Hi guys, I am in search for a pedal that does the infinite hold on a chord effect that Eric Johnson uses when he improvises. I think he used an MXR 1500 rack unit back in the day. I’m looking for a pedal that can do the same effect without being crazy expensive. Any suggestions?
The EXH Freeze would do something similar.
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Fails the “without being crazy expensive” criteria, but the best in this space is the Gamechanger Audio Plus pedal: https://www.gamechangeraudio.com/pluspedal/
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The Gamechanger plus is very cool. You can probably get the MXR 1500 for less $ though 
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If the mxr unit is not an option here are three (from most expensive to least).
I assume you do not want to have the foot on the pedal (as would be the case with boss compact DDs), thus it would have to be a latch, not a momentary switch.
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Strymon Timeline’s persist function
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Catalinbread’s Belle Epoch Deluxe (keep it mind though, the repeats degrade for this one and you need to play around with the internal trimmer)
https://youtu.be/TyZxmvkdxuM -
Boss DD-500’s infinite latch setting (two ways to program this: I did it both ways here)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ZQ-k6BZ0h/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ZRPZ9hpxG/ -
Strymon’s El Capistan (again the repeats do degrade, even on pristine settings, and you need to have the repeats right at 3 o clock or it can be either mayhem or withering.
Considering all aspects from price point to ease of program-ability, it’s DD-500 for me. I’ve been down this rabbit hole before.
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These seem like some pretty solid options, thanks Peter. Really interested in the DD-500.
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The DD-500 is a great unit with a ton of other features.
It’s the only Delay unit currently in production that does a passable imitation of the Yamaha UD-Stomp for Holdsworth style lead tone.
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It’s great isn’t it? V2 firmware upped it even more. One thing missing is diffusion (whereas the eventides and timelines have this) but it’s not that critically important as in delay as it might be for reverb (as least for my use). Then again, the dd500 is a true dual A B machine so it can get just as lush in different ways.
The vintage dd-2 setting is my favorite.
Another true classic is the strymon dig (although it doesn’t do 1000% exactly what the op asks for here- though the circular repeats do this somewhat). True stereo parallel pingpong dual A B engine capabilities only found in 80s rack gear.
I would need more than 20 pages to truly say why the dd500 is so good.
I just wish it has the TimeLine’s ICE Machine.
My UD-Stomp is still my favourite delay, but they’re hard to find now and they cost an arm and a leg. The UD-Stomp volume swell patches into the TimeLine’s ICE Machine is an incredible sound.
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You know your delays 
And the salient point is that these aren’t just delays- they’re multi-fx in every sense of the word.
For all intents and purposes the technicalities become irrelevant for me because I run it all in front of a loud nmv fender or marshall, but the know how is still relevant when I do post fx in logic x. Love the lexicon and delay stuff.
I’ve never been a traditionalist about any single approach, though I do use many traditional pieces of equipment.
EDIT:
“I just wish it has the TimeLine’s ICE Machine.”
That and BigSky’s cloud are so good. I love eventide’s blackhole even more. I also love the old eventide shimmers and quite possibly the most ironic thing is that a boss rv-6 shimmer tone set to 9 oclock is so so good for this kind of ambience behind the delay thing.
Clearly I’m not alone! For me, it’s the result of learning to imitate tones from Eric Johnson and Allan Holdsworth. Achieving some of those sounds really required me to learn about different units and how to use them.
Absolutely. Modern delays are really impressive machines, and the market is filled with great choices. I love my UD-Stomp (my favourite pedal ever) and my TimeLine, but the DD-500 would be my recommendation.
I haven’t gone super deep on reverb units yet, but I’ve considered getting a BigSky. I’m just not sure I’d really ever use most of the sounds outside of ambient noodling.
I use Dunlop EP103 Echoplex, but somehow it sounds a little bit not right…
EHX Freeze is a great pedal for doing this
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Boss has a pedal called Feedbacker/Booster that’s really cool and cheap and may get the effect you’re going for. It’s a great boost (doesn’t color tone much and has a useful mid bump control if you want to fatten up or have your sound cut more) but when you hold it you get an ebow type effect…endless sustain. Has anyone here ever used one? Curious to see what y’all think!
I can’t find any instructions in the manual for infinite latch programming……is there anything out there? Thanks!
The instructions are not in the manual for this specific function but you would have the preset set to trails bypass with repeats set to 100 and on any digital setting (be it standard or vintage).