Many guitarists have experienced a revelation with the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man. Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien called it his “god pedal” while U2’s The Edge famously said, “suddenly, everything changed.”
A musical legend itself, the Deluxe Memory Man was designed by electronics engineer Howard Davis after he joined the New York City-based Electro-Harmonix company in 1976.
“The first commercial product I worked on was an improved version of the Memory Man called the Deluxe Memory Man,” Davis told this writer. “It was very successful and Electro-Harmonix had a problem keeping up with demand… It seems to be recognized as a standard of analog delay pedals.”
Evolving from the original three-knob Memory Man, the Deluxe Memory Man sports enhanced features including tape echo-style modulation and a Level control in addition to Blend, Feedback and Delay knobs.
Used to outstanding effect by The Edge, the Deluxe Memory Man became a signature sound that not only delivered gorgeous tone but also served as an essential compositional tool.
Heard on U2 classics since the band’s 1980 debut album Boy, the young guitarist assimilated the pedal’s instant live samples into deceptively simple licks and riffs to create his trademark rhythmic textures.
“We were cutting some of our early demos when we got our first Memory Man echo unit,” The Edge told Joe Bosso back in 2008. “Within minutes, I was drawn not only to the textural qualities of the echo but also the rhythmic possibilities that it suggested.”
In this clip from Davis Guggenheim’s excellent It Might Get Loud, The Edge explains how the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man played a crucial part in the development of his electric guitar sound in the early days.
Ultimately, the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man helped define the sound U2.
Purchase It Might Get Loud here.
“Buying it was a leap of faith. But It looks stunning, plays beautifully and sounds unique.” A rare 1964 solidbody guitar turned out to be completely different from what it seemed
“Every guitar that had been in Jamaica had to be pulled apart and rebuilt because of what the humidity there did to the electronics.” Pedal legend Roger Mayer reveals how he perfected Bob Marley's guitar tone for 'Exodus,' his global breakthrough
