Catalinbread
Belle Epoch
“So,” you may be thinking, “there are a few pedals that recreate the Echoplex EP-3
preamplifier circuit, and there is at least one that directly mimics its echo tones; why
not combine these concepts into one pedal that encompasses the entire Echoplex
experience?” It seems the crew over at Catalinbread was thinking this very same thought
when they dreamed up the Belle Epoch. Catalinbread had already made the impossible
possible by distilling the Binson Echorec’s singular magic into a compact stompbox
enclosure, so the obvious next step was to do the same thing with the Echoplex. The
Belle Epoch is a success on all counts, meticulously
duplicating everything from the signature response
of the preamp, to the percussive nature of the
degrading repeats, to the
modulated sounds that
could result from random
mechanical anomalies or
chronic maintenance issues.
It even simulates the weird
noises the EP-3 makes
when it tries to catch up
to the user’s movement of
the delay time slider. The
Catalinbread Belle Epoch is
the most comprehensive and
lovely sounding recreation
of the Maestro Echoplex
experience we have yet seen,
and apparently it was even
good enough for legendary
tone wizard Eric Johnson,
who reportedly swapped
out the real Echoplex on his
touring pedalboard with a
Belle Epoch.
ToneReport.com
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