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kenposurf wrote:..or get another Fulltone REAL tape echo

I recall a while back when you were getting one of these units, George... but I don't recall you getting rid of it.

Didn't like it? Was it "overkill" for your needs? Or...?

Just curious. . .

sir_andrew_of_left_coast wrote:

kenposurf wrote:..or get another Fulltone REAL tape echo

I recall a while back when you were getting one of these units, George... but I don't recall you getting rid of it.

Didn't like it? Was it "overkill" for your needs? Or...?

Just curious. . .

Legit question! At that time, I was only using the Fulltone to give me a quick repeat at the end of single line runs...seemed silly to have a $1000.00+ unit just for that so flipped it. Lately I've been trying to improve my take on a few songs..Sleepwalk, Ghost Riders In The Sky and Apache soooo started to go back in that direction some. For the moment, I think I'll stick to my basic setup of guitar-reverb unit-amp..unless....

George: Isn't it funny how we go through different phases and find that sometimes old is new again.

With regard to Sleepwalk, Ghost Rider and similar "echo songs", let's throw in Apache while we are at it, I would think that you may be interested in the "Shadows patches" created by Charlie Hall. They are install from you PC. The process is quite straightforward and there are public domain patches on line as well.

The most inexpensive format to the patches is the Yamaha Magic Stomp These units are no longer produced but are available on line and of course, on eBay.

Should you get the opportunity to try out a Yamaha Magic Stomp (how horrible a marketing name is that) you will be very disappointed as the default patches are very poor. The install patches by Charlie Hall and others are, however, excellent. The Magic Stomp can be picked up most time for $100 to $200 US and the patches will cost you $50. At the end of the day you are fully equipped to do a credible job on a lot of 1960s tracks that use echo effects. The units are also well built and quite rugged, even for a surf rider.

P.S. The only demonstration that I have heard on line that seems to do the job "like the old days" is the Fulltone.

Thank you, George, for your comments about the RE-20. I had thought about this one, too, until I found out, that the tape echo of the DD-20 is almost the same as that of the RE-20´s basic programs. The only difference is that you can control the DD-20 more precisely and that it does not have a built in reverb.

As far as I am concerned I am going to stick with my DD-20 and the spring reverb inside of my VOX amp.

Markus: Do you have any comments regarding the DD-20 beyond the tape echo setting.

admin wrote:Markus: Do you have any comments regarding the DD-20 beyond the tape echo setting.

Well, the DD-20 is very versatile and you can get almost every delay sound you can think of. But the major strength is the way you can control this unit. You can either set the delay time precisely or set the beats per minute or use the tap tempo function. What is more there is a memory for 4 of your own presets.

I do use the tape echo all the time. The analogue delay emulation does also sound very convincing and the "normal" digital programs are absolutely clean. For some people the dual mode might be interesting. With this mode you can get these U2 like sounds.

I do not notice any negative effects on my guitar sound with the DD-20, no matter whether the effect is on or bypassed. It is not a true bypass but I am very sceptical whether true bypasses are as good as most people seem to think. And I do not notice any noise from the DD-20.

Markus: Thanks for this review. There is great value in comparing notes.

Just for the fun of it I have bought a cheap Chinese made analogue delay on ebay recently. This thing is called Biyang AD-7. It is a true analogue delay and its sound is heavily coloured - not natural at all - but not sounding bad either. Similar to an old Ibanez analogue delay, I think. The only problem is that you can hardly control the delay time. If you turn down the "Time" control you are at about 20 ms and if it is turned up a third you are at about 300 ms already. Aside from that it is surprising how much quality the Chinese can offer for so little money.

Markus: I believe you are correct, this Chinese model by nature of the name alone suggests it is modeled after the Ibanez delays of the early 1980s with the AD prefix. Of course, these same circuits began with Maxon in the 1970s, again with the AD prefix.

It must be said that the Chinese price is right. However, as the end of the day if you cannot have control over the delay signal what have you got?

I like the analog delays over the digital for tone, but when it comes to control, the latter are the winners. Your "Sleepwalk" delay, for example, is hard to beat.

admin wrote:I like the analog delays over the digital for tone, but when it comes to control, the latter are the winners. Your "Sleepwalk" delay, for example, is hard to beat.

Thank you. I agree. And I think that the modern tape delay emulations by Roland and BOSS are so good that you can hardly tell a difference to a vintage tape echo concerning the tone - except for the fact that you will not get hiss and noise.

Next for me will be a Yamaha Magic Stomp and will add the Charlie Hall patches...I need things to be pretty much plug in and play....

George: At the end of the day, getting the Marvin sound remains a daunting task. Below is a photo of him on stage with Cliff Richard in 1995. You will notice the effects he is using and that he has gone to a little trouble.

admin wrote:George: At the end of the day, getting the Marvin sound remains a daunting task. Below is a photo of him on stage with Cliff Richard in 1995. You will notice the effects he is using and that he has gone to a little trouble.

marvingear.jpg

Well said Peter
I imagine a whole thread could be created re: the tone quest of one trying to emulate a particular artist...a fact not lost of the digital manufacture market. Hendrix is not too tough with the proper fuzz, microverb, octave and wah...the list goes on. Seems like the best bet is to get the general tone of the artist and then let some of yourself come through. I can pretty much nail Dick Dale's tone with my setup but to sound "exactly" the same would require cranking the dual showman to 7-8 where is starts to bloom and replacing my set of 11's with Dicks set ...16-18-20-38-48-58 in order to get that extreme percussive sound ! Dick has two tones he uses 99% of the time.
Hank Marvin is a challenge as he seems to employ so many different voicing for his songs....echo based yes..but different!
Hank Marvin's