Andy is back today with another vintage pedal pick from his vault of long-standing favorites. This week, he's checking out the famous Maestro Echoplex EP-3 Solid State tape delay—a pedal that's regularly lived on his board since he was just 15 years old.
Andy's love of the Echoplex all started when he saw Jimmy Page running his theremin through the noisebox in Led Zeppelin's 1976 concert film The Song Remains the Same. Page was able to get all kinds of weird oscillations and Space Age-sounding tones that enthralled Andy, and he knew he had to get ahold of one himself.
Over his years of continued use, Andy has noticed that the major differentiating factor between analog delays and the Echoplex is in the repeats. While analog units tend to get darker and dirtier the more they're dialed up, the Echoplex gets brighter and the low-end rolls off. This unique modulation is even more apparent in vintage units with their all-original parts, as having the unit serviced often removes some of this character.
Today, Andy is playing one such unit: an all-original Echoplex from the 1970s, complete with the classic, colorful three-horn Maestro logo and grey control panel denoting its age (older models were built with darker panels). While he also owns a smoother, serviced Echoplex, nothing beats the unique character of this unadulterated unit.
Be sure to check out the full video above, and click here to look for a Maestro Echoplex EP-3 of your own right here on Reverb.