Does anyone here have a lot of experience with real tape echo units, like old Space Echoes?
I recently realized that this might be one of the few pieces of gear that I have lusted after forever that have never owned. Every time I think about getting one, I get worried about maintenance and having a giant paperweight on my shelf.
How hard/expensive are they to maintain? What has your experience been with getting them serviced? Are they more trouble than they are worth?
I’ve got an original RE-201 (serviced by echo fix) and an EF-X2 by echo fix. The RE-201 is my favourite piece of studio gear, nothing in the box comes close. The echo fix unit is fantastic and has a phenomenal spring reverb, and of course is brand new. The delay is quite clean compared with the RE-201 which with age naturally sounds a bit more grungy. Get one or both, they will change your life!
This is a very reasonable worry. I have bought and owned many, but quite a lot of them have been difficult to maintain or repair, and some have indeed ended up propping a door open.
However, this is not necessarily always the case. The Roland units were extremely well-built and many units are still going strong after decades. Plus, you can still get repairs, spare parts, even new tapes.
Ditto for the Echoplex. My dearly-missed EP-3 was well-made, and easy to maintain and there are plenty of vendors out there who sell parts and tape cartridges.
Currently, I have four tape echoes, one relatively modern and three vintage. The oldest is a Brennell unit which may actually have been custom made. I can find no record of the company ever having made such a thing. It is a tube machine and was originally made in the late 1950s or early 1960s. It is in dire need of restoration. It works… barely.
The other vintage units are Space Echo knock-offs from MultiVox. One needs work, and the other could use a bit of maintenance. Tapes for these units are still available, too. Like some Roland’s, they feature echo and reverb, but also sound-on-sound. They aren’t as well-made as a Space Echo, but they are by no means lightweights, either.
Finally, I have a Fulltone Tube Tape Echo. This is a stunner. Ostensibly an Echoplex clone, it is beautifully made. However, if you are in the market, be prepared to buy it new, as Fulltone won’t even sell tape cartridges to secondhand buyers.
There are other new(ish) units out there. I had a couple of T-Rex Repicator Jrs, but the tape width was narrow, and I could never not hear the tape splice. Still, it had tap tempo, and that was pretty damned cool.
There is also the lovely EF-X2 from Echo Fix, which has much of what is most loved about the Space Echo, but in a new machine. I have not seen one in real life, but a friend of mine recently bought one, so I hope to eventually get the chance.
There is nothing quite like a tape echo. You need to be prepared for the quirks of whatever unit you buy, but if you get a good one, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it.
Thanks very much for all of the info. I feel a bit better now.
I think I’ll leave it up to fate. These pop up from time to time fully serviced at reputable shops like Ishibashi Gakki here in Tokyo, although not as often as 5-10 years ago. If I come across one that is fully serviced that I can try out, I think I will take the plunge!
Can I ask how often you need to get them professionally serviced?
I don’t really know, since I do most of my gear repairs/service myself…
I got a fairly cheap tape echo last summer, it’s a Dynacord Echocord Mini. It’s a bit noisy and probably needs servicing. I got some easy enough instructions from the guy I bought it from, also a couple of spare tapes but so far I’ve been happy to just dirty up sounds through the thing, it’s great for that!
However, I haven’t used it all that much to be honest. I’d been dreaming of a Roland or Echoplex tape echo for quite some time but I’m still on the fence about getting one. So far I’ve been prioritizing buying synths. 
Previously on Elektronauts:
I’ve got a Roland space echo and it has never been any problem. Bought a new tape loop but never changed it. I think part of it is the understanding that any “bad” sound is part of the character.
The tape has never worn out on my Volante.
Cheers!
The correct answer is probably to just keep using my Volante.
one thing worth mentioning: depending upon what you’re running through it, and how you’re doing so, you may also need to invest in a re-amping solution to use with the tape echo. running a synth/line level source directly into an RE-201 doesn’t go well. you have to trim it a lot and then make up the gain afterwards. if you’re using it as an effect destination from a mixer it should be fine though.
I’ve had an echoplex ep-3, and used a copicat and echo fix in the studio. EP-3 was really nice while it worked, and the copicat was nice. However, I can’t sing the praises of the Echo Fix. I really should start saving for one! It’s such a beautiful instrument in its own right.
Kinda’ was in the same boat. Every time I look for them online it seems like there are a bunch of well priced ones in Japan compared to the US (good for you though, no?). I was always hesitant about needing a transformer for those. Anyway, this thread kinda’ reminded me that I’ve been wanting to snag one and I found one like a 4 hour drive from me, but I happen to be headed there for work on Tuesday, so… thanks man! Well maintained RE-201 incoming!
On a weird butterfly effect side note, this is the second thing I’ve inadvertently picked up from you… haha. The last was a Lyra8 after playing one at FiveG after asking you where to check out synth stuff in Tokyo. Those should be a killer combo! 
Haha. Congrats and I’ll be careful what I post. 
Let us know how it is!
Will do!
I have a Korg SE-500 (traded in a RE-101 for this one’s endless sound on sound) - as cool as it is, I’ve kind of figured out that analog delay works better for me with the way the wet/dry meld together. Hoping to find a Dynacord VRS23 one day.
I’ve got a Korg Stage Echo SE-500 — it’s absolutely awesome. Real tape delay is something that I just don’t think is well emulated.
My Korg used to develop a frequent and annoying issue… So I had it serviced a couple of times, and I’d suggest you make sure there’s a tech somewhere not too far away from you, you’ll likely need them at some point.
With mine, I eventually figured out that the machine is fine, and the problem was caused by the tape itself! The lesson is: don’t buy tape loops off eBay. Buy them from Echo Fix Australia. More expensive, but the quality is so so much better! My Korg runs great with that.
Also, the Korg has both XLR and Jack’s in / out, plenty of gain / attenuation options for the inputs, and you can use it either with a wet / dry blend or with purely wet output. You can pick which head / combo you want, do sound on sound etc. And it sound BEAUTIFUL!
I’ve got a Hiwatt Custom Tape Echo and it has been great to me. I service my own stuff generally, but other then swapping the tape cartridge, I have not had to do anything to this one. Its much more subtly then the RE201 or the EP3 but it can do tape loop stuff and has top notch preamps. It doesn’t get as much use as it should, but once I get a new mixer I think it is going to live permanently on the Aux send. This unit has a really cool function when it will stop playing if there is no signal but then pick right back up without a hitch. Very cool little box
Weird!? Just been looking into the Echo Fix EF-X2, come on here and this thread has popped up…. It’s a sign hahah.
Anyone tried the Echo Fix EF-X2?
