17 Delay Pedals with a Dotted Eighth Mode

This is a roundup page for delay pedals with a dotted eighth mode, which is usually indicated by an eighth note symbol with a dot next to it.

All of the delay pedals in this list have that mode as a selectable delay option.

What is a dotted eighth note?

For those that don't know, I'll do a quick review of the dotted eighth note.

Basically, the dotted eighth note is a half beat added to a quarter of a beat, giving you 1/2 + 1/4, which is equal to 3/4 of a whole beat.

In the dotted eighth note equation, the dot beside the eighth note represents the quarter beat, while the quaver - or eighth note - represents the half beat.

This is a popular timing in the world of electric guitar delay, because it gives you a really catchy, rhythmic sound.

Here's a fun demo of it (starts at the beginning so you don't have to watch the whole thing):

Delay Pedals with Dotted Eighth Note Mode

Which dotted eighth note delay pedal is best?

Of all the pedals in our list, the Strymon Timeline would probably be our top recommendation, followed closely by the Seymour Duncan Dark Sun. 

But they're all solid delay pedals and reliable purchases. 

If you want just general delay pedals, you can checkout our roundup here.

Read more: Best delay pedals

What about delay pedals without the dotted eighth symbol?

Even without the dotted eighth note symbol, most delay pedals can still be used to dial in a dotted eighth delay pattern.

It's a little trickier, but you would use the following two controls to do it:

• Delay time
• Repeats

Tweaking these two knobs can give you the dotted eighth note sound, which would be counted like this: 1-2-1-2-3. It takes a little more trial and error, but almost any delay pedal can be used to create this pattern.

Other Delay Pedal Considerations

What are some other factors to consider when buying a delay pedal?

There are a few things we recommend paying particularly close attention to.

Analog or digital?

Is the delay pedal you're getting analog or digital?

A lot of guitar players prefer analog delay pedals, though it's important to mention that the digital varieties have come a long way in recent years.

Seymour Duncan, Strymon, and Boss make some fantastic digital delay pedals, while MXR, Wampler, and EHX headline some of our favorite analog options.

Price

How much do you want to spend on your delay pedal?

Most delay pedals with dotted eighth mode coded in are a bit more expensive, since they're often part of a larger delay pedal with multiple algorithms.

If you want to spend less, it might be worthwhile to consider a delay pedal without the dotted eighth mode and just dial it in manually.

Does it have a tap tempo?

Tap tempo buttons allow you to use your feet to "tap in" the timing of your delay, making it really easy to create a dotted eighth note sound, or another kind of time signature.

While most of the delay pedals in this list have tap tempo, not all of them do.

We've made a separate list for that.

Read more: Delay pedals with tap tempo

Conclusion and Questions

These are most of the noteworthy delay pedals on the market that explicitly include a dotted eighth delay mode. If you know of other pedals that have this mode yet haven't been included, feel free to drop them in the comments section below and we'll consider adding them.

You can also leave questions about the pedals listed and other thoughts there as well.

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