Diamond Memory Lane

The Diamond Memory Lane is a compact delay pedal with modulation on the repeats, built by Diamond and designed around the company's dBBD (digital Bucket Brigade Delay) architecture. Instead of a literal bucket brigade chip, an embedded system running on an STM32 ARM Cortex processor acts as a drop-in replacement for one, passing copies through RAM with an internal clock defining the sampling rate, surrounded by custom companding and anti-aliasing circuit similar to the original analog pedal¹². Diamond says the compandor adds slight compression and softness so the delay sits behind your playing, while the anti-aliasing filters create warmth¹.

The current version offers up to 2.4 seconds of delay time, four modes, tap tempo with three subdivisions, and buffered bypass with trails. It sells for $249.00 on Diamond's site as of October 2026¹; at its October 2025 launch, gearnews reported it priced at $294³.

A BBD-voiced delay with modulation

The pedal's character comes from Diamond's attempt to recreate what a bucket brigade device (BBD, the chip at the heart of classic analog delays) actually does. The original analog Memory Lane used a BBD and a compandor; the new pedal keeps that surrounding analog circuitry but swaps the chip itself for a digital replica⁵. Guitar Pedal X described the result as "very much still a BBD-style Delay, but now loaded with a superior fidelity STM32 Arm Processor," bringing extended delay range, lower noise and more headroom⁴.

The controls are simple: Mix, Feedback, Delay (up to 2400ms), Modulation, and a Tap/Mode switch, plus a dedicated tap tempo footswitch and an on/off footswitch⁴³. The Mod knob sets the depth of the modulation on the repeats, the effect that gives BBD and tape echoes their movement.

The four modes on the STM32 version

Four modes are selectable through the Tap/Mode switch³. Each is a variation on the core dBBD sound:

Tap tempo offers three subdivisions: quarter note (green LED), dotted eighth note (yellow LED) and half note (red LED)². The earlier revival-phase version had only three modes (Modern, Warm, Vintage); the STM32 edition replaced them with these four, keeping only Vintage⁴.

From analog original to STM32

The original Diamond Memory Lane went down in history as the first analog delay with tap tempo⁶. It was a big pedal, and it was built on a chip that went out of production, which forced a premature retirement⁶. It had shorter delay times than later versions and no subdivisions, offering three modes: Modern, Warm and Vintage⁶.

Those three modes each worked differently. Modern used a fixed sampling rate with a 50 to 1200 ms delay time, Warm gave darker repeats with a variable sampling rate and a 150 to 1200 ms delay time, and Vintage used a variable sampling rate with a 65 to 550 ms delay time and automatically halved tap tempo divisions⁷⁶. Later versions of the pedal added subdivisions and longer delay times⁶.

The Memory Lane V2 is the latest iteration, coming after the company's acquisition by Montreal's SolidGoldFx, and it is fully compact, digital but analog-voiced⁶. It offers three playback modes: Vintage Mode, with warm, saturated repeats that capture the soul of vintage analog delays; Galloping 2-Head, a rhythmic, dual-head pattern inspired by the Counterpoint delay; and Ambient 3-Head, with expansive, cascading repeats for layered soundscapes⁶. It also features a momentary footswitch affecting delay or modulation, Trails mode, and a Geezer mode offering the classic operation of the vintage unit without a secondary footswitch, plus a Burr-Brown equipped buffered bypass with optional trails⁶.

What reviewers said

Reviews of the Memory Lane family have been consistently positive. The new compact reissues of the Memory Lane have been very well received, using an analog signal path with digital controls to great effect⁸. Stefan Karlsson called the STM32 edition "a further interesting advance and evolution of the recent Compact Memory Lane reissue," noting the new chip and new algorithms and playback modes⁹. gearnews found the pedal "has a lot of great-sounding delays with a low noise floor and lots of controls," calling it perfect for musicians in the studio and playing live³.

Earlier versions drew similar praise. Pedal of the Day said of the Memory Lane Jr that "it makes up for it ten-fold in sound quality and production"¹⁰, and of the Deluxe Delay that "the functionality is fantastic, the delays are warm and rich" in a perfectly sized enclosure¹¹. Delicious Audio's review of the Jr called it "an intelligently designed boutique delay, a class act for the masses," while noting it "doesn't do anything too exciting or outlandish"¹². On That Pedal Show, the presenters called the original Memory Lane "an absolute classic" despite being four times the size, and praised Diamond's ears more broadly¹³.

Click to load

Warranty and support

Diamond pedals purchased through the site or authorized dealers carry a three-year warranty against defective parts and faulty workmanship, for the original owner only and non-transferable. Repair is free of charge with the owner paying shipping both ways; the warranty is voided by tampering, modification, abuse, unauthorized repair, or use of an improper power supply¹.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions