Why DeltaLab Pedals Are Worth Trying

on today's episode i'm going to teach you all about a line of pedals that appeared in the mid-2000s from guitar center with its origins coming from massachusetts and honestly you've thought all these years that the pride of massachusetts was the klon centaur it's really these delta lab pedals [Music] [Applause] [Music] a man named richard de freitas founded delta lab research in 1977 from a town called chelmsford massachusetts he was a dsp wizard and had filed some pretty amazing patents as early as 1976. in the mid-80s he made rack units that developed a cult following in the guitar world and some of these rack units were even used in the 1982 movie tron it came out the year i was born but by the mid 90s he had left that all behind and the trademark expired fortunately a little mom and pop outfit that you probably never heard of picked up the trademark and did something with it they were called guitar center just a small little thing just getting their wings kind of flying out of the nest you know i'm really proud of them they took the mark and they slapped it on a budget line of pedals that had nothing to do with the original delta lab or richard's work and also fortunately all the forums and fans of delta lab lost their mind and basically tried to murder guitar center philosophically because of this in threads on forums and probably some hate letters but here's the deal before you join that crowd and go all crazy and ballistic richard moved on he let it go he didn't care you know why because he was doing other stuff he went to work for raytheon what's raytheon you ask it is a american multinational aerospace defense conglomerate headquartered in massachusetts one of the world's largest aerospace intelligence services providers defense defense manufacturers in the world you know he didn't need effects he was the effect but knowing how some of you can't move past this and it's ruined your entire year i'm just going to keep talking about how people didn't really like this series of pedals that i'm about to show you here's a quote from a forum it says i'm boycotting these pedals because delta labs was a great innovative brand from back in the day and the brand has been dead for years and now guitar center bought the rights and the name and order and releases their own line of cheap pedals this might be good but i'm a loyal fan of the original delta lab now that we got all that out of the way just let it out take a deep breath and let's jump into this play these pedals and talk about them i first saw these i think 2006 there was a guitar center in jackson mississippi where i started jhs many of you know the story i would get boss pedals and mod them down the street at that location and i remember walking in and seeing the delta lab overdrive i believe um so yeah this is kind of cool line i remember playing them um and then recently collecting them and just being really interested in the story so i don't know where you first saw them and if you have seen them drop that in the comments but let's start out with the rd1 it's rock distortion um i have a print off of the original manual i don't have the manual because i don't have a single stinking box of these it's haunting me but gain tone level true bypass red led indicator rubberized knobs and 9 volt power that's a lot of info that i would have never guessed on this manual i mean just shocking stuff riveting honestly 42 dollars new they're solid metal they sound really good what is rock distortion i can't figure it out i have no idea what it is i took these apart it's three knobs so it's black is it a rat no sounds nothing like a rat is it a ds1 no i don't think it is then i'm like maybe it's the sonic distortion no and then i just give up and play it and enjoy it and that's what you should do sometimes you think too much your brain's too big and you become stupid and you should stop and just play the pedal [Music] [Applause] so [Music] now [Music] i actually did have the copy of this i pulled this off the internet so it's absolutely accurate i'm positive of that rock distortion creates an edgy distortion effect reminiscent of the hard rock tones of the 70s and 80s that's real real specific there really narrowing it down for me and will drive your favorite tube or solid-state amp into thick distortion and singing sustain man you may use the rd1 effectively with any amp and it is responsive enough to utilize your guitar's volume to adjust distortion yeah okay it's a distortion pedal moving on uh next up is the phase shifter it is the ps1 this is the rarest of all okay if this looks in the mirror and says mirror mirror on the wall what's the rarest delta lab pedal of all phaser right here i looked for this for about a year and then someone told me it popped up and i bought it like that moment on reverb for like 29 i do want to state i bought all these are super cheap and if they get expensive i don't want to hear about it but they're super cheap this one's cool i do have copy as well it has an led that blinks and and with the time that's kind of cool and for that era kind of edgy honestly that's a really nice thing that wasn't normal back then creates a modulation effect sweeping swooshing otherworldly sounds at okay it's just another form of generic copy saying it's a phaser oh i don't know if you noticed but uh i had this like the powers did you did anybody notice did you guys notice i had the delta that i did did you notice i you know i normally use i normally use a vdlab right but uh at the delta lab you see this did you notice how good it sounded did it it sounded different to this this power supply delta lab power made in china nine volt 100 milliamp did did everybody notice this though for sure yeah i have the power right here [Music] [Music] me [Music] boy [Music] we [Music] that was a good jam uh you know i i don't know what the genre was i need help with the genre in the comments just kind of label what that was it could have been for like a second it feels like time impala and then that violently stripped away from you and then it's steely dan and then it's nonsense so maybe that's his genre i don't know next up is the sc1 stereochorus i'm too lazy to try the stereo function nor do i care about stereo uh honestly i think of all the world events ever if you removed stereo from most all guitar nothing would have ever changed that's a hot that's a hot take and i know i've offended many of you but it's through our differences that we become better friends when you accept me and i accept you it's just a lot better so i'm gonna play it mono and you're gonna deal with that because i'm too lazy to play with stereo here's the copy it's a bucket brigade by the way this is an actual bucket brigade chipset in here i'll use some buzzwords that i feel are accurate it's lush it's a lush chorus you know people say lush this is actually lush it's a fun word to say the lush sounding cut they actually set it in a copy can't make this up we'll remind you how cool of course can be add sparkle to clean open up those cords animate your strum passages widen and fatten your distorted cords no matter what you need this petal will do it all that's not true it obviously doesn't do other things other than chorus cleanly and quietly run it in mono or use the stereo for huge vibrato vibrant sounds creating wide sweeps whatever and it says something about making your guitar sound like a 12 string i'm going to use that power again can i use is that okay with you guys yeah yeah i'm gonna use the original power supply from 2006. it's so cool that i have that i don't think anybody else has it it's like the act you guys see this the delta lab power i saw it i don't think anybody has one yeah it's pr nobody has this it's called the ps9 it's the ps9 ps9 see [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] eh [Music] this entire line is surface mount 2006 this is a really big deal these sound amazing the quality is extremely good the quality of this is better than some boutique stuff i've seen nowadays for like 200 they went surface mount ahead of the curve they said it was okay made great sounding pedals people probably crapped on them and now they sound amazing and they're still cheap i don't know i like finding the things that nobody knew to find although i found it back then so i already found it you can't really find what you found next up is the pedal that i saw first and had used this on my board in the late 2000s i guess it is the t01 tube overdrive let's all together take some guesses at what this is the ts9 yeah it's basically a tube screamer what i'm about to show you it really it's really wild stuff you're about to dive deep into madness and now it's time for meticulously obsessing over small details no one should care about there are three versions of this one pedal there's not a single extra version of any of these others nope standard version right right yeah normal normal what the crap is this why is there a square around the foot switch why i don't know can anyone tell me why there's a square on this i have no idea this is where the details matter and this is where i'm obsessive i don't understand it i've called around i've emailed people i faxed a guy i faxed a guy in massachusetts no answer why do you put a badge on one there is no badge version of these not a single badge version okay so that enough for you no no no no no no no no no there's a version called tube driver that's actually the first version so what i said was first version is second version badge boy is three and tube driver is one you want to know something i can't find the tube driver [Music] i've seen it i've seen it a lot i almost bought it back in the day and suddenly they're nowhere on the internet obviously they got sued or something and had to change the name from two get it tube driver they went to this i can't find this see this i can't i can't find it wait nick what is this i don't know a battery oh is this oh that's the original battery in the plastic wow it's a goldman heavy duty it's a 6f22 9-volt maple leaf it's the maple this you notice the maple leaf there these are canadian-made there's a different dexterity in the composition of the acidic nature of the battery really it's the 6f22 nine volt there's a six seven thirty two 6 42 6 c32 69 342 i've used those trash complete trash i found it in the pedal i may not have the original version one but i have the battery [Music] hey [Applause] [Music] um [Music] listen i i'm snapping i'm falling apart why is there a badge out of all these pedals hey hey hey here's what we do let's put a badge on one i don't know we should go to the next one i don't care about anything else i don't want to let it go because it's not letting me go okay next up is the dd1 digital delay it's also stereo but i don't care so we're going to do this it's digital it's not analog it's digital sounds really good though it has a max delay time of 325 milliseconds that's very weird honestly very specific it's like somebody really loved that number that designed it i don't know it's kind of odd so i'm going to start off with a slap thing and then i'm going to just turn all the knobs up and do just what that does which is basically chaos ambient chaos that i really like also there was a delta lab rack unit back in the mid 80s it's called the dl4 there's a dl4 by line six i don't know if there's a connection here but if there hasn't been a lawsuit yet i really want to start it off i think this is the moment where we can all band together and say someone should sue somebody [Music] so [Applause] [Music] next up is the fl1 flanger a beautiful john deere green and i would know i grew up in alabama this is exactly the tone of a john deere tractor it's a bucket brigade flanger here's the deal and i'm i'm i have nothing to gain here i have nothing to profit from this every sound in it is good and it unlike most flangers i get a hold of you really can't make it too dumb or crazy like it's very usable all around here's the copy it just says the flanger creates modulation effects emulating shifting doppler effects heard when a jet plane flies overhead i've honestly never heard that in a copy of a flanger you get the dial in your speed depth regeneration slash intensity etc etc i am again i'm going to stick with this power supply if i mentioned this have i mentioned yeah because i think with the bucket brigades like having the original power supply there there's probably a thing that's going to happen here i could use you know i have a lot of power supplies there's voodoo lab there's one you know i just [Music] [Music] [Applause] wow [Music] wow [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right next up is the md1 metal distortion first thing i want to say here is they left the case just metal think about it oh because you know what paint says paint says soft clean predictable metal it's in your face you have to look at it i don't know what it is meaning when i look at these lines of petals i don't necessarily expect guitar center to do a ton of r d and recreate the wheel and so one problem with this whole line is other than the tube screamer that's haunting me with three versions they're all really original i think they are actual somewhat original designs this is a op-amp hard clipping circuit three stages looks like i just can't figure it out you know at first it's like maybe it's a rat because rats are metal i don't know it's not a rat is it the heavy metal no is it the hyper metal no is it the digital metallizer no is it the metal zone no it's not is it the dod metal maniac no it's not is it the super metal biopines no is it the metal screamer no it's not is it the aria metal pedal no it's definitely not is it the arion metal master no it's not that either is it the metal worker no is it the different shade of red metal worker two different anyway is it the one that's not red because there's three versions maybe anybody no surely it's this it's the series 10 ultra metal no is it the columbus ultra metal no is it the polaris ultra metal no i don't know what it is it's fine it creates a modern high gain distortion new metal is used why'd they say new metal was there even new metal in 2006 no its versatility allows you to overdrive your pedal your favorite tube solid state amp just do the gym [Music] [Music] uh [Music] i like this line i don't need anyone's forgiveness for that i feel good with myself i think it's a quality line of petals made in 2006 by guitar center that are somewhat original and they're cheap i don't know i it's super puzzling you know guitar center musician's friend had the rogue series these are basically they're broke the moment you touch them you know kind of thing the the delta lab is way better than this stuff so i think they're great i think you should check them out if you have one be proud of it if you got rid of one a long time ago because someone told you it wasn't cool then i'm sorry for you you have to face those demons down like i do every day and then honestly why is there a square why is there a square i cannot get over this why in the world you see anybody see a square no anybody see a square oh no anybody see a square nope anybody see a square not no not no square here oh look there's no square oh hold on is there a square no no look oh yeah oh my god sounds so good go to record time whatever [Music] today's record time is brought to you by 2019's infest the rat's nest by king gizzard and the lizard wizard i need you all to stop and listen to me when i say you need to check this album out if you're not familiar with this band you are missing out on an insanely cool catalog and variety of music this is an apocalyptic album that's all i'm gonna say it's a concept album and it is amazing and it's my kick right now i really like it honestly i have to admit nick's like this stuff long much longer than i have and i finally caught up and you know i feel cool now so check this out you'll really dig it it makes me remember very early metallica but recorded well and black sabbath motorhead it's just metal but like metal for people who don't even like metal and also for people who love metal i don't know check it out right you wanna do that and in the comments let me know what you think and if you're a fan of this band and what is your favorite of their 17 million albums that they have also why is the square let it go why is there a square have to move on listen in the comments all right tell me if you're not okay i need to know my family needs to know my family needs to know moving on thanks so much for watching this episode i hope you enjoyed it in the comments below let me know if you've owned these pedals where you first saw them i just want to know my story is unique to me when i lived in jackson and saw these so i want to hear where you saw them and also what's your favorite jam what pedal did you like the most hit like if you liked it subscribe to the channel click the bell iphone icon also in the description below you can jam on every one of these jams through band lab you click the link and go over there and you can download and be a part of that process on your own you can write lyrics to these songs honestly you could take these songs and soar your way all the way to the grammys anything's possible there's also a link to the patreon i'd love for you to go check that out and help support the preservation of pedal history and the jhshow.com where you can buy merch and things that nobody really needs but we keep buying because we're a pointless society of people who just keep filling the void in our heart with petals and shirts and things and why does that have a square oh my gosh why can i see it can i no why look at this give it to him why is there a square why look at me listen to me stop stop it's josh from the future the mystery is solved the mystery of why in the world did they put a patch here it's up larissa figured it out you just remove the switch is that right lisa just pull this off it's like a sticky plate what's under the plate tube driver it's because they just didn't want to get sued they got a cease and desist and they just had to make some plates and they put it over that and problem solved and i got a tube driver with the box i have the box has the box check it out tube driver take the plate off it was a tube driver no it's not and original manual i love being from the future dude don't forget about your original power oh yeah oh and the original power supply wow original power supply original box original manual original tube driver plate solved man let's shut her down we're done with the show forever

Channel: JHS Pedals

Views: 79,329

Keywords: JHS, JHS Pedals, The JHS Show, Guitar Pedals, Guitar Effects, Guitar Gear, Guitar Pedal Demo, Music History, overdrive pedal, chorus pedal, distortion pedal, boss pedals, compressor pedal, univibe, delay pedal, octave fuzz, reverb pedal, reverb, eq pedal, boost pedal, behringer

Id: U0Z2JF8PliA

Length: 28min 13sec (1693 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 06 2021