Fulltone Solid State Tape Echo

*1/3 the size of the original Echoplex, handmade, and bullet-proof.

*1/4” tape for FAT sounding delay, using the ball-bearing equipped Fulltone ETC-1 Tape Cartridge.

*None of the Hiss and Hum found in vintage Echoplexes.

*Optimal 1.1 mega ohm Input impedance and super-low 10K output impedance …SSTE has none of the issues that Echoplexes have driving long cables and is not affected by devices coming before or after, either. EP-3’s have a 200K-350K output impedance and no output buffer…that causes interaction issues!

*True-Bypass toggle switch, which you won’t use much because of the SSTE’s low output impedance, but it’s nice to be able to bypass to check your levels.

*2 Tape speeds with a moveable Playback head to achieve everything from super-quick Plate Reverb emulations, to Rockabilly slapbacks, to a full 1 second delays. Manipulating a moveable playback head is the only way to achieve the Jimmy Page-like self-oscillating trick using a tape echo.

*2 Preamp Modes:

1. EP-3 mode is the identical TIS58 JFET circuit of the first version (pre-serial #9451) Echoplex EP-3, offering that slight bass cut and slight treble boost favored by Page, Brian May, Steve Stevens, Tommy Bolin, etc. that works so well in high-volume stage situations.

2. Full mode is dead-on, honest, full-range rich sound, just like your bypassed sound, in case you aren’t craving that unique Ep-3 color. Beautiful.

*Separate Instrument Volume & Echo Volume control knobs - unlike the single “Mix” knob on an EP-3 which gave a fixed Instrument Volume and increased Hum as you turned clockwise. The SSTE’s Instrument Volume knob has a center detente at 12 o’clock denoting “unity gain” and up to 10dB of clean boost available as you turn clockwise.

*Echo Repeats - turn clockwise to add repeats, and easily go into self-oscillation around 1 o’clock depending on Record Level knob setting.

*Echo Highs tone switch: affects only the Echo Repeats, not your guitar tone.

1. Vintage - look, Echoplexes hissed a lot, so instead of fixing the problem, they slapped a capacitor to ground to kill the highs where the hiss resides…primitive but effective. It’s part of the “EP-3 sound” and Vintage mode gets that sound.

2. Brilliant - allows more overtones and highs on the repeats…a subtle difference, not trebly, but (no joke) I find myself checking to see if the reverb is on due to the intoxicating psycho-acoustic imagery this mode imparts. Who needs drugs? A little Green Dot or Maker’s Mark over ice and I’m good for 3 hours on the SSTE.

*Record Level - small mini-knob adjusts how much signal smacks the tape. 3 o’clock is normal, above that and the Echoes get THICKER.

*relay-activated footswitchable Echo Cancel -