MXR Carbon Copy

[i love sharin foo]

As most here probably already know, I am a bit of an analog delay junkie. I’ve always been interested in the Carbon Copy and finally picked one up. I am really impressed! The 600ms of delay is really nice and more than enough for most uses. The tone of the repeats is balanced really well. They sit nicely with plenty of presence and thickness but not too much. They straddle the line very well, where some can’t. You can hear them well but the dry signal is always out front. It oscillates easily when desired and at longer delay times there are almost infinite repeats. I haven’t messed with the internal speed and depth pits for the modulation. Assuming it is stock (I bought it used), it’s about perfect. Nice shimmer and movement with just a bit of detuning. For as cheap as this was, it honestly rivals delays that are several times its price. It’s a great buy! I love all the old Maxon and Ibanez units but for somebody without the budget or just straight up looking to spend less, there’s no way to go wrong with a Carbon Copy.

[Surfysonic]

My 4 delay pedals are Electro-Harmonix Canyon, Keeley Caverns Reverb/Delay, Fender Mirror Image Delay and MXR Carbon Copy. The MXR Carbon Copy is my #1.

[marqueemoon]

Agreed! If I already didn't have a silly number of analog delays I don't use live I'd probably get one.

[BoringPostcards]

Yeah, it’s a wonderful pedal. Do mess with the modulation trimpot inside, just remember the starting point, if you want to set it back to stock.

[MattK]

Small anecdote: I bought one of these used, ten years ago, and it died last year. I wrote to MXR to find out who to repair it with in Australia. The guy who wrote back asked for shots of the PCB and identified it as the first gen which sometimes died from static discharges. Put me in touch with the Aus distributor, and then sent an entire new set of internals for the pedal from the US to Australia entirely free of charge. They mailed me the assembly, I took out the old guys and put in the new inside ten minutes, bam, brand new Carbon Copy. For a pedal I had bought used, ten years before. Massive appreciation for MXR/Jim Dunlop for that.

[zhivago]

I've always been curious about the MXR Carbon copy...I remember when it was first released....it made quite a splash!

Good to hear you are enjoying it Justin, I'd love to pick one of these up after being so impressed by the Poly Blue Octave I got a while ago.

We are truly in an amazing time for affordable excellent gear...I am also interested in looking into he DOD Rubberneck, as I've never had a tap tempo delay before.

[zhivago]

Small anecdote: I bought one of these used, ten years ago, and it died last year. I wrote to MXR to find out who to repair it with in Australia. The guy who wrote back asked for shots of the PCB and identified it as the first gen which sometimes died from static discharges. Put me in touch with the Aus distributor, and then sent an entire new set of internals for the pedal from the US to Australia entirely free of charge. They mailed me the assembly, I took out the old guys and put in the new inside ten minutes, bam, brand new Carbon Copy. For a pedal I had bought used, ten years before. Massive appreciation for MXR/Jim Dunlop for that.

That is amazing to hear, I really love it when a company stands by its product!!

[stevejamsecono]

I've had a few of them and always had fun with them. I prefer brighter sounding delays these days but would definitely never turn one away.

Great looking boxes too. Love the green sparkle.

[CorporateDisguise]

The CC has always interested me as well, but like you, I never got around to getting one. When I went to buy my first analog delay, I ended up getting the Maleko 616, instead of the carbon copy. I ended up not liking the malekko and probably would have been much happier with the CC. The Malekko had really bright/mid heavy repeats that sat way to far forward in a mix. Even further than a Memory Man or even some digital delays. I’m pretty happy with my current delay collection, but I still get the feeling sometimes that I should own the CC, because it is such a modern classic.

Have fun with it!

[stevejamsecono]

We are truly in an amazing time for affordable excellent gear...I am also interested in looking into he DOD Rubberneck, as I've never had a tap tempo delay before.

That's a fun and crazy one. I haven't used mine in ages but it was a staple for me with my old band. It can do some truly nutty stuff.

And yeah long overdue for tap tempo. C'mon man!

[Nevets]

I have the CC mi I. Awesome little pedal. Love that it had the normal/bright switch although I don't think I've ever used the bright mode.

[zhivago]

We are truly in an amazing time for affordable excellent gear...I am also interested in looking into he DOD Rubberneck, as I've never had a tap tempo delay before.

That's a fun and crazy one. I haven't used mine in ages but it was a staple for me with my old band. It can do some truly nutty stuff.

And yeah long overdue for tap tempo. C'mon man!

I will get with the program ASAP, I promise!!

[Arthon]

It's my first delay. I tried several delay after to experiment (CC Bright, Malekko, Solidgold Electroman, Seymour Duncan Vapor Trail, Boss DD5 and DM2... ), sold them all, except the DD5, and came back the MXR CC. I like it's simplicity and the way it sits in the mix. It takes 3 seconds to set it right.

[OffYourFace]

i was late to the CC (got my first one in 2016) but i love it. I was tech'ing for Liz Phair and she was using one with an OCD into a Matchless HC-30 and ESD 212 cab. I also loaned her my '66 Duo Sonic. I was so impressed with the CC that I bought one as soon as I got home from tour. I haven't used it for a bit (my Moollon delay is on my board) but when I do it always does what I want it to do.

It's not a DMM but it's pretty close when you want more of that subtle effect.

[crazyzeke]

As most here probably already know, I am a bit of an analog delay junkie.

I don't blame you - for short delays they have all the overly clean digital ones beat because the trails don't get in the way of the main guitar for sub-150ms stuff, they colour it but minus getting out of control with brightness, plus a good analogue delay oscillates in a similar way to tape. It's typically early rock'n'roll you'd use slapback for but personally I prefer it to thicken solos or when letting a chord ring with a bit of hair on it, or adding to spring 'verb for surf rock. That's why I have a Behringer DM-2/3 clone on both the Affordaboard and the organ sim rig, thickening things when you want to play fewer notes but add ambience to it.

Something I wish more analogue delays had is stereo outputs (the VD400 does as it has Direct Out, exactly like the DM-3 does) which is rare - - at some point when I get more creative with my board layout I'm going to work out a way to chain all the stereo effects together in the right order specifically for dual amping - light chorus to do a stereo expander thing then the ability for the delays to sashay around both amps. Power trios need the guitar working overtime to fill space so I'm thinking, amps on both sides of the stage/rehearsal space, with the bassist getting the one where it's mostly dry and I get the one with the repeats.

I know the DMM is huge on this board and it's a classic for a reason, but it takes so much damn board space so it's literally huge too! Boss sized pedals, well, if you bunched them tightly with flat 1/4" patch cables three could probably fit in the space one of those takes. With dual pedal boards in a chevron layout, your feet can only stretch so far especially when you're trying to do vocals.