Providence Delay 80's vs Modded DD2 vs Others

GOBBLE

Ok ok - so I know the TES thing has been covered here numerous times, but as it's my first post I thought I'd dive straight in anyway as this is a current consideration for me.

I've just got myself a secondhand Providence delay 80's - sounds fantastic, but JUST falls short of my friends Cornish TES. The TES has fatter repeats, more headroom, and you can get those darker delays much louder than you can with the Delay 80's. However - the delay 80's remains a superb sounding unit, is very pedalboard friendly, can run from 9V and is a quarter of the price of the TES.

I wonder how a Keeley or Analogman Modded DD2 compares to a Cornish, or indeed a Delay 80's? And also, The TRex replica (purely as I saw one on a photo of Gilmours pedalboard once).

Ok - let's hear it. Looking forward to reading your replies Ladies and Gents!

Thanks everyone.

Teetonetal

The thing is... the TES is so expensive is that tiny perceived improvement really worth it.

What you should do is get your mate to record a few delays setup to be as close as possible and then see if YOU can pick the TES. If you can't then maybe it's not worth you having one... and you should get the one you think it is as that matches the TES sound in your head.

dunstanmus

Providence 80's although the Flight Time beats them all.

Wazmeister

Is the TES £2000 better ? @gassage ?

GOBBLE

Good comments so far. The Flight Time looks seriously great - but I am definitely NOT one for fiddling around with menus / switches / screens of any kind! I play in a couple of bands, and I need to find sounds quickly in rehearsal rooms etc, and aside from that I don't really have the patience.

Any other thoughts? Is the Flight Time really better than the Delay 80's?

viz

I've got a cheap analogman dd3 if you want to buy it off me

Heartfeltdawn

GOBBLE said:

Good comments so far. The Flight Time looks seriously great - but I am definitely NOT one for fiddling around with menus / switches / screens of any kind! I play in a couple of bands, and I need to find sounds quickly in rehearsal rooms etc, and aside from that I don't really have the patience.

Any other thoughts? Is the Flight Time really better than the Delay 80's?

You say you play in two different bands which would make the Flight Time even better than the TES in that regard because you can save presets so you could use presets 1-10 for band 1 and presets 11-20 with band 2. No more remembering where to point those dials and changing between songs. It is incredibly easy to use and sounds superb. 

BBBlues

Dave is now using 2 chronos and 2 flight times in his rack. I think 2k on a TES is stupid money personally but each to their own.

meltedbuzzbox

GOBBLE said:

Good comments so far. The Flight Time looks seriously great - but I am definitely NOT one for fiddling around with menus / switches / screens of any kind! I play in a couple of bands, and I need to find sounds quickly in rehearsal rooms etc, and aside from that I don't really have the patience.

The flight time has presets where as the TES will require you to tweak everything every time you want to change it. 

Wazmeister

I loved the Flight Time.. but I tell ya, that Boss DD500 took mine off my board...

And I'm def not a Boss fan !

GOBBLE

Yeah - presets can be useful for sure, but I like to find new sounds quickly, and on the fly. I had a Timeline and hated the fact that I just ended up using presets all the time because it was too much hassle finding new sounds through all the multi function controls and a screen. I don't want any screens thanks!!

No love here for the Trex Replica / Reptile?

Heartfeltdawn

GOBBLE said:

Yeah - presets can be useful for sure, but I like to find new sounds quickly, and on the fly. I had a Timeline and hated the fact that I just ended up using presets all the time because it was too much hassle finding new sounds through all the multi function controls and a screen. I don't want any screens thanks!!

Using a Flight Time is nothing like using a Timeline. 

Given your dislike of screens and love of twisting knobs, I recommend wasting £2k on a TES instead. 

GOBBLE

Heartfeltdawn said:

GOBBLE said:

Yeah - presets can be useful for sure, but I like to find new sounds quickly, and on the fly. I had a Timeline and hated the fact that I just ended up using presets all the time because it was too much hassle finding new sounds through all the multi function controls and a screen. I don't want any screens thanks!!

Using a Flight Time is nothing like using a Timeline. 

Given your dislike of screens and love of twisting knobs, I recommend wasting £2k on a TES instead. 

Interesting. So you'd put a Flight Time up against the TES with regards to fatness of the repeats etc? Thanks!

dunstanmus

 I have had both and yes. Sold the FT recently since getting the FX8. I wouldn't dream of charging £2k for the TES.

Heartfeltdawn

No. I'm not comparing the fatness of the repeats at all. You know what the TES sounds like, you clearly want that sound, and you want the simplicity of chickenhead knobs as your interface of choice. That points to one box of fun which means splashing out £2k in cash. 

I say 'wasting £2k on a TES' because most people I've seen buy one on the various forums I've wandered through over the last eight years eventually sells it and ends up with something that's pretty much the same but without the four figure price tag. 

For that sort of money, you could buy yourself a variety of delays and still have plenty of cash for chips and a weekend break in Aberdeen. 

I'm not a tone chasing individual, I like shitty sounding things and go weepy eyed over old rack units, but I can safely say that the Flight Time is a bloody fantastic delay. The repeats might not get as fat as the TES but the headroom is huge and the sound is mighty. 

GavRichList

theres even an early Moog MF104 on Reverb.com for under £500... or there was at the back end of last week

meltedbuzzbox

I always find it even funnier that you have to send in a DD2 to get your TES made. 

So basically a rehoused boss pedal with some extra mojo for £1800... ouch!

I will concede that it does sound nice on the demos but I cant look past that price and how it looks

Heartfeltdawn

@meltedbuzzbox

http://massstreetmusic.com/products/pete-cornish-guitar-effect-pedals-tes-tape-echo-simulator

It's no looker, is it? 

GavRichList

I'd love it to be a hollow, empty metal box with a DD2 poked through a small hole in the top corner.

GOBBLE

Now now everything, let's not start brand bashing! The TES is the top of the tree sound wise as far as I'm concerned - I'm looking to hear from people who have found similar sounding alternatives. So far, it looks like the list is:

In direct comparison to the Cornish TES:

Providence Delays 80's - I can vouch for this as sounding very similar with big FAT repeats!

Analogman / Keeley modded Boss DD2 - Interested in opinions of these.

Free The Tone Flight Time - Seems like there is a lot of love for this one here...

Also, it works out more like £1050 (plus your DD2) and a year or so wait direct from Pete Cornish himself.

Wazmeister

You can't get onto the TES waiting list, in my experience...

And, once again, I'll add the Boss DD500