Every so often, we here at Reverb like to show off bits of sales data from various corners of our marketplace. We've recently posted tidy lists of top–selling boutique fuzzes, budget–friendly pedals, and microphones. Today, we're continuing the series with a quick jaunt through the world of delay.

Delay pedals are, along with boutique overdrives, the genre of pedal most fueled by the pedal hype machine. Every year, a new crop of delays make the rounds through the YouTube demo mills and dominate conversation and debate on various gear forums and comment sections.

Unlike overdrives, however, a delay's appeal is not just a matter of raw tone, but rather the specific range of functions, settings, and control features it has to offer.

While the relatively simple and classic three–knobber, the MXR Carbon Copy, is still the most popular delay pedal on the market, recent trends point to more feature–rich units, like the Strymon Timeline, as the vanguard of delay. We sometimes refer to these as do–it–all digital delays.

Beyond these two ends of the spectrum, a few reverb–delay combos like the Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master made the list, as did a couple tape delay emulation pedals, like the Catalinbread Belle Epoch.

Did your favorite delay pedal make the list? Let us know in the comments.

Takeaways:

The top–ranking Carbon Copy continues its reign as the default first delay pedal for many burgeoning pedalheads. MXR actually announced a deluxe version of the Carbon Copy just last month at NAMM.

Perhaps most surprisingly on this list is the inclusion of a number of pedals that have been discontinued for years, such as the Boss DD–5 and RV–3. While no longer in production, these pedals were made for years, so the availability of used inventory is usually quite robust.

The EQD Avalanche Run was an exclusive launch on Reverb, which means its ranking here may be inflated a bit relative to the market at large.

Note that the sales rankings above are for total sales of new and used inventory. This means that pedals that change hands frequently do end up ranking highly. Our thought, though, is that every sale represents a buyer and a seller, so this picture is still representative of overall demand.

Learn more about effects pedals on our Effects Pedals: What Do They Do? | The Basics homepage.