Gear Review: The Flashback Triple Delay by TC Electronic

By Patrick Fritz

The pace of innovation in the 21^st Century has been kind to electric guitarists. Guitars, amps, and outboard effects continue to evolve at a dizzying pace.

In October of 2014, TC Electronic released an excellent contribution to the world of delay pedals. Since I was in desperate need of a new delay pedal, I did some research and bought the Triple Delay over the holidays. I couldn’t be more pleased with my purchase.

The Triple Delay is an improvement upon TC’s popular line of Flashback delay pedals. Up until this point, if you wanted to compound multiple delays in series (or parallel) you needed 1 or 2 additional delay pedals. The price of multiple delay pedals adds up quickly. The Triple Delay allows you to run 3 separate delay engines – simultaneously. You can run the delayed signals in parallel or in series with the flip of a switch.

I purchased my first guitar pedal in the ‘90s when my family was still using a dot matrix printer. So naturally, I thrill to see the evolution of guitar pedals, like the Triple Delay, that have built-in USB ports. This feature allows users to connect their pedal to a computer and use TC Electronic’s Tone Print feature to download tones and settings created by famous guitarists. If you have the Tone Print app on your smart phone, you can beam new tones and settings into your pedal right through your guitar pickups. How cool is that?

My wife might disagree with me, but I don’t consider myself a “gear-head” when it comes to electric guitar equipment. I admit that I do love good tone, and I’ll chase it with my credit card from time to time. But when it comes to gear, I prefer simplicity and ease-of-use to infinite tweakability and countless variable features. The Triple Delay is very malleable and is packed with features. But it also delivers a very straightforward and intuitive layout. There are no digital screens or multilevel menus to scroll through. There are well-labeled knobs and switches that will make sense to both experienced and novice delay enthusiasts. The pre-loaded tones sound fantastic. I was able to dial in gorgeous delay sounds in a matter of minutes.

At $300, the Triple Delay is quite an investment in your guitar sound. But if you are an intermediate, advanced, or professional guitarist in need of a great delay sound, I would highly recommend this pedal. With the tap tempo function and the ability to compound multiple delays, the Triple Delay will compliment just about any style of electric guitar. For more information, check out the TC Electronic website.

http://www.tcelectronic.com/flashback-triple-delay/