Boss DM-2, DD-2, & DM-3 - Boss Delays of the 1980s - Ask Zac 66 

thanks to this video now I am a happy owner of a DD-2 and a DM-3. these are the benchmarks against which all digital and analog delays shall be tested!

I picked up the DM-2W around Christmas and I have to say it's my favorite delay I've ever played

Hopefully in another 50 years of play, the neck on my avri 58 tele will look like your Esquire neck. I absolutely love it.

Bought a DD2 when they came out - and it’s still on my board today ... nearly 40 years on.

Your quality of content is always appreciated sir.

Really excellent commentary. I enjoyed the differences! Thank you...

Great video at just the right time. Thanks for the history and insight. Gonna tinker with some delay while I'm snowed in.

Thanks for the pointer on checking for the DD2 Big Chip. Super valuable wisdom!

Comparisons like this always interest me. Fortunately for me, I bought a DD-3 recently. I use it only for slapback so I probably would have been happy with any of these pedals, but it's nice to hear what you can do with the DD-3. Who knows, maybe I'll break out of my shell and experiment a bit. Zac, you're the best guy on RU-vid with what you do. I appreciate the thought, the expertise, and the simple honesty you put into everything you do.

From a Delay guy with a Tele problem, Thanks Zac! All the new-fangled options out there, but a DM-2, DSD-3, and a Deluxe Memory Man do it for me!

This was great! So handy to know how the 3 pedals differ and to not only be told, but to hear it. Please do more of these kind of videos where you have multiples of the same sort of pedal from the same brand, or even different brands.

Great video....LOVE the sound of that guitar.........picked up a dm2w this summer.......great boss echo!

Great comparison video.

The DD-2 was my first pedal I ever purchased and I still have it.

I don’t play the same style of music as you tend to demonstrate, but I could listen to you play all day! I also really appreciate the pro-level, yet simpler take you have on gear-it’s refreshing for someone who doesn’t have a ton of money or a desire to become a midi guru to make music. No hype, just beautiful music-keep it up!

Excellent description of 3 highly used pedals thanks for the demo

You’ve chosen wisely 🤩Thanks for getting it right

Great delay info...thank you

I’ve been waiting for this episode for a while now. Well done as always. Still no power or heat on the house so this the highlight of the day. Thank god for cell phones and massive fire pits.

Zac,... another video with outstanding content !! Thank you for what you do ! .... when i was listening to that DM-3 ... i nearly immediately thought,... that would be a killer delay pedal for some acoustic playing... especially given it wont oscillate and has some cleaner but still warm analog repeats... i may have just talked myself into one !! Haha ... thanks again ....

My brother and I had a DD-2 in the 80s and after watching one of your pedalboard videos, I bought another one off of Reverb from JHS's store. I also have a DM-3 and both pedals are a lot of fun. I leave the DM-3 set for slapjack and the DD-2 for a longer ambient delay.

Great video Zac

Great stuff, Zac! Would love to see one on your favorite analog and digital reverb pedals.

Hii Zac! Long time watcher, first time commenter! As last week was my 26th birthday, I finally bought my first telecaster!! I purchased a K-Line Truxton from LA Vintage Gear here in LA and I love it! It was a long journey to find the right feeling telecaster and the Kline checked all the boxes! Maybe ive been tele guy all along and never knew it haha! Anyways, keep up the great content!

Cool episode as always! Recently switched back to a compact boss delay from one of those cappuccino maker spaceship launching pedals. Sometimes simple is better. More time playing and less time scrolling through menus and programming things.

Awesome! Haven’t heard Wrapped Around in a while. Probably my favorite Brad song!

That slap back setting on the DM-2 sounds perfect to my ear.

Love my DD-2! I had an original DM-2 as well but when one had to go, actually keep the DD2. Funny enough I replaced later with a Brigadier so I could have that DM2 vibe but also longer delays with tap tempo which is helpful since I am a church player (as you mentioned!) - so now using the XTS compressor, Keeley/Boss TR2, XTS Precision MultiDrive, Brigadier and DD2. It's a really great small board that seems to cover a lot of ground. Of course, I miss having programmable delays, volume pedal, chorus, verbs, etc, but still works out great for a functional small board. Took some inspiration actually from the John Levanthal board from your interview! Running the TR2 before the overdrive seems to work great and then having a short & long delay.

Great , absolutely great Zac! I'm a Delay-Guy too. You're allright with this delays. Cool slapbacks! I have all the keeleys, Digitechs and also the DD-500, in many combinations. Thank you very much Zac!

Thanks for making me miss my DD-2 even more :( seriously, though, great video, love the sound of the DM-3, gotta check that one out

My DD-2 has been on my pedal board since I bought in either 1983 or 1984... I even still have the gold 1,000,000th pedal sold medallion that came in the original box, LOL... love that pedal!

The best guitar effects outside of OD to me are reverb, delay, tremolo. I love old analog delay but agree its nice to also have digital on your board to get a brighter tone. Thanks for the review on these delays Zac!!

Thanks for that comparison Zac. An early 1980's Boss DD-2 is still in my collection, and thank goodness for that. It's still a go-to effect for its sound and versatility. BTW, Boss also built SDE 3000 chip emulation and 500 Series delay (with modulation) into the stereo software program of their WAZA Tube Amp Expander, which I use to allow me to play my tube amps at home.

Great episode. I’ve always loved Boss pedals too and agree that nobody has ever beat their design. I feel that they are underrated these days with all the boutique pedals that are out there. I love the big rubber pad and sturdy design. I hate trying to step on those single metal switches when practicing and only wearing socks. Lol. I wish I had kept my DD-2 that I had back in the mid 80s. I may look for one again sometime soon. Great samples of how to set up the delays too. I’ve always loved that dotted 8 trick that John Jorgensen and Albert Lee used. John McFee also used it with the band Southern Pacific. I’ve always been a little nervous using it live unless the band kept perfect timing. Lol. Looking forward too the next episode! Cheers!

I know this video is about the pedals, but I can't help but say congratulations on the guitar Zac, I imagine it's hard to put her down at this point!

Fantastic video! I had no idea how expensive those were back in the day.

I’ve had way too many delays. I got a Caroline Kilobyte and I love it. It nails that sound those Boss DM pedals had. Dave Cobb loves it too 😏. Excellent video again, Zac! Thank you for this.

That lick you played on the DD2 was so slick!

Great, Zac. '81, a coworker plays me a cassette of a garage band i wound up joining. They did Gamma's "Razor King" and nailed it. Pedal, Boss DDL i believe. I'd never seen one before. A few parties and bar gigs covering this as part of the set. Reunion '05. I'm listening to a cassette of us and dang near begging to do the song again over the phone. No..."Too much of a headache getting the timing right". Maybe. Bummer, though.

The DM-3 boss pedal.still have mine bought it in 1985. and a boss chorus CE-2 the same year i’v added a boss PH-3 phase shifter for that 70’s sound

The first FX pedal I ever bought was a DD-2. Paid 65 bucks, and thought I was getting ripped off. Didn’t realize it was something to hold onto until I talked to my friend, a steel player. I Still really love the sound, and it’s one of the only pieces of Musical equipment I still own from back in the 80s.

Played thru a Ibanez rack style digital delay for many years - DM1000. Have a DD3 on my board now

Thanks for sharing some delay settings! I'm guilty of setting and forgetting (Usually slapback). Always wanted to learn that Albert Lee dotted eighth note trick! And I love anything that will make me sound like Reggie!

My DD-2 is sitting on my small board as I'm watching this. Found it in a bag at the back of the shed last year (along with my old DF-2 Super Feedbacker and my CE-3 Chorus. Thought I'd lost them. The CE-3 and the DD-2 are still going strong....

Another really interesting video thank you!! An episode or two back you made a comment about vintage reissue necks being bigger then the originals back in the day. Having played quite a few originals I absolutely agree, especially the 50s LP reissues and Fender CS guitars, would love to see an episode on that, I wonder why Fender/Gibson haven't nailed it, as lots of small shop builders, Danocaster, K-line, Whitfill etc seem to have worked it out?

I got the DD-200, (it was in my budget), with an Expression pedal plugged into it; this way I use it like a ducking effect, only bringing in the delay when I need to emphasize a note or phrase, or in small increments, than make it duck back so it doesn’t muddy or get in the way of my playing. It does mean it has to be on the whole time, but the effect isn’t present when the expression pedal is “toe upward.” My apologies for the long winded comment.

I've had a MXR echoplex on my board for a few years but have been missing my decidedly pedal board unfriendly but truly beautiful sounding DM100 that served me for decades. I've found an expensive but not toooo expensive DM2 and my bucket brigade hankering days are at an end. I like the murk

I had a Danecho as a kid, and I loved it. Analog and did everything. I really wanna replace it as I haven’t had it in years, but apparently enough other people agree that it’s just out of my price reach nowadays. Funny when things are worth more than originally.

I have had my DM3 on my board since the early 90’s. 😊

Great video! Thanks so much for sharing your settings. I love Boss delay pedals. I have a DD-3 and the DM-2w. I've also got the old Boss RV-3 which has some great delay+reverb modes on it. My favorite is mode 4; Small Room+Delay. It does a great Sun Records type slapback. By the way Zac have you tried the new Boss DD-8 Delay yet? I'd be interested on your thoughts about it, especially the Warm mode. I wonder if it sounds close to a DD-2? Thanks again for sharing your collection with us!

Very cool episode that guitar and amp are so nice together. Have you ever done an Echoplex episode? I have an EP2 at the shop and love to show it to young players that have never seen one. Man I feel old.

Great video Zac, Ive got an Ibanez DE-7 Echo/Delay on my board had it for many years. I think its similiar to the DD-2, anyway its a mainstay on my board.

Wow you sound fantastic in this episode!

Wow! I don't believe the prices of these when they came out. I remember buying them used for as little as $20 /30... So now I don't feel so bad about spending $300 on a Catalinbread echorec. Keep on twangin' Zac, great show as always.

Love the Albert Lee lick with the delay. I learned it on his old Starlicks video. 😉

Nice review. I prefer analog to digital but the dd2 does sound good. The brighter Carbon Copy from MXR and the Boss DM-2W are my favorites so far

Nicely broken down 😎🎙🎸✅

Hey Zac. Good review. Would you think about doing a review of some Wampler pedals in the future?

Great stuff Zac, from a self-professed delay junkie! As you would say, "it's a sickness." Lol Even with all the boutique delays I have, I always come back to Boss. Like you I prefer the DM-3 to the DM-2, but I found the Waza version of the DM-2 covers both sounds. In standard mode it has the darker thud of the 2 and in custom mode it has the slightly brighter sound of the 3. Cheers!

Love the Albert Lee Lick at 11:05! I still remember him saying in a video, "you have to be careful, if you make one mistake, you just made two!"

I’ve never had a Boss pedal fail.

I've met so many great players rave on the dd2 . And boss pedals in general too but the dd2 seems to be popular to this day...and if it's good enough for zac. Nuff said

Man, I love that little hybrid picking run you do shortly after 14:50 ! So cool. Zac, I'm surprised no one seems to have made any offers for your DM2 in the comments here. $40 in 1999 would be $63.59 in today's money. Seems like a good deal to me :-) Let me know if you're looking to get rid of it. I actually like that it oscillates too. All kidding aside, thanks for another great video and demo of these wonderful pedals! You make it all look easy and effortless!

Just picked up a DD-2 for $125. Waiting for the magic to arrive in the mail. :)

I loved my vintage DM-2 and Waza DM-2, but wound up selling both. I use the Chase Bliss Tonal Recall now for a little more flexibility. Ever try the Maxon AD900? It reminds me of the Boss DM-3 you describe in the video in that it doesn't really oscillate and feedback when you crank it up. Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Zac, Great show! Very informative. One question, what year is your DM-3?

There ARE two different issues of the DM-2, the second one using the Panasonic MN3205 delay chip instead of the earlier-generation MN3005. Other than the change in delay chip, and the obligatory changes to pin-assignments, the circuits are identical. *BOTH* use an NE570 compander chip. Given how many stages of filtering are in the design, and the inevitable tolerances in capacitor-values, it is possible that yours sounds "darker" than expected, but that does not appear to be inherent to the design. Another 2nd-issue DM-2 may well sound brighter. That's the danger of drawing inferences about pedal sound from ONE exemplar of a given issue. The MN32xx series appears to have been designed to work with lower supply voltages. Bear in mind that bucket-brigade chips require a specific bias voltage to work properly. One of the three trimmers inside the pedal is for setting the bias. That bias voltage is *derived* from the battery (few were using external supplies at the time), so as the battery aged the bias would drift and sound quality would deteriorate. An MN3205 could operate off as little as 5V, while the MN3005 wasn't quite as comfortable with that low a voltage. The DM-3 is close to identical to the DM-2, and also used an MN3205. *However* it also included a few extra components to stabilize the bias, by forcing the external supply to drop down to a lower voltage from which the bias was derived. In effect, the DM-3 is a better-behaved 2nd-issue DM-2, but the audio path is *no different* in design than a DM-2, whether 1st or second issue. Again, there are SOOO many filtering capacitors along the way, that it is easy for small differences in their values to result in units of the same issue sounding different. Not *dramatically* different, but easily a little brighter or darker than each other. Component tolerances probably also plays a role in a given pedal's propensity to yield screeching feedback...or simply "just enough" repeats. As well, you might want to bring your DM-2 to someone who can set the bias trimmer and clock-cancelling trimmer optimally. Even small changes to the settings can degrade the sound quality, and noise levels. I like to mod analog delays (and digital, where permitted) to shave a little more top end off the repeats. I make it a "shallow shave", so that there is still some top end left. The treble is progressively reduced with each repeat. That does a few things. First, if one has the echo level set higher, removing more and more treble allows the delay to move *perceptually* to the background so that the sound doesn't feel so cluttered. Second, each recirculation tends to degrade the signal just a little so dulling subsequent repeats removes some of the audio grime that tends to build up. Finally, in the "real world", later reflections that have bounced off multiple surfaces, have less treble content than early reflections, so the result tends to sound more natural. This should not be confused with a master wet-tone control that changes the overall tone of the delay signal - both early and later repeats identically. This mod implements a *progressive* treble-trim across multiple repeats.

👏Enjoyed this ,i would buy a ticket to just listen to Zac noodle 🍜

you rule dude

I started my guitar journey back before there even was pedals, although I hate to admit that. LOL BOSS is about all I have ever used when I had to have one. Even with a bazillion of them available today, I'm still more "plug and play" 8). I was going to grab one of Keith Williams limited editions's, but I was too pokey and slow. LOL Maybe next batch. 8) --gary

"funnily-enough" I can't wait to use that one myself.

Danny Gatton always used the digital DD2.

Great episode Zac! Do you have amp reverb and delay on at the same time? If so what’s your recipe for that?

Love the DD2, and 3! But you know what? I got myself one of those Katana 100 watt MkI amps (also made by BOSS) and this has the same delay capabilities, along with quite a few others - plus a very decent amplifier also! I like it anyway. (Heretic!)

A future tutorials on how to play that cool jam at 5:00 to 5:28? Such a cool jam. Thank you

I like the carbon copy deluxe

DD--2 with boss ce-2 or ce-3 or DC-2 All made in Japan... just amazing sound. DD-2 is digital but is like analog with digital benefits .

The old two notes for one trick. I learned that from pedal steel legend Bobbe Seymour.

DD3s will be floating around in space after the earth implodes.

dang DM3 was $189 ? I bought it when it first came out at ChuckLevin's and swear it was around a hundred bucks....looking for receipt now.

July 2013 - The early DD3 is the same as the DD2. The DRAM became much cheaper and it was possible to

Zac have you used the Boss DM-2W Waza Craft Delay Pedal. Supposed to be like the first one with extra's. All I use delay for is slap back. Thanks. Great video.

I should’ve watched your video before I sold mine. I had the Japanese green sticker model from 1985 and hardly ever used it. I never had it on the floor or stomped on it. It was in my studio on the table. (I figured I’d do less bending over to tweak). I couldn’t understand the obsession with this awful dull sounding delays. I’d prefer a digital delay. I literally almost just tossed it into the trash. But great video. thanks

Epic slapback usage, what is it you are playing from 4:40, is it a song or just country improv?

I got a used DM-2 about 25 years ago and used it until now because the effect would start to fade away. I was wondering if it was being starved for power running on Voodoo Lab power instead of battery or original recommended Boss ACA-120 power rather than PSA-120. I'm using a TC Electronic Echobrain now and it does the job just fine for the cheap price and I only miss the DM-2 enclosure.

the dsd-2/3 is a dd2 with a couple of more features

I never could get along with any delay, that is until I got a Carbon Copy, now I can't play w/o it.

So what does the better DD2 chip look like if we’re able to get a photo of one before buying one off Reverb? Do we only need to see a picture of the inside of the battery compartment where it says product of Japan for it to be the preferred version of it? Or when you suggest we get a picture are you saying get an actual photo of the circuit board? I just looked at Reverb and see plenty of the product of or made in Japan either on the blue label or the battery compartment but I haven’t seen anyone take a photo of the actual circuit board. Thanks in advance for any info on that

An original Dm-2 was the first pedal I bought, I bought it about 5 years ago when I was like 16-17 in a small music shop in Morehead city, NC. I got it for $100 bucks. I had no idea I had such a rare piece till about 6 months ago.

Do you have a Morley stuck back in a Box you may have forgotten about ?

Great video! Can you compare the the DD2 and DD3?

Anyone have any experience comparing DM-2 Wazacraft with DM-3? Curious if the "custom" setting is pretty close to DM-3 tone, where it would be like getting DM-2 & DM-3 in one pedal...with a little extra delay time, or if it is its own new thing tonally?

Do use reverb at the same time as delay.?? I tend to use both as always on with compression.

Hi Zac, what is your opinion on Maxon AD-900?

What do you think of the Wampler delay pedals in comparison to the Boss pedals?

My first delay was a used Roland Space Echo...So when I finally tried a digital delay pedal...I thought it was awful....tape delay spoiled me....

zac, do you know which chip is in your boss DM-2. the 3005 or the 3205 chip? and is the label black as the velcro hides it

What’s that riff you start to play at 21:00?

Did you every get into tape delay or roland space echo type stuff?

Is the DM-3 Instrument level? Would it work in the effects loop of my Bass amp which is Line level?