If you often find yourself thinking, “I friggin’ love delay, but I need EVEN MORE of the same sound over and over,” it might be time to look at a multi stage delay pedal. The TC Electronic Flashback Triple Delay can satisfy this need, and probably many others. This pedal means business; it is versatile and big in both features and footprint. It would take a blog post’s worth of space to even transcribe the silkscreen labels, let alone describe all the fun stuff it can do.
The key concept is that it stacks three delay effects into one box. These delays can be chained or run in parallel, and actuated independently using individual footswitches. Like the previous incarnations of the TC Flashback delays (like this one), this pedal offers multiple delay types that range from emulations of classic analog delays, to emulations of TC’s own storied 2290 rack-mount digital delay.
When it comes to delay parameters, in addition to the usual suspects like time and repeat, the Flashback Triple Delay offers a “Subdivision” knob that allows for the delay repeats to be syncopated with the tap tempo and other delays in the chain to create rich polyrhythmic delay effects. Unique combinations of delay type, length, repeats, mix and subdivision can be assigned to each of the three delays. TC has also included their TonePrint system in this pedal. TonePrint allows users to flash tone settings to the pedal over the air using their mobile phone into a guitar pickup, and create patches for the pedal on a PC.
Guitarists have been using multi delay effects for a long time (think Binson Echorec), and there are existing multi stage digital delays on the market, like the excellent Death By Audio Ghost Echo. While the Flashback Triple Delay may not be as simple and charismatic as some of the more boutique options, is definitely a contender for the top spot when it comes to features and technology. – Nathan Smith
