What can the MLJr do that the El Capistan can't?

[Jeremy A]

The MLJr looks perfect for me, but I love that the El Capistan has built-in reverb. Can it do percussive rhythmic delays, along with its ambient and tape delays? I know they are very different pedals (one is digital emulating analog, and the other is tape), but I'm honestly not looking for a specific type of delay, and both of these are top notch. I'm just gonna choose the one that can cover the most ground between these 2. Hope that makes sense. Thanks!

 

[wundergussy]

El Cap is more versatile, MLjr is easier, both sound good, MLjr sounds slightly less digital TO ME.

 

[Jeremy A]

El Cap is more versatile, MLjr is easier, both sound good, MLjr sounds slightly less digital TO ME.

Digital isn't necessarily a bad thing to me. I love digital delays. But if you were wanting a straight up tape delay, I thought the El Cap was the way to go?

 

[devinmcgrath]

i know im a noob but who makes MLjr?

 

[Jeremy A]

i know im a noob but who makes MLjr?

Diamond

 

[wundergussy]

I prefer the MLjr sound-wise. The El Cap can do amazing things, but it begs to be tweaked. The mlj begs to be played and has the best modulation second only to a DMM. It is in the top five for all-time delays.

That said, if what you want is a history of the tape delay at your feet with the ability to replicate any tape sound reasonably well, the El Cap is the obvious choice.

 

[Jeremy A]

I prefer the MLjr sound-wise. The El Cap can do amazing things, but it begs to be tweaked. The mlj begs to be played and has the best modulation second only to a DMM. It is in the top five for all-time delays.

That said, if what you want is a history of the tape delay at your feet with the ability to replicate any tape sound reasonably well, the El Cap is the obvious choice.

Is the reason you like the sound of the MLJr more than the El Cap simply because you like the sound of analog delays more than tape? Or do you just think that the MLJr sounds better as a delay in general?

 

[wundergussy]

I think if you read around a bunch here you'll find that the MLjr is quickly becoming many people's favorite delay regardless of their useual preference. It just has something great. I like it better than most analog delays. I love the sound of a tape delay too FWIW.

But honestly, you won't really be disappointed with either - I think it comes dow to how much tweaking you want to do.

 

[Hairpin Turns]

I have both and feel they complement each other well and don't really sound all that similar, though both are stellar IMO.

If I had to choose just one, the decision would probably be based on intended use (live vs. home/studio). For playing live, I'd go with the MLJr because of the simpler interface and ease of dialing in sounds. But if you really want what's going to cover the most ground, I think it's the el cap.

 

[Jeremy A]

Honestly, based on the reviews on here and the info I've gathered, I'd get the MLJr over the El Cap in an instant...BUT that built in reverb on the El Cap looks awesome. I'm trying to put together a Nano board, so I won't have room for a reverb pedal. On my main board, I use a BSR but mainly for a nice, lush modulated reverb on top of my delay.

 

[EthanB]

I'm not actually a huge fan of the MLJr. It's good at what it does, but to my ears the El Capistan is just a better piece. Plus it's more versatile. But each to his own; the MLJr is a perfect piece, I just prefer a different perfect piece.

 

[JackStraw12]

The MLJr looks perfect for me, but I love that the El Capistan has built-in reverb. Can it do percussive rhythmic delays, along with its ambient and tape delays? I know they are very different pedals (one is digital emulating analog, and the other is tape), but I'm honestly not looking for a specific type of delay, and both of these are top notch. I'm just gonna choose the one that can cover the most ground between these 2. Hope that makes sense. Thanks!

El Cap is digital too, just emulating tape.

 

[IRG]

I prefer the MLjr sound-wise. The El Cap can do amazing things, but it begs to be tweaked. The mlj begs to be played and has the best modulation second only to a DMM. It is in the top five for all-time delays.

That said, if what you want is a history of the tape delay at your feet with the ability to replicate any tape sound reasonably well, the El Cap is the obvious choice.

If you like the DMM, also consider the DMB Lunar Echo. I have a review coming soon for PGS on this pedal. I compared both directly, and personally preferred the DMB over the DMM. I liked the control of the modulation a little more, and the white noise of the DMM is significantly higher.

The DMB can do crazier types of sounds too in the Wrecked mode, and has on demand oscillation if you want that.

I haven't had the pleasure yet of trying the ML Jr. but I've owned the El Cap. A good pedal, but it does have a certain digital quality to it - which isn't bad, I generally prefer digital delays to analog. The ML Jr. in clips seems quite analog like. Would have loved to compared the ML Jr. to the DMB. Very different feature set from each other. The DMB has some unique features too; expression pedal input and an effects loop (a/b/y cable needed though). Shorter delay time being analog, and no tap, but the oscillation feature.

Tough call here, if you want/need the reverb of the El Cap, and like the tweaking features of a tape delay, then this is the way to go.

 

[Jeremy A]

If you like the DMM, also consider the DMB Lunar Echo. I have a review coming soon for PGS on this pedal. I compared both directly, and personally preferred the DMB over the DMM. I liked the control of the modulation a little more, and the white noise of the DMM is significantly higher.

The DMB can do crazier types of sounds too in the Wrecked mode, and has on demand oscillation if you want that.

I haven't had the pleasure yet of trying the ML Jr. but I've owned the El Cap. A good pedal, but it does have a certain digital quality to it - which isn't bad, I generally prefer digital delays to analog. The ML Jr. in clips seems quite analog like. Would have loved to compared the ML Jr. to the DMB. Very different feature set from each other. The DMB has some unique features too; expression pedal input and an effects loop (a/b/y cable needed though). Shorter delay time being analog, and no tap, but the oscillation feature.

Tough call here, if you want/need the reverb of the El Cap, and like the tweaking features of a tape delay, then this is the way to go.

Thanks! I'm not into tweaking pedals too much, but the reverb is still what's keeping the El Cap alive for me.

 

[Trotter]

I've owned both and must say both are great pedals. I don't think its fair to compare the 2 as apples to apples, since they are 2 different types of delays. However, personally I prefer the ML JR. It sounds less digital and the repeats are more musical. Also from a usability standpoint, the ML JR is quick and easy to dial in.

 

[loftyrocket]

Does the MLjr oscillate? Is it better than the el cap?

 

[sixesandsevens]

The MLJr looks perfect for me, but I love that the El Capistan has built-in reverb. Can it do percussive rhythmic delays, along with its ambient and tape delays? I know they are very different pedals (one is digital emulating analog, and the other is tape), but I'm honestly not looking for a specific type of delay, and both of these are top notch. I'm just gonna choose the one that can cover the most ground between these 2. Hope that makes sense. Thanks!

Any delay should be able to do rhythmic delays. You just need to set your mix high enough for the repeats to be close to the level of the dry tone, set the delay time so that the echoes arrive on schedule, and set the feedback so that you don't end up with more repeats than you can manage in your rhythm.

The MLjr's tap tempo has some convenience features that I don't think the El Cap has (e.g. tapping quarter notes and have repeats set to dotted eighths), but you can teach yourself to tap the right tempo to get the same rhythmic effects.

Objectively, it looks like with the reverb on the EC and its ability to do multi-tap delay lines, act as a sound-on-sound looper, take expression pedal input, and store a preset with the favorite switch the EC covers more ground.

But, I'm sure you can't go wrong either way!