Rubberneck Delay.... Do I want one?

Shipwreck

What do people think of the DOD Rubberneck? 

I'm weirdly GAS-ing for one. Fallen out of love with my simple 'shut up and leave it' TT digital delay and was planning to squeeze a small analogue delay in. I've rearranged the proverbial furniture and have enough space for something bigger. (although not quite DMM sized...)

Ultimately I like intuitive effects that I can tweak but not be paralysed by. Whilst I must admit the 'Rubber' effect does little for me (and turned me off this pedal when it launched) the basic delay tone sounds... really good? And I dig the tone/drive controls to get things to pair up better. 

Welcome all thoughts. Lots of demos seems to play on the novelty effects but I'm curious how it rolls as an every-day delay for natural ambience/plays with fuzz pedals ... rather than the sound fx or the P&W stuff.

Cheers! 

meltedbuzzbox

Its the closest thing to a moog mf104m i have ever owned.
I really, really liked mine and think for the money it cannot be touched.

Rubbernecking and modulation was a bit meh (mod becomes too mental past 9 o'clock). However everything else is very, very good.

Fuengi

I couldn't get much joy out of mine. Odd because I love delay and other people rave about them but it's probably the least favourite delay I've owned, and I've had a few. 

Keefy

I was put off trying one by the silly OTT modulation in some of the demos.

If you want to try a small-footprint analog delay with usable modulation I suggest either the Carbon Copy (a tad dark mind) or EHX Memory Toy (less dark and much cheaper).

dandl

I was torn between this and the EHX Memory Boy Deluxe which I ended up going for. I love mine, it sits really nicely behind your playing and adds a lovely ambient wash if you keep the feedback relatively high without turning it all  to mush. 

Might be worth you checking out.

joetele

I sold mine stupidly to get something else but regretted it and bought another it offers so much but is simple to use. Timeless pedal. 

UnclePsychosis

It's really very good indeed.

The modulation can get a bit OTT but just keep it low on the dial if you don't want that. The basic delay sounds really good and is stupidly variable given the drive and tone controls. 

The feature set it has is almost unbeatable for the price. Absolutely worth trying. 

Flanging_Fred

I’ve had/have a fair few delays and nothing has sounded quite like the Rubberneck. To me it’s a very soft and squishy, dark sounding delay and excels at textural type stuff rather than strong rhythmic delays. It seems more suited to ambient/alternative/experimental music rather than straight ahead rock/pop stuff.

I agree that the mod is way overcooked and is really only useable for about 1/3 of the pot travel. 

The fx loop is fun, putting a flanger or step phaser in it causes all sorts of cool noises.

I also found that certain dirt pedals don’t seem to mesh with it well. However I found that a Hudson. Broadcast really suited it and is a great combo.

I wouldn’t have a rubberneck as my only delay as I also like crisper more defined delays that the Rubberneck simply can’t do but I’m very happy to have one in my stash of pedals.

Flanging_Fred

A bit of step phaser in the loop.

https://youtu.be/F7jMtlncPBw

Shipwreck

Fantastic. Thanks for all the feedback - and please do share your thoughts. Glad I'm not alone in being turned off by the OTT effects - but interesting to hear there's some love for the basic core tone. Weirdly my current delay is a very hi-fi 2290 territory because on YouTube I've always loved that clean percussive sound... but in practice I want something murkier that doesn't get in the way of my playing. Will keep mulling it over... with one eye on the Classifieds.!. 

papashandy

I just lost the last couple of hours playing with mine. I’ve had it since it came out and can’t see me ever selling it, it’s a great analogue delay and I’d say very intuitive to use. I never use the rubberneck/modulation but do play around with the gain and tone depending on the sound I’m after. The controls are really interactive and pretty sensitive. The oscillations can get out of control if you’re not careful but I like playing around with that feature for dub style stuff. I like it as outboard delay for a DAW too, not just for guitars. I also have a Flashback for clean/precise delay but use the Rubberneck much more. It’s a bit big but that does mean the controls are easier to use, as in you can change the time, level and repeats with your feet!

Shipwreck

That sounds great mate. I missed out on eBay for 120ish but tempted by Thomann @ 145 all in. Does anyone know if these are/will be discontinued? Thought DOD were dead in the water...!

Teetonetal

I was quite disappointed at first, I found it really hard to dial in and the modulation was too ott. I could never quite get the effect balence right.

However I didn't get rid and tried it again a year later with a different setup and really liked it. Good basic tone and a small amount of modulation is where the good stuff sits.

VJIves

Shipwreck said:

That sounds great mate. I missed out on eBay for 120ish but tempted by Thomann @ 145 all in. Does anyone know if these are/will be discontinued? Thought DOD were dead in the water...!

I can't work out the pattern for what's being discontinued and what isn't. Like, the Dirty Robot & the Nautilus I understand weren't big sellers, but the Polara? Seems daft to get rid of that, it's already creeping up in value on the used market.

MagicPigDetective

joetele said:

I sold mine stupidly to get something else but regretted it and bought another it offers so much but is simple to use. Timeless pedal. 

Same here! Sold it a couple of years ago despite loving it. Having since been through a few expensive digital delays, I found myself pining for the organic sounds of the Rubberneck. Today I got hold of another, and it sounds so damn good. Such a great pedal.

Supportact

I use one and I really like it. It's got a lot of character and the sound is great. The controls are sensitive and interactive so sometimes it can surprise you or go into oscillation very easily. For me this is part of its charm. I imagine some people would want something a bit more predictable. 

EricTheWeary

Flanging_Fred said:

A bit of step phaser in the loop.

https://youtu.be/F7jMtlncPBw

@Flanging_Fred bit of a thread revival going on here but that sounds really quite lovely. 

The Pedal Experiments chap often uses a Rubberneck

https://youtu.be/RWEG00NyUFc

I don’t think I’d seen this one before, it’s really freaky…

https://youtu.be/ZebVitCZZzM

Hoarasaurus

To add to the thread revival...

I've got both the EHX DMB, and the Rubber neck. I love them both, but they are very different.

The EHX is a lovely dirty delay, very thick sounding, and works well before my drives. And the expression routing is really useful; I had a preset swith made by Bright Onion, which i use to give two feedback amounts.. 

i find that the core tone of Rubberneck is cleaner in comparison, but sits really well in the mix. I found using the FS3X footswitch with it made it more gig friendly, as you can use it to turn the mod on and off, and it makes the rubbernecking instantaneous, as opposed to the momentary delay with engaging, when using the On/Off/Rubberneck switch.