Digitech PDS 8000 Echo Plus (8 Second Delay + Sampler)

I bought the pedal in 1989/90 and I believe was one of the first digital delay/samplers in pedal form, and is these days truly tricky to get hold of. 

I gave up playing with effects in 1995, and it has been in storage ever since.

This week I put a new battery in, and fired it up for the first time in 14 years and it worked perfectly.

Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine, famously used one of these pedals, but then so did guitarists from Slowdive, Yo La Tengo and just about every other floppy fringed gazer of shoes that followed them.

The pedal has an amazing 8 seconds of delay, but it is the infinite repeat and sampling options that really set it apart from anything else at the time, and offers a different sound for anybody that doesn't want to trail the standard Boss DD-n path these days.

The sound of the delay is also quite unlike a modern digital delay, apparently due to the fact that it was created with either 8 or 12 bit technology, depending on who you believe, whereas these days it is 24 bit as a standard/minimum.

If you want to see what this kind of effect can do, check out this video on YouTube. This isn't me - but it is the same type of pedal and shows the general capabilities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YObRPim1Uvk

If you want to read the manual:
http://www.loopers-delight.com/tools/digitechPDS/digi_pds.html.

GuitarGeek said this about it:

"A very collectable sampling/looper pedal from the late 80s. As with all the PDS series of pedals, two seperate footswitches perform bypass and repeat/sampling functions. It's a simple process. Step on the right pedal to engage the delay and then step on the left pedal to allow the delay to repeat continuously. This is lo-fi looping at it's finest. Timing a perfect loop is fairly tricky since there is no indictaion of when the loop is closing but a little practice cures that. The PDS also allows you to pitch-shift your loops with a simple turn of the delay knob. This is an amazing way to create all sorts of insane textures. It's a feature sadly lacking in newer units like the JamMan and the Boss RC-20 Loop Station. Soundwise, the PDS's 12 bit resolution has a very warm analog-like quality that you just can't find in any modern delays."

There are reviews on Harmony Central -
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Effects/product/DigiTech/PDS-8000%20EchoPlus/10/1

NoiseFX say -
"The DigiTech Echo Plus PDS 8000 is one of DigiTech's double play two-switch pedals made in the 1980s. The PDS 8000 has 8 second sampling, infinite looping functionality and delay settings of 8 seconds, 2 seconds and 500 msec (1/2 second). Capable of catching a long loop at a short delay time and expanding the captured loop to 8 seconds! This pedal is great for pounding low end sounds. Also, the lower bit-rate digital samplig (old school 8-bit) gives the Echo Plus a unique sound all it's own."

The pedal is unboxed and has no manual, and as the fotos show has some understanable 'relic-ing'. It is however a total classic and built like a tank, and will no doubt last another twenty years without too much trouble. I’ll take a video of it in operation before I post it off.

In the UK P&P and insurance is included. Outside of the UK, please ask before you bid, but I only pass on what it costs.

Please check out my other items, for a classic Ibanez DFL Digital Flanger, as famously used by Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine.