Fulltone Tube Tape Echo

Set up was explained in the manual, and straitforward. Manual is helpful overall, but all diagrams have some parts hidden under tape cartridge, i.e. the Felt Tension Arm lower attachment area is under the cartridge, and that arm is the most sensitive and frequent user adjustment the player will have to access. Expanded version plus a DVD manual coming, supposedly. Was easy to use until tape cartridge failed, and instead of tech support, I got a face full of rude nonsense from Fuller, which I understand is a standard feature. So I don't know how to definitively rate ease of use. Not working now, so it's hard to use. Maybe 10 for two weeks, and then 0.

I am using it through two Soldano Surf Boxes into '58 and a '59 tweed twin. I use seafoam Tyler strats on stage and '54 and '63 strats in my studio. It is very quiet when set properly as per manual instructions. The warning to use the shortest, highest quality cable for the footswitch is well heeded, as your signal path runs through them. I tried a Fender dual footswitch purchased separately at the Fulltone dealer (oddly doesn't come with one) and signal was weak and hideously noisy. Oh oh, I thought. I immediately grabbed my high quality Soldano SLO footswitch with detachable cord, and put a three foot monster cable on it. Problem solved. I haven't tried it with a longer monster cable yet, because my cartridge is defective, and when I asked Fuller about replacements he went ballistic. As to the effect, it is wonderful. I get all the classic sounds I need for my surf band. Great slapbacks. Vintage repeat echos for "Apache". Perfect "tack guitar" muted sounds (especially good with baritone guitar, I use Fender subsonics).

No. I bought this because I want to gig with it in place of my beloved echoplexes, hoping for more reliability. Had 2 EP2's and one EP1. Sold one EP2. The EP1 is intensively serviced and the quietest one I've had. I put it on one twin and fulltone on the other. Much to it's credit, the sound quality, effect quality and noise level were EXACTLY the same on both units, keeping in mind that the EP1 I have is the quietest echoplex I have owned after being intensively serviced a number of times. To its discredit, the fulltone tape cartridge first emitted only echoplex type identical squeaks and scrapes, which was normal and somehow reassuring, but then developed a constant whine, and then went warpy and pitch shifty. In contrast, I had, two weeks before recieving fulltone TTE, foolishly left my EP1 running after rehearsal WITH INPUT LEVER AND HEAD ENGAGED, FOR 48 HOURS! before returning and discovcering it. I feared the worst. When I turned it off I was afraid to try it again, but when I did, it was perfect, no noise, no pitch shift, no tape degradation, perfect echo. Amazed, I placed three gold stars on my tech's forehead. It is still performing flawlessly. In contrast, the TTE is unusable until Fulltone deems to sell me a replacement cartrdge, and sits unplugged on the floor in front of the '59 twin. NO tape echo is reliable, and should not be depended on without a backup. I have gone back to my original plan of screwing BOTH the EP1 AND the TTE to the steel roll-out tray in my rack case with the Soldano reverbs. I'll give it a three, based on the fact that echoplexes are unreliable also.

I do have an opinion, but it rates below basically wothless. If I tell you how I really feel, or even relate my experiences in trying to obtain support, this review could not be published. I have heard many scary stories about trying to personally contact this manufacturer over the years, and mainly discounted them. I was wrong. They were a vast understatement. In the interest of factuality, let me say that I wrote saying how great the product was, then asked about the cartrdges and heads advertised for two years, and was treated to a barrage of insults and cursing.

I play roots rock, blues, country, and jazz, for 45 years. I own a black parts 57 Les paul Standard goldtop that I have played on major label tours and in barely legal roadhouses, full time(5-7 days a week) for 30 years, part time the other 15. I have some 50's L-5 CES's and Dumbles, and some tweeds and teles not listed in the "used with" section. Love the product, features and sound. Wish it was not made by a company that is a nightmare to deal with. As they say on the letters to the editor page, "You won't print this."

This unit is a breeze to figure out. The Manual is very well laid out from what to do out of the the box, trouble shooting and upkeep. There will be a DVD manual coming out later this summer which will go more in depth and touch on some more features not mentioned in the manual.

I got mine and used it the same night, I was a little cautious to make
sure the tape cartridge was lined up and ready to roll, but after that
I have been using it non stop. That's Two three hour rehearsal's and two 3 1/2 gig's a week. No issue's yet!

I gave this unit a 10, because the sound is amazing. I prefer the Low speed setting for my taste and it blow's away everything I have owned in the past. I decided to let go of my Maxon AD9 and Line 6 DL4 to make space for this bad boy. Money well speant!

The unit doe's produce a little bit of noise when not playing, this can be countered by setting you're record level lower or just hitting the Bypass switch when not in use. This is not a big deal, Im a little bit more anal over thing's like that. I prefer my amp's to be quite when im not playing. The sound of the delay is what you want and you can do anything with this unit. Floyd,Setzer,Police...

People will notice the sound, it make's a world of differance! If you're like me you are looking at this unit for a reason, the same
reason we all spend top dollar to get us even closer to the sound.
You won't think twice about the money after you fire it up!

The unit is built like a Brick sh&t house and meant to be used. I would not expect anything less from Fulltone and you get what you pay for!

The unit ships with a Padded carry bag. This is a added bonus and
come's with a front pocket for extra cables,ETC-1 cartridge or footswitch to control the unit.

My only concern with Reliability is ? When are the ETC-1 tape going to be avail for purchase ? I would feel allot better going to a gig with a back up.

Mike Fuller make's great product's, we all have know someone or read a negitive about his "To the Point" response. If you're product is not working correctly Fulltone will take care of you. I would bet 90% of his phone call's and email's are all user error. You can imagine how short and to the point you would be as well.

I play in a cover band, so I need to cover a ton of ground from Rock,Country,Jazz and blues. This thing cover's everthing I would want to do and than some. If it broke or was stolen I would find the cash and track down another one ASAP!

$999 may seem like allot but compaird to the $500 I had invested in the Maxon AD9 & Line 6 DL4, this unit is leap's and bound's ahead in sound quality and features. You will not regret the money spent once you get it home and fired up.

Very easy to use, the manual explains all. Levels for guitar, echo and record can be set to best suit your needs .Childs play really.

When submitting a review here you are asked to be critical and I will when I say this is the best tape echo ever made full stop. As mentioned above it is very quiet and the sound is fantastic. If you want a less high qaulity sound switch to the lower speed setting and youve got vintage echoplex without the noise.
Superbly made inside and out. I think I am the first person to own one of these in the UK and when it arrived I had to switch 2 wires to allow the unit to be used at 240v, all very easy under the guidance of Mr Fuller and his tech.
I just tried the amp in stereo with my reissue bassman and a peavey classic and as mentioned this really is a treat.
Mentioned on Fulltones website is the fact that Brian Setzer now uses one of these and no wonder.
I have owned a Echoplex a Roland 301 and a copicat in the past but this is the best unit for sound and qaulity.

Build qaulity is second to none so I cant see any problems with reliability.

Very helpful in insructing me on 240v operation spoke to Mr Fuller himself and received a easy to follow diagram from his tech.

For me this is the ultimate echo unit it may not suit you if you are a lover of digitaly processed delays but if you want a tape echo this is the one. Yes it is dear but your paying for qaulity.

Well I have never owned a digital delay or a tape delay. I do have a vintage DOD 680 analog delay so for playing this is what I have to compare to but I have heard various tape echoes and this captures that magic echoplex sound on the slow speed but takes on a sound of its own with the speed switched up. It is very versatile. I will say that Mike Fullers claims of being dead quite are quite true. My analog delay is the quietest I've heard until this tape echo. Bear in mind comparing my analog delay to my new TTE is not comparing apples to oranges but it's my only point of reference. The manual that comes with it is very good and is going to be supplemented with a DVD manual later this summer. I got number 56 thanks to MusicToyz.com. The manual shows you how to check everything out before you first start it up and it was perfect I didn't have to adjust anything. Right out of the box it was set up and ready to go. It is very easy to use!

I am using a Gretsch Duo Jet and a 63' Gretsch 6186 into a Vox AC-30 and it is a great combo with this echo unit. The sound is dead quite and lacks nothing. It is very warm. My wife was listening to me play through it and loved it. She sat down and listened to me for about an hour and never asked me how much it was (Thank God!!) I set it up to play stereo through stereo setting 2 between the AC-30 and Tweed deluxe. STEREO SOUNDS KILLER!!! This thing is an instant classic.

I cannot comment on reliability as I just got it but I can comment on build quality. If you have done your homework you have read about the quality of parts that went into this thing like the heads, transformer and motor but there are some features that are not commented on that are great touches. For example. I unscrewed the pilot light jewel and discovered that instead of a bulb they used an LED. This is a great touch since you don't have to replace bulbs but also shows that every detail even the smallest, was well thought out.

I have never dealt with them. This is my first Fulltone product and have not had to contact them.

I play Shoegazer space rock and this is well suited. It sounds so good I thing it is well suited to anything really. You can dial this thing in and get so many different sounds out of it. If it were stolen and I could afford to get another one I defenitely would. The only thing I wish it came with was a footswitch. After spending a grand an extra 20 bucks for a switch can break the bank. It really is a great unit.

Very straight-forward, but I grew up using Echoplexes so it's a logical extension of that, with all the Bad points of an Echoplex remedied!

Where do I begin? There is no digital or analog delay in the world that I can play now. I'm ruined, the TTE has MAGIC on every repeat, and there are way too many "parameters" to that magic, making the cloning of that magic by a bucket-brigade or Digital Delay IMPOSSIBLE.
On HI_SPEED you get about 650 millaseconds maximum delay time and because the Tape runs so fast there is no hiss, no hum, NO noise whatsoever, Unlike an Old Echoplex, the REPEATS are in-tune, with Lot's more HIghs and Lows, in fact, this thing does better Hi-Fi delays than any of my studio Rack Digital delays! I run the TONE CONTROL (which is for the repeats only) at about 11 O'clock but you can turn that up and have way too much highs if you so desire.

LOW SPEED gets at about 1.5 seconds and the sound is slightly fluttery just like my old EP-2 Echoplex, but again, NO noise, Yeah baby!

STEREO! Oh my God, I have been running the TTE between 2 Blackface 60's Fender amps (Twin Reverb and Deluxe reverb)on Setting #2 (there are 3 stereo toggleswitch choices) and I can't explain what's going on on this setting better than saying it has the most 3D psychoacoustic imaging I've ever heard! I think that this setting is:
Right amp=Delay+Guitar
Left amp= Guitar+ out-of Phase? delay because something's going on with this setting that is unbelievable.
Whatever the case may be, it's majestic.

I wanted to wait before writing a review because quite frankly one would expect these types of devices to be "tempermental." But I've had it now over a month now (on for a couple of hours every day) and it is perfect, BUILT LIKE A TANK! There are 2 roll-bars on top that protect all the knobs/levers/toggleswitches and heads from taking the brundt of a drop or direct hit. And it comes with the COOLEST carrying bag I've ever seen: this bag is a padded thick Nylon bag with wooden inserts around the whole thing so it might as well be an ANVIL case. So well designed, damn I love this thing.

After I waited to see if my feelings for the TTE would stay as Positive as during the "honeymoon phase," I called Fulltone and got the Man himself, Mike Fuller. He was so nice, and even shared some tips about the TTE, like to change the #2 12AX7 to a Higher gained Ei brand tube ($6) to get a totally different tone and Lot's more volume on the Repeats, you see there is a part of the TTE that's the RECORD amp (tube#1) and a section that's the PLAYBACK amp. (tube#2)
So, being the tweaker that I am, I've ended up with a new GrooveTubes Mullard 12AX7 in the #1 position and an Ei in the #2 spot.
$#%^ it's good.

This is the easiest "10" I've ever given a pc. of gear.
Even when I'm not using the echo I run through the TTE because it has an all-tube path that gives me all the boost I'd ever need to drive my Amps insanse....screw all those transistor-radio Boost pedals, this thing is the REAL DEAL.
Add to that the greatest delay ever made, and you got an easy 10.
Well done Mr. Fuller, no wonder there are 500+ on backorder.
I also want to thank Teddy at Musictoyz.com for somehow getting me my precious TTE so early on.