TC Electronic Delays/Echos/Phrase Samplers for Guitar

The TC Electronic Flashback is a great little delay unit from TC Electronic that offers the versatility of many much larger and more expensive units in a small, easy to use, and affordable package. There are various different types of delays ranging from the famed TC 2290, through to analog, tape, lo-fi, modulated, slapback, stereo and even reverse delays. It also has a wonderful looper that allows for up to 40 seconds - great for rehearsing ideas quickly. It's a pretty simple delay as far as the controls go, just standard time, feedback and level controls plus a switch to go between quarter notes, eighth notes or dotted eighth notes. It also has a stereo output to go to separate amps to make best use of some of the thicker sounding delays too. It's housed in a pretty small box with a convenient thumbscrew to get to the battery. UTILIZATION Setting up this pedal for use is pretty easy for sure. It reacts like the other delays that I've owned and other than getting used to the different modes that the pedal offers, it is pretty easy to use. The controls react well and the pedal's not too extreme as far the taper of the controls. It can get some nice oscillating repeats if you set it up with the controls turned up high which is cool. I was able to figure most of it out by trial and error without even reading the manual. It basically takes the standard delay controls and mates them with different mode selections for different tones and styles. SOUND QUALITY This delay pedal is pretty good sounding overall. TC Electronic is known for their high quality, pristine delays and this pedal definitely carries that lineage. My main concern with it is that it's a bit dark sounding and can get a little bit lost in the mix with distorted tones. I found myself using the 2290 mode for more pristine tones, and the tape delay mode for my leads. I did like the slapback mode for country type sounds, and the looper proved quite useful when I was just working on riffs for my bands. Of course, with this flexibility comes the inevitable price... I find that it doesn't really have the GREATEST tone like a delay that specializes in one type of sound, but if you're looking for a whole gauntlet of delays in one easy to use package, it's definitely cool. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think that the TC Flashback is a cool little delay for someone looking for a great set of delay tones in a convenient package. It sells new for about $180 which is really a killer deal considering the quality and features. I ultimately found that I preferred the sound of a truer tape echo, and have since sold mine to fund a Strymon El Capistan which is one of the greatest tape echo simulators on the market. If you need one or two great tones, I would look into something different, but if you need an "all in one" you can't get much better than this TC Flashback.