Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man w/Tap Tempo

The Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man w/Tap Tempo is an analog delay stompbox that takes the long-running Deluxe Memory Man circuit and adds performance features the original never had: tap tempo, five note divisions, an expression pedal input and an effects loop. Electro-Harmonix announced it at NAMM in January 2011, describing it as "the most powerful version of the Deluxe Memory Man ever," with shipping from late March 2011 and a US retail list price of $504¹.

The pedal provides what the launch press release called "sweet organic delay and modulation," meaning the repeats come from bucket-brigade delay chips, the technology behind the Memory Man sound since the 1970s, with chorus and vibrato modulation on the echoes¹². Both versions of the pedal are now discontinued: the 1100-TT in 2025 and the 550-TT in 2024, so it is a used-market pedal today³⁴.

What it does to your sound

The circuit is based on what Premier Guitar's announcement called "the legendary design which has been an industry standard for over three decades," the Deluxe Memory Man echo with chorus and vibrato². What the Tap Tempo versions add is rhythmic control: instead of turning a delay knob and hoping it lands on the tempo of the song, you tap a footswitch in time and the delay locks to it¹.

Vintage Guitar described the 550-TT in similar terms when it appeared: it "adds Tap Tempo, Expression Control, and an Effects Loop to the Memory Man"⁵. The effects loop lets you insert another pedal into the delay's feedback path, so whatever you place in the loop colors each repeat rather than the dry signal. The two versions differ in maximum delay time: the 1100-TT offers up to 1100 ms, while the 550-TT, as its name suggests, is the shorter-delay version of the same feature set⁶.

Tap tempo, note divisions and the expression input

The tap system works on a simple rule: the pedal always assumes you are tapping a quarter note, and that quarter note can then be divided down to other note values². Both versions offer five subdivisions³⁴:

The TAP SW jack on both versions accepts an external momentary switch, so you can tap from a remote switch rather than the pedal's own button³⁴. If you use a third-party tap switch, Vein-Tap lists the Deluxe Memory Man w/Tap Tempo among pedals that require a normally open switch⁷.

The expression pedal input permits real-time control over five parameters at once: Blend, Rate, Depth, Feedback and Delay². That means one expression pedal can sweep delay time for tape-style speed effects, push feedback for swelling repeats, or work the modulation depth, depending on how the pedal is set up.

Analog Man built a accessory for players who want more external control: its tap tempo and mode switch box can externally control the pedal's Expression Mode switch along with external tap tempo, and can send tap tempo to two other pedals at the same time⁸.

Power and bypass

The pedal runs on a 9.6V DC adapter at 200mA, included with the pedal, and Electro-Harmonix lists true bypass switching for both the 1100-TT and 550-TT³⁴. The 2011 launch press release confirms both: the pedal is "equipped with true bypass and a standard 9.6-Volt/DC200mA AC adapter"¹.

Can it sync to MIDI clock?

The pedal has no MIDI ports, but its tap input jack opens a workaround. Molten Voltage documented the Deluxe Memory Man w/Tap Tempo 1100 and the 550-TT among pedals that can sync to MIDI clock using CTL-Sync through the tap input jack, a scheme for pedals that have a tap jack but no native MIDI implementation⁹. For players running synchronized rigs, that is the route; see MIDI pedals for pedals that take clock directly.

History and versions

The Tap Tempo pedal arrived out of a period of change for the Deluxe Memory Man line. In 2009, Electro-Harmonix introduced a new die-cast version of the Deluxe Memory Man while the classic original remained available for a limited time¹⁰. The Tap Tempo pedal, which JHS Pedals dates to around 2010 in its delay buying guide, was the next step: the full Deluxe Memory Man feature set with modern tempo control¹¹.

The original Tap Tempo version was discontinued when the supply of Panasonic bucket-brigade chips dried up, the same shortage that ended many analog delay designs¹¹. JHS Pedals notes that original Deluxe Memory Man Tap Tempos have gone for as much as $1000 on the used market¹¹. The later 550-TT was discontinued in 2024 and the 1100-TT in 2025³⁴.

The Memory Man family today is carried by other pedals:

The Nano is the closest current relative, but it is a simpler pedal: Guitar World's reviewer Trevor Curwen notes it has no tap tempo facility, and its mix, feedback and delay time are set by hand¹². It does offer selectable true bypass through an internal Tails switch, so echoes can ring out naturally after bypass or be muted immediately¹³. For players who want tap tempo in a current Electro-Harmonix delay, the digital Canyon line and its Pico offshoots carry that feature instead.

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