So... educate me on the Boss DD-500

TonyR

I'm a bit of a Boss fanboy (sorry!) and I play mostly 1980s alternative stuff, Chameleons, Simple Minds, U2, Smiths, Cult, Sisters etc. You know the sound, delay/echo & modulation.

In terms of have the following pedals in my arsenal (a couple of which I've only just acquired)

DD-7,- Digital delay
RV-5 - Reverb (used for the Modulation)
TE-2 - Tera Echo
RE-20 - Space Echo

The issue I have with these pedals is that when I come to playing different songs I have to tweak each of the pedals.

I have just seen the DD-500 specs and it has 99 memory slots which would be ideal.

So my question is - will the DD-500 cover off all of the above pedals?

If so, then I'll skip my Classifieds ad wanting a DD-20!

Thanks

Tony

Teetonetal

Yes except for rv5.

english_bob

Yep, the DD-500 ought to be able to replicate anything you can do with the DD-7, TE-2 and RE-20, but not the RV-5. It's a complex pedal though- more in common with a GT-series multi effect than the DD-series compact delays. I find it fairly intuitive to use but I've had more success dialling in preset sounds from TGP and the DD-500 Facebook group than with making my own sounds (to be fair, a lot of that is down to the amount of time I can commit to playing guitar these days, which is not a lot).

I say give it a go. If you buy used for a reasonable price I doubt you'll have any trouble moving a DD-500 on if it's not for you. Join the Facebook group so you have access to a library of user presets and a way to get quick answers to any questions you have, and be prepared to spend a good few hours reading the manual and generally getting your head around it. 

Of course, if all that complicated shit sounds like your worst nightmare, the DD-20 should cover DD-7 and RE-20-ish sounds, sounds great and is much more like a stompbox delay.

Flanging_Fred

I used to have an re-20 and a dd7.  Like you II thought the dd500 could cover it all.  Well, I think it does everything the dd7 did but I haven't managed (yet!) to get it to cover the re-20 sounds I was using before.  

As much as I enjoyed the re20, it didn't fit my playing style too well so I'm not too bothered about not replicating it exactly.  If your style is really heavily influenced by dub or radiohead or anything that is clearly a Space echo, then I'd keep hold of the re20.

I think you'd be safe to ditch the Tera echo as that is on the dd500. After I got my dd500 I also sold my Tremolo pedal (Mooer trelicoptrer) as the dd500 was more than adequate to cover my Tremolo needs.

I think the dd500 is a fantastic pedal but you do need to spend a lot of time tweaking, experimenting and programming it.  I've had mine 6 months now and feel I've only just scratched the surface of what it can do.

I certainly don't regret replacing the dd7 and re20 with the dd500.

You'll want to keep your rv5 though. 

My 2p anyway.

Wazmeister

Tony, 

Now Im not a Boss fan, but I did own the DD500 and would own one again.

I bought it on a whim, and it really is superb. As usual, the presets are fairly average butbthe tweaking possibilities are almost endless. I could get the unit to duplicate ALL of my delays convincingly... and im not a tweaker.

The SDD especially stood out for me. 

The assignable footswiches are superb. Perfect for your type of music...

I only sold mine when I got the Fractal FX8...

TonyR

Thanks for the input chaps. I suspected I'd need to hang on to the RV-5.

DD-500 it is then!

I've already amended my Classifieds ad.

bingefeller

When you do get one there are loads of settings here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1swrBneUjIWHweLiFBITAM4AY3gIF0mXQGQTAtj0dsHA/

Most of the presets are good enough already.

TonyR

Bagged myself one - brand new, for under £240 - good old January sales!

TonyR

It arrived today - looking forward to having time to play!

Flanging_Fred

I'll +1 on @bingefeller 's suggestion to start your tweaking using the TGP google doc.  Its very useful indeed.

bingefeller

It's a great unit TonyR.  

TonyR

@bingefeller, @Flanging_Fred thanks for the info on the settings document - that will come in very handy indeed!

I need to have another search on t'internet because when I was looking over the weekend I'm sure I came across some software that somebody had written to edit the settings on a computer and save them back to the DD-500.

bingefeller

Tony there is a mad 83 page thread on TGP -

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/boss-dd-500-questions-tips-tricks-and-solutions.1614316/

Loads of helpful stuff there, I was kind of following it from the start but have lost track of it.  All the settings on that Google Document are from that thread, but there are also some nice tips there if you ever get stuck. 

TonyR

@bingefeller - thanks for that too, you have been most helpful.