Strymon El Capistan! (atas delay content)

[keithC]

hey guys, guess you have heard of the new Strymon tape delay... it sounds phenomenal... probably out there to rival the skreddy echo. just want to ask the delay pros on what your thoughts are about this pedal? for me im seriously considering it because of the looper and tap tempo!

here's their site. the clip samples are nothing short of phenominal and inspiring...
http://www.strymon.net/products/elcapistan/

 

[wck]

The el cap and echo are pretty different to me when I hear them on demos.. I've never played either before but the echo seems to be quite a lot darker and theres this character to the sound and I don't know what adjective to use for it haha. The repeats of the el cap is more clear.

And bear in mind that the looper is not like the boss RCs or the jamman. Its supposed to mimic the sound on sound mode of the echoplex. The features and sound are pretty amazing tho.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

hehe, what so atas about this delay?

Most of the time, the delay is just a delay, but with the right user, right context and usage, can make any delay sound awesome.

 

[keithC]

just for softies to know that its a delay thread pathein bro.. el capistan sounds like some really far fetched afganistan built pedal or something. needa hear from the dmm and skreddy users man. this delay hunt is not nice to my pocket D:

 

[dudelove]

Most of the time, the delay is just a delay, but with the right user, right context and usage, can make any delay sound awesome.

Ah.. Those 2 words mean alot.

Okay, wanna talk strictly about sound?

The DMM is different from the Echo and the El Cap, it doesn't emulate a tape delay, but it's my favourite sounding of the 3. Clearest, warmest and lushest repeats of them all. Cons are the large size, headroom issues, and it requires 24v and a seperate adapter.

The El Cap sounds great, and has many cool stuff like tap tempo etc.. Its extremely tweakable, a tweakers dream. I haven't tried that yet so I can't comment much. I'd take this over the other 2 if I really needed the tap tempo and the tweakability.

The Skreddy fits my bill at the moment. Fits perfectly on my pedalboard and no fuss over power issues whatsoever. The repeats are exactly much darker than either 2. I've heard many analog delays MUCH darker. I don't quite fancy the Echo at 9v, the repeats have a bit of dirt to them, not so clear. 18v on the other hand sounds great, but the repeats are very overpowering even with the input gain and the mix set low. 16v is just right, brighter, clearer repeats. Now is the best time to snatch an Echo for cheap. Everyone's pawning them for the delay in fashion right now.

This video might help.

 

[edgie]

To the OP, just to clarify, it's a sound-on-sound looper. It will repeat infinitely a certain passage(I forgot the max time allowable for the length of passage). Whatever you play over it will be included to the next cycle of repeat. So it's like a parrot who thinks he's a broken record. hehe.

Soundwise, I'm very happy with mine. I had a Wampler FTE, which is also a really good tape delay emulator, but the El Cap is more flexible sans modulation effect which the FTE has. I can set the EC for a brighter fresh tape for lead sounds and darker worn-out tape sounds for ambient-flavored stuff.

I also bought my EC the Strymon Favorite switch so I can have a preset and it's like having two delays. The setting I put on the fave swtich is pretty much like the stock setting of Strymon with less repeats.

 

[subversion]

the entire Strymon offerings are superb IMO, not just the EC.

 

[Godspeed64]

A good alternative to the Favourite switch by Strymon is the PRESET by Railhead Effects.

 

[keithC]

thanks for your input guys, has definitely helped me a lot. the skreddy echo does sound better than the EC in the clip.. though the faux sounded more solid and clear. ive heard numerous dmm clips on the tube too.. EC still seems like the one because of the tap tempo though. any thoughts on the brigadier vs dmm?

 

[wck]

Its hard to compare the el cap really cos of the features it has. The person that is doing the demo can't say every setting he uses, especially with the secondary settings like low end contour etc..

I'm pretty interested in the brigadier too.. Doesn't seem to get much recognition after the release of the el cap.

 

[Cavett]

To me this one of the best representation of what the El Cap can do...

 

[edgie]

A good alternative to the Favourite switch by Strymon is the PRESET by Railhead Effects.

I'd say it's a great alternative if you plan to have it unmounted on the pedalboard. But if you want it on-board I would prefer the Favorite switch because of its height. It sits flush to the top surface of the El Cap that I don't have to worry not being able to hit it when needed. Had it been shorter or smaller, I will have to reach in-between pedals that may cause shoe scratches to other pedals or damae to patch cables.

I'm usually a bag of nerves during gigs that I tend to miss or accidentally switch things on so having a "safe" switching layout on my pedalboard(pedaltrain mini) is essential. When the El Cap first came out, some forumites at TGP are complaining why the Fave switch is bigger than it has to be. I realized the genius in the design the moment I start re-arranging my board.

 

[skipper53]

context and usage

That made me smile =)

Totally dude, dont fall too much into the whole race for the pedalboard candies. Take an objective look at what you're gonna play/use the delay pedal for. As brilliant as the El Cap is, it is a tape echo emulator, might possibly not even be the kind of delay you want. If a looper and tap tempo is what you need there are more options within that price range really.

I deliberated getting the El Cap not too long ago (drooling all over all the TGP demos). but yea in the end it's just a TAPE ECHO.. the stuff I play, i'd need more than just tape echo. My delays sorta form the heart of what i play sometimes. so yea it was important to me that i got something versatile.

yup so i echo (no pun indeed), context and usage. list them out then maybe we can talk about what'd be awesome or u! Cheers =)

 

[keithC]

mmhm skipper i agree.. i am certain i started this thread because of all the drool.. the sound's just so deep and awesome. just want to ask for yourself, what delay/ delays are you using?
One thing i've recently been learning about delays is that its not just the delay that affects how good you sound, but also your main tone and how the delay sounds sit behind your main tone. Some combinations seem to clash and sound really conflicting or muddy, like there's not enough .. separation?

I've heard some differences since using the delays in my line6 m9... at first i thought it was awesome that i had so much to play with, but over time i grew to only using the deeper, darker sounding delays with just a few, hard repeats. i find that the digital delay sounds are harder to pick up and seem to get lost in the mix when im playing more than just a few notes. and i wonder whether there's really some mojo when using a pure analog kind of delay.. such as those rumours hovering around the skreddy and dmm..

 

[wck]

I've heard some differences since using the delays in my line6 m9... at first i thought it was awesome that i had so much to play with, but over time i grew to only using the deeper, darker sounding delays with just a few, hard repeats. i find that the digital delay sounds are harder to pick up and seem to get lost in the mix when im playing more than just a few notes. and i wonder whether there's really some mojo when using a pure analog kind of delay.. such as those rumours hovering around the skreddy and dmm..

Hmm, I actually find that digital delays can be heard more clearly in the mix as the repeats are clearer and don't degrade as quickly. Do you mean that the digital delay's notes gets messy after a few notes cos the repeats are too strong?

 

[keithC]

nope.. i meant the digital delay doesnt sit well with my original guitar tone.. when the feedback comes back, it sorta blends and clashes with my playing tone much more than if i have a darker sounding delay setting.

its like in a band mix with 2 guitars, the rhythm guitar will tend to be more bassy as compared to the lead with more mids, same logic applies, sheesh sound frequencies...

but a darker delay setting tends to mush up as well, thats why i only have them on for 3-4 repeats and always on a slightly boosted volume.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

depending on the playing dynamics, a slightly muted strings when being played, the delay repeats will be clearer sounding.

When the strings are allowed to ring out, the ringing notes and the repeats will be blended in a mess as the repeated notes will be fighting for space with the notes that are still being played and allow to sustain.

playing dynamics can also use for delay oscillation as well, depending on which delay pedal it is.

Oh well, if really need to worst come to worst, just use a spectrum analyser to see visually which are the frequencies that need to be adjusted in a recording mix and adjust accordingly, or in live purpose, use eq pedal in parallel setting to boost/reduce instead of the usual series connection.

Heh, anyone like to comment on this delay clips from 5 years back of a certain delay pedal and see how it compares to the delays of now?

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=347425&songID=2521082