Tone Report Weekly Issue 144 | Page 62

DUNLOP ECHOPLEX DELAY EP-103 REVIEW BY SAM HILL STREET PRICE $199.99 When I heard Dunlop was getting into the tape echo game, I was excited. The company has owned the Echoplex name for some time, first introducing the EP101 preamp pedal, and I wondered if it would ever make a delay. Well, it did, and it’s freaking awesome. There are many tape delay pedals on the market. Some are simple echo devices with preset amounts of tape-style modulation, while others are complex mechanisms that offer the ability to adjust every possible parameter of a tape machine. The Echoplex is a brilliant design that fits perfectly in between the two. 62 GEAR REVIEW // The Echoplex looks like a typical delay pedal. Three knobs keeps tweaking to a minimum with Sustain controlling the repeats, Volume for mix, and Delay for delay time. The Volume knob has a secondary function that controls Age, which is the amount of wow, flutter, grit, and highend rolloff you can add to the delayed signal. It also features a jack for an external tap tempo switch. Using the external tap opens up the Echoplex to delay times of up to four seconds, compared to 750 milliseconds without it. I used the excellent new MXR Tap Tempo switch to explore Dunlop Echoplex Delay EP-103 the possibilities. The tap tempo switch can adjust the time when the pedal is off, making it extremely friendly for live use. The Echoplex sounds amazing. If you’re like me, you’ve tried every tape echo-style pedal you can get your hands on. I’ve owned several of them, and have also had the chance to play through real tape echoes. There’s nothing like the real thing, but emulations have gotten so good, it’s almost silly to lug around a delay the size of a car battery that might not work when you need it. In Normal mode, without any tape modulation added,