Strymon has expanded its range of delay pedals with the EC-1, a state-of-the-art digital stompbox that recreates the vintage mojo of a tube-driven tape echo unit.
The EC-1 is based on a vintage Echoplex EP-2. That, in and of itself, is a selling point. There is something undeniably musical about the repeats from those old mechanical units; having that sound on your pedalboard, in a stompbox format that is not mechanical and doesn’t break down and need servicing every couple of months.
The combination of the tube-driven preamp and mechanical tape does something wonderful to an electric guitar.
But this wasn’t any old EP-2; the unit Strymon’s R&D department got its hands on was in immaculate condition and had been modded by the legendary César Díaz, who has famously worked with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Keith Richards, Neil Young and Eric Clapton.
Gregg Stock, Strymon CEO and resident expert of all things analogue says it presented the company with a unique sample to work with.
“We decided to start the project by investigating the preamps from tube echo units, so I bought an original Echoplex EP-2 to begin the process,” says Stock. “It showed up in pristine condition and sounded amazing, and we found out later that it had been heavily modified by storied guitar tech César Díaz. His mods created a single unit with the best attributes of both tube and solid-state Echoplexes, so we spent a bunch of time figuring out how to recreate its behaviour.”
Those behaviours gave Strymon a lot of sounds to work with. Strymon co-founder Pete Celi says the unit was in such good repair that it brought out details in its sound that had hitherto been hard to capture, allowing them to “widen the spectrum” of the repeats.
“With the Mechanics control at around 1pm you get a hyper-authentic representation of that golden EP-2 unit, with a high-speed flutter that adds dimension to the echoes,” says Celi.
The EC-1 offers players two models of the original EP-2’s tube preamp with variable gain. You can further control the gain via a three-way toggle switch (Low, Med, High). There is an all-important Mix control, and an abundance of control over that vintage-inspired sound, with dials for Time, Repeats, Mechanics and Tape Age.
It also gives us a lot of modern features. There are 300 presets. There is full-stereo operation, an expression pedal input, plus full MIDI compatibility and a USB connection. You can send this commands from your DAW.
There is “glitchless” tap tempo, which, once determined, can be set up for triplet, eighth, dotted eighth, or quarter note repeats. And there is a wide array of sounds here, from the sound of a pristine unit to one that has had its better days behind it, and all the warble that entails.
The minimum delay time is 50ms, ideal for slapback. The maximum is a full second. Like the original unit, if you adjust the delay time while playing you’ll hear the repeats adjust in real time.
Díaz’s mods made for a warmer sounding unit, closer to an EP-3
“The modifications seemed aimed at bringing the best aspects of the various vintage Echoplex models into a single unit, and the inspiring result significantly informed development of EC-1, imbuing it with a special character that is immediately nostalgic,” says Strymon.
Priced £/$279, the EC-1 is available now. It has true/buffered bypass. Feed it 9V DC from a pedalboard power supply (a minimum of 250mA) and you are good to go.
Head over to Strymon to check out more pics and details.
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