Echomatic attempt - progress report

[Strategy]

It has to be three-head
Sorry I've been lagging on the higher-resolution photos and build doc...
! Strategy

[Passaloutre]

I'm guessing the only cheap sources for a three-head machine are yard sales and cruising thrift stores? I live in a fairly low-income area, so even though there are a lot of old electronics around, none are very high-quality.

[Passaloutre]

Any chance you have a spare PCB for the Echomatic? I think I'm going in on this one (just bought a three head tape deck on ebay). Also some hi-res closeups of the variable pitch mod if you still have the photos.

Thanks for posting all your progress on here!

[Strategy]

No spares. I get my PCB's made one at a time courtesy of forum people who assist with this -- I'm not sure who from this forum does that these days, I know that Haberdasher from the Madbean forum provides PCB service and I believe he may have done my Echomatic PCB.

[Plexi]

I wish I had seen this thread just before to disarm an old tape radio to use some components.....

[Passaloutre]

Thanks for the tip! I found another guy on the madbean forum willing to etch me a board. I'll definitely post my progress here.

[YellowBoy]

Here's a link to my own progress report for anyone interested.  Some pics and and explanation of the pitch control too

http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabble.com/Boscorelli-Echomatic-DIY-Tape-Delay-Build-Report-td32584.html

Hope it helps

Ciaran

[Passaloutre]

That looks great! I'm still conflicted about whether to build mine into a hammond box with leads to the tape deck (a la Boscarelli) or to build it inside the battery compartment (like yours above or the space case). I'm planning a few mods of my own, like a mix pot that pans between wet and dry (remove R14, jump C10, and put the 1 lug of the mix pot to pin 8 instead of ground), and I may try a big muff tone control on the tape output

[YellowBoy]

Yeah.  We did it as stock.  But I would encourage anyone else to at least add a HPF to the feedback line.  I thought the thing was far too eager to self oscillate with lower frequency content.

A tone control would be a nice addition...just be aware of the low frequencies.

[hairofthedog]

If someone had the complete schematics ready I'd might be able to figure it out myself, as it is now I'm not fully able to trace everything on the PCB.

[Passaloutre]

The complete schematic and layout are on page one of this thread

[Passaloutre]

Oh, I see you're talking about the speed control... This guy has a different way of doing it that may be of interest: http://proto-schlock.blogspot.com/2015/04/echo-matic-diy-tape-delay.html?m=1

[hairofthedog]

I tried asking that guy what he did about the original speed control, but seems he didn't understand my question. I guess he just kept it as it is.

Anyway, my baby brother helped me do the mod today! Now the speed pot isn't bypassed in recording mode. He found another place on the PCB where he did the mod instead, but it was basically the same: soldering one jumper and cutting one track in the pcb.

[Passaloutre]

Care to share how you did the mod?

[Strategy]

It was tough doing the battery compartment...I bet someone could create a more compact version of PCB (I don't have skills in this)...remember the layout is maybe from 1980s...PCB styles were bigger back then. If you keep your wiring really organized and maybe take the corners off the pcb it's easier to fit in the compartment. One thing I like about doing the external box is that you can actually put effects in the path between your tape deck's loop output and the 'return' input of Echomatic...so it's like an insert effect!!
Strategy

That looks great! I'm still conflicted about whether to build mine into a hammond box with leads to the tape deck (a la Boscarelli) or to build it inside the battery compartment (like yours above or the space case). I'm planning a few mods of my own, like a mix pot that pans between wet and dry (remove R14, jump C10, and put the 1 lug of the mix pot to pin 8 instead of ground), and I may try a big muff tone control on the tape output

[Passaloutre]

That's a pretty cool idea! If you get tired of the echo, you can always just use the box as a mixable loop for any effects you want. Also, keeping the mixer external allows you to put the tape deck elsewhere, like not on your pedalboard where it's in danger of being stomped.

I'm really tempted to try and redesign the mixer circuit using JFETs instead of opamps to get a more "tubey" sound. I think I'll build it the standard way first before I go off on any tangents though. At the very least, I think I'll put the echoplex preamp in the box with the opamps (perhaps separately switchable).

[Strategy]

Putting compressor, phase shifter, other things in the return path with echo activated yielded some pretty good effects
the thing to remember is that cassette tape (1/8" tape) is really low fi so it needs help from additional FX.
This effect is very musical but not a replacement for echoplex or space echo IMO. A different, also useful thing.
It would be cool to find a 3-head open-reel tape recorder, using 1/4" tape, and do something like Frippertronics sounding.
it would not necessarily be portable (though very small open-reel decks do exist) but with 1/4" tape I think the Echomatic would be a beautiful thing.

[Passaloutre]

Yes, lo fi is exactly what I'm looking for. As is, I hope, anyone else foolish enough to try this project Still, the demos I've found of this and the "spacecase echo" (which I suspect is very similar) are pretty impressive.

I don't have an Echoplex to replace! If I wanted something with high fidelity I'd buy a Strymon delay, or at worst, build a PT2399 circuit. Worst case if I don't like it, I can sell my tape deck on ebay for what I put into it. That said, I'm really looking forward to this, just waiting on my tape deck to arrive...

[Passaloutre]

So my tape player arrived today... At first I had to reflow the solder on the DC jack... playback is still very quiet. I have to crank the volume knob to hear even a whisper out if the speaker (or headphones). Monitoring the source is quite loud, so I know it's not the power amp that's the problem; rather something between the playback head and the monitor switch. I'm working on tracing out the signal using the schematic... anyone have any tips for troubleshooting a cassette deck?

[Passaloutre]

I got my EchoMatic up and running today (actually yesterday, but I made the video today). I really like it. Super lofi, ambient delay with a lot of modulation, what's not to like? As others have said, it's no Echoplex replacement, but it's pretty cool. I think with a reel to reel it certainly could rival the EP. Obviously the limitations here aren't Boscarelli's circuit, but your recording medium.

Anyways here's my little demo. Pardon the ums and ahs, and the awful compression from my phone. I'll record a better demo later.

https://youtu.be/2T2QTwdB-PQ