Can tape echo's be had for cheap?

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Kasey

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I need a delay unit, but so far I've hated all the digital ones and the analog ones dont sound much better. I've heard some tape echo recordings and they sound awesome. Every one i've seen on ebay and such has been way too expensive though. Is there any way i couldd find one for cheaper? Maybe build/ghetto-rig my own? (ive heard of people doing that i think...) I dont care if its a really nice one or not, i just want to find one.
 
There is an old device made by TEAC called the AX-10. You can use it with any 3-head cassette or open-reel tape deck to create tape echo.

My favorite non-digital delay is the analog Rockman Stereo Echo. It is very tape-like.

Before you give up on digital effects try tweaking things a bit. Many digital echo algorithms sound unconvincing because the delay sounds too much like the original sound source.

The repeat should be much weaker, with less high-frequency content than the original sound. Tape echo is very lo-fi, so you have to dumb-down a digital delay to simulate it.
 

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Well if it's the vintage guitar and vocal echo sounds you're looking for, I've got some bad news for you; you gotta bite the bullet and buy the real thing to get that sound.

There's three vintage units you could consider looking for... the original EchoPlex, the Roland Tape Echo, and the Binson EchoRec (which doesn't use a tape like the others; it's got a bunch of play and record heads circling a big rotating metal recording "disk"... very cool)... :cool:

Check eBay, Froogle, and Google to start. Good luck, and happy hunting!
 
A while back on these forums I saw a few pics of a home-brewed tape delay "machine". It was two cassette decks both dual well connected side-by-side. The tape actually ran from the cassette of one into the cassette of another. Do some "Google'in" adnd see what ya come up with.

Good luck
 
can you build a DIY tape delay with cassette tape decks? or does it have to be done with reel to reels?
 
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