Visual Sound V3 Tap Delay

The Visual Sound V3 Tap Delay is a compact, single-channel tap tempo delay pedal released in July 2012. It was designed by Bob Weil and R.G. Keen of Visual Sound, and it is essentially channel 2 of the company's Dual Tap Delay repackaged in a small, affordable single pedal unit¹. At less than half the size of the Dual Tap Delay, it was aimed squarely at players with cramped pedalboards².

The pedal carries the core feature set of the larger unit: tap tempo, manual mode, a tone control, selectable time divisions, modulation, and dual outputs³. Premier Guitar's announcement described the tone control's job plainly: it is there "for darkening your echo"². The pedal is now an archived product, listed in the Truetone Archive as part of the V3 Series legacy line, and is no longer sold on the current site³.

What it does and how it is controlled

The V3 Tap Delay gives a player one delay channel with the same control set as a channel of the Dual Tap Delay. Truetone's archived page for the dual unit lists the controls per channel as Delay Time, Repeats, Effect Level, Tone, Time Divisions, and Tap Tempo⁴, and the single Tap Delay carries that same channel architecture over. MusicRadar's Dave Burrluck, reviewing the Dual Tap Delay, described the panel as "controls for time division, delay time, repeats and effect level plus a manual/tap switch and mini tone control"⁵.

The features, as Truetone lists them for the Tap Delay:

• Tap Tempo
• Manual Mode
• Tone Control
• Time Divisions
• Modulation
• Dual Outputs³

Manual mode lets you set the delay time with the knob instead of tapping, while the time divisions let a tapped tempo generate subdivisions rather than only the straight interval. The modulation section adds motion to the repeats, and the dual outputs support stereo setups³.

How it differs from the Dual Tap Delay

The relationship between the two pedals is simple: the Tap Delay is the Dual Tap Delay's little brother². Guitar Interactive Magazine put it most directly, reporting that "the new V3 Tap Delay is basically channel 2 of the Dual Tap Delay in a small, compact pedal"¹.

The size difference was the selling point. Premier Guitar's announcement noted the smaller pedal "has all the great tone and features of channel 2" of the Dual Tap Delay while fitting where the big two-channel unit could not². The trade-off is obvious: you give up the second channel and the ability to run two synchronized delays, which Guitar World's review described as the larger pedal's core trick, with a tap-tempo footswitch that could set time for one delay or both at once⁷.

Where it came from

Visual Sound released the V3 Tap Delay with a suggested retail price of $169.95¹. The pedal measures 4.57" x 4.72" (116 x 120mm), larger than a standard single-effect stompbox¹.

The company had form with delay pedals before this: its GarageTone line included the Axle Grease delay. The Dual Tap Delay that the V3 Tap Delay descends from drew on that analog delay lineage, and the Tap Delay's circuit is based on channel 2 of the Dual Tap Delay, though its other circuit details were not published in the coverage¹.

Warranty and current status

Like all Visual Sound V2 and V3 series pedals, the Tap Delay was covered by Visual Sound's Lifetime Warranty¹. Today the pedal sits in the Truetone Archive, the company's legacy product listing, and is no longer sold on the current site³. Players looking for the same feature set new would be looking at the secondhand market, since Truetone's current lineup does not carry a direct single-channel equivalent.