Tape echo has attained an almost mythical status in the music production world, by boosting the widespread love for this spacey effect with the “vintage factor” of analog tape and all its warmth and fluttery character. No wonder many manufacturers are attempting to recreate the sound of those old analog tape echo machines in stompbox format…
The Echobandit – an effect we had the chance to see at our recent Brooklyn Stompbox Exhibit – is F-Pedals’ take on this format. Based out of Los Angeles, CA, (but run by an Italian team) this company is focusing on small footprint pedals with great sound, cool design and more in depth controls than you might expect from a tiny box.
The tape emulation function of the Echobandit is inspired by the Binson Echorec, an Italian tube tape delay that defined Pink Folyd’s sounds in the ’70s. With the Echobandit you can dial in warm, Gilmour-esque washes as well as fat slapback sounds. Tape delays are known for being darker sounding, with the repeats getting darker and darker, and while there is no EQ on the pedal you won’t have much trouble getting it to sit in your mix.
Controls are standard for a delay with ‘Speed’ and ‘Feedback’ parameters for the delay sound, with the added ‘Tape’ to affect the amount of tape effect that’s added in, and ‘Mix’ to control the wet/dry blend.
The Echo Bandit is pretty much everything you could want in an analog delay, and at a price point that barely breaks $100 it’s a total steal – check out the video below, courtesy of PixxyLixxx. – Stoner
