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I'm super duper interested in getting one in the future, but I'm wondering what is the general price. They seem to sound amazing in demos but what is their reliability and such? Are they worth it, or should I just get a digital emulation of a tape delay?

for a 201

450 to 600 ish

they hold there value
they sound amazing
they can be temperamental but just get one thats in good nick and look after it and youll be fine

Yeah I seem to find them on ebay going for that I wonder if I can find one sitting around here in chicago that I can try. I doubt it but I guess you never know. Temperamental is expected from anything that is vintage I guess. I'm definitely liking the sound quality in videos though. I have never heard anything that sounds like it.

Here's one in Chicagoland. I was gonna try and get it but you can buy it if you want
No affiliation

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/msg/3678963213.html

700 bucks that price is definitely a bit steep when I see perfect working conditions one for like 500 bucks. I feel like asking him to cut 200 bucks out of his price may piss dude off haha

Do it anyways. Some people inflate their asking price because they expect to be haggled.

Well I asked, now I wait to see what's up. Although I don't have my tax return yet when I get it this pretty much directly translates back to it.

Be aware that some Space Echos eat tapes more than others, or burn through them faster, and learning to feed the hopper the first time you may toast a tape. Order several when you do.

Learn to clean the heads religiously. Learn to clean the felt/capstan/rollers semi-religiously, and take photos of how it's set up before you swap tapes. Order a set or two of replacement felt as well, it'll last a long time providing you're not dipping the unit in the blood of babies.

Check that the footswitch jack works properly, and that all the heads appear to function. Private party, allocate some time for testing. Power up/down a few times to see that it feeds tape right. Check that the inputs all work. Check that the outputs both work, etc.

Also be aware that there's no bypass for the unit's own preamps. It's part of the sound, love it or hate it (and why I think people don't get the RE-20 emulator - the preamp is a good portion of why it sounds like it does.

That said, unless you've got your heart set on the real deal, be aware that the Boss unit is probably 95%+ or more of the actual unit, it just doesn't have some of the quirks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still running a RE-150 and loving it (I never used the verb on the actual one and like the preamp a hair better without it). It's just you're committing to a certain amount of finicky, of bithcing at it, of it not wanting to work right then and there at that time.

If I still played live, I'd just buy a RE-20 and bring that with and leave the big mean piece of furniture at home.

A word of warning: it's heavy. These are solid boxes designed to survive being physically abused for a long time.

They are extremely fragile. I recommend you stay off ebay so you can try before you buy. Also, they hate being shipped. IMO it's better to spend 700$ in an excellente condition and perfectly working one that you will be taking great care of (see post above mine) and will last for another 20 years, than pay 500$ for an average condition one that will die on you in a closer future.

All great advice, IMO.
The seller might not like getting lower offers, but I can guarantee $500 is not the lowest offer he's had. I bet $500 cash would take it.

rfurtkamp wrote:Be aware that some Space Echos eat tapes more than others, or burn through them faster, and learning to feed the hopper the first time you may toast a tape. Order several when you do.

Learn to clean the heads religiously. Learn to clean the felt/capstan/rollers semi-religiously, and take photos of how it's set up before you swap tapes. Order a set or two of replacement felt as well, it'll last a long time providing you're not dipping the unit in the blood of babies.

Check that the footswitch jack works properly, and that all the heads appear to function. Private party, allocate some time for testing. Power up/down a few times to see that it feeds tape right. Check that the inputs all work. Check that the outputs both work, etc.

Also be aware that there's no bypass for the unit's own preamps. It's part of the sound, love it or hate it (and why I think people don't get the RE-20 emulator - the preamp is a good portion of why it sounds like it does.

That said, unless you've got your heart set on the real deal, be aware that the Boss unit is probably 95%+ or more of the actual unit, it just doesn't have some of the quirks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still running a RE-150 and loving it (I never used the verb on the actual one and like the preamp a hair better without it). It's just you're committing to a certain amount of finicky, of bithcing at it, of it not wanting to work right then and there at that time.

If I still played live, I'd just buy a RE-20 and bring that with and leave the big mean piece of furniture at home.

A word of warning: it's heavy. These are solid boxes designed to survive being physically abused for a long time.

Hmm maybe the space echo isn't for me I love the sound of it and the style but I play mostly live shows and it seems that if the emulator is 95% of the sound without getting a bear thrown into it or something it seems like a much better idea. I don't mind lugging it to shows but if it's gonna cut out or something weird or die quickly from abuse I may just stray.

My 301 lived for years on the road, but it was a constant labor of evil to keep it running. It never saw beer simply because it lived on the top of my amp head when on stage.

They'll take abuse, don't get me wrong, but they're 40 year old mechanical devices now. They're not going to be less temperamental than they were.

And I second the advice above to pay for one in good condition, and pay extra if necessary.

I paid extra for my 150 becuase of recent service, extra included stuff that told me that the owner had given a crap, etc.

Live use the problem is 'echo starts getting faded' - is it the heads dirty? The tape needing replacing? Has the tape jumped track, meaning you get to swap the tape under the gun, etc. plus cleaning the heads religiously. i used to between every set because, well, back then it wasn't as easy as it is now to find tape refills and felts and extra heads when it came down to it, and I was cutting my own loops and having to recycle felts until the cows come home as I'd found the last couple felt replacement sets known to Roland somewhere in a warehouse on the coast of Spain and when I was done I was going to have to custom-cut them.

I used a 301 at the time because actual loopers weren't available - and the sound on sound capacity (not present in the 201) gave me all the fun of an Echoplex, with the original Roland chorus circuit and multi-head goodness. It wasn't because I loved the nostalgia or the finickiness.

My 201 never leaves the house. I just hate to take it out.

rfurtkamp wrote:My 301 lived for years on the road, but it was a constant labor of evil to keep it running. It never saw beer simply because it lived on the top of my amp head when on stage.

They'll take abuse, don't get me wrong, but they're 40 year old mechanical devices now. They're not going to be less temperamental than they were.

And I second the advice above to pay for one in good condition, and pay extra if necessary.

I paid extra for my 150 becuase of recent service, extra included stuff that told me that the owner had given a crap, etc.

Live use the problem is 'echo starts getting faded' - is it the heads dirty? The tape needing replacing? Has the tape jumped track, meaning you get to swap the tape under the gun, etc. plus cleaning the heads religiously. i used to between every set because, well, back then it wasn't as easy as it is now to find tape refills and felts and extra heads when it came down to it, and I was cutting my own loops and having to recycle felts until the cows come home as I'd found the last couple felt replacement sets known to Roland somewhere in a warehouse on the coast of Spain and when I was done I was going to have to custom-cut them.

I used a 301 at the time because actual loopers weren't available - and the sound on sound capacity (not present in the 201) gave me all the fun of an Echoplex, with the original Roland chorus circuit and multi-head goodness. It wasn't because I loved the nostalgia or the finickiness.

This is just an awesome post.

i have a 201 and a 301. landed the 201 for $400 several years ago. pretty sure you'd be very lucky to land one that works for $500 or less now.

they're totally worth it. i have tons of delays and they'd probably be the last to go.