Old Blood Noise Black Fountain V3

The Old Blood Noise Black Fountain V3 is a delay pedal that captures the warm, modulated sound of vintage oil can delay units with a modern feature set, as the maker describes it¹. It is a digital recreation of the oil can echo devices of the 1950s, a short-lived technology that players remember for its characterful, wobbly repeats². The original Black Fountain was Old Blood Noise's first ever pedal, and the V3 is its third version, updated with tap tempo and subdivision switching².

What is an oil can delay?

Oil can delays were echo devices built in the 1950s that used a rotating disc in oil to produce their repeats. Delicious Audio calls the technology "short-lived but full of character," and notes it was a favorite of Ry Cooder³. Guitar World describes the Black Fountain V3 as an "oil can-emulating delay pedal"⁵. Rather than hunting down a fragile sixty-year-old unit, the Black Fountain V3 models that sound digitally, then adds the conveniences of a modern pedal: tap tempo, subdivisions, an expression jack and true bypass¹².

The controls and modes

The pedal has four knobs, Time, Feedback, Fluid and Mix, that shape the elements of whichever delay mode you select¹². A central toggle switch chooses between three delay voices¹².

The three modes each give a different take on the oil can character²:

• Modern emulates the classic long delay of oil can units³.
• Organ and Vintage round out the three delay voices, selectable through the central toggle²³.

Two taps of the Tap Tempo footswitch activate tap tempo, and the tempo can be subdivided into quarter, eighth or triplet values². Holding the footswitch down momentarily maxes out the feedback, a quick way to get runaway repeats under your foot¹. An expression jack lets you externally control Time, Feedback, or both, which opens up swells and pitch-bend-style delay tricks from an expression pedal¹.

The bypass is a soft-touch footswitch for true bypass and minimal switch noise¹.

What the V3 changed

The original Black Fountain was designed to capture the sound of vintage oil can delay units, and it was the company's first pedal². Version 3 keeps that circuit goal but adds the timing features the earlier versions lacked. Gearnews summed up the update:

The additions are:

• Tap tempo, activated by two taps of the footswitch²
• Three subdivisions (quarter, eighth, triplet) through an extra toggle switch²³
• A wider delay range, down to around 30ms or up to around 1 second²

Guitar World noted the Tap Tempo and Subdivision switches give more precise control over delay time and modulation rate⁵. Gearnews's reviewer called it "a sweet update to the company's first ever pedal" and expected the new features and tap tempo to make it even better overall².

Price and availability

The Black Fountain V3 carried a list price of $219.00⁴. When it launched in late 2020, Guitar World reported UK availability at £209 (approximately $275 at the time)⁵, and Delicious Audio reported it shipping that December³.

Players looking for other Old Blood Noise delay work can compare the Setback reverse delay, the Bathing liminal delay, or the Sunlight Stereo.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions