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Hi John;
Glad to see you're into all this stuff -it's a lot of fun, for sure.
However, I must say that I can be of absolutely no help as far as all
these other echo units go - haven't tried any of them. I'm aware of
some the newer real tape echo units, but I don't think any of them
have the multi-head setup, and therefore are incapable of producing
the necessary Shadows echos. I could be wrong, though... As far as
the digital units, I've heard of all of these that you mention, but
never had a chance to try them. Basically what I did is kept reading
the discussions on the Shadows lists about the relative virtues of
different units, and the overwhelmingly general consensus was the
EFTP/Zoom unit was an absolutely incredible bang for the buck. So I
bought it. I am very happy with the sound. I played through one
specialized, 'custom' digital unit (I don't remember its name, sadly)
when in England for Shadowmania 2000, and the sound of that really
blew me away - I think it was better than my Zoom but I don't think
my memory here is totally reliable, since I didn't compare them side-
by-side. However, for my Troubadours gig the Zoom's been near
perfect. I like the fact that it's all preset, and during the gig I
don't have to mess with the settings - just change the patch with the
MIDI pedalboard.
I have done very minor programming changes, but given the fact that
it already came preset with these highly specialized settings for
Shadows songs, it's completely unnecessary for me to engage in any
great editing. And I haven't been doing any original music in a
while (hopefully that'll change soon), so I don't need to tweak it
for that. quite honestly, I don't think I would use this unit for
anything else but just straight Shadows stuff. I want immediate
access to all parameters when I'm creating my own music, so I prefer
pedals with knobs. For my Space Cossacks stuff my Korg Dynamic Echo
pedal was fantastic, sounds great, very flexible (though no
multitap/staggered echos), sturdy, batteries last a long time, and it
has two easily editable presets. However, I'm very curious about the
Akai Headrush, since it may be able to do decent staggered echos
according to what I read about it. I also prefer pedals to rack-
mounted stuff, which is just a pain the...
As far as the Atlantis echo, I know there's been a fair amount of
discussion of it on the Shadows board. My understanding is that it's
absolutely excellent, from what i remember. They're used by several
people HEAVILY into 'that sound'. There are several other similar
units that are worth looking into. The two that immediately come to
mind are Amtech AGE-1 and AGE-PRO. Check 'em out.
Ivan
--- In , "ohsyrus" <ohsyrus@y...> wrote:
> Ivan,
> I read your remarks about EFTP with great interest. I too, am an
> echoplex freak, and am totally sick and tired of dealing with
antique
> units. There is a Guyatone unit which is quite good. And Fulltone is
> comeing out with a real tape delay unit as well. I have heard
rumours
> that Mike Battle is going into production with a new model, but I
will
> believe it when I see it. I currently use the H&K Replex,(as well as
> the Gibson Echoplex) which I think sounds pretty good, but only has
> two heads. I went to the Shadows sites and read up on their opinions
> about various muti-tap delays out there. I see that the spec sheet
for
> the Zoom RFX2000 looks fairly impressive for a cheap digital unit--I
> just never had such a good opinion of Zoom stuff. I am even pretty
> critical of more expensive Lexicon and TC Electronic units, that is,
> until you get to the G-Force and G2 levels. One of the good aspects
> to the Zoom model appears to be the patch editor software that is
> included, plus, they are less than $200 on line. There is a new
delay
> pedal from Yamaha, the UD Stomp, that is getting some rave reviews
> from some players. I read that EFTP had evaluated it against the
Zoom,
> and gone with the Zoom, but then I also read that they would be
coming
> out with patches for the UD Stomp. The UD Stomp has 8 bands which
can
> be programmed and then connected in serial or parallel. It was
> developed in conjunction with Allen Holdsworth. Its spendy, but I
> haven't seen anything quite this versatile without going to the TC
> Electronic 2290 level. Have you heard anything about this unit? You
> seem to have a pretty good opinion of the Zoom unit. Have you tried
to
> program it?
>
> John
>
>
> --- In , "ipongrac" <ipongrac@g...>
wrote:
> > My friend, you've discovered the glory that is old tape echos!
That
> > echo effect you refer to is called 'staggered echo repeats.' It
is a
> > result of multiple playback heads mounted varying distances apart
> > from each other that, when activated, will give echo repeats at
> > different times, thus - staggered echo repeats! Almost all the
> > old/original echo units had something like this. The Shadows and
the
> > Atlantics were famous for making very effective use of this
effect.
> > Some of the most famous echo units from the sixties that were
able to
> > get this effect were made by mostly Italian companies such as
Meazzi
> > and Binson (both used by Hank Marvin) and German companies such
as
> > Klemt (makers of the Echolette used by the Atlantics) and
Dynacord.
> > Dynacord made good echo units, but not as well known as the first
> > three brands. The Shadows addicts have spent a LOT of internet
time
> > discussing all these various echo units. You can explore some of
> > their discussions here:
> >
> >
> >
> > (lots of cool info on Fender guitars and Vox amps on these pages,
> > too, that some readers of this list may enjoy.)
> >
> > Just make sure you keep digging back into the archives, cause
they
> > pretty much exhausted all topics related to echo units a few
years
> > ago. :)
> >
> > This is an effect that isn't easy to get with modern equipment.
I
> > know of maybe one or two echo pedals that were able to reproduce
> > this, and they're now discontinued (Zoom 508 and maybe Akai
> > Headrush). Modern rack effects can approach the effect by
> > programming the so-called 'multi-tap' delays with proper echo
times.
> > But this is a big pain in the ass, and you still don't get the
warm
> > treble-degradation that tapes do naturally, which adds so much to
the
> > tone. However, as these staggered echos are absolutely key for
any
> > self-respecting Hank Marvin wannabe, the markets have - as
expected -
> > responded! There is a company called Echos From the Past that
> > programs a Zoom RFX 2000 unit with identical sounding echos as
the
> > old ones. It's a British company, and you can find their website
> > here:
> >
> >
> >
> > I have one of these Zoom units programmed by them, and it was
worth
> > every penny, absolutely fantastic! It was about $450, if I
recall
> > correctly. They researched dozens of old tape echo units, and
built
> > in all the nuances of those machines, without their
unreliability!
> > You see, the problem with those units is that they are very rare,
and
> > very expensive, but mostly very OLD! How many tape players over
20
> > years old are still working? And most of these echo machines are
> > over 40 years old! Moving parts wear out over the period of
time,
> > and maintenance is a big pain, as well. So, people are looking
to
> > the digital realm to solve this problem - and it's been done.
It's
> > not as cool as the old tape units, but it's a lot more
convenient.
> >
> > Anyway, I hope that helps.
> > Ivan
> >
> > --- In , "kahunatikiman"
<chris@b...>
> > wrote:
> > > Last night, I went and saw Bolder Bob and his band , the
Beloved
> > > Invaders, play in Denver. AWESOME!!! Every time I see them
they
> > get
> > > better, and they were fantastic to begin with! Bob blows me
away
> > > everytime, and they have the tightest rhythm section I have
ever
> > > heard. Anyway, Bob uses an effect called a DynaChord, which
> > gives
> > > his guitar an tape echo effect that sounds great. I have
tried
> > > reproducing the sound using a danelectro dan-echo, but it isn't
the
> > > same. Bob's echo speeds up as it fades. Anyone know a good
> > (cheap)
> > > alternative to get this sound without spending a few hundred
bucks
> > on
> > > a Dynacord? I saw the Danelectro Reel Echo box, but I read
> > reviews
> > > and it didn't sound too good.
