Ever since the ‘Sick As‘ Overdrive pedal was released from Bondi Effects and took the world by storm, they’ve continued to create and release excellent pedal after pedal. One that we were certainly interested in is the subject of today’s review and demo, and has to have the greatest name of any pedal ever – the Art Van Delay. Not only does it specifically reference the best comedy series of all time, but features a wonderful analog delay tone and control section as well. Bright, bold, powerful, full of options and fun as hell, this delay is loaded with bucket brigade sounds for days.
The Bondi Effects Art Van Delay is inspired by two of the most iconic delay pedals of all time: the Boss DM-2 and the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man. Combining the analog circuitry of the DM-2 with the vibrato modulation of the DMM, you get the best of these two worlds in one enclosure. And while the signal is analog, the control portion is digital, giving you functionality that those two pedals definitely do not have. Time, Level and Feedback knobs are standard delay fare here, with a delay range from 40mS – 1200mS. ‘Depth’ and ‘Rate’ control the amount of modulation in the delay and the speed of the modulation, respectively, adding those old school warbles we all love to your echo trails.
A toggle switch lets you choose between 3 repeat subdivisions: 1/8 note (600ms max), 1/4 note (1200ms max) and dotted 1/8 note (900ms max). There’s a Tap switch to set the onboard delay time, and when held down, it produces maximum feedback as well. The Bypass switch turns the Art Van Delay on and off, as well as accesses the 2 available onboard presets. The two LED colors flip flop when you go back and forth between these presets, letting you know precisely where you are at all times.
An Aux jack on the side lets you control Bypass, Tap Tempo, Presets and any parameter knob with an Expression pedal. Also equipped with MIDI capabilities, the Art Van Delay accepts MIDI clock, and gives you access to presets 3-32, if you need ’em. There’s an internal Kill Dry switch if you want to use the pedal 100% all the time, and a small USB port on the right that allows for firmware updates and sonic evolution of the pedal via community-based features. This delay, simply, sounds incredible, and we’ve got the demo below to prove it. Part analog warmth, part wild, modulated abandon, with the modern options you need, this pink princess from Bondi Effects does it all….and does it really well.
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