Echocord

GGJaguar

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From 1964

Dynachord2 1964.jpgDynachord 1964.jpg
 

Canard

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I remember as a little kid there was a local group who played at Battles of the Bands and School Dances. They played clubs, too, but as a kid I couldn't go there. The guitarist and the keyboard player were head and shoulders above anybody else in town.

I used amuse them by standing at the edge of the stage and watching the guitarist and trying to figure out what he was doing and how he was doing it. I didn't care. He was a good guitarist. I would go home a try to replicate what I had observed.

The guitarist had a unit very much like the Echocord, different brand I think. In retrospect, I don't think it was very well maintained or was just of poorer quality. It was noisy - lots of hiss - and it messed up a lot. Things with tape loops are very high maintenance. Still it was a very cool device, one that I coveted greatly.

The Echocord probably wasn't cheap at the time, nor is it cheap now.

 

Midnight Toker

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Listening to that YouTube demo, that unit is very noisy. Especially when changing the push button delay settings, and even when adjusting the speed you hear the motor wind up/down as much as you do the actual tape. In comparison, my old Roland Space Echo runs quiet as a mouse, and engages the multiple playback heads electronically, not mechanically, like this one. I can only see this one as a set it and forget it effects unit, and not something to ever be manipulated while playing/recording/mixing.
 

Walter Broes

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I have a gold-front one in my closet. It needs new caps, tape and tubes, and I keep postponing it because it'll cost me some money to get it where it needs to be. I have a tech who wants to do the work, but he warned me it might cost some b/c they're "ships in a bottle" and not fun to work on.

The major drawback of these is the fixed delay times, the major plus is the killer sounding tube preamp in them - it sounds great at unity gain, but it has enough gain on tap to send even a 100W head into glorious distortion.
 

Midnight Toker

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^ there's a tape echo specialist company is Australia (echofix.com) that has tape loops and upgrade pinch rollers for that unit. They ship very fast. I'd think the cost of caps and tubes would be well worth having a good clean working tape delay (especially one w/ a tube pre!!) as they are currently fetching thousands on the vintage gear market. :unsure:
 

Walter Broes

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The dynacord ones are not in the thousands yet here, you can pick up working revised ones for around 5 to 700 euros...
 

Teleguy61

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I remember as a little kid there was a local group who played at Battles of the Bands and School Dances. They played clubs, too, but as a kid I couldn't go there. The guitarist and the keyboard player were head and shoulders above anybody else in town.

I used amuse them by standing at the edge of the stage and watching the guitarist and trying to figure out what he was doing and how he was doing it. I didn't care. He was a good guitarist. I would go home a try to replicate what I had observed.

The guitarist had a unit very much like the Echocord, different brand I think. In retrospect, I don't think it was very well maintained or was just of poorer quality. It was noisy - lots of hiss - and it messed up a lot. Things with tape loops are very high maintenance. Still it was a very cool device, one that I coveted greatly.

The Echocord probably wasn't cheap at the time, nor is it cheap now.

Binson Echorec was a similar unit, using a magnetic drum instead of tape.
 

Midnight Toker

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Binson Echorec was a similar unit, using a magnetic drum instead of tape.
Yep. While Jimmy Page exclusively used a Maestro Echoplex on stage, Zep,s FOH soundman Rusty Brutsche (co founder of Showco) used Binson Echorec, Vox Long Tom, Roland Space Echo, and an Echoplex. At times, upwards of 3 of the 4 all at the same time!
 

Nuuska

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Next generation Dynacord tape echoes - w plexi face - both share same design flaw : The balance between straight & delayed sound is adjusted before tape - thus the output from tape heads is always on full even when there is no signal.

It is easy rewire for Dynacord Mini - but w Echocord Super a bit more complicated, since there's also the reverb tank.
 
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