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What is the ultimate bass delay tone?

Many bass players find the delay effect to not be all that useful only because they haven’t been shown an example of where it can not only be used but used well.

For one of the best examples of bass with delay added in that worked phenomenally well, we have to go all the way back to 1971 with Pink Floyd’s release of the song One of These Days.

The bass line is purposely kept simple so the return of the delay effect can be heard loud and clear. Given the year the song was recorded, obviously this is a 100% analog effect.

At about the 1:30 mark, the delay is cut out for about 1 minute and replaced with tremolo (most likely via a Fender guitar amplifier of the era,) then back to delay for the rest of the song.

Is using bass with delay effect difficult when playing live?

It’s not difficult for the bass player but rather the drummer because roles have been swapped. Instead of the drummer being the timekeeper, the bassist is.

In-ear monitors help greatly to keep the band in time for situations like that.

This is what good bass delay sounds like

For the question “What is a good example of bass with delay supposed to sound like?”, the go-to answer is One of These Days by Pink Floyd.

What are other more modern examples of bass delay?

Disposition by Tool:

No Shelter by Rage Against The Machine:

What are the best delay pedals for bass?

You might want to go nostalgic and use analog, but said honestly, digital delay is much easier to work with. With analog, the delay return may “mud out” a bit too much to be usable. With digital however, the return is a near-exact copy and very little dynamics are lost.

Vintage style analog delay like the BOSS DM-2 usually has a maximum return time of about 330ms. With digital you get well beyond that, usually up to at least 1500ms (not that you need a delay that long but it’s nice to have.)

Analog delay has tonal differences from brand to brand, but digital typically doesn’t. Whether you use MXR or BOSS or something else, you’ll more or less get the same sound every time.

8 thoughts on “What is the ultimate bass delay tone?”

  1. I started using a Line6 DL4 with bass years ago, which gave the advantage of hearing how different delay effects would with bass. The most useful I found is a clean digital delay because bass tone is already more “subdued” than guitar, and most analog or tape sounds degrade the delayed tone to the point that it’s not very useful (just my opinion! You may be using a super hi-fi bass sound, but I’m usually just playing passive). I also really like when the delay sound has some modulation for color. (an option on many units). Very important though is tap tempo! Options for different rhythm syncs for the tap tempo is also very helpful. Also, MIDI if you’re going to work with tracks. There are many great units on the market, especially from Strymon and TC Electronic.

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    • Thanks for the comments Greg. My only concern is that while Styron gear is great, it is too expensive for a weekend warrior like me. Especially so when buying over her in the UK.

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  2. Timely article here. After many years of not using any effects pedals, I got into a 3 pc acoustic/electric band last year that I felt I could try some effects again. Along with my trusty Zoom MSB60 MultiEffects and MXR bass octave pedals, I just bought a new Donner Yellow Fall, mini delay pedal. At such a low cost, I didn’t expect much in quality but many seemed to like it. I’ve been pretty impressed with the quality of effect this little pedal is giving me. I use it mildly for effect with my Godin Ultra fretless A5. And it works even better with my active/passive Carvin (kit) Ebony/Mahogany fretless 5. Still figuring out how to best use my effects pedals in this band but adding this tiny Donner is fun so far. peace, e.

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  3. I use short to medium delays in a group setting to provide ambiance or when I want to ‘step out’ and bring the bass ‘alive’…..for electric, the slap back delay works best and for acoustic I use shorter delay times….having too many repeats doesn’t help me keep the fundamental structure of the song intact so I avoid extreme settings and long delay times.
    My current favorite is a ‘no longer available’ pedal from SBN pedals called the ReSounder – it’s very full in frequency response and sounds ‘Wet/Ambient’ as hell – even on short delay time settings. I also use an ADD+ delay pedal that I bought on Reverb.com that was made in Izmir Turkey….it sounds really good and cost $60.00 new! At a Boss Demo set-up at a guitar show I tried the Waza-Craft DM 2W Delay and it was very good as well…..one other ‘Old School’ favorite is the Ibanez AD-80 delay – it has a certain sweetness to it that I have not heard elsewhere and can be used on anything – even vocals…..of course, the Strymon and Eventide stuff is great if you have the room for it on your pedalboard!

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  4. I used to use the MXR green box analog delay. With a rubber top on the delay knob I could also do pitchbending with my foot and analog feedback. We’re talking 1979-1981. If you can find Scientific Americans tracks online there are examples.

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  5. There is still delay during that 1 minute of “tremolo” section Waters is playing. The “tremolo” does not sound like Fender Tremolo, but does sound like Vox “repeat percussion” or similar, choppy trem.

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