Echoplex

If there is one regret I have is that I didn't try one of these back when I played in bands and needed to kick ass every night. This here is an ass kicking machine, my friend.

You know what sits behind Keith Richard's Tweed Twins? One of them fancy pants modern day tube type tape Echo boxes set to slap. Eric Johnson's lead channel (for a while) was a JMP rig with an Echoplex and a tube driver. Then there's Eddie VanHalen, Jimmy Page, Hendrix, I mean, come on. How I completely missed the boat on this is beyond me. I'm sure I read geek articles about all of the gear used back then, but I come from the hills of VA where going to music school and affording fancy pedals were often ridiculed as handicaps rather than creative tools. So I drank the Kool-Aide and tried my best with just a tube screamer or Rat pedal plus a wah and then later on an icky digital delay. 

This is more than a delay, folks, this here is a preamp, tape machine, and warbler device. When I play, I like to have a bit of mystery going on. If I hear every note clear as a bell all the time, I get bored. I have way more fun playing to the effect, or adjusting note choice by way of response to a tone. Like when playing in a reverberant room or an environment that becomes part of the sound as you make it. I just play better that way. 

And the sound of this thing immediately puts me in a head space of "oh my word, this sounds finished" while I'm laying down the take. Like I better not screw up 'cause this is gold.