Although they have been manufacturing pro spec cables for many years, Japanese based company Providence have more recently become a hugely respected brand for high quality effect pedals and routers. From effects like the Stampede Overdrive SOV-2 through to the PEC-2 routing system, the discerning guitarist has had much to drool over! And as they continue forwards they bring new concepts to the market.

For example, with their Delay 80’s pedal now discontinued the new Chrono Delay DLY-4 pedal boasts similar aural delights but with several new additions: tap tempo, beat split, memory for two presets and their Vitalizer circuit.

The pedal is sturdily built with a dark pink coloured metal casing, black control dials and two metal foot switches. Certainly, it looks very striking and would draw attention regardless of other pedals you may have on your board.

From left to right the dials are mix (dry/wet), echo Hardness (reduces mid and treble frequencies, replicating the sound of tape delay), feedback (amount of repeats) and time (from 1 to 2700ms). Below the time dial is the beat split dial where rhythmic divisions can be selected from ¼ notes to 16ths and triplets inbetween. It’s not a common facility on delay pedals and offers echo types usually found on more expensive rack systems. Certainly, if you’re a fan of early U2 with the Edge’s reliance on unique echo repeats this will be of considerable interest.

Under the LED display are two smaller switches; BPM/msec offers two different display readings and A/B or TAP are two option settings allocated to the second footswitch. Interestingly, You can save two delay time settings to memory that are selectable via the A/B option. Alternatively, choosing TAP means you set the echo speed yourself via the pedal. If you want both options accessible, an external pedal can be connected for tap tempo work leaving the pedal’s switch for your two delay presets. Nice!

Considering their reputation, Providence’s sonic excellence is in evidence again here: the direct signal remains in the analogue domain with their unique Vitalizer circuit providing zero degradation at the output.

So how does it sound? In a word, awesome. The echoes sound very musical with the echo hardness dial providing control over the higher frequencies – the higher the setting, the warmer the echoes. Having the tap function was one of the biggest wants with the discontinued Delay 80 so with it added to the DLY-4 flexibility is greatly increased. From Surfer slap back to stadium rock ambient delay, the Chrono Delay marries ‘old skool’ ease of use with the functional flexibility required by modern guitar players.

http://www.musicradar.com/guitartechniques/providence-chrono-delay-255173

Ramon, basically, what is your favorite "amp" sound?

I would say a good Fender Super Reverb. Also, I use rental gear for touring, I always ask for a Twin Reverb. To boost the amp, I use a Japanese made pedal built by Providence, the SOV-2 which is the only pedal on the market that can reproduce the grain
of a Dumble perfectly. On the Mansana Blues album, I also used a Marshall JCM 800.

"Halfway through my latest tour I replaced all my cables with Providence cables. After plugging my guitar into my pedal board using the S102 and P203 I immediately heard a clarity that wasn't there before. I spent the entire soundcheck trying all my tones and listening to the new sonic depth I now heard.  The show that night was truly inspired! ....Carl Verheyen".

First of all, Luke tried the Providence Cable S102. He said that the cables he is now using are not flexible and hard to use and he checked the flexibility of the Providence cables. He immediately said this is OK.
He had already used the patch P203 so I asked him where did he got it and he said that he borrowed them from Robben Ford!! Craig, his tech said "This cable is nice and I like the purple color". Therefore, Luke and Craig used P203 immediately without any trial.

Next was Velvt Comp.
Luke checked his guitar tone by turning the compressor pedal on and off several times. He tried turning the volume up and down with the volume pedal and he tried all the tone characteristics from clean to crunch to lead by switching the amp channels. Then, he said "This is great! Put this pedal before the amp!", and the VLC-1 was connected directly to his amp input and left on, and he used the compressor pedal for the whole show.

Then, Luke said that "Let's try the Chorus pedal "so I set the pedal up with Craig for Luke.
Then, as soon as he tried it, he said "This is good. Let's use this." and he tried it for a while. He played many phrases we had listened to many times in the past so I became entranced listening to him play.

He tried the Delay 80's next. He especially liked the Echo Hardness feature and he set it for short delay and turned down the Echo Hardness, then he set up an echo sound similar to a round reverb sound. He carefully adjusted the knobs repeatedly standing up to play and then squatting down to make more adjustments.

After setting everything up, Luke checked the sound again and he said "Really nice guitar tone, thank you very much." It was a great pleasure for me!! ...by Yuki