EarthQuaker Devices releases Legacy Reissue of the Disaster Transport Delay Modulation Machine in a new format with a 3,500 unit Limited Run

Those eagle-eyed among you will already have seen a specialist release of this pedal in the USA - as a signature pedal for multi-talented artist Pieter ’Parra’ Janssen who also did the colourful artwork for that pedal (pictured further below). While in Europe and the rest of the World we’re getting the new Standard edition - which essentially flips the original pedal onto its side and adds a couple of extra switch options.

Disaster Transport Timeline

• 2007 original Disaster Transport
• 2010 Disaster Transport JR
• 2013 Disaster Transport SR
• 2023 Disaster Transport Limited Legacy Reissues - Standard (3,500) and Parra Edition (500)

Controls - Speed, Intensity, Mix, Repeats, Time, Mod Speed : Slow / Fast / Moderate, Mod Mode : Bend / Stretch, Modulate Footswitch, Activate Footswitch.

This is supposedly a one-time only re-issue release of this pedal - only those 3,500 Standard and 500 Parra editions will ever be sold. This resurrects one of EQD’s very first original pedals in a feature-enhanced and refined format - with all of that impressive sonic legacy finely absorbed into said new unit.

"This limited edition version of the Disaster Transport pedal has been redesigned so the delay line reduces the noise floor and improves the quality of the delay. The output is boosted with a cleaner mixing section and it’s now filtered to sound more like an analog delay than any of the previous versions. This delay pedal sits perfectly in the background with more of an evolved ambience to it, but it can be dialled in for more of a dramatic effect of your choosing."

"A Mod Mode switch has been added that allows you to choose between Bending (Bend) and Stretching (Stretch) the modulation wave. The Bend setting offers a subtler vibe closer to a traditional chorus sound, while the new Stretch option gives you loads of pitch-stretching modulation to run wild with. The newly added Mod Speed three-position toggle switch offers Slow (S), Fast (F), and Medium (M) settings."

"The newly designed enclosure features knobs to control the Speed, Intensity, Mix, Repeats, and Time, with Modulate and Activate Switches, making this a highly customizable pedal to get the delay sound of your dreams. Thanks to the ramp modulation circuitry, you can turn the delay time down and start to use feedback and modulation at a higher setting to harness a bizarre modulator and achieve subtle to wild chorus-type effects. Or set your delay time how you want to set it and use your modulation rates to set your tempo, so you can strum or pluck to the climbs and drop-offs to match your riffs. The possibilities are endless."

I personally prefer the more pedalboard-friendly vertical orientation of the original pedal - and wonder why EQD didn’t think to follow that up in similar fashion - I guess you now have 4 very different and distinct looking devices which each references a separate era of the pedal. While there’s a lot more competition for this kind of effect nowadays - like for instance the recent compact Diamond Memory Lane reissue.

EQD pedals always sound great - so it’s a matter of format and feature set really for most in this context. I’ve obviously just recently acquired 4 Modulated Digital Delay pedals - so I’m not personally in any great hurry to get another - and I generally feel I have better options already versus this re-issue.

I’ve never felt that the artwork / aesthetic for this pedal was particularly inspiring (bar the Parra version) - and the monochrome aesthetic looks somewhat industrial I guess. Decent for EQD completists I supposed - but I’m not sure how competitive this device is with everything else that is out there already. Form factor and feature set are typically the deciders here beyond brand loyalty - where this isn’t the most pedalboard-friendly of enclosures. Will be interesting to see what the uptake will be.

The unit retails for a fairly reasonable price in the USA, but is marginally high elsewhere - $219 / €269 / £235. Should be available imminently at major dealers - of course in fairly limited quantities. And if you want one of the 500 ’Parra’ Editions (as pictured below) you will need to head over to Reverb.com for that - where that one retails at the slightly higher $249 + Shipping! Note that there is seemingly no shipping option for the Parra edition outside of the USA!