Roland RE-301 Chorus-Echo S/N #775006

I purchased this amazing unit serviced/ mint while living in Japan in 2008

Its 110 V so needs a transformer for 220v

If you're into anachronisms like stupid-high wattage tube amps or original Univibe sounds, there's nothing quite like an early tape delay. The dark, over-saturated sound and increasingly distorted reverberations are pretty hard to replicate digitally.

I am only the second owner

Hardly used by me-it had new tapes and spare but after 15 years these may need replacing- many 301 tapes available new on E Bay $15-20

This was the machine made after RE-201. Its title suggests that the chorus effect is added. It is a good, rich sounding, analog chorus. The basic concept of the RE-201 is preserved. The spring reverb is still there, few controls are modified and few added, while the simplicity of the RE-201's layout is preserved. Nice analog VU-meter for the level control is also the same, but electronics developed to more complicated design, leaving the discrete, transistor based solutions of the RE-201!

The 301 is for me the best of the RE series. Not too dirty as the 201 and not to clean as the 505. Repairing them is fairly simple. Get 2 of them and live forever in the stereo tape delay paradise with left and right with slight different timings. Oh and the chorus and reverb will also become stereo. Just amazing. When no fx needed from this box you can also use it only a tape saturator with a few simple steps (select shortest delay mode fastest motor speed, no feedback, direct signal off, single mode delay switch, output B).201 can not do this

If you're already familiar with the Roland RE-301, this probably isn't anything new.

The 301 is the queen of the original Roland tape delays, and includes a spring reverb and electronic chorus.

Compared to the 101 and 201, it also has the addition of a play head positioned before the erase head for a "sound-on-sound" function, with the tape taking a slightly wider path around the heads. Unlike the 100 and 200 series units, 301 also utilizes several IC's in the circuitry as amps, clocks, LFO sources, and motor controls in addition to discrete components and amplifiers.

The later 501/555 represented an upgraded version of the 301's functions with more advanced electronic noise control, a rather different head arrangement, and more printed-circuit mounted components for easier production.

Like the 201, the 301 has a spring reverb tank, but it's by default available in any of the tape-head playback modes.

The reverbs used in the Rolands are a little peculiar and not especially clean sounding at higher volumes. They're also very sensitive to the electrical connections being tight and well-grounded, and even to their box-mounting screws being tightened just right. Echofix stocks a drop-in replacement.

The 301 also has a fixed-rate, electronic chorus. It's presumably the same one from the DC-50, though I think it maybe sounds a little better, with a nice 80's vibe. It has an on/off switch and a separate intensity control which is its only adjustment. The 301's “sound-on-sound” feature allows incoming sounds left on the big tape loop to be played back before being erased, like a sort of primitive looper. I have yet to find any real use for the effect, and it's rather difficult to time.

The 301 has three 1/4" inputs, each of which can be adjusted separately for volume, and set at -20, -35, or -50 dB for mic, instrument or source inputs.

The dry signal can also be switched out so that only the delayed tape sound and effects can be heard. There are two 1/4" outputs. When both outputs are used, only the direct signal with reverb and chorus will be sent to the "A" channel, and chorus and any echoes or sound-on-sound effects will be sent to the "B" channel. This can create an interesting stereo-like effect through two amps. The tape delay effect can also be switched off and an instrument played with no effects through the 301's amplifier (not “true bypass”) as long as the unit is powered. However, the tape will continue to cycle, so a popular mod to these is a cutoff switch to the pinch-roller solenoid.

Things to watch for: In general, if you're serious about a tape delay, be forewarned that they're fussy, don't like to sit around, and require maintenance when used. Echofix is a good source for Roland maintenance parts and information, but it still takes a modest amount of comfort around machines to work on them.

It doesn't hurt to have a little electronics background either, and these are high-voltage devices that will kill you (or themselves) if you shove a screwdriver or a finger into the wrong place while they're plugged-in. In my experience, however, 90% of problems in Space Echoes are due to loose connectors... which can literally vibrate apart during a loud gig.

Ground noise issues are almost always a connection problem.

Weak echoes seem to be a characteristic of newer replacement tapes.

Models sold in various countries were also equipped with non-adjustable, voltage-appropriate transformers, so foreign models will probably require either an adapter or a power transformer swap. (Japan runs on 110-volts.) I

This big and comparatively complicated RE-301 might be better suited to studio use than to live travel. I The machines can also be a little unpredictable, sometimes doing odd things like suddenly fluttering or reverberating a tape-splice joint into the music.

But that's part of what makes them sound so cool in a low-fi sort of way. I've tried a lot of pedal alternatives. And to be honest, there are some I really like. But for me, the tape equipment still justifies the space (and time) it occupies.

Thanks for looking!