Why Delta Lab Pedals Are Worth Trying

In this article, I want to talk about a line of pedals that appeared in the mid-2000s from a little Mom and Pop outfit called Guitar Center, though the series originated in Massachusetts. I know that I’ve said for years that the pride of Massachusetts was the Klon Centaur, but it looks like that distinction actually goes to DeltaLab. #sorrynotsorry

History of DeltaLab Research

Our story starts with a guy named Richard DeFreitas, born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1939. Now, Richard was known by a few different names. As a professional clarinet and saxophone player, he called himself “Richie Dee.” His high school friends used to call him “Mr. Music”. But you probably know him better as the guy who founded DeltaLab. Richie founded DeltaLabs Research Inc. in 1977 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. DeltaLab produced guitar gear, mainly pedals and rack units, between 1982 and 1985. In fact, Richie ended up filing twelve different U.S. patents through DeltaLabs.

DeltaLab became the industry leader in digital audio delay, and was the first company to bring this new technology to the consumer market. Coining the term “adaptive delta modulation”, his innovative designs and techniques allowed musicians to create special audio effects for just a couple of hundred dollars, saving them what would have otherwise cost thousands of dollars in the recording studio. What might be Richard’s greatest claim to fame, however, is that DeltaLab products were used as props in the 1982 classic film Tron.

Around the mid-eighties, Richard shifted the focus of his business elsewhere, and as a result, the trademark for DeltaLab Research expired in the mid-nineties and Richard neglected to renew it. But someone else did. A little mom-and-pop outfit called Guitar Center. You probably haven't heard of them. Guitar Center acquired the DeltaLabs trademark in 2006 and started selling their own, more cheaply made pedals under the same name.

One pretty awesome feature of the Guitar Center series is that, circa 2006, the entire series used surface-mount technology. This is a big deal. Guitar Center was majorly ahead of the curve on this, and as a result produced low-cost, high-quality pedals that sounded as good as a $200 boutique stompbox. That’s pretty cool.

Fan Response

Now, before you go and storm the nearest Guitar Center with torches and pitchforks, let me clarify something: while Richard DeFreitas was understandably bummed out that Guitar Center co-opped his trademark, he was also too busy negotiating multi-million dollar deals with companies like Raytheon for it to slow him down too much. Personally, I’d call this a happy-ish ending, but not everyone agrees with me. Loyalty to the original DeltaLab brand is still pretty strong, so much that forum members are posting truth bombs like this about the new Guitar Center series: "I'm boycotting them because DeltaLabs was a great innovative brand back in the day; the brand has been dead for many years, and Guitar Center recently bought the rights to the name in order to release their own line of cheap pedals. They might be good, but I'm loyal to the real DeltaLabs effects."

Honestly, I get it. Guitar Center betrayed your trust. You loved the original brand, and the original brand is dead. By extension, so is your soul. If you feel like you need to carry this chip on your shoulder indefinitely, you do you. Me? I’m just going to jam with some Guitar Center pedals and enjoy myself.

RD1 Rock Distortion

Let's start out with the RD1 Rock Distortion. I have a print off of the original manual, but not the manual itself (cue a haunting, dark reprise of “He’s [Not] Got the Box''). This pedal features gain, tone level, true bypass, red LED indicator, rubberized knobs and 9-volt power. It originally sold for $42 new and the enclosure is made of solid metal.

Here’s my issue: I cannot figure out what the heck this circuit is. Is it a ProCo RAT? No. Is it a BOSS DS-1? Nein. Maybe it's the Maxon SD-9 Sonic Distortion? Nope. At this point, I decided to give up on the mystery and play the dang pedal.

And you know what? It’s a solid piece of gear. Two thumbs up.

PS1 Phase Shifter

The PS1 Phase Shifter is the rarest DeltaLab pedal of them all (if you didn’t read that last sentence in the Evil Queen’s voice from Snow White, I’m sorry, but we can’t be friends). All joking aside, though, I looked for this pedal for over a year before I finally found it on Reverb for $29. It is pretty dang rare, but it sounds great.

This pedal features an LED light that blinks in time with the phasing, which was fairly edgy for the mid-2000s. Per the original DeltaLab copy, it “creates a modulation effect, sweeping smooshing, otherworldly sounds--”

Okay, this is all fairly generic copy saying it's a phaser. Moving on.

SC1 Stereo Chorus

Next up is the SC1 Stereo Chorus. I’m just going to rip this bandaid off right now: I was too lazy to try the stereo function when we filmed this episode of the JHS Show, and I don’t care enough to do it now. Honestly, I think if you removed stereo from the music history timeline, nothing would drastically change. That's a hot take, but I stand by it. I do love the “chorus” part of the SC1 Stereo Chorus, so in the jam we just played it in the mono setting. This pedal uses an actual bucket brigade chip set, which results in (buzzword alert) a lush chorus.

Now, I do have a bone to pick with Guitar Center on this one, because the original copy for this pedal makes the audacious claim that “no matter what you need, this pedal will do it all.” False. Can this pedal turn lead into gold? No. Does this pedal allow me to travel through time? No. But it does give you two solid options: you can use the SC1 cleanly and quietly in mono or you can use the stereo for huge vibrato sounds, creating wide sweeps, whatever. That’s still pretty cool.

T01 Tube Overdrive

Now, the TO1 Tube Overdrive has caused me some consternation. Does it melt faces? Yes. Does it sound awesome? Also yes. But there appeared to be three different versions of this pedal on the market, all of which sound pretty much the same: the Tube Overdrive, the Tube Driver, and a True Overdrive with a badge added at the bottom of the enclosure.

I couldn’t find the answers I wanted when this episode was filmed, but our newest producer Larissa solved this mystery for us. It turns out that version number three (the Tube Overdrive with a badge added) is actually version two.

Yeah. Let that sit in your noodle for a minute.

If you unscrew the knob on the Badge Tube Overdrive, the badge comes away to reveal the actual pedal name: the Tube Driver. My guess is that Guitar Center got slapped with a cease-and-desist from Butler Audio for using their product name, but GC didn’t want to make all new enclosures, so they just added the badge to cover up the copyright infringement. The truth is stranger than fiction, y’all.

DD1 Digital Delay

The DD1 Digital Delay is also stereo, but we jammed with it on “mono” mode. As the name suggests, this pedal is digital, not analog, but it still sounds really good. It has a max delay time of 325 milliseconds, which is equal parts weird and super-specific. Maybe someone at Guitar Center felt really strongly about this number. Who knows?

Another fun fact: there was a Delta lab rack unit back in the mid eighties called the DL-4, which is also the name of a Line 6 pedal. I don't know if there's a connection here, but there hasn't been a lawsuit yet. And I stress “yet.”

FL1 Flanger

What I love about the FL1 Flanger is that it comes in a beautiful John Deere green (If you know, you know.) It's a bucket brigade flanger, and it’s probably my favorite pedal in this entire series. Here’s why: every sound in it is good. Unlike most flangers, you really can't make it too dumb or crazy. It's an all-around usable, good quality pedal. The Guitar Center copy on this says that it “creates modulation effects emulating shifting Doppler effects heard when a jet plane flies overhead,” which I've honestly never heard. You can dial in your regeneration/intensity, speed, depth, everything, so it’s very user-friendly.

TLDR, I really like this pedal.

MD1 Metal Distortion

The last pedal on our list is the MD1 Metal Distortion. First off, let’s talk about the enclosure: it’s metal. Just metal. If this had the traditional paint and powder coat, you’d think, “This is soft, clean, predictable,” but because it’s metal, it's in your face.

The MD1 Metal Distortion features an original op-amp hard clipping circuit. Now, this circuit is unique, and it’ll save us a lot of time here for me to clarify what it isn’t. It’s not the ProCo RAT, the Heavy Metal, the Hyper Metal, the Digital Metalizer, the Metal Zone, the DOD Metal Maniac, the Super Metal Biomass, the Metal Screamer, the Aria Metal Pedal, the Metal Master, the Metal Worker, 10 Series Ultra Metal, the Columbus Alter Metal or the Polaris Ultra Metal.

I do know that the MD1 creates a modern high gain distortion and it melts faces. I think that’s all we really need to know.

Basically, this is a Guitar Center pedal series, and I still really like it. I don't need anyone's forgiveness for that. I think they're great and I think you should check them out, but you do you.

Guest UserAugust 6, 2021