In 1973, the Roland Corporation answered
guitarists’ demand for a portable, durable,
and, most importantly, affordable way to get
the popular tape echo sound on the road
and in the studio—the Space Echo series.
While the RE-100 and RE-200 units were
groundbreaking, it only took Roland one
year to redefine the line with the release of
RE-201 in 1974. Building off of an already
impressive set of features, the RE-201
offered a spring reverb tank, bass and treble
controls for the effected sound, and 12
operating modes, which could combine the
three playback heads in different combinations—
with or without reverb. Throw in one
instrument and two microphone inputs, all
with independent level controls, as well as
a line-level input, and the RE-201 became
one of the most popular tape echo units not
only for guitarists, but vocalists and sound
engineers as well. The RE-201 Space Echo
was so popular that Roland kept producing
them up until 1990, even after releasing the
RE-301 and RE-501 models.
An early example of the classic effects unit, this
1977 RE-201 is in great shape, which is a testament
to the tank-like sturdiness of the Space
Echo. It still runs smoothly and sounds great,
thanks in part to the low-tension, free-floating
design of the tape loop. From great vintage
slapback sounds (à la John Lennon records) to
wild oscillation and pitch shifting madness, this
all-original RE-201 has it covered.
Thanks to Howie Statland at Rivington
Guitars for listing this unit on Gear Search.
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