Rocktron Short Timer

My dad bought one of the first echoplexes (original tape delay heaven)in 1966. I recall that summer many hours of bliss..no skills then,,just delay. That said, in order to understand this pedal it would be best if all could hear a TRUE tape delay like fulltone makes now..(1100)..Yes it's easy if you understand what 'regeneration' trully is..the opposite of totally steril DD5 boss...for looping the Boss is fine but for gigging the shorttimer takes the prize in spades.
I will say that the controls are very sensitive..I use a water based white paint pen in case they get bumped...I also use the same pen on the Boogie Recto because that sucker, as awsome as it is, will lose your tone if you just touch an eq knob. I'd say 8 at best because it takes patience.

I run a PRS HB2 through a Boogie rectoverb..God what a sound that is!!The effect alone is just that..an effect..it's ambient and can be subtle but it adds another awesome dimension beyond reverb..in fact when on, some drummers think that is what they hear.reverb...I should know as I was an idiot drummer for 10 years..When used with some reverb, to me anyway it adds life and "space" to notes but especially chords. Yes it will do the country will ray Ray Falcke etc. double stop slap back as good as I have heard. But for me in a vintage rock / dance band it does so much more for rythm work...It's that thing that happens between kicks snares and bass slaps...sugar in between all the way..I love it when used sparingly..On lead sounds I usually use another longer delay as analogue as I can get Danecho lo fi mode...around 250 to 312 mili. seconds...subtle.. I'll have to give a 10 because nothing else is in this class of sound at this price point.

Well it looks tough..great switches and chicken heads...metal but an 8 for touchy knobs...like most.

I have no clue and don't care. Isn't it amusing how we guitar players want $2000 service (Boogie)...for a $40 pedal...
Heck it's worth $40 to be able to find a pedal I can give high numbers to that has an earned it.

As ALWAYS I hate detents but I love knobs like Boogie where it takes some force to move them..A knob one can thump and it spins is too sensitive. I'd definitely get another one even though I bought it like most of us here not really knowing how it would suit my tastes. I absolutely LOVE this delay/echo with chorus and a touch of verb on a slow Number..."way huge sounding" without being overbearing. This pedal will stay for a long time..

Very Simple Dial in the delay you desire very quickly.

I run a very simple Guitar tone. I have a fender deluxe reissue combo, with an xotic AC BOOSTER, A classic Cry Baby, the SHORT TIMER and an American Deluxe strat (stock with the noiseless pickups). True I like a basic blues sound. I can not however find a tone I like with Reverb. The short timer gives me a great delay with out watering down the tone. Not a magic toy box but there are several different Delay stteings that sound great. This is on at all times and is set as a soft effect to give the tone a good feel. I do not use it to get a dominat effect, if you want a delay to get what I call song specific effects this is not the pedal for you. think of this as a very musical replacement for that
messy spring reverb. Great for adding to a vintage amp to get the nice delays that have become a staple in most any ones gtr tone. the add really does explain the pedal to a tee.

I have not had any of the odd clicking and popping sounds come out of this pedal as of yet. I have had it about a month, maybe they have fixed the problems. Really this is the kinda of box you set once and just leave on most of the time. I will not rate this section I have not really gave it the tried and tested abuse as of yet. Check other reviews as there maybe some issues, however the price is great and I can over look some corks for the savings.

not had to deal as of yet

I Play blues, and classic rock. Mostly SRV, Clapton, BB King type of stuff. This pedal suits me perfect. didn't effect my tone in any way. Bypass may or maynot be "TRUE" but then again people put a great deal of focus on the gear and for get to just lay back and Play from the Heart. Pedal is a part of my sound and must be replaced if it is lost. I would not even look at other options. If ya want a fancy "look what this box does" type effect get someting else.

This delay is very easy to use due to its somewhat larger size and finger filling knobs, it is not hard to find on the pedal board and everything on my particular unit works perfect. I A/B'ed mine with another of the same and mine was the quieter of the two and the difference between them was very noticable!

This is the catagory where this pedal really shines. It has managed to kick off my pedal board a Line 6 Echo Park and the Guyatone MD3 with no problem. Although the delay is not a real long one the Short Timer sounds organic and non digital and may I stress again NON DIGITAL! Another great thing for me is that it does not boost the highs and volume like the Echo Park did. This thing sounds about as analog and natural as any expensive analog vintage or botique echo effect. I have had other echo/delays besides what I have now and for the price the vibe and the build quality I think this one is a keeper. Even if I found something better I would still keep this one in the effects arsonal as really good sounding effects are somewhat hard to find. I am running this through the effects loop of a Genz Benz El'Diablo C 30/60 tube combo. My particular Short Timer is very quiet, I keep it on one of the longer settings just about all the time. I do notice a pop when switching to the short setting but it is just once after power up, after the initial pop it stays quiet when switching to the short and shorter settings.

I have had other Rocktron gear in the past all of which is gone. I had the Voodo Valve, Pro gap and Intellefex, I still have a Pro Q laying around here somewhere. I used this gear for for about 10 years on a daily basis and NEVER had a problem of any kind. Although this track record has nothing with the longetivity of this Short Timer I don't gig my stuff, it stays at home and is based in a home recording enviroment. I do not forsee any problems with this unit which is about 2 months old.

Never needed them, never any problems.

I have to go with a 10 on this one. The price is killer as is the sound. I do feel these individual effects vary in their build quality so you may want to make sure that you can do a side by side comparison of 2 or 3 of these, I'm glad I did as the one I compared it with made quite a bit of noise. I would purchase this unit again with no hesitation. I think we all wish it had a little longer delay time but I think it is fine the way it is. I have been playing guitar for about 40 years, I have seen it all and heard it all and have owned it all. This is a great sounding delay! Just make sure you get a good one.

Impossible to get a bad delay sound out of it. Easy to adjust. If you're looking for delay stompbox which does _not_ feature ridiculous 2-second delays and such, this is primo.

The delay sounds themselves are lush and warm. Like a warm incandescent light as opposed to the cold fluorescent of, say, a Boss DD-3. Just exactly what I wanted and nothing extra. I use this with a Tech 21 Tric AC into a Hafler P3000 (150w/channel) which feeds to bass cabs. The favorite artists would have to be just about every guitar player of the last 40 years, and yes, you can get an array of sounds which you might like to emulate from hearing others play. However, I must echo what others have said about extraneous sounds. This unit seems to make a small "pop" sound, very muted, barely noticeable, occcasionally when a note or notes are struck. I found the pop appears much less frequently on the "shorter" setting. Likely this would keep me from recording with it. And, yes, the short/shorter switch does make a loud pop sometimes when hit, but then, for most people, once you've got the setting you like, it will stay there most of the time. Gets an 8 because of the extra noises--I haven't had it long, so possibly those will disappear over time or with certain settings. The delay sounds themselves get a 10, 9 average.

I got a "factory resealed one" from zzounds. It worked for about a minute and then just stopped making sound altogether. Luckily zzounds is the best--they shipped me a new one right away along with a prepaid shipping label to return the broken one. How cool is that. Who does that anymore? No problems with the new unit.

I play jazz, blues, rock and combinations of those. Fits perfect. Been playing more than 20 years (90% bass now). I've compared this unit with several others (Boss DD3, digitech rack mounts, other rack units) and this is a winner. If a) I could be sure it would never fail me, and b) it didn't have those extraneous sounds I'd definitely buy it again if stolen.

It's super easy to use. You don't need the manual at all.

I have a few pedals on my list. I have a 1953 Gibson Hollowbody (my pride and joy) and a couple strats for surf running through a Digitech whammy pedal, boss tuner, a ton of different overdrives, and this pedal all into an old Woodson 2x12 combo. I was in a bit of a rush to get some sort of delay so I bought this. It's great for the rockabilly slap-back sound I wanted. Great for surf too. If you're a metal head you might want something else. It's not too noisy at all for a low priced digital delay. It's hard to make a 53 gibson sound bad, but this little green box didn't. Sounds great. Just fiddle withe knobs. I can sound exactly like ME with this pedal.

It's pretty reliable. I don't play baseball with my pedals like i do with my guitars so they survive through every show, including this one. Good solid chassis. I don't have a backup, just a ton of batteries. I don't like chords everywhere.

I haven't had a problem with this little monster so I can't tell.

I play in a rockabilly band and this pedal serves it's purpose. I've been playing for about 8 years, on and off. I own an old Epiphone amp and a few more guitars. I would buy it again if it were stolen, definitely. I love that slapback effect. Perfect.

easy pedal to use in fact easier than most because it is wide and uses chicken head knobs so it is easy to look down and see where everything is set. not much of a manual

for $70 this thing sounds pretty damn good,very clear transparant,easy to get runnaway echoes for a digital delay it is very analog like.i play psyacadelic early gilmore type sound on my origional music so i like to turn up the repeats and change the delay speed on the fly and this does this well unlike the boss dd3 i traded to buy this pedal.i considered the digitech digidelay but it is a little more digital sounding and the knobs are stiff to turn,but it does offer 4 sec of delay.the "short/ shorter" is plenty long in fact a slight bit more than my sib "mr echo" which is better sounding but not reliable.i also get a pop once in a while when engaging the on off switch but not too bad though.

extruded metal case pretty sturdy. the short shorter switch looks flimsey though

havent had to deal with them however the botique shop i bought it is pretty good with warrenty

overlooking the on off "click" this is a better pedal than the boss dd3 by far.boss products are overpriced and suck now that they are all made in thiawan.i uasally stay away from chineese made stuff but this rocktron is a good product. the repeats are very controlable unlike the mr echo which runs away almost too easy which is good too. i plan to use both in my board that way i have 2 presets.i also own a rocktron metal planet and i think it sounds better than the boss metal zone and its $20 cheaper. short timer is a better sounding product $30 less the price of boss,or digitech

Easy to use if you've used a delay pedal before. Three large knobs for level, generation, and time, plus a small push button for short and shorter delay times and a footswitch. There was no manual and none was really needed. I'm not sure why Rocktron put that push button for the short and shorter instead of just incorporating a broader sweep in the "time" pot to cover the full range of delay. Doesn't really make sense.

This is a tough call. The delay sounds themselves are stellar. I have a Boss DD3 that I've had for ages and this unit sounds much warmer than the Boss. Vintage type echo really. Sounds natural and adds the perfect touch for Gilmour-type solos, as well as Edge-type delay rhythm work. I don't believe this pedal is true bypass but I was hard pressed to hear any difference in the unaffected signal. Excellent.
However! The stray noises this unit can generate might make this pedal unacceptable for some. First of all, pressing that "short / shorter" button sometimes leads to some really raunchy ocean-crashing-on-the shore kind of sounds, even with the guitar volume knob at zero. No rhyme or reason to when the noise will surface. Of course, if you don't hit this button during performance, this shouldn't be a problem. I won't be switching during performance much, so not an issue for me really. A bigger noise problem is when the main on/off footswitch is engaged. The first time I hook up the effect (every time) and then engage the switch there's a pretty obnoxious echo sound (kind of the the unit is playing the internal sound of the footswitch being engaged). This doesn't happen all the time and after that initial nonsense it doesn't happen very often. But to me this is a serious problem. So the sound of the effect itself is stunning, but the noise problems knock down the overall rating here. You'll have to decide if they're important to you.

Lots of sharp edges on this box. The machining wasn't very good, but I didn't really expect boutique build quality for such an inexpensive pedal. The knobs don't have a high quality feel but aren't the worst I've used either. The noises I mention above worry me as far as the reliability goes. The pedal was built to a price and it shows. However, the sound is truly stellar. Since I rely heavily on delay for my lead playing in particular, I would probably gig with my Boss DD3 as a back-up. And I always use an ac adapter for my delay pedals. These things can eat up batteries right quick.

Never dealt with them. Their website was pretty decent.

I play rock and blues mostly. This pedal works very well for the genre. I've been playing guitar for over 20 years. I own lots of guitars and gear. I've been using lots of Fulltone pedals lately. If this pedal were lost or stolen, I'd replace it immediately. I can't live without it now. I love the sound of the delay...rich and warm with the perfect amount of delay time for my style. I can't imagine needing more delay time unless you're into weird wacked out atmospheric types of sound. I researched delay pedals for months. I looked into offerings from Maxon and T-Rex (both way too expensive for a toy), but decided to give this one a try based on HC reviews, the low price, and the sound samples on Rocktron's website. This pedal inspires me to play because it sounds so good. It's definitely an asset. The only thing I wish is that the intermittent noises weren't there. But if that isn't an issue for your application, this pedal offers truly great echo sound. Even with the noise, problem this pedal is a fantastic value.

3 knobs easy to get the hang of , (much more simple than boss ,or digitech delays) Manual is short and basic.

Delay is fine , shorter time is great for slap back reverb. there is a slight pop when you press the short time to shorter, but it really won't be an issue if you set the mode before you play.
Play threw a JMC 800 Marshall w/ 2 part o caster tele's and an LP spec, I use several other effects but no set order or board ,just pick a fuzz or phaser to suit what I want my playing to be favored with.I got this pedal foe $35 on ebay so I,m happy , Digitech has a cool delay ,but for the money this is a good model to play with.
I can get David Gilmore era Floyd, Twang for counrty,and surf ahhh things great for that.
I didn't hear any hiss ,but I think guys who bitch about slight nosies omited from a stomp box are a little anal.

I may get another delay down the line , but this will work for a gig. Solid metal casing,dependable blue light!

don't know ,if I have a prob I'll find out

If you want a good delay , but don't have the money to spend on a boss or digitech ,get this. It is simple ,and cheap, but gives a good delay.It can give a good slap back sound. Has a cool blue LED ( some guy posted it hurts his eye's ha ha ,its not a laser)

Dead easy. 3 knobs, no complicated tab or sample features to get confused by. Simply run and gun!

Freakin' amazing. I have tried a few delays including built-in delay on a Line6 Flextone, ZOOM505, DigiTech DigiDelay. For sound quality this pedal is excellent. The DigiTech DigiDelay has way more features and cost twice the price, yet this ShortTimer smokes it for sound quality. There was no popping sound when I clicked the button either. The 400ms max delay is plenty enough. Anything longer sound like cheese anyways. I could get U2, Pink Floyd, as well as surf crap. :-)

Don't know. It's so cheap you could buy a handful of these for the same price as a more expensive delay.

Excellent value. You really gotta try one of these. Go into a shop that sells one and just out of curiousity, try one. You'll be stoked!

Three knobs, one switch. Even us dumb guitar players know how to use this.
The chickenhead knobs give a good indication what you have dialed up, even in
low-light settings. The blue LED is ridiculously bright.

My setup: Fender Telecaster or Gretsch Jet into Ampeg Jet (15 Watts tube amp). No other effects used, except for amp-tremolo. Style: Stax (think Steve Cropper) or Swingbilly ( i. e. Brian Setzer, but played lousy ;-) .
WEIRD! I checked two of these boxes, with different guitars, different amps, box placed near the amp or far away and the sound was always HISSY as hell!
Untolerable with the longer delay settings and amp treble turned up, but highly irritating still with shorter settings and amp treble midway! As bad as a badly serviced "Copicat" tape echo from the sixties I compared in A/B.
As no one else commented on that terrible hiss, I wonder: Is it a problem of the european power supply? Would it be less noisy when placed in an effects loop? As my small tube amps don't have that feature, I'll never know....

All-metal housing, reliable input/output jacks, knobs and pots are OK, too.
As I returned a Danelectro Wasabi Delay (see my review on that) before buying this, I have to say this looks a lot more roadworthy. IMHO this box will stand abuse
from uncaring bandmates, who accidentally step on it - at least that's the biggest danger that my effects face!

Never dealt with them.

The "Short Timer" is cheap, easy to operate, comes in a rugged metal casing, and
the effect sounds good. A dream come true, if it wasn't for that terrible hiss!!!!!!
Maybe it's a problem I haven't figured out yet(other users comments would be highly welcomed), but for me this hissing makes the effect hardly usable :-(