How much "wet" signal do you prefer to run?

Less than 12% reverb for me in any case. Actually, 10-12% is just when I am playing alone through my monitors. In all other cases it's about 8% or less. To be honest, usually when I record I just switch off the reverb.

About the delay, it really depends on the track/part.
 
weird guitar person said:
I tend to prefer things much dryer than most for clarity of core tone. That said, I’ve been exploring wet dry wet lately and absolutely adoring higher levels of delay than I would use ordinarily.

Varies with approach to playing. The more intricate stuff masks the repeats. Kind of magic when gotten right. Smack the strings and one hears it, but play a part and it becomes that “halo” ideal.
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A little bit of dropoff in highs in the delay also helps them sit "behind" the dry, as the dry sound being brighter guarantees it will mask the delays (instead of the other way 'round) when your delayed part coincides with something currently being played. :)

In a way, the "crappy old" analog delays do naturally what works nicely, where digital delays have to have a tone knob in there to roll off some of the highs, because the repeats are perfect digital copies of the original. :)
 
Jupiter said:
Less than 12% reverb for me in any case. Actually, 10-12% is just when I am playing alone through my monitors. In all other cases it's about 8% or less. To be honest, usually when I record I just switch off the reverb.

About the delay, it really depends on the track/part.
Click to expand...

My presets do around 8.6% of a VERY short "Large Wooden Room" reverb with the early reflections level raised and the late wash level dropped a bit, so I get the sense of size/space without a whole lot of actual wash of reverb. I dial it back to around 4.2% for leads, so they are a little more "in your face". It's a subtle "psychoacoustic" shift that mimics the sax or clarinet player stepping up a step or two closer to the one lone mic in front of a '40s/'50s big band for their solo, and pushing a little drier sound out there with the increased proximity to the mic....
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
My presets do around 8.6% of a VERY short "Large Wooden Room" reverb with the early reflections level raised and the late wash level dropped a bit, so I get the sense of size/space without a whole lot of actual wash of reverb. I dial it back to around 4.2% for leads, so they are a little more "in your face". It's a subtle "psychoacoustic" shift that mimics the sax or clarinet player stepping up a step or two closer to the one lone mic in front of a '40s/'50s big band for their solo, and pushing a little drier sound out there with the increased proximity to the mic....
Click to expand...
Nice!

When I listen to the mix on the old records and hear how loud and present the horns are… It’s quite different to how many straight ahead guitar players approach things, but for me it’s an ideal, big sound.

And thanks for the alley-oop Joe and @rcm78 on backing things off slightly… A lot of people approach effects like tinsel or frosting on a cake. An additive glamorized albeit quickly overdone. I’m more about the tree, the cake, and the time based effects support the same.
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
A little bit of dropoff in highs in the delay also helps them sit "behind" the dry, as the dry sound being brighter guarantees it will mask the delays (instead of the other way 'round) when your delayed part coincides with something currently being played. :)

In a way, the "crappy old" analog delays do naturally what works nicely, where digital delays have to have a tone knob in there to roll off some of the highs, because the repeats are perfect digital copies of the original. :)
Click to expand...
💯

Along with exploring 80s rigs I’ve come to realize how the “crappy old” digital delays do a thing as well. Funny how at the time I thought perfect reproduction was the thing.
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
My presets do around 8.6% of a VERY short "Large Wooden Room" reverb with the early reflections level raised and the late wash level dropped a bit, so I get the sense of size/space without a whole lot of actual wash of reverb. I dial it back to around 4.2% for leads, so they are a little more "in your face". It's a subtle "psychoacoustic" shift that mimics the sax or clarinet player stepping up a step or two closer to the one lone mic in front of a '40s/'50s big band for their solo, and pushing a little drier sound out there with the increased proximity to the mic....
Click to expand...

OK, I am really getting old...

It's 7.5% when I am just playing alone, NOT 12%! It used to be 12% long time ago...here's what I use:

1711262383944.png

And for the OP, here's my delay settings on the one and only track I use it (that track really depends on delay):

1711262219605.png

Mind that I like my tone as pure as possible, even for leads so I am not a big fan of either reverb or delay for my everyday playing and recording...for "experimental" music and tracks, well, that's another story (especially the delay oscillation which I really love messing around with).
 
weird guitar person said:
💯

Along with exploring 80s rigs I’ve come to realize how the “crappy old” digital delays do a thing as well.
Click to expand...

Yes, they have mojo of a different flavor. :)

weird guitar person said:
Funny how at the time I thought perfect reproduction was the thing.
Click to expand...

It was what they were shooting for, engineering-wise. Balance that with bean-counting, and you end up with what we got. One of the few instances where the bean-counters actually improved something by cheapening it.... :)
 
Jupiter said:
OK, I am really getting old...

It's 7.5% when I am just playing alone, NOT 12%! It used to be 12% long time ago...here's what I use:

View attachment 137413

And for the OP, here's my delay settings on the one and only track I use it (that track really depends on delay):

View attachment 137412

Mind that I like my tone as pure as possible, even for leads so I am not a big fan of either reverb or delay for my everyday playing and recording...for "experimental" music and tracks, well, that's another story (especially the delay oscillation which I really love messing around with).
Click to expand...

Here's my reverb settings:
Screenshot%202024-03-23%20at%2011.51.49%E2%80%AFPM.png
Screenshot%202024-03-23%20at%2011.48.53%E2%80%AFPM.png


I run parallel, and monitor from Out2. Out1 is for the desk. Note that this "reverb" is mostly a "sensation of space" "close-mic'ed amp-in-a-room" kind of thing, with a lot more early reflections level and a lot less late reflections (tail) level along with a relatively short RT60 time on the tail.... Mostly I use "Large Wooden Room", but occasionally "Recording Studio A".... I almost never use reverb in the conventional way, as only one or two of my songs require actual reverb. In those cases, "Sun Plate" is a favorite, along with "Recording Studio C".

My delay settings - also run parallel - with the mixer and vol-pan blocks doing the signal gatekeeping:
Screenshot%202024-03-23%20at%2011.50.10%E2%80%AFPM.png
Screenshot%202024-03-24%20at%2012.05.58%E2%80%AFAM.png


The mixer has two inputs under modifiers and its output under a modifier. Row 2 is the lead delay. It and the vol-pan's modifier decide if there is delay on my lead, and make it happen if so. Row 3 is on a momentary modifier to let in signal when I step on a button. Great for a quick flurry of echoes. That same button also bumps the modifier in the delay input and the master feedback up. The feedback one goes up relatively quickly (but smooovely) but decays pretty slowly, so that a short tap of the button results in a runaway echo train for just that one note or phrase. The output modifier sets the basic default signal level entering the delay line to give a reasonable amount of delay when combined with the input gain setting and the 4dB cut on the output level, but allows me to sweep the #4 pedal a little bit forward to dry it out some or virtually all the way, or push past that and have the full range of virtually dry to really wet Edge-y or Gilmour-y delays that you can play against rhythmically....

Screenshot%202024-03-23%20at%2011.49.22%E2%80%AFPM.png
Screenshot%202024-03-24%20at%2012.02.08%E2%80%AFAM.png


You don't step on that button for more than a second or two, as it gets LOUD and eases off from LOUD rather slowly....
 
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I run my delays in parallel tied to an expression pedal off the input gain. At its lowest its at maybe 3% just letting a little delay through and barely noticeable just a bit of air, at full toe down its at 25%. I like running my delay with an expression pedal so I can dial in just how much level I want.

Here is a screen grab of my main preset, I personally like running the 2 vintage delays and pan them hard L&R both controlled off of the same exp pedal


The Pedal off the board is for the delay level.
 
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