Anyone have experience with either the Hall & Collins Echo or the Stanley FX Blue Nebula? Both seem to be really capable of nailing the Hank Marvin Shadow tones although one is quite a bit pricer than the other. Just looking for thoughts about either or both. Neither is currently in stock and seem to sell out as soon as they become available. Anyone know of a used one for sale?
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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »
Hall & Collins Echo vs. Stanley FX Blue Nebula - Opinions please.
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Joined: Sep 29, 2007 Posts: 500 Sacto, CA 
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Posted on Nov 15 2018 07:05 AM
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Joined: Jun 20, 2016 Posts: 15 |
Posted on Nov 15 2018 09:03 AM
Hey, I recently picked up the StanleyFX Baby Blue Echo, which I believe is the less expensive predecessor to the Nebula. I haven't compared it with other pedals (other than viewing on-line demos), but I think it nails the Marvin sound. If they're no longer in stock, I guess I got lucky with my timing, but the guy who makes them was very helpful in describing the unit to me before I bought it, and unless you've already asked, might be willing to put you on a wait list for when he makes more. http://www.stanleyfx.co.uk/ mb |
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Joined: Sep 29, 2007 Posts: 500 Sacto, CA
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Posted on Nov 15 2018 11:08 AM
Thanks mb. So, you are happy with yours? I did email Stanley FX and got a response that the Blue Nebulas should be available soon but the Baby Blue is on an indefinite hold waiting on a supplier. Hall & Collins also will take an order and fulfill it as soon as new units are ready. I'm still in the investigation stage. |
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Joined: Jun 20, 2016 Posts: 15 |
Posted on Nov 15 2018 11:51 AM
Yes, I'm really happy with it so far, but I've yet to hear what it sounds like in the mix, when I use it in rehearsal with the rest of the band. Playing by myself, it sounds great, and makes we want to play more Shadows tunes. You should be able to find some stuff on the Stanley web site and on youtube that should give you a pretty good idea of the sound you can expect. When I did my research, I thought it sounded a lot better than some other similar units. I can't remember what I thought in comparison with Hall & Collins, but I might not have looked too closely at that one due to either price or availability. |
Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4125 Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ.
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Posted on Nov 17 2018 03:02 PM
I’ve never seen the Hall and Collins, but I have a Blue Nebula and am very please with it. It’s fsirly easy to setup patches and if you edit on a computer, you can make up a solnglist with associated patches in any order you want, using the song titles as patch names. That way, you can just scroll from one song to the next without any hassle using the footswitches on the pedal, so it takes the place of a paper songlist. (You can also do this on the pedal, but editing your patches on a computer is much easier.) The quality of the effects in the Blue Nebula is excellent and the Hank Marvin presets are a great starting point. With a little bit of configuration, you can add phase shifting, chorus and even flanging. It’s a highly programmable piece of equipment and can do quite a number of things. While it does not come with a spring reverb emulation, the plate reverb emulates Abbey Road’s plate reverb and is an excellent sounding reverb. Cranked up, it will drip. —The artist formerly known as: Synchro When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar. |
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Joined: Sep 29, 2007 Posts: 500 Sacto, CA
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Posted on Nov 17 2018 03:27 PM
Thanks for the feedback so far. I know that Martin Cilla endorses the Hall & Collins. The downside to that pedal is the (much) higher price. As far as surf drip goes, that's not what I'm looking for. It is the Marvin/Shadows tones that I'm shooting for. Up to now I haven't found anything else that will do it. I can come up with an acceptable echo/delay with the Strymon El Capistan but it is only close and not exactly what I hope to hear. I'm not crazy about the programming aspect of either pedal. I'm more of a "set it and forget it" kind of player but the ability to create other patches is definitely worth having. _ |
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Joined: Feb 02, 2008 Posts: 4125 Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ.
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Posted on Nov 17 2018 05:02 PM
Rob_J wrote:
The good thing about it is that however you set it up, you can set it and forget it once you’ve created the patches. Even better, the Hank Marvin patches are hard coded, so you don’t have to do a thing with them, although you can easily copy them if you want to place them in a different order on the device. If you’ve ever written a simple script or made a batch file, you can open the configuration files for the Blue Nebula and cut and paste settings fairly easily. It was quite straightforward, but you can also use their patch editor and acccomplish the same thing without touching any config files. Even if you botch it, you can always do a reset and the factory patches will be there, ready to use, and there are some dandies, including the Hank patches and some others. Either way, you’ll need a USB cable with a mini end. I have to say that the Blue Nebula is a very good pedal and I can recommend it without reservation. The guys supporting it are great, as well. —The artist formerly known as: Synchro When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar. |
Joined: Mar 07, 2010 Posts: 2226 North Carolina
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Posted on Nov 18 2018 09:05 AM
A few things to be noted about the Hall & Collins unit: It has many styles of delay to represent a variety of models used in Hank’s/the Shadows catalogue. From the manual: ECHOMATIC Each of those have multiple presets (64 in total) providing many options without any editing required. The creators have gone to great lenth to index that variety for anyone trying to get the specific vibe, feel, sound. There are 4 pages on the website of ‘for this song, use that patch’. Per the creators, an important ‘secret ingredient’ is the pre-amp of the vintage units. The Hall & Collins Signature Echo has an analog pre-amp tuned to recreate the Echomatic 2 pre-amp too. —Fady El Mirage @ ReverbNation |
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