Guyatone RTE-3000 Tape Echo

I purchased this new via Godlyke Distributing. I have about 30 hours use on it and feel comfortable with it. It is not labled as a "Guyatone" as in the adds but rather as a "REXER". It's true maker is TOKYO SOUND CO. The wait was long as I guess these are the first new generation tape echos and the demand is high. The manual is in broken English but useful and understandable. It uses an Ampex 1/4 inch loop. It runs delays from 70 to 800 msec. Input volume ( with a VU meter ) and output volume are controllable and pad settings can be selected for guitar, mic, or keyboards. Out put can be set for guitar amp or PA. It has an echo tone switch (dark vs bright) and stereo or mono outs. The big deal with these is a set up where at zero input level the tape stops running. THIS IS NOT TRUE. Even garden variety hum keeps it running and if one switches the echo to "off" the tape keeps running. Therefore if you do a 4 hr. gig the tape runs for 4 hours even if you only use the echo for 15 minutes. Hence I am skeptical about the stated 5 year tape life expectancy. Also your tone is colored even when the echo is off. There is no true bypass. I quickly created my own parallel bypass loop using two AB boxes and now this is gig-friendly. Now when I switch the unit out of my loop the tape DOES stop running and I'm sure the tape life will be long. This is a great way to go and well worth it (more on this later). The cosmetics are retro and pretty cool. The switches. knobs, etc seem well made. I rated it a 6 because I had to build my own bypass loop ( but that's OK).

My setup: Tele clone with B-bender or 15 year old strat with 40 year old PU's >>> Carl Martin compressor >>> TS-10 >>> EQ >>> Tape echo >>> Vibrolux or Gibson goldtone. What this excels at is the 70 msec slapback. I have depended on a pretty decent anolog delay box for 10 years but the guyatone has spoiled me. IT IS THE REAL THING. It is heavenly for any rockabilly stuff. There are 3 useful multi settings which are pretty nice for "Sleepwalk" stuff. I bypass the unit for pop, rock, R+B, etc. because the sound coloring doesn't work for this stuff ( like I said without building your own ext loop the signal still gets effected by the tape even with the echo off. I t adds a shimmer which I don't like for some music types. If you enjoy modern types of high flying delays ( Satriani, Gary Moore ) you will not like this box. It is a bit of a "one trick pony" but it gets a 10 for the slapback alone. I hear no tape hiss at all - very quiet.

No I would not go without a backup. Remember, this is a tape echo DUH !!! I don't have enough hours on it to really comment on reliability. Haven't tried to change tape loops - but it looks easy.

Godlyke Distributing are very helpful. I've ordered some extra tape loops from them. It did not come with a warranty card and I haven't heard whether I'll get one.

I've been playing 35 years, I own way too much stuff ( and hope to get more ). I play pop, rock, swing, R+B, rockabilly, funk, country. I can compare this unit to anolog boxes (pretty good) and to modeling, digital stuff, I have never used an echoplex or the older tape echos (Roland, Pearl, Dynacord, etc) so can't compare. It is miles ahead of all the modeling, digital stuff and even the anolog boxes. LIke I said, the slapback is indescribably rich and adds a whole new sound for me ( I've always wanted this ) I am now spoiled and I would run out and buy another one (after I sold my car to get the money) I run it with the input well below the red on the VU and make up for it with the output. I like it clean. If you punch up the input you get more tape saturation but my ears prefer it clean. I keep the "soft-bright" switch on soft. I guess I wish it had true bypass but I'm pretty pleased with my home-made loop. I couldn't compare this to any other ones because there aren't any! ( Hiwatt has one also I think ). I like to use about a 40 msec quick doubling delay for swing rhythms and Chuck Berry like lines. This only goes down to 70 msec. I'll keep my anolog delay in line for that stuff. I won't use the stereo option because I like live guitar to come straight at me from one or two speakers. The "stereo ambiance" doesn't fit my music. I sound like a broken record maybe but until you've heard yourself play with this real organic slapback you can't understand. I'm a tone freak and now I've been spoiled.