ms to about 500-700ms for a little ambient woosh. This is my Blues board.

Too bad the Guyatone isn't true bypass. It just might get replaced because my other pedals are made with the best componants and have true bypass.

It's the 'sound' that keeps it on my board. Warm and musical not a shrill tone in its body.

I'm a delay nut. I want to own all the best and most unique pedals.

I have the Line6 DD4 delay/looper with Keeley mod,

I have the Digitech Digidelay that has 4 seconds of delay/loop time. use it on a stool or table so you can weave new loop with old loop by hand.

I have the MagicStomp that has eight delays working together. You can
design some cool stuff with that power.

And I have the little MD3. Of all my pedals the MD3 is the only one that maintains the note as you turn the rate knob. No gltching.
(one exception, the Digidelay will do the same thing when in
'delay with mod' mode, but no other modes do it) The Guyatone also excels at spaceship sounds as well as washing machine agatation or how about a washing machine being hurled into space. The MD3 is probobly the easiest pedal to get freakoid sounds out of all the pedals I own.
The Line6 can get real bizarre as well. Delays are like crayons, you choose a color and paint. I like having the choices.

But the Guyatone is the one on my board that I play out playing blues and jazz.

The rest are mostly just sitting waiting for my next summons os them.

Sweet little delay that sounds great
Takes up little real estate
Capable of many sonic tricks

Oh, I use a 1-spot power adapter and daisy chain that to all my pedals.
Totally quiet, I use GeorgeL cables and a Monster Guitar chord.
This really helps RF noizzze.
I have a G&L ASAT as my main ax and a sweet little Jay Turser Les Paul semi hollow body that I've replaced just about all hardware and put in Antiquety pickups. Sounds great and plays great.
This all goes into my Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue. By itself this amp sounds great. That's why I want true bypass pedals.

So, will the MD3 stay on my pedalboard? Or will I opt for some real expensive true bypass delay.

Well let me just check it out!!!

Very easy to use. Maybe if you had down syndrome it would be difficult.

the only thing about it is the damn battery cavity was designed by someone with a mental handicap. Criminy. I just use an adapter (Boss - and no, it won't kill the unit).

I use a Fender Telecaster, ESP EC-400 and a Schecter C-1+, all modified heavily. I run these through my MD-3, and Boss TU-2, and sometimes a Line 6 DL4/Digitech Whammy(new) and a Boss TR-2 tremolo unit.

Good Lord! I love the way this thing sounds. I've played a lot of delays, and this beats most of them, except the analog. It is limited in it's options as there are no modes, or tap tempo (UGH!) but it sounds amazing nonetheless. I use it to recreate lead tones from Fall of Troy/Facing New York/As Cities Burn.

very good effect, the repeats are very warm, not tinny at all. inspiring pedal.

I could depend on this thing forever, it's amazing. I am actually going to buy another and use them for two different delay sounds. whee.

never dealt with 'em. Heard they're great though.

I play newer music, no hardcore or whatever, but a lot of post-hardcore/indie/experimental along the lines of The Fall of Troy, Thrice, yada yada. I also like Explosions in the Sky, and Sigur Ros. This pedal does good things for me.

PRetty easy, the 3 knobs are basic, and everything kinda goes w/out saying.

SOunds is very high quality, especially considering the price. The delays are not so exact as to be sterile, but not so muddy as to be.. well, muddy. A good in-between for those who cannot decide between an analog delay, or a digital delay

Looks good

never dealt with them

This does exaclty what i want it to do..., it can do crazy delay sounds, or subtle slap-back/reverb sounds. I don't see why you would need soething like a delay modeler pedal at over 200 bucks, when this little guy already does all the types you could ever want.

i've had this pedal for a few weeks now, and am very pleased with my purchase. 3 knobs and a switch, very easy to use. manual's basically just an ad, but the pedal's easy to figure out.

here's my setup (try not to laugh)...epiphone SG special>guyatone md3>M-Audio Mobile Pre>Dell PC running FLStudio and some amp sim software. i'm saving up for an amp (considering a Fender FM65R or a Peavey Classic 30).

i can get the sounds i want from this delay. pseudo reverb, sound on sound, dense textures.

as noted in previous reviews, there seems to be some noise when the delay time is turned all the way up. this is annoying, but doesn't negate the plusses of this pedal.

with a power supply, yes i can depend on it. before i go that, no way. it went through batteries really fast.

never dealt with them.

i've played guitar (acoustic) for a few years, just got an electric in the last couple of months. i'd buy this pedal again. one of the key selling points for me was that it self-oscillates with the feedback at 10.

i call my music experimental ambient soundscapes. shameless plug...head on over to www.soundclick.com/blueonblue to hear some. i haven't yet posted anything using this pedal, but plan to soon.

Very easy to use, couldn't be simpler.

Wow. This is what I always hoped the Boss delays would sound like. By far the best floor unit delay I've ever played. It does exaclty what it claims: reproduces the exact sound that goes in. The delays come back sounding clear and beautiful, not colored in any way (many delays make the repeats sound metalic and cold). It doesn't sound like an analog delay at all though, it just ends up sounding warm because of the fact that it reproduces your notes perfectly and cleanly. Highly recommended.

I knew all couldn't be perfect. Unfortunately there is a flaw in the MD-3's design: the bottom plate is held in place by a piece of rubber!! I know it sound ridiculous, and believe me it is. I can't imagine how they thought this was a good idea. I don't use batteries so there's no need for me to take that piece of rubber off, but it still just seems flimsy. The case is made of metal and the top part of is is built solid.

Haven't needed it.

I play everything from jazz to rock, funk and blues. I play on recording session of all kinds, on my own projects and live. I'm a professional musician in Los Angeles. I've been playing for about 15 years and have owned and played A LOT of effects - I'm very picky about sounds :)

No problems here; just play with it for a few minutes and you'll know the stuff.

Like some other people have mentioned: if you use it with battery or original wal wart ( not included, of course ) you will be happy with the transparent and realistic sounds it produces.
IF you use a non original wal wart like the ibanez daisy chain that I use this thing can get noisy and starts buzzing when switched on.
Also, in extreme feedback settings your echoed loop will get louder and louder as well as the background noise.

Because of the crappy rubber lit design you pretty much have to use external power. Because of this I will give this Category a 7

What can I say: They claim it to be the best digital delay. Bullcrap.
I don't know what kind of shit the R&D guys where smoking when they thought of using a fucking rubberband to hold the bottom lit to the unit. This is really bad. I was aware of this problem, but did not think it would be this bad: I got this stomper, brand new, unpacked it and removed the rubberband- no problem there. Then I took a 9V battery connected it and then tryed to place the battery into the thight spot. Why the fuck do they have to make it so damn small? Can they make it at least big enough to fit the stupid battery in it?
So the battery is not flush with the bottom which means there is no way you can put the lit back on because you can not put the rubber band on. Because of this you pretty much are stuck with the need for external power.

Never will deal with them, because obviouslly they don't think very much of their custumers. I mean, how hard can it be to add a few screws??

Though the sound quality can be quite good, I've decided to never ever buy another guyatone pedal again, regardless of the quality as long as they insist on using this brainless design.

I'm sitting here listening to Nels Cline, the great soundscape jazz guitarist who, like Bill Frisell like to manipulate their delay pedals with their hands while playing. I've been on a hunt for delays that can make sounds like those guys.

The Digidelay by Digitech has a great feature with the feedback knob.
You play a phrase up to 4 seconds then turn the feedback to 10.
This will create a loop you can play over without adding any more to the loop. Turn the feedback to 9 and the loop will slowly fade as you add more licks. The MD3 will do the slow fade thing but it does something else.

The Guyatone is the only pedal I've found that can simply sweep smoothly through the pitchshift when turning the delay time knob without degrading the signal. Most other pedals will cause spastic osilations and stepwise pitch when turning the speed knob. Of course that is a good thing also. But the cleansweep of the MD3, that was the missing delay effect in my tone quest.

Both Bill Frisell and Nels Cline get their sweeping pitchshift with an old version Electro Harmonex delays with slider controls. The new ones have stepwise pitchshifting, not smooth and connected like the old ones. But the old ones are all but impossible to get in good shape.

The Guyatone has stayed out of my radar for years but all that has changed.

I own a lot of delay pedals. I have a Digitech Digidelay, a green Line6 delay/looper, a Boss Loopstation, a Podxt Live with all its delays, and none of that can do what the Guyatone can do.

I went to my local hip music store and checked out all these other delay pedals. The T-Rex Replica, the Boss Gigadelay(yuc),the Maxin,
and the Guyatone, the last one I tried, and man, the vibe was so different, I immediatly forgot about all the others pedals. And that was before I discovered the sweeping pitch. In no time I was making monster cricket soundscapes. Too cool.

Here's my most recent floorboard setup

Homebase is my Podxt Live for killer electric guitar

on another board is
MagicStomp > Digiverb > Guyatone > Digidelay > 1 or 2 Tech21 PowerEngine 60 poweramp/cabs.

I use a PedalRacks true bypass strip to switch pedals in/out of sound chain. Reeal cool.

My sound is clean of unwanted tonesucking.

I use the MagicStomp for acoustic playing along with the other delays and it can really get quite amazing.

I'm not going to use a battery. It will have a permenent home on the floorboard that will sit within easy reach of my hand without bending.

Very different

Pretty simple to use and versatile. Three knobs, three delay times (short, medium, long). Eats batteries, and I would recommend that one use a power adaptor.

I play a tele thinline, standard tele, and a rick lap steel through a homemade mosfet boost, md-3, and a double muff (soon to be a Blackstone overdrive) into a modified silverface deluxe. The pedal is quiet, small and sounds generally nice. I play in a country-ish rock band and could describe us sounding a bit like Crazy Horse, but that is only for a starting point. This delay sounds nice and clean and does a good slapback. I jack up the feedback knob on the pedal and the ambient textures/primitive loops I get are really cool. This pedal is supposedly true-bypass (in all honesty, I don't care that much, I don't notice any loss and I don't think anyone else will). Careful what you put in front of it. I had this pedal at the end of my chain and I lost a lot of definition (the slapback just wouldn't slap, but almost sound like reverb). I also wish the level was louder. It is supposed to max out at unity with the dry signal, but I wish I could get the feedback to overcome my dry sound.

Crappy gasket system of enclosing the battery. I use a power adaptor, and I would say do the same and tape up the bottom, you might lose it if you dont.

Otherwise, I wouldn't call this thing rugged, but I don't trash my stuff.

n/a

All in all, pretty nice delay, and way cheaper than most. I would probably buy another, but I also like old Memory Mans. When I bought this I tested it next to a new Stereo Memory Man (not impressed), the Guyatone Tube Echo (way noisy), and the md-3 (small, clean, cheaper, better range of sounds). As far as the digital v. analog debate is concerned, buy what you like, not what gear sluts tell you to buy. This thing surprised me.

Firstoff, I am not an effects guy, firxt time I am gonna put an effects pedal between guitar and amp, and I am kinda surprised it is this kiddo pedal that I like so much, cause I have never been a big fan of delay with respect to my own sound.

The most important feature this pedals gives me is magic, magic in WHY I bought it, and magic in what it does to my sound. A couple of months ago I heard jimi hendrix's voice in my head saying "Buy Guyatone delay pedal". Now you might think this guy is really crazy, I'll even allow that maybe I am a little crazy, but I don't care, this is what happened, it has happened before, I don't know why jimi hendrix would bother with me, I am not a lead guitarist, I play mostly rhythm, but how the heck can I rationalize an irrational act and who am I to argue with Jimi? So I read up on this Guyatone delay pedal at Harmony-Central, and I say to myself "It's not expensive, it's got good reviews, sound is supposed to be clean, pristine" and I find this online dealer guitareffectspedals.com and smooth smooth I receive the pedal with the adapter, yeah I bought the adapter after reading all that criticism on the battery replacement process, don't be a cheapo, buy the adapter. ANyways I open up the carefully packed item, and lookee here ha ha, the l'il fellow is built real small, kinda childlike looking with its soft blue color, and the black elastic band sealing device, and I begin to laugh. "This is a child's toy, and I am happy about that, cause I am thinking it will have innocence and glee and maybe be original...

Cause I am looking for something to add to ambient ethereal tones, something to shape bluesy tones, and something to play around with fading repeats. I am kinda interested in hearing the Aphex guitar exciter pedal, and maybe I am a little bit zoned on this, thinking a delay pedal will give that cause I have owned Ibanez Analog Delay and tried EH Memory Man, and the sound to me is kinda washed away, and I am looking for something to enhance my natural direct ALIVE sound that I get by plugging the guitar direct into the amp, with no effects. SO yeah I was suspicious, even with Jimi screaming in my ear "PLAY PEDAL"

So I remove the black elastic separating the bottom plate from the unit and I remove the sealed free battery that I got and stick it in the drawer. Maybe I will have to use it if I tour Britain where the 9 volt adapter won't work, and maybe then I will be screeching in agony, but with the Guyatone adapter I bought I get smooth operation. There is a l'il pamphlet describing the toy, its controls, and what they do.

The IN and OUT are clearly marked so older guys like me with reading problems will have no problems, also 8 year old guitar fanatics. I plug the l'il fellow in, and go for minimal settings and I hear MAGIC. The magic is the ENRICHING of the tone, what this blue buddah pedal performs, it is kinda like a hippie flower child era pedal, at least to me. My sound is not washed away which is typical of my past experiences with delay, couple years ago used the feedback on the delay built into the Zoom NRS 1044 entry level multi-tracker, but sound not as clear not as pure nor as ENRICHED as with the Guyatone MD3. The blue buddah spatially rearranges my guitar tone, giving it a 3D sonic perspective kinda like putting on those 3D glasses for movies.

There is a mini 3 way plastic-switch, kinda sized for a 2 year old, which gives 3 different delay time ranges:

1: 20 - 160m/sec
2: 80 - 650m/sec
3: 330 - 2600m/sec

The very nifty level control combines the dry guitar tone with the processed tone, at 0 no processing takes place, at 10 max setting, the resulting signal is split 50/50 dry/wet.

It is mucho easy to get a good sound, the buddah gonna love you

The feedback control has high FUN factor, in that I can use it to make ghostlike orbs, shadow sounds, decaying repeated sounds, verrryyyy FUNNN. At extreme setting you are writing ghost horror

AMaaazZzing! enchriches tone, creates spatial rearrangement, displaces wavelet sound, seduces you, tickles you, makes your girlfriend jealous, but only untll she plays with you after you play with your MD3. THen you are radiating hot love, and she likes you alot.

I plugged my gibson nighthawk into both my Roland jazz chorus 120 amp, and my traynor tube amp. A/B'ing the sound with the MD3 ON/OFF. The bypass is very good, but I am not that crazy to turn it off, cause it makes me sound better, makes soaring chords a treat. The sound out of the Traynor is clearer, more detailed, and I found this sound very amusing to play around with the the Feedback control. I can time my repeats to the tempo and this is much fun. I had great fun modifying the Rolands' woofy sound ,taking the zingy chorused sound and jazzing it up with the MD3, ha ha, great spongy air of tones.

Playing the Traynor through the overdrive channel with lots of gain, and low volume, I could mess around with sustain using the MD3 to project the notes where I wanted them to go. High Fun Factor.


I also tried the pedal with my Larrivee acoustic plugged into the Roland, lotta fun ha!

yes, I rely on it, cause I can bring velco wraps or tape and fasten the pedal onto my amplifer, so it don't move when I get clumsy. At home I have been fiddling with it alot, I put it on its owh chair, it deserves a chair of its own, I now call the chair the Buddah chair, in honor of the MD3 digital delay dream, my smiling blue buddah.

With the adaptor the MD3 performed great in the studio, noiseless, a charming guest, didn't drop ashes on the carpet.

great! Had assistance and some hand holding from Ryan at guitareffectspedals.com, he got the pedal out the door right away, great service. I asked some questions through email to the Godlyke site, and got prompt helpful response

Now I sent an mp3 tune showing off what the pedal did for my guitar tone, and Keven the owner of Godlyke, the distributor of Guyatone, likes the sound and the tune so it will be posted on the Guyatone website, you can hear for yourself the "Buddah effect" ha, but that has nothing to do with this review. I am not being paid by Godlyke. This review is independent and written according to personal taste.

Go check it out, it is a fun toy, don't be a cheapo, and buy the Guyatone adapter, It cost me $17.95 for the adapter, end of battery problems.

I play bluesy stuff, and some ambient ethereal stuff, I am kinda thinking to maybe buy another one, it might be cool to go through 2 amps with different settings, or to put 2 of them in a row into 1 amp, the first one doing the enriching trick, and using the 2nd MD3 to play around with tempo repeats. I dunno, something to think about.

This pedal is "my secret weapon". It doesn't seem to do much sometimes until I turn it off and compare it with the dry sound. I come to my senses quick enough, and turn it back on. For $99 bucks I am glad I obeyed Jimi, ya know, he ain't being wrong with me yet ha!

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.

If you're accustomed to delay pedals, it's easy. I don't have a manual.

my setup: tele>>>Carl Martin compressor>>>fulltone CS dejavibe>>>Budda phatman (with Raytheon blackplate 12AX7s>>>Budda Wah>>>old TS 10>>>MD3>>>>Gibson GA51RV. Very happy with the tone. I can't detect a change in tone quality with this in or out of my signal path. This surprises me because I'm an anti-digital fanatic. Other delays I've tried (and sold!) have drastically messed up my tone( Boss, danelectro, Akai headrush). It has a very little bit of that hi end "ping" quality but NOTHING compared to other digital delays. It's just warm enough but not so warm that it's muddy.

I don't need a backup. It doesn't seem like the breaking kind and I've done lots of gigs with my tape delay without backup and they DO break.

don't know for sure but the people at Godlyke helped with tapes for my tape delay (also Guyatone - RTE 3000)

I've played 40 years and have a lot of stuff. I mostly like to play party-dance stuff. pop-rock, R+B, rockabilly. I have used my tape delay for 1 and 1/2 years - lots of hours on it. The deal is I LOVE the tape delay sound in my living room ( it has that pseudo-chorused sound from the tape warble) The reality is that in a big room with the sound bouncing all around it's a different deal - the tape echo is muddy and lacks punch. This little digital box sounds better - it cuts better. If you like listening to your hi end analog gear in your living room with the wall to wall carpet go buy a tape echo (the Guyatone is nice) but if you play in wooden bars this little box is actually preferrable. I can't believe I'm saying this since I'm such a no-digital snob. My tape delay is back in the box.

Pretty straight forward and easy to use if you are at all familiar with delay pedals. There are knobs for effect mix, delay time and repeat. There's a micro-mini switch adjacent to the delay time control for short-med-long (et this first and then use the knob to dial in the exact desired delay time). I bought this used, so no manual, but it really doesn't need one. Very simple.

I was skeptical when this pedal was suggested to me as I can sometimes be a bit of a gear snob, but this is exactly the type of delay I was looking for. It is digital, but not at all harsh or overly sterile. It sounds very analog - smooth and warm. Complements the rest of my signal path very nicely (Solid and Semi-hollow body guitars -> Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah -> Carl Martin Compressor -> Tech 21 NYC Double Drive -> Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive -> Guyatone MD3 -> Fulltone Fat Boost -> Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb). I generally use this delay for a slapback type effect for some Setzer-like rockabilly tones, but I play all kinds of music and will use the pedal for longer delays and it shines for all styles of music. I might also add that this pedal is not true bypass, but it really doesn't need to be. I can detect no difference in tone when this is in or out of my signal path. It's invisible when it is off and completely quiet and transparent when engaged.

I have no issues or concerns with Guyatone products. Hasn't let me down yet.

Never had to deal with them.

Probably the best delay pedal (for my needs) that I have ever played. It has all the quality of the best rack-mount effects but the analog character of the more vintage units. Just a great pedal.

This pedal is very easy to use. 3 knobs: Effect Level, Delay Time and Feedback and a 3-way switch: S, M, L delay times. You don't need a manual; be a man and tinker with it for 5 minutes. You'll master this thing before lunch is ready.

My set-up:
Telecaster-->Tube screamer TS-9 (tone)-->Tube screamer TS-9(gain)-->MD3 Delay--'77 Fender Deluxe Reverb.

The pedal is very quiet. As the other blokes said, it sounds like a true bypass deal. With all of the knob settings turned down, you can kick the switch 'off' and 'on' repeatedly and not hear any difference in amp noise.

I looked at other pedals, but I bought this one because has the self-oscillating feature. If you turn the feedback knob to '10' and strike a note(s), a gradual building up of noise occurs. You can tweak the delay time knob and it makes the sickest sounds! I could just sit here and play chords and warp their frequencies up and down for hours!!1

But if you're less adventurous than that and just want a clean sounding delay, I'll tell you that feedback noise isn't the MD3's key selling point--it's unbridled performance is. I love the slapback delay! It sounds very natural and unprocessed, as do the other, longer delays. You can hear samples of this pedal on www.guyatone.com -- go check it out, if you want.

Let me repeat, this pedal is clean as a baby's wet ass! Your tone will be as pure as a debutante on the day before the High School Prom. "Ohhh, snap!"

I just got this thing, so it's hard to calculate it's long term reliability. The construction isn't as solid as I'd prefer (it's very lightweight and tiny), but it's seems steady enough. If you're anything like me you don't thrash your equipment because you're on a budget and you need shit to last.

This company seems tight. They have a great website, so I imagine they'd be very accomodating to your questions and such.

This pedal can be used for any style! ANY! Like I said, you play clean rockabilly blues or noisy destructive anthems (like a feedback fiend) and this pedal will "turn your love around", Benson style.

One thing that I found interesting/strange is the rubber gasket battery seal. Some people seem to like this. I prefer the TS-9 battery lid--thats how they all need to do it, dammit! I am kind of worried about accidently ripping the seal of the MD3, then being "eff-ed" with no battery cover. We'll see.

I've played for 9 yrs, so I've seen all kinds of effects come and go. This seems like a legit purchase. It really is a good value if you're a sensible musician who wants a non-digitized tone, and more options than the other leading pedal (ahem, *coughcough*BOSS*cough*) can bring.

Very easy to use if you're familiar with delays. Manual was fairly sparse. Gets you headed in the right direction, though. Your standard delay layout: effect level, delay time, and feedback, in addition to a slide switch for short, medium, and long delays.

Incredible value for the money. Reminds me of rack delays it is so clean. In fact, I think of it as the perfect compromise between an analog delay (in the fact that it isn't very harsh and cold) and a good digital delay (doesn't muddy up or incorporate a lot of IC noise. It will, however get noisy on extremely long repeats with the delay tone knob past 3:00. This is where the 3-way slide switch comes into play. If you are encountering the processor noise associated with pushing the delay time too far, on say, the short delay setting, you can just push the knob up to the medium setting and you instantly have much longer delay times at less extreme levels of the delay time knob. I find this to be an incredibly useful feature. I know processor noise is not typically seen in digital delays but analog, but I feel it's a fair trade for the pristine repeats you get with the md-3.

seems a bit shoddy, but it is fairly new, so I can't really say....

I play everything out there except for country... I use this for the more psychedelic/experimental/modern rock formats I play. I've been playing 10 years. If there's a delay out there, be it analog or digital, I've probably owned it. I really like this for it's neutral sound and low price. The boss stuff always sounded very artificial to me. I currently own a Hughes & Kettner replex, but I think this might replace it for it's cleaner sound and better behavior in bypass. I am ratiung this on a price/performance ratio, of which it could compete with anything.

very easy to get good sounds right out of the box,there are 3 controls and a toggle switch for dialing up short-medium-long delays.

I bought this pedal after my Dan-Echo died on me,I must say the sound of this little unit is far superior than the Dan-Echo.The sounds I get go from rockabilly slapback to arena rock delays the guyatone is extremely versatile and very simple,the delays are also very clean and crisp with no coloration what so ever.

I have put it on my pedal board to stay and find very reliable there is a heavy duty foot switch on it.

Never dealt with them

overall I think this pedal is a great bang for the buck,it sounds warm compared to other more sterile sounding digital delays,has a very wide delay time 20/sec to 2600/sec and very versitile,if you like going from slapback to more adventurous delays this is the pedal for you.

Relatively easy to use. 3 knobs and small switch to select delay length. Very easy to use. Be a little easier to use on stage if the switch to select delay length was a little larger. Other than that, dialing in the setting you want is easy. I don't have the manual anymore, but if I'm remebering right, it was the generic Guyatone manual that comes with all their Micro effects.

Works awesome. Delay sounds are clear and pleasant sounding. No distortion or coloring to my ears. Not overly bright, like a lot of digital delays are either. Also, doesn't seem to meess up the signal when it's off. Not noisy at all -- very, very quiet.

I use it mostly for solos or quiet accents in the background and it works terrific.

Totally dependable. It's been on my pedal board (and taking up very little real estate) for about 6 months now and no problems what so ever. Haven't even thought about getting a back up. Footswitch is built good, knobs are solid,casing is really nice. I've heard people dog Guyatone for the way they set up the battery compartments, but no complaints here. Not as indestructable as an MXR pedal, but about 90% of the way there.

Now, one thing and I guess would go under reliability. This thing will eat a battery. If you use it, use a power supply. It really suprised me how much power this thing draws. I'v got an SKB pedalboard with an internal powersupply and it bogged the whole board down. Had to put a battery in the delay to get power back to the rest of the board so my other effects powered off the board would work.

Except for the batteries, this pedal would be a 10.

Never had to deal with them. Sent in the warranty when I got it and haven't heard anything.

Can't give this one a rating because I never had to deal with them

I paly everything from Zepplin to contemporary Christain and this pedal works for everything. I've been playing for 16 years and it's the best delay I've ever owned.

It suprsed me how good this pedal was. I bought a Wah Rocker and that pedal was very disappointing -- completely unusable -- terrible sound. But as bad as the wah rocker is, this pedal is good.

Looked at Boss delays mostly. Read the reviews of the Guyatone and very smartly went with it. Thought about the Line 6 delay modeler also-- too much money for me.

Only thing I wish it had was a larger switch for the delay length selection that you can move with your foot on stage.

It's a good pedal. If you're looking for a delay this is a great one.

Simple to use. No need to fuss with input/output levels. Level sets the mix, delay time sets the number of ms, feedback controls how many repeats. Turning feedback all the way up will cause the unit to self oscillate.

Sounds superb. Does not color the original signal, very quiet. I've tried it in the effects loop as well as straight in the input and was pleased with the results either way. Switching on and off is silent. What I really like is the fact that it sounds really natural, doesn't have a digital signature to it. It really does behave more like an analog delay.

It's new, so time will tell, but it feels ruggedly built. I bought the AC power supply for it as well, so no need to deal with the rubber gasket. I do like the rubber gasket though, makes it easy to change the battery if you had to and keeps the unit from sliding around.

Excellent value for the money.

same as below

Exceptionally natural sounding without having true bypass. I was thoroughly impressed. It does exactly what they said.......Not any warmer, colder, ...etc. There is no change in tone when you activate the delay. Which is the best part, you can't hear any pops or tone change or anything just the delay is added. That blew me away without true-bypass. I run it thru the front input not the effects loop. That's maybe why the person below heard that noise they said. I have NOT heard that noise at all.

Supposedly it eats batteries so I have the power plug. The rubber gasket was clever but I did not like it. Just get a power plug for it and you'll be fine.

Outstanding Value!! If you told me this was a true-bypass delay unit I would have believed you. My rig consists of: Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 50 w/ JJ's, Marshall 1936 cab w/ Celestion Vintage 30's, Spoonful Overdrive Unit (true bypass), Fulltone wah (true-bypass), Guyatone MD-3, Carvin DC127 stock and Fender Strat Plus w/ Kinmans.

If you understand delay, this is fairly simple to use. Maybe the small switch for choosing between 3 different areas of delay time will throw someone off if they don't understand it, or don't know what range of delay time they prefer prior to using it. Otherwise, its easy to use.

I like the delay, but I'm adding my review because I notice something no one else has really mentioned here. I didn't notice this for at least a week or two after I bought it. The pedal in and of itself is only slightly noise - in that it only adds a little bit of noise to the overall signal on itis own. What is strange is that when I play a note, the first delay repeat adds a distinct hum sound over the notes of the repeat (and hence the overall mix coming out of the amp). It's most audible on the first repeat because it is the loudest, but it may be in the others as well. It is very noticable and annoying once you hear it. If you dont play anything note there is no hum, and the original unaffected note doesn't have any hum either - if you dial down the level of delay mix all the way so that you hear the normal signal only, you dont hear any hum. It only comes along with the repeats. Now, the signal doesn't sound that harsh, it sound fairly natural, it doesnt sound excessively digital on the repeats, and only higher notes (say, E and B string avobe the 12th fret) cause that very slight digital "shh" sound to be added to the repeats, so the processing level is decent enough. In a live mix this hum isn't going to be that noticable by any means, unless your cranked through the house and are the only one playing, in which this all will be at best slightly noticable to a few people in the crowd examining your tone more than your notes. So for some it woont be a big deal at all
Its not a rack unit, so it might be wrong to expect it to perform with that type of quality. I'm not slamming the pedal, i'm just hoping to pass on some information to would-be buyers to make a more aware and satisfying purchase.
The gear I'm currently using is as follows: G&L legacy [or a Gibson SG] => Fulltone Clyde => Phase 45 (true bypassed) => Route 66 (sometimes)=> Rivera M60 => (effects loop) Boss EQ => Morley Volume Pedal => The MD3 => back into the amp. It may be that I'm experiencing this mostly because its through the effects loop, but I have tried setting different levels for the loop and such in case it was just a problem with the signal of the effects loop being too strong for it - that only made the repeat hum more or less drastic, but did not at all remove it. It could also be because of an adaptor, though I don't remeber the hum goingaway the few times 've use it with a battery, as I wasn't listening, and even so, using a battery all the time is impractical. It possible that this is from how I am using it, so I dont want to assume its all the pedal, but at the same time, I'm fairly sure I'm not doing anything too out of the ordinary with it that would cause it to hum the way it is - that is, only with repeats. Your best bet is to use your ears and see if you find the same thing.

The pedal seems reliable, but I try to treat my gear well. It sticks mainly to a pedalboard, so it's seen little abuse other than being shoved in my guitar case for testing out other gear at the gutar store (delay is important to my sound and infludences how I play, so I bring it with me to test gear). Seems like it could take a beating and has a generally study metal case, but I wouldn't take it on a rigorous tour without a back up by any means. The stomp switch doesn't seem much use (I keep delay on basically all the time) and it doesn't seem sturdy enough to take constant abuse. Still, its not flimsy and will work for practice use and weekly gigs.

This pedal works and was an upgrade from the terrible Ibanez soundtank digital delay I was using. Ive been playing for 9 years thus far, and am fairly picky about tone. I might not have gotten it simply because its not true bypass, but I use delay all the time so that doesnt matter to me for a delay pedal. I don't know if I can say it affects the sound substantially, but its digital..its basically inevitable. Still, thats nitty gritty stuff unless you have the money to be a complete purist (buying or modding everything to true bypass). This hum really gets to me though, and makes me want a new delay (if money wasnt an issue, I would probly have something else by now). This helps my sound overall, and as I said before, if used tastefully, a mix of delay adds quite a dimention to ones sound (it does for me at least, and countless other pro's). If this was stolen, I'd fork out the cash for something else most likely. I chose this one becayse Guyatone seems respectable, it had the features I wanted (inexpensive but not cheap, up to and over 500ms of delay time, good reviews, seemed quality), and I was hoping to finally have a solid delay that I never had to think about again. The hum think defiantely frustrates me and makes me go "I should spring for a new delay." Delay helps me make music, but the hum gets in the way, for me. If your considering this pedal, just check it out, crank the repeats and delay level and see if the hum is audible. If it is, that trust me, it will come back to haunt you if your a tone nut even when the levels are lower. If not, than play on, it will do the job!

This pedal is not the easiest to use pedal I've ever used but it's as easy as it gets for a digital delay. That's why I'm giving it a 10. The knobs are easy to use/understand, and the micro switch (that selects between SLOW/MEDIUM/LONG delay times) is as easy to use as a Boss.

I play a Strat w/ active EMGs (SSH) through a Fender Ultimate Chorus. I use a true bypass strip to bring my effects into or take them out of the signal chain so I don't "technically" run this pedal into others unless I want all the effects on.
This lil' guy is smooth & rich. Kinda like a Cuban cigar. I bought this pedal hesitantly when my Boss MD-3 kicked the bucket (NO* BOSS PEDALS ARE NOT INDESTRUCABLE!!!!!) and I realized I don't need all the bells and whistles. A friend of mine steered me onto Guyatone pedals recently (also own the Wah Rocker and the OD-2 Overdrive) and I thought I'd try the MD-3 first AND I'M GLAD I DID!
I play modern pop/rock covers (Incubus, Creed, Nickelback) and can nail any cover sound I need to w/ this pedal. I've uncovered some "natural" un-digital sounds in there too.

This pedal is tough. Unlike some who bash Guyatone for using a rubber surround to hold the bottom in place, I think it's a great design and the fast battery change that the design allows has saved my but more than once. I've always used the MD-3 w/ a power supply but use batteries in my OD-2 and the rubber is in great condition after dozens of battery changes.
Only reason I give it a 9 is because of the plastic knobs and the jacks. I have no worries about them failing, but metal would be more sturdy.

Never dealt w/. Sent in 3 warranty cards but have never heard back from them.

This pedal is great. It is very versatile and I love the fact that it accepts a Boss adaptor. I can't imagine ever needing another delay unless this one was stolen (in which case I would find the perp and bound & gag him to a chair and throw lawn darts in his general vicinity while blidfolded right before rushing to the music store to buy another)!
I love this pedal.

Very easy to achieve good sounds. Level, Time, and Repeat knobs, and a 3 way switch for short, medium, and long modes.
Comes with a manual that doubles as an ad for all of the Guyatone Micro effects, with some generalized settings.

I am running this throught a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier 3 Channel Solo halfstack. I use an American Strat and a Les Paul.

I have had the Akai Headrush, the Boss DD-5 and DD-3, the Ibanez DE-7, DOD FX-96 Analog Delay, and the Guyatone. The Guyatone is an absolute keeper. It sounds very much like a DD-3, except just a little more natural. It sounds similar to the DD-5, except definitely warmer. This pedal is my favorite delay, as it not only sounds good, but can also self-oscillate, and boasts up to 2.6 seconds of delay, which beats the DD-5 by .6 seconds. The only advantage the DD-5 has is some features such as the option of tap-tempo, and reverse delay, etc. But, if you want TRUE reverse delay, grab a Dano Back Talk. Other than that, the MD-3 sounds better.
This delay is totally quiet, including the switch.

One thing, this little sucker EATS batteries. External power almost necessary.

Very tough little guy. Knobs and jacks are very sturdy, and the one-piece pressed steel enclosure should last. NO concerns.

I e-mailed with a question about the self-oscillating, and they answered pretty quickly.

Definitely a keeper. Sounds fantastic, good price, reasonably versitile, and tough.

This pedal is SMALL, and ultra easy to use. It has three knobs, one for delay level, one for delay time, and one for feedback/repeats. It also has a small three way selector switch, for short, medium, or long delay times. Just pick a short, medium, or long time, and adjust the knobs to your liking. Very easy. It does include a manual which is very short, but to the point and easy to understand.

My setup is as follows: Gretsch Chet Atkins Tennessean, Fender Custom Shop Strat, Fender Texas Special Strat, Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Strat, and a Jackson DK-2 Dinky through any combination of these pedals: ProCo Rat 2 Distortion, Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, Visual Sound Jeckyl and Hyde Overdrive, and a vintage Boss Ce-2 Chorus. I run these pedals through these amps: 70's Fender Deluxe Reverb, Fender Blues Junior, and a Fender Hot Rod Deville 212. I run the distortion devices before the delay pedal, and I always place the chorus after the delay pedal. This is the ABSOLUTE BEST Delay pedal that I have EVER HEARD!! I read many reviews on their MD2 delay, and it was highly acclaimed, so I thought that I would give the new MD3 a try, Im glad I did!! The repeats on this pedal sound EXACTLY like the original signal, they are not "warmer" or "colder" or anything else, they sound just like the original signal. I have been using the Boss Digital Delays for the past 5 years, and have grown tired of the "pinging" sound that they make when repeating notes, very digital sounding. I play a lot of U2 style stuff, so a clean clear delay is a must for me. I tried the Danelectro Delay pedals, and they were a little better, but still not right. This guyatone delay is just amazing, its very organic and REAL sounding, and it replaced my Boss Delays which I sold on ebay. The controls on this pedal are excellent, very smooth, and they respond well to tweaks. Its hard to get a bad sound out of it. Im not sure how long the delay time is maxed out (I usually stay in the 400 500 millisecond range), but its great for playing Edge like rythm parts, or for screaming ambient solos. Sound quality here is a definite 10, no complaints, and Im VERY PICKY about my tone!!

Pedal seems to be very solid, knobs are solid and very smooth, footswitch looks and feels sturdy, no problems so far!!

I have emailed Godlyke Distributing (Guyatones distributers here in the States) with questions about Guyatone pedals before, and they have always responded within a day. Very helpful.

Ive been playing for about 6 years now, and I play mostly classic rock and U2 sounding stuff. This delay pedal is the best thing since ice cream, its very clear, and does not mess with your guitar tone. It accurately reproduces the notes that you play. It also costs less than the overpriced Boss delay pedals, and will play circles around them. Its very small, which I like, and is very sturdy, and well made. I would not change a thing on it, and if anything ever happened to it, I would rush to purchase another one. I was so impressed with this pedal that I just ordered a Guyatone Micro Flanger, which is an analog flanger based on the rare NOS Panasonic analog time delay chip. Im VERY picky about my tone, and only buy analog pedals. This MD3 is digital, but it sounds SO GOOD you wouldnt know it!! If your tired of the other digital delays on the market, please give this one a try, at $99 I think its the best kept secret as far as delay pedals go.