The Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay is a Mad Professor delay pedal, currently around $174.84. Close alternatives include the TC Electronic Gauss Tape Echo and the Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo. It pairs well with the Engl Savage 120 Mark II E610II 120 Watt 4 Channel Tube and the Revv Generator 100P MkIII 3-Channel Head.
Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Mad Professor · pedal
The Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay is a boutique delay designed to capture the warm, natural sound of classic 1960s tape echo units while using a hybrid digital delay line with a fully analog, unfiltered dry path. Its bandwidth roughly matches vintage tape echoes, and the repeats are carefully tuned around the first critical reflection and how each echo decays, giving an organic, vintage-oriented character that blends beautifully with an amp. Crucially, it is engineered to work well with distorted tones, an application where many delays fail, keeping the dry signal uncolored and clear. Compact with a simple control set, it suits players wanting musical, tape-flavored repeats for slapback, rhythmic delay, and ambient trails without tone loss, equally at home with clean and overdriven rigs.
What stands out
“Compact with a simple control set, it suits players wanting musical, tape-flavored repeats for slapback, rhythmic delay, and ambient trails equally at home with clean and overdriven rigs”
— from the listing
“The Deep Blue Delay excels at warm, natural repeats that emulate vintage tape echo, with careful attention to the first reflection and decay giving the echoes an organic, musical feel”
— from the reviews
“The main caveat is a simple, focused feature set , aimed at tone over flexibility”
— from the community notes
“unfiltered dry path”
— from the listing
“and the repeats are carefully tuned around the first critical reflection and how each echo decays”
— from the listing
Trade-offs
“Limitations include a deliberately simple control set a hybrid , and a vintage-leaning voice that favors warmth over the pristine clarity of modern digital delays”
— from the reviews
“and it is specifically tuned to perform with distorted sounds where lesser delays smear or muddy”
— from the reviews
- delay
- tape echo
- simple
- dry
- decay
- echo
- vintage
- warmth
Good for
- Live
- Studio
Price updated Oct 22, 2026
Genres the Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay is commonly used in
- Blues Rock
- Rock
- Blues
- Indie
- Ambient
- Lo Fi
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
Amps that pair well with the Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Engl Savage 120 Mark II E610II 120 Watt 4 Channel Tube
Engl
22% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (transparent → mid-forward)
Engl Savage 120 Mark II E610II 120 Watt 4 Channel Tube's own mid-forward character is the real reason this is worth trying
Comes earlier in the signal chain
Revv Generator 100P MkIII 3-Channel Head
Revv
22% matchRevv Generator 100P MkIII 3-Channel Head's own high gain character is the real reason this is worth trying
Comes earlier in the signal chain
Marshall 2203KK Kerry King JCM800
Marshall
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Put Marshall 2203KK Kerry King JCM800 in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Vox Mini SuperBeetle Bass
Vox
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Put Vox Mini SuperBeetle Bass in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
ENGL E610II Savage 120 MkII Head
Engl
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
ENGL E610II Savage 120 MkII Head goes in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay in the chain
Synergy SL2 Module
Synergy
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Synergy SL2 Module goes in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay in the chain
Blackstar HT Club 50 MKII
Blackstar
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Put Blackstar HT Club 50 MKII in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Orange Rockerverb 50 MkIII NEO 50W 2x12 Combo
Orange
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Put Orange Rockerverb 50 MkIII NEO 50W 2x12 Combo in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Pedals that stack with the Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Electro-Harmonix 1973 Violet Ram's Head Big Muff Pi V2
Electro-Harmonix
23% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (transparent → mid-forward)
What Electro-Harmonix 1973 Violet Ram's Head Big Muff Pi V2 brings here leans toward fuzzy — that's worth building a pairing around
Comes earlier in the signal chain
Wren and Cuff Box of War OG
Wren And Cuff
22% matchWren and Cuff Box of War OG's own full character is the real reason this is worth trying
Comes earlier in the signal chain
T-Rex Tremonti Phaser
T Rex
18% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Put T-Rex Tremonti Phaser after Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay in the signal chain, where it won't crowd Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Comes earlier in the signal chain
Maestro Orbit
Maestro
17% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Put Maestro Orbit after Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay in the signal chain, where it won't crowd Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Comes earlier in the signal chain
Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler V2
Dr Scientist
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler V2 goes in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay in the chain
ThorpyFX The Field Marshal Fuzz
ThorpyFX
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
ThorpyFX The Field Marshal Fuzz goes in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay in the chain
Warm Audio Jet Phaser
Warm Audio
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Put Warm Audio Jet Phaser in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay: modulation lands before the repeats, so the echoes stay defined
Rainger FX Air Space Invader 2
Rainger Fx
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Put Rainger FX Air Space Invader 2 in front of Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay
Cheaper alternatives
Wampler Faux Tape Echo
Wampler
64% similarityShared character: delay, repeats, analog
Fender Hammertone Delay
Fender
64% similarityShared character: repeats, analog, digital
Electro-Harmonix Pico ReRun
Electro-Harmonix
60% similarityShared character: delay, ambient, warm
Alexander Pedals History Lesson Vol. 2
Alexander Pedals
96% similaritysimilar tone character
Boss DM-2W Delay Waza Craft
Boss
95% similaritysimilar tone character
Boutique & premium upgrades
Strymon EC-1
Strymon
63% similarityShared character: delay, digital, ambient
Strymon Volante
Strymon
61% similarityShared character: delay, analog, ambient
Boss RE-202 Space Echo
Boss
59% similarityShared character: repeats, dry signal, digital
Keeley New-Halo-Core
Keeley
57% similarityShared character: delay, digital, ambient
Eventide Rose Modulated Digital Delay
Eventide
95% similaritysimilar tone character
Strymon El Capistan
Strymon
95% similaritysimilar tone character
Similar charactersee all similar tone character →
TC Electronic Gauss Tape Echo
TC Electronic
62% similarityShared character: delay, digital, ambient
Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo
pedal
62% similarityShared character: repeats, digital, delay
Keeley Magnetic Echo
Keeley
61% similarityShared character: dry signal, delay, ambient
Keeley Halo
Keeley
60% similarityShared character: delay, dry signal, digital
JHS 3 Series Delay
JHS Pedals
60% similarityShared character: repeats, analog, digital
J. Rockett Immortal Echo
J Rockett
59% similarityShared character: delay, dry signal, ambient
See all alternatives to the Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay (cheaper + boutique) →
Questions people ask
What are good alternatives to the Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay?+
The closest matches in character are the TC Electronic Gauss Tape Echo, the Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo, the Keeley Magnetic Echo. Budget picks: Wampler Faux Tape Echo, Fender Hammertone Delay, Electro-Harmonix Pico ReRun. Boutique upgrades: Strymon EC-1, Strymon Volante, Boss RE-202 Space Echo.
What pairs well with the Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay?+
Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Engl Savage 120 Mark II E610II 120 Watt 4 Channel Tube, Revv Generator 100P MkIII 3-Channel Head, Marshall 2203KK Kerry King JCM800 — Engl Savage 120 Mark II E610II 120 Watt 4 Channel Tube's own mid-forward character is the real reason this is worth trying.
How much does the Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay cost?+
Around $174.84 (live listing price, updated Oct 22, 2026).
Compare
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