Boss unveils two digital delay pedals based on the classic Roland SDE-3000 rack unit – and one is a special edition Eddie Van Halen model

Boss could be on a roll when it comes to reissuing classics from Roland history for today's pedalboards – we're looking at the RE-202 Space Echo in particular. The new SDE-3000D and SDE-3000EVH move the focus to 1983, and a unit that was released in the midst of the revolution of digital processing in studio gear. In this case, the Roland SDE-3000 studio dual delay heard on classic albums, and now at your feet.

These two delay pedals encompass a standard model and one voiced to recreate Eddie Van Halen's stage settings – and that one features the iconic Van Halen stripes too.  

As Boss notes, the evergreen appeal of the SDE-3000 lies in its "complex internal digital processing coupled with nonlinear behaviors from the supporting analog circuitry".  It's got character thanks to adjustable delay phasing and modulation response, and the technicians as Boss spent a long time recreating this for a floor pedal. And expanding its capabilities too. 

Unlike the mono original, the new SDE3000D offers series or parallel operation for its dual delays, with independent settings, and mono or stereo modulation on each. At the same time, "nearly every parameter" from the original is accessible here too with a retro interface offering familiarity to original SDE3000 users. 

Now you also get 100 user memories, flexible I/O and MIDI, coupled with portability that offers a real evolution from the rackmounted unit that started it all. 

The SDE-3000EVH offers all that, with some Eddie touches. The EVH brand and Boss worked together so this special edition pedal would capture an authentic take on the stereo delays Eddie Van Halen’s used with his three-cabinet wet/dry/wet stage guitar rig onstage in the early '90s. Another area where the late legend was a trailblazer in his rig, aside from his playing.

"[Eddie used] a dry path from a single amplifier in the center cabinet and left and right cabinets amplified with wet-only delay effects for a wide, multi-dimensional soundstage," Boss notes. "The Roland SDE-3000 delays were perfect for his needs and remained core components of his stage rig throughout his long career."

The idea of pedal to recreate the delay side was a few years in the making. “Ed always really enjoyed seeing what people did with certain things he created,” said Matt Bruck, EVH Managing Director. “We thought it would be cool to enshrine his unique delay approach and let others find their own inspiration with it.”

The SDE-3000EVH is now filled with "exact sonic replicas of his presets" that offers a streamlined solution to the two SDE-3000 units he would use thanks to the versatile output options of the new pedal. 

The eight EVH presets include four presets designed for a wet/dry/wet setup plus four presets adapted for a standard stereo amplifier setup. “The EVH presets are exactly like the presets in Eddie’s rack,” Bruck explained. “There’s no difference in mix levels, input levels, or delay times – it's one-to-one.”

The BOSS SDE-3000D and SDE-3000EVH are available for $499 / £449 and $599 / £539 respectively. Preorder from Andertons, Guitar Guitar and Sweetwater.