But by gosh, if delay—and its sister effect, reverb—haven’t always been perfect for the music I like to write and play. Which brings us to the Fishman EchoBack Mini Delay. The EchoBack, along with the standard delay controls of level, time, and repeats—as well as a tap tempo—has a toggle to alternate between analog, tape, and digital-delay voices.
I hooked up my Washburn Bella Tono Elegante to my Blues Junior to give the EchoBack a test run. We love a medium delay—my usual preference for delay settings is to have both level and repeats at 1 o’clock, and time at 11 o’clock. With the analog voice switched on, I heard some pillowy warmth in the processed signal, as well as a familiar degradation with each repeat—until their wake gave way to a gentle, distant, crinkly ticking. Staying on analog and adjusting delay time down to 8 o’clock and repeats to about 11:30, some cozy slapback enveloped my rendition of Johnny Marr’s part to “Back to the Old House,” conjuring up thoughts of Elvis trapped in a small chamber, but in a good way. It sounded indubitably authentic. The one drawback of analog delay for me, generally, is that its roundness can feel a bit under water at times.
Switching over to tape, that pillowy warmth evaporated, and in its place came a very clear replication of my tone—but with just a bit of the highs shaved off the top. With the settings at the medium-length mode listed above, I could see the empty, glass hall the pedal sent my sound bouncing down. I heard several pronounced pings of repeats before the signal fully faded out. On slapback settings (time at 8 o’clock, repeats at 11:30), rather than Elvis, I heard something more along the lines of a honky-tonk mic in a glass bottle. Still relatively crystalline, which actually was not my favorite. I like a bit more crinkle—so maybe analog is my bag....“That pillowy warmth evaporated, and in its place came a very clear, pristine replication of my tone—but with just a bit of the highs shaved off the top.”
Next up, digital. Here we have the brightest voice, and as expected, the most faithful repeats. They ping just a few times before shifting to a smooth, single undulating wave. When putting its slapback hat on, I found that the effect was a bit less alluring than I’d observed for the analog and tape voices. This is where the digital delay felt a little too sterile, with the cleanly preserved signal feeling a bit unnatural.
All in all, I dig the EchoBack for its replications of analog and tape voices, and ultimately, lean towards tape. While it’s nice having the digital delay there as an option, it feels a bit too clean when meddling with time of any given length. Nonetheless, this is surely a handy stomp for any acoustic player looking to venture into the land of live effects, or for those who are already there.
Galaxy '74 Tape Echo & Reverb
Galaxy '74 Tape Echo & Reverb captures the warm, warped, relentlessly analog effects of the iconic mid-'70s Roland Space Echo hardware.*
Key Features:
- The most authentic emulation of the classic mid-'70s Roland Space Echo* hardware
- Full modeling of the classic multi-head tape delay mechanism
- Exacting emulation of original hardware's spring reverb
- Definitive capture of iconic analog preamp section
- Doubled delay times for effects that go beyond the original hardware
- Tweak footswitch functionality, adjust realtime effects, and customize unique oscillation sounds with UAFX Control app
- Includes silent switching, buffered bypass, analog dry through, spillover/trails, and stereo operation
Del-Verb Ambience Companion
Del-Verb Ambience Companion packs ready-to-wear emulations of classic reverb and delay effects in a pedal designed for immediate inspiration.
Key Features:
- The most authentic vintage reverb and delay effects ever captured in a single effects pedal
- "Golden unit" spring reverb tank, pulled from classic '60s American guitar amp
- Vintage German studio plate reverb sourced from The Plant in Sausalito, CA
- Bit-for-bit vintage studio digital reverb algorithms from the late 1970s
- Definitive emulation of iconic tape echo unit and legendary preamp
- Classic bucket-brigade analog delay effects with the color, texture, and tone of the original hardware
- Pristine, studio-grade digital delays with dynamic and inspiring modulation textures
- Download custom effect voicings, add tap tempo and more with the UAFX Control app
- Includes silent switching, buffered bypass, analog dry through, optional spillover/trails, and stereo operation
