Catalinbread Echorec Pedal

[dave robinson]

Thanks Ade, that stuff about the timings of the heads is useful to know and shows that my ears are in the ball park. I know that they are not the correct settings but I too think they sound good, a punter would never hear the difference.
I'd be interested to hear more of your experiences with this machine as I'm sure would many others.

[Didier]

The program knob is used to select the virtual heads :

Position 11 : heads 1,3,4

Position 9 : heads 2,3,4

Position 7 : heads 1,4

See there for all settings : http://www.catalinbread.com/ECHORECmanual.pdf

Didier

[dave robinson]

The program knob is used to select the virtual heads :

Position 11 : heads 1,3,4

Position 9 : heads 2,3,4

Position 7 : heads 1,4

See there for all settings : http://www.catalinbread.com/ECHORECmanual.pdf

Didier

I already had done thanks.

[RayL]

In a rehearsal or a recording situation there is plenty of time to reset the controls. However, for 'front line' use on stage it seems less practical unless the same setting is used for the whole show - and for accurate versions of different Shadows numbers different settings are essential. To have to grovel on the floor in between numbers looks less than professional and in a fast-moving show there isn't the time anyway.

Has there been any pressure on the makers to produce a rack-mounted version with User Presets added? Different settings would be programmed in advance. Then, in the show, they could be called up by tapping a footswitch unit (which means the hands stay on the guitar and the eyes maintain contact with the audience).

In any device with rotary analogue controls it is difficult to set the knob back to exactly the same place (and I notice that Mix, Swell, Tone and Delay Time don't have any proper calibration markings), so even for rehearsal or recording some User Presets would seem useful as time-savers.

[dave robinson]

I agree with what Ray says. The unit as it is would be a nightmare to use in a fast moving show such as our own.
I bought this to play with during leisure time.

[neil2726]

Used mine for a few shads numbers on stage and had it on top of my amp - bad back prevents "groveling on the floor"
Easy to change a few settings that way.

[Didier]

As I have been able to watch, in the early sixties, Hank used only one setting on his Meazzi for a whole concert, and it was perfect like that !

Didier

[Garystrat]

I think Didier is probably right, trying to constantly adjust true tape echoes (non digital) back in the day for live performances would have been quite a task, much of what our ears tell us to be the right echo in respect of individual recordings of “That Sound” was more than likely studio achieved at that time. In the studio they would have had ways of measuring, servicing expertise and time to tweak settings, but due to the mechanical, analogue and tape nature of the kit there were was likely potential to get minor variations in any case.

In the interview Hank did for Guitarist Magazine it was quite telling that he said that he liked the Binson EC3, but it was noisy and he moved on to the Roland RE 301, he described the Roland clarity as being very good, but lacking in character. Drawing conclusions from this would suggested that the Binson EC3 had the sort of character and tonal reference he was seeking, but other factors like increased noise levels were not to his liking. In my view the Catlinbread Echorec has overcome the limitations of the original Binson designs, but has retained the tonal flavour and is more flexible.

He also described his trademark echo as the favoured starting point for new numbers, but exercised caution as they didn’t always suit the tempo and could sound cluttered. Based on personal learning curve, I think there is a temptation to over saturate echo effects to get what one perceives to be a good Hank sound, for me the nature of the Catlinbread Echorec needing to be carefully tweaked tends to create more awareness in this respect and I have found that it has the edge on character that I felt was missing on other units I have used in the past.

I am fortunate enough to have experienced and recorded an original Meazzi, many things can be closely emulated in the digital world, but to me there is still a clinical element and the Echorec gets very close to the reactive response and organic presence that I have been seeking for a long time. I did follow the recommendation of not having a buffered pedal in front of the echo, this does seems to improve the reactive response to playing.

Gary

[StuartD]

Hi

Hank used only one setting on his Binson.

He used No 9 on the switch, the two inner knobs were set at 2:00pm and he varied the input from 0 - for Nivram, to 11:00 pm for such as Dance on and Foot Tapper and again 2:00 pm for Apache, Somewhere etc.

Regards

Stu

[AlanMcKillop]

The Catalinbread Echorec would only be a problem if you wanted to try and get the 'correct echo' (whatever that is) for each of the tunes you were playing.
A couple of settings, maybe adjusting the swell (echo level) would be all that was needed for the average set and away you go.
As part of the Games festivities, a few of us braved the Glasgow elements yesterday to watch Moonlight Shadows perform at an outdoor gig. The lead guitarist sounded as though he had a digital pedal with it set at a couple of repeats and a lot of compression. Yeah, we noticed what was wrong, but I don't think too many others who were listening did, so what does it really matter?