Flamma Innovation FS03 Delay Looper

The Flamma Innovation FS03 Delay Looper is a stereo digital delay pedal with a built-in looper. Flamma lists it as a "Stereo Delay Guitar Effects Pedal with 80-second Looper," and it carries six delay modes plus a seventh mode that turns the whole pedal into a looping tool¹. It sits at the larger end of Flamma's delay range: Pedal of the Day, reviewing it in October 2021, called it "the FC03 Delay's big brother"².

What the FS03 does

The FS03 is a stereo-equipped delay, so it can feed two amps or a stereo rig rather than a single mono output². Delicious Audio's product coverage describes it as delivering a maximum of 2 seconds of delay³, which is well past what most analog-style delays offer and enough for long, ambient repeats.

The pedal's six delay modes are where its character lives. Pedal of the Day lists them as Tape, Liquid, Rainbow, Galaxy, Mod-Verse and Low-Bit²; Delicious Audio lists the same set of seven algorithms (the six delays plus the looper) as Tape, Liquid, Rainbow, Galaxy, Modverse, Lofi and Looper³. The names suggest what each does: Tape aims at the wobble and roll of a tape echo, Low-Bit (or Lofi) at degraded, digital-crushed repeats, and the modulated modes at chorus- and flanger-flavored echoes.

You can save one preset per mode, so each of the six delay algorithms can hold your favorite settings and be recalled quickly².

Delay modes and the Tweak knobs

Two controls, Tweak.1 and Tweak.2, change their function depending on which mode is active. Pedal of the Day explains that they "control different parameters, depending on what mode you're in, manipulating such things" as Filter, Vibrato, Chorus, Flanger, Slow-Gear, Stutter and more². In practice this means the same two knobs that set tape wobble in Tape mode might set bit depth in Low-Bit mode or modulation depth in a modulated mode.

The table follows Pedal of the Day's description of the Tweak knobs and the mode list²; the exact parameter per mode is set on the pedal itself.

The looper mode

The seventh mode turns the FS03 into a looper pedal with up to 80 seconds of record time². Flamma's own product page confirms the 80-second capacity¹, and Delicious Audio describes it as "a built-in looper with an 80 second capacity"³. In looper mode the pedal also offers Input/Output level controls and a built-in delay effect, so you can record a loop and then treat it with delay without adding another pedal².

Tap tempo and bypass

Tap tempo works through the main footswitch: hold the footswitch down for 1 second to access tap tempo functionality, then tap in your tempo². Flamma's product page describes this simply as tap tempo support via footswitch¹.

The FS03 is true bypass, with a Trail function. You can leave the effect's trails on or off when the pedal is bypassed, which means the repeats either ring out naturally or stop dead when you switch to a dry signal².

How it differs from the Flamma FC03

The differences are straightforward:

• Size and form: the FC03 is a mini pedal; the FS03 is a full-size stereo unit⁴¹.
• Modes: 3 on the FC03 versus 6 delay modes plus a looper on the FS03⁵².
• Delay time: the FC03 offers delay times between 5 and 600 milliseconds⁶; the FS03 reaches a maximum of 2 seconds³.
• Looper: only the FS03 has one¹.

What reviewers said

Pedal of the Day's review closed out the site's Flamma Fridays series in October 2021 and was positive about where affordable pedals had got to²:

The reviewer's overall view was that Flamma's pedals were among the best affordable pedals they had come across, and that affordable pedals in general were starting to sound really good².

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