Roland RE-101 Space Echo

It isn't difficult to get a likable sound out of the SpaceEcho. The only people I have known that have difficulty finding a good sound for them, do not prefer delay anyway. To the best of my knowledge my device is in its original condition, it was acquired with a twenty year old Frito and dead spider inside found when I was cleaning it, but it works fine and sounds good to me.

The Reverb on the RE-201 is not the best spring reverb I have heard, but does and an interesting dimension to the echo chain, I usually run it with the Reverb off. I only use the on-board EQ when it is placed in the effects loop, but the two band shelving EQ is enough for me to find a decent sound, otherwise it???s direct and I EQ at the amplifier or elsewhere in my effect chain.

I???ve used the Space Echo through an Epiphone EP-1, Orange AD30, and most recently on a Marshall MG100HDFX. I have to say I prefer it to any other delay and know it to be rather warm, it makes a solid state amp sound more like a tube amp and does not add an unbearable amount of noise, but it???s something to watch out for.

I have held off from changing the original tape as it has a dark quality to it I prefer over new magnetic tape in this case. The RE-201 does alter my tone greatly but is not muddy or overbearingly bass-laden.

Strangely there are some ghosts in the machine, and every once in a while you can hear them laugh as they miss the erase head which adds a level of uniqueness to every performance to the most sensitive of ears, and overall this tape delay has a sound that is very pleasing to the ear.

If I could afford a back up for this tool, I would carry one, It has never failed and is easy to maintain as long as you know how to clean a tape machine.

I have not attempted customer support, there are replacement tapes on ebay but I have not ordered one yet as I like the current sound.

This effect is no longer in production, considered vintage by many, and there is no support to my knowledge.

Try user groups.

I play mostly rock, metal (not common metal), prog and experiment with my sound often, I think the SpaceEcho is a good match for anything in a regulated dose. I've been playing for 8 years and wouldn't get rid of this hardware ever, but as the saying goes, "Everything has it's price." If it was stolen I'd hunt down the idiot responsible.

This delay has a good sound and dark warmth to it that you can feel when you play especially with the echo off.

In comparison to digital delays I prefer it, compared to other analog delays, it's very good but noisy, I do think the Moog Moogerfooger MF-104Z Analog Delay has a comparable but unique sound that is more realistic than any digital delay, but in a slightly higher price range, you decide.

I have a complaint: An external footswitch stops the tape from moving, while this does not affect the effect, it does make me more likely to think that the roller moving away may eventually fail, but these things were built like they were carved out of stone, and I've never heard anything from anyone about the motor or roller dying. I do wish that It would simply disable the echo like the built-in switch is capable of. E-mail me if you know more about this.

Seeing as the space echo is no longer made and you will not be able to buy one first hand the chances are, like mine, that it will come with no manual! However, due to seemingly psychic powers ROLAND have stuck a very basic user guide to the lid. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE HOW USEFUL THIS IS WHEN FIRST PLAYING THROUGH THIS BABY!! There aren't very many dials and you'll pick it up quick with just a glance at the user guide. after about 10mins i felt like a pro with it.

I play using a telecaster(usa standard) and a laney amp(lc50) between these two there are many pedals of varying purpose(distortions, tremelo, reverb).
This is NOT a noisy peice of equipment if you place it in the right area of your setup! personally, i think delays work best at the end of a line of pedals, where they are least reactive and can be activated after a distortion or chorus to give minimal confusion to the sound signal. better still to use an A/B box which will split the signal in two differnt directions and have your time based effects running along a seperate chain to the vollume based effects.
You can sound great with the space echo 101 even though it is not the major choice of the proffesionals- Jonny Greenwood(lets face it, he's the reason we all bought this effect!!) preferes the 201 model with added reverb effect as do many others (also, probably because of Jonny), this is a great effect and i would rekomend it to anyone getting into the space echo range manly because it will do the job at an affordable price. you will be amazed at the great delay signal you can get out of this-much more powerful then anything BOSS can pull out of the sack, although, they to have advantages!
If however you feel that you want a more comprehensive peice of harware i would rekomend the 201 everytime as the added reverb make this a really sweet deal and theres lots of them around which also brings the price down a little!
The space echo 101 isn't completely noiseless so its not perfect for studio use but it is great for live use as it has character by the barrel full!

Heres a more dodgy subject:
When i first got mine and tried it out-i couldnt even get a decent delay signal out-it was very weak a quiet! but after i turned it on and off again it worked perfectly so i dont know what exactly happened. It was possibly the tape just being old(incidently, its best to just buy a new tape as soon as you get it incase the one already in there is crap or just incase you bugger it up somehow).
The second problem i had was the flickering light after about 4months it went out and hasn't come back sinse i havnt tried to get it fixed yet but i can predict a hefty bill for something that i think is quite minor because its hard to get someone who knows how to fix them!
I havnt tried it out live yet so i cant say wether its completely reliable but in all the times i've used it to practise with my band, never once has it gone wrong!!!! thats pretty commendable really!
I rge anyone that had problems with these live to say what went wrong as shinning,biased reviews are not going to help buyers in the long run!

I HAVE NEVER DEALT WITH THIS COMPANY, I NEVER WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY! from what I've heard ROLAND are not interested in helping customers who own effects that they no longer make which is a shame as they are letting pefectly good instruments of sound go to waste!!!
however all is not lost!there are many easy ways of getting new tape reels and here i am to save the world with their location:
This is a website which sell them dirt cheap! European based.
http://www.foi.hr/~rlogozar/mbsn1/AnalogSynthsTapeLoopsForTapeEchoes.html

If you want to buy them for unreasonable prices go to www.ebay.com and search space echos-there are normally some available but i'd say you were a fool to buy them from such a rip off merchant!

I also have Websites for many other people who are more than willing to fix these baybies so just send me an email and i'll tell you the address but they are mostly stateside so its only really worthwhile if you live there otherewise shipping it across the atlantic will safely empty your lifesavings account unless you are bill gates,in which case you will be left with a couple of hundred for your pension fund!IF YOU KNOW ANY UK OR EUROPEAN BASED MECHANICS WHO FIX OR WHO CAN FIX THESE WONDERFUL MACHINES-GET IN TOUCH!!!! WE NEED TO SHARE THIS KNOWLEGE TO PRESERVE THE DIMINISHING POPULATION OF SPACE ECHOS!

FEEL FREE TO CANTACT ME TO SHARE ANY INFORMATION OR TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS- I'M MORE THAN WILLING TO HELP IN ANYWAY I CAN!

THIS ONLY GOT FIVE BECAUSE ALTHOUGH ROLAND ARE CRAP YOU CAN STILL FIND HELP!

If you still think its pricy, look at it this way- a boss delay will set you back around #90 least for not much more you get a much more versatile effect that looks great (i mean really F**KING GREAT!) and is a great big chunk of history at the end of the day, hold on to this and take care of it and it might just rocket in value someday-theres not to many of them about!
Do not pay much more than #200 (sterling) for this space echo as you can get the 201 for that sort of money. only do it if it has been checked over by a mechnic thoroghly and it is in perfect condition, if so keep it in perfect condition it will hold this value and only grow throgh the years!

Easiest of all the Space echo's and easier than the copicat or the Echoplex tape delay's and echo machines. This one is from the 70's and IMO, nobody has made a better unit since. Kudos to Rolands founders, they did a great job that has yet to be rivaled.

Very very Warm Delays. Just unbeleivable! It makes my DM-2 and AD-9 sound cold in comparison. And that is a very big compliment here because we all no the AD9 and DM's are not cold at all. It's just the Space is so warm and organic sounding. Just keep your heads demagnetized and clean. Has a very slight hiss,but bot as much as the copoicat had and not even as much as my dad's friends Echoplex. The Echoplex, I admit has the cooler look and the coolest name ever though. But as far as sound goes...for hendrix, trower, page, beck, walsh type tones, this is the unit that ends the search!

Very reliable if you do your regular maintenence. These are not pedals these are living breathing machines. They take as good a care of you as you take care of them! Likw they say...What goes around comes around ;) Take care of her man!!

Clean Heads, Demagnetize, and clean all the tape oxidation and dust out every time before you use it. Get some canned air.

huh? this thing is as old as me so I never even thought about it. I spoke with boss before and they were great, so here's the points for that onr.

Over all I love this thing with my strat into Fender twin reverb and univibe and wah and fuzz.....just get one, you will love it and so will your friends and bandmates. Could only be better if they reissued these bad little ladies ;)

Very easy to use. I leave the echo volume and rate knobs at a particular setting and experiment with different intensity settings. Foot pedal can turn echo on/off. Of course, manual is stapled inside lid. Anyone can find a likeable sound thru the space echo.

I use a '65 Twin Reverb and a Heritage hollowbody. The echo makes for a very smooth-flowy sound. The only time I don't use the echo is when I'm playing choppy. When I want an more experimental sound I turn up the intensity and the sound is undescribable. Harmonic feedback sounds heavenly thru the echo. I use various pedal: Vox wah,Boss Tremelo/Pan, Vox overdrive distortion, Univibe, etc. The Roland Space Echo makes the sound from these pedals so rich. The space echo is a must for any type of music. It enriches all!!

I have owned mine for 3 years and had no problems with reliability. I have carried a spare tape to gigs, but never had to use it on demand. If the tape is not replaced after a few months there is some amount of static in the echo sound. Tapes are no longer made or sold. I make my own echo tapes from 1/4" reel tape. I make an endless loop tape. It is a tedious task, but can be done. If the plastic cover is open the tape tends to jump out. Therefore I loop the tape around the heads and rollers, close the lid, and turn the machine on and guide the tape into it is loaded into the chamber.

My unit received smoke damage two months ago. It looks great still. But the echo sound is very low now(I think it needs new tape heads). I have not been able to find anyone to service it. Parts are no longer made. When I have asked questions to Roland dealers they have had no answers.

I play experimental pop-rock(really don't know how to describe it.) I use other effects sparingly. The space echo defines my sound. I am lost without it. I have recently purchased a RE-201 to replace my RE-101 that received smoke damage. It adds so much tone that I can't stand to play without it. I also have an Echoplex and I think the RE-101 is much easier to use. Space Echoes are harder to find than are Echoplexes, but there are generally less expensive and easier to use in my opinion.