I wanted to share an interesting story and historical piece for you, our dear readers. First some background on the Echoplex tape echo. If you haven’t played through an Echoplex, they are truly legendary tape echo units and should be experienced. In the 1960s and 1970s, when you wanted echo, tape echo was the way to do it. When smaller solid state echo pedals emerged during the mid ‘70s using Bucket Brigade Device (BBD) technology, they were convenient, but lacked the ability to produce long repeat times versus what a tape delay could offer (most analog solid state delay pedals were limited to just 300ms. of delay time). They also sounded different.
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Tag Archives: tape delay
The Keeley Dark Side Workstation: Fuzz, Phaser, Univibe, Rotary, Flanger Multi-head tape delay
The new addition to the Keeley line is an homage to the mid-70s David Gilmour sound, resting comfortably in the classic Dark Side to Animals (even The Wall) period of the Pink Floyd guitarist’s work. As with Keeley’s recent Jimi Hendrix-inspired Monterey pedal, the Dark Side sports beautiful workmanship, low noise, a great layout and a cornucopia of features. There’s a lot to cover, so I’ll plug in a stock early 70s Strat (I had to for this pedal!) to a clean Fender-style amp and put the Dark Side into play.
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What Kind of Delay Pedal Should I Buy?
When shopping for delay boxes, it seems that there are many more different options today than ever before. The vintage market is still booming, and prices of basic analog delay boxes reflect this trend with skyrocketing prices. But are the old analog delays worth the hype? Counter that trend with digital delays, the very cool must-have tools back in the ‘80s. Nowadays, digital delays in the used market can be found at true bargain prices. But what about this talk about them being sterile and lifeless?
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Hughes & Kettner Replex Tape Delay Simulator
The Hughes & Kettner products as we all know are aimed for the professional or rich musicians out there. They don’t kid around when it comes to tone, durability, and looks. I will be the first to admit that before I even took this item out of the box, I had extremely high expectations based on the price.
The Hughes and Kettner Replex Tape Delay Simulator is a tube-driven Digital Analog tape delay simulator. What does that mean? The overall delay is a digital signal, but it is "warmed up" with a simple 12AX7 pre-amp tube. "Simulator" means that this unit has no actual analog or tape delay to it, but rather the inconsistencies of an analog tape delay are simulated digitally.
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