Korg SDD 3000 Delay Pedal - Review and video clip

In 1982 Korg launched the Korg SDD 3000 rack unit and it became an almost iconic effect, not least because The Edge chose the pedal as his favorite. Now Korg has released a delay pedal based on the same functionality as the original and they have really succeeded in recreating its sound absolutely perfect. Totally flawless.

I remember there was a guy who had a studio in my hometown and this guy had a SDD 3000. We used to sit for hours and play around with clean sound and it was just absolutely amazing. So when this new pedal came in my way I just had to check it out.

A very cool thing about this pedal is the a preamp they have put inside, it puts an extra boost to the tonality. There is also an input attenuater which compensates for single coils lower signal compared to a pushier humbucker pickup.  The preamp can be overruled if you don't like it.

The second uniqueness is of course the SDD delay itself which is very true to the original rack unit. This delay is pretty much what this pedal is about. It may sound a bit geeky and corny but it's actually thoroughly good. I have not heard anything like this in any pedal out there, period. It´s musically warm and beautiful.

The pedal is extremely useful in its simplicity and if you like complex pedals, it also contains basically everything you need without compromising on usability. There are another 7 different delays to, beside the original SDD delay, which is worth the money itself.  It´s warm and not nearly sterile, even though it is digital. I will not go so far as to say it could easily replace everything on the market, there are many other fine delays out there, as the TC Electronics Flashback to mention one.

For those who like buttons and loads of "dialing in" this pedal has a lot to deliver. One can, for example, save favourite sounds in 40 banks x 2 channels, ie 80 presets, probably enough for most people.


Types of Delay
All delays can be set with parameters such as waveform, intensity and feedback.

SDD, the original from 1982. The best feature in this and it works for everything. Since you can save 80 locations, you can modify it as much as you wish.

Analog, a really good "analog" delay that behaves as it should

Tape, that creates that little irregularity as "tape" actually do ...

Modern, an excellent delay, especially for clean big sounds

Cosmic, a weird one I have a hard time finding uses for

Reverse, as it sounds, turn the signal backwards and another more or less a strange effect, if you're  not in to"weird sounds", if you are then its probably unique

Pitch, creates variation in pitch

Panning, an effect that creates the feeling of the sound moving, more effective in stereo


Any downsides?
Yes there is actually one downside. On one hand you have 80 locations to save so your favourite sonds but you have to walk up and down in the 40 banks to find the right one and it's not very user friendly in a live situation. But on the other hand it is a luxury problem, its of course  possible to organize it smart in the banks and reduce this downside. But the extremely beautiful SDD delay itself  weigh this up, no doubt.

Check out this sound sample below.