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and I thought tube amps were pains in my ass. . .

These are the original pains in the ass.

You dont' even get the luxury of the later Echoplex cartridges on the Space Echos. ;0

So basically... true tape echoes are a great idea for studio, not so much for live application, right?

sounds like more hassle than fun, but maybe if you really love the piece of gear, it can be fun for you

They're a relic of the past. If you have to have that sound, they're worth it.

If you don't, or can live with an approximation, you're stuck with one.

The one thing that the emulations don't quite do right is tape saturation/overload and some of the self-oscillation warble isn't quite there. Not a big deal unless you're used to getting it exactly as you did, except that the tape echoes won't always do it the same way every time either.

Even studio sometimes they're finicky, they do what they want.

Yeah after reading all that, I passed on the idea of getting one. I was hoping it was one of those maintain twice a year type deals. A tube amp is already enough expenditure on repairs. I don't need another expensive thing that could potentially turn into a paperweight any moment. I don't mind a bit of finickiness as it gives it a slightly different sound everytime but I don't like the idea of it stopping it's function in the middle of a show.

I don't record enough in a studio setting for me to desire one.

i've braved taking my 201 out for plenty of shows. just gotta baby it. the band caveman take i believe two on tour with them.

Every time I have a tape echo malfunction though, I instantly think of the Dead Kennedys' "Night of the Living Rednecks" intro....

"Ray's guitar broke"

But yea, if you don't want to be fiddling with a mechanical device every now and again, it's not a great choice.

If I had to have one for looks, I'd be tempted to tale a reissue, a dead 201, and rewire it to work in the big shell. ;0