A Study of The Edge's Guitar Delay (U2) -- With Or Without You (The Joshua Tree)

The Edge's Delay Settings > With Or Without You (110 bpm)

Starting at time 0.00 at the beginning of the CD track, the sample runs from [1:51.8 - 1:53.3 secs].
The sample is of the beginning of the 16th-note 'chorus' riff Edge plays (see below).
The main delay is, as usual, a 3/16th delay (410ms at 110 bpm).
As usual, too, there's also clearly a mic bleed echo (~8ms = amps about 8 feet apart) surrounding the attack and each delay repeat.

   ||-------10------10-----------10---
   ||---8-------8---------------------  These are the 5 notes played in the sample clip, the beginning of
   ||---------------------------------  the 16th-note 'chorus' riff.
   ||---------------------------------
   ||---------------------------------
   ||---------------------------------

Here's the sample clip I studied for this song (it's slowed down 4x maintaining the same pitch and matches the waveform in Figure 1)

Here's an mp3 of me playing the main riff from the song,
with no delay and, later, with delay.
(I turned the delay on a few seconds into the recording).

I used a Fender Telecaster (middle pickup)
into a $100 Line 6 Toneport on my PC with the setup on the right.

I had to use a Korg SDD-3000 for the delay because
the Toneport delay options don't (yet) include a digital
delay with modulation.

('Solo' section at the end starts with the solo Edge played
on the Rattle And Hum film and then is an ad-lib based on
his style; something like what he might have played had he
added a solo to the recording.)


For reference, the 'solo' section recorded above is something like:
               h.o.           p.o.                    p.o.      x16
|-----17-17----15-(17)-17---17-(15)-15-15----------|--15-(14)-----|------------17---------------17-------|
|--15-------15-----------..---------------19-17-..-|---------15---|-14-(15)-15---..--14-(15)-15----------|
|:------------------------------------------------:|:------------:|-------------------------------14-..--|
|:------------------------------------------------:|:------------:|--------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|--------------|--------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|--------------|--------------------------------------|

Figure 1: Waveform of the sample clip

There's 1 delay. This is the most likely signal path:

   Guitar -> 
        410ms (1-2 repeats)  == 3/16 @ 110 bpm 
              (with modulation, about 60%-70% of the inital signal) -> Amp

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Your Comments

Exelent work, and really nice solo, it has been really helpful! Hope you continue uptading this website with more work like this! Thank you

-- Jov , July 2, 2006

"chorus" riff -2 bars- : -eighth note rest; eighth note; sixteenth note; sixteenth note; eighth note; sixteenth note; sixteenth note; eighth note; eighth note. -( ); (B)8; (E)10; (B)8; (E)10; (E)10; (B)8; (E)10; (E)10; -quarter-note rest + eighth note rest; eighth note + sixteenth note; eighth note + sixteenth note; eighth note. - (B)7. ( ); (D)0; (D)0; (G)0. I'm your fan. Thanks a lot. P.-F.

-- Pierre-Francois CANNET, DATE

Thanks a million. I've been racking my brains trying to figure that out.

-- Gabe, Feb 11, 2007

Great site and really like your demos and the theory behind the sounds. I have a Boss ME50 and am really struggling to get Edge's delay sound right. Would be great to hear from others who have worked this out.

-- Michael, Mar 27, 2007

A fantastic resource, your theorising seems very convincing. Love it.

-- Rabbi, June 17, 2007

That is fantastic. Unfortunately with the electro harmonix, there are no settings , so you have to play around to find the right sound and settings. anyone else using the same as me? Any input would but greatly appreciated! -ated! -ted! -ed! -d!

-- Joe, July 14, 2007

That solo is just amazing. It sent chills down my spine.I just cant stop playing it. Seriously you should release a cd. Thanks for sharing your incredible talent.

-- Dennis, Dec 21, 2007

I still cant stop playing it, damn it!

-- Dennis, Dec 25, 2007

What about this solo? http://youtube.com/watch?v=X0i93JSkYP4 @ 4:46

-- Nabeel, Dec 27, 2007

Hello, thanks for all your work, it s been very useful for me. I think WOWY is played with a stereo delay, the left delay is faster(431 MS) than the right so you can hear two repeats very near one from the other, i assume the delay you are describing here is the main delay (left), since the right it is with a lower volume.

-- benyvin, Mar 26, 2008

Am I missing something? Does not the edge use a sampler to maintain the intro riff, thus enabling him to play the feedback notes on top? as in this version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ye8GLPUVsM ??????

-- tim, Mar 22, 2011

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