Monday, May 14, 2007

The Echo Box

what makes an Echorec original, special, warm etc ... is the fact it will color your tone to death ...
Why you may ask ? because the machine is an oil filled Echo monster that swells and oozes analog Echo !
How does it work you may ask ?

Well .. it's hard to explain in layman's terms but here is my attempt. At the core of the Echorec is a ''' wheel '' of sorts, a disc of other sorts ! who acts as an ancient '' Hard Drive '' with at it's periphery a set of '' heads '' that transmitted the sound and repeated it at different lengths depending on their placement. the Echorec had the particularity of swell controllers which gave the Echo that specific '' blurble '' of a tone.
The Echorec was a spectacularly sounding device as can be heard on tracks like Interstellar overdrive and Astronomy Domine, it's interesting to note that rumours had Syd Barrett placing 2 different Echorecs in 2 different Amps to have a more 360 degree sound ! but who knows ... Rumours, Rumours ...

Another rumoured Echo Machine was the WEM Copicat, an Echo box that utlized tape and had alot of warmth to it !
SYD ENTHUSIAST MUST BUY VALUE - 3/10

Don'T waste your time on old unreliable echo boxes, although they sound unique and warm, there are pedals out there right now who quite simply make these pedals sound like a sick dog, recently I came across the T-Rex Replica, who although quite expensive is an absolutely gorgeous delay paddle for a third the price of an Echorec, did I mention it doesn't leak oil, crack, pop and need tube replacing ? Those echo boxes were great ! but for the cost and maintenance, go buy yourself that Custom Shop Esquire you've been dreaming about !

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