TC Electronic Flashback 2
The Swiss army knife of delay pedals.
The TC Electronic Flashback Delay, as well as its bigger brother, the X4, have been a staple on many players’ boards for over a decade, and for good reason. The sound quality you get from the Flashback is on par with pedals three times the price, in addition to a very wide range of delay options. The Flashback offers more features than anyone could ask for, but even if you are not interested in installing apps or connecting it to your computer, it is well worth its modest price tag.
Out of the box you get 7 delay types and a 40-second looper. You can also save 3 custom presets (toneprints), which requires either the mobile app or connecting to a computer. The control layout is pretty standard. You get Delay Time (up to 7 seconds!), Feedback and Delay Volume and a switch to change note intervals for tap tempo. You can also switch between true and buffered bypass. To access tap tempo, simply press down on the footswitch for a few seconds, until the LED turns green. You will then have a few seconds to dial in delay time with the footswitch. A few seconds later it will switch back to on/off mode.
2290
This is a crystal clear digital delay, that will simply repeat what you play without altering the tone. Think Pink Floyd and Audioslave. It is truly amazing how little this affects your dry signal and how clear the repeats sound. The pedal is worth buying for this setting alone, in my opinion.
Analog
This is a very convincing replica of analogue delays used by players, like Dave Grohl and Kurt Cobain. Treble will be rolled off with every repeat, as the delay gets darker and muddier. Unlike authentic analog counterparts, you still get up to 7 seconds of delay time!
Tape
Tape delay will have much brighter repeats, while still altering the tone slightly. If you’ve heard Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel, you will have heard the Tape Echo sound.
Dynamic
This one takes some getting used to, but is a really cool invention by TC Electronic. It is essentially the standard 2290 setting, but the delay volume is controlled by the input volume (your playing dynamics). What it means is that, if you play fast and hit hard, there will be no delay at all, but as you slow down and play smoothly, the delay will kick in. It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of, but can be really useful. To get started, we recommend rolling down the guitar volume a bit and alternating between playing with a pick and fingerpicking.
Modulated
This is a 2290 delay with chorus added. Fans of U2 will appreciate it. Once again, it sounds amazing and is very easy to dial in a pleasing tone.
Crystals
My favourite setting. In addition to muddying the delay, it will shift up an octave with every repeat. You can get some very beautiful atmospheric sounds. Just take it slow, play some chords, and let the pedal do the rest!
Reverse
As you would expect, the Reverse delay will repeat what you play, but in reverse. It is a very unique effect and has been used by many musicians from Hendrix to The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Looper
Yep, you also get a looper. 40 seconds, unlimited overdubs. It is great!
Toneprints
You also get 3 toneprint settings. You can use the TonePrint app on your phone to load a custom setting. Select the preset in the app, put your phone’s speaker next to the guitar pickup and the Flashback will automatically load the right setting. TC Electronic have collaborated with many famous guitarists, such as John Petrucci and Paul Gilbert, to create custom delay settings. There are also many toneprints inspired by other pedals, such as CapstanDelay and MemoryMan. You can even get some otherwise unavailable effects, like a dual delay (two cascading delays) or a chorus or flanger effect and many more.
You can also create your own custom presets from scratch, but that requires installing the TonePrint software on your computer and connecting the pedal via USB… tedious.
Bottom Line
Overall, you get a lot for your money. It sounds as good as any other delay on the market for a lot less money than most. You get a lot of fantastic sounds out of the box, but getting the most from the pedal will take some getting used to.