SIB Echodrive

No manual, lots of knobs... not very easy to use. It's not real obvious to me what all the knobs did. After a few hours of playing, I think I have it down. A manual would be nice.

This is the newer red version. This thing sounds great to me. Very transparent. I can't complain about the sound at all.

After a few hours of using this pedal, the thing starting humming pretty bad. I thought the tube went microphonic, but changing it did nothing. Probably a bad solder on one of the grounds. Luckly the place I bought it from allowed me to send it back and they replaced it with a new one. That one has worked ever since.

Never dealt with him.

If you're looking at buying a delay/echo pedal, you could do a lot worse than this. I'd buy it again.

This thing is self-explanatory. Turn a knob, it does what's described. My unit supposedly belonged to Eric Johnson and the true bypass has been overridden. It's harder to use standing up than some of the units with bigger, farther-spaced knobs, though. I can't control the regeneration with my foot as I did with my memory man, and at gigs I seem to inadveredly kick the level quieter and quieter.

I play an old hollow-body Gretsch and a cutom-built NYC hollowbody, both with Bigsbys. My amp is a Matchless Chieftain and my pedal board contains a Perscription Electronics Throb, a Boss Harmony pedal (for +1 octave-which I hardly use), a DOD overdrive(the old grey one), and a Swollen Pickle. My guitars are bright as is my amp. For the longest time my echo was an Ibanez Analog, black with purple butterfly(?), which got stolen. I replaced it with a deluxe Memory Man, which kept falling apart. Of the three, the Ibanez is the cleanest-sounding. It is also the most boring. The Memory Man lacks input headroom, and squashes the sound. It also makes the coolest sounds of the three. But it's built like garbage; if you're touring and you love the Memory Man, buy 2. I was tired of getting my Memory Man repaired, so I checked out the Moog and the Echodrive. The Moog is great, but it's too precious to tour with. It definitely does not belong on the floor! I tried that Line 6 thing too- it does a good job of not emulating the magic of anything it tries to copy. The echodrive just sounded magical from moment one. Now that I've had it for about a year I can report that it is reliable, and that it can withstand being zapped by 220 volts without frying. Rick fixed it within a week and reported that I only managed to blow a fuse. It'll do rockabilly slap and psychedelic "Lucifer Sam" Pink Floyd stuff, and manage to sound like a tape delay. It is a bit mushy sometimes, and I'm interested in trying some other tubes to see how it reacts.

If you want to see this thing broken, bring it to Europe and eat lunch while entrusting your gear to some techs. They can feed it their current and do a good job of putting it out of commission. I can't think of another easy way to destroy this thing. It's over-engineered, sits in an extremely heavy box, etc.

Rick is the nicest guy in the world. He is competent, polite, charges little for his work.

This gets a ten, because it has integrated itself into what makes me sound unique.

I am reviewing the red, digital Echodrive. As stated in other reviews, this pedal is very easy to use. The manual is printed on the bottom. With the digital version, you are unable to control the delay time with a volume pedal, but it does offer 1.2 seconds of delay time.

This pedal comes with a 12AX7 tube, which does warm up the sound. Rick said he tuned this pedal to sound like natural echo, NOT an echoplex. If you want an echoplex-style sound, the analog version of this pedal is what you want....but they are no longer being made. This offers warm digital delay, but it does tend to boost the mid-frequencies when engaged. This pedal also has true-bypass.

This thing is built quite well. The only problem is, mine came D.O.A. It just didn't work at all. Rick did fix it for me...I guess something was wrong with the rectifier or something. Oh well. I wound up returning it because I wasn't pleased with the tone.

Rick Hamel is very helpful and knows his stuff. He is very responsive to emails and/or phone calls.

The pedal is well-built, but I guess I didn't like what it did to my tone when engaged. It does provide warm digital delay, but it does boost the mids a bit. I play acoustic instruments, and that just wasn't going to work for me. I play professionally in Nashville. Also, I'm not sure it's worth 400 bucks!

My echodrive was one of the original analog ones (blue), not digital (red or black). PEOPLE NEED TO SPECIFY which pedal they are reviewing else these reviews are worthless.
It's very easy to use as stated below.

It does a great job at preserving your tone, although it does color your tone slightly. But unlike cheaper delay units it still maintains the main dynamics of your tone. It does seem to boost the midrange of your tone a bit, unfortunatly. I can see though how a lot of people might like what it does though in that regard. Tweaking my amp couldn't really solve the change in balance of the lows,mids and highs. You have to be a real tone-freak like me to hear these things though.
It's very quiet...
As for the delays, I didn't care for them. They are too muddy for my tastes. I'm judging them a little harshly given the $500 price tag. I'd rather my delays be too "sterile" than too muddy. I considered opening the unit and changing tube, but I didn't for two reasons. One, I read somewhere that this will make matters worse and two, the screws were so damn tight I couldn't get them off with the screwdriver. I of course could of gotten them off if I really wanted too, but I'm sure I would of stripped the screws a bit in the process and I planned on returning the unit anyway because I didn't think the quality of the delay warranted a $500 price tag.


If the digital version of this pedal also preserves the dry tone as well as this pedal, I would think that it would be much better to own, but I haven't tried one. I've heard that the delays are more realistic and less colored and muddy. You can also find them for $400...
I heard that Eric Johnson uses these pedals and prefers the digital version. Also, he had the original version modified so that it was NOT true-bypass. I'm assuming he did this because he didn't want a change in tone to be apparent when switching the unit on and off. Actually a true-bypass on/off switch would be a neat feature. Like I said, some people might prefer how this pedal "enhances" their tone and may not want that tone adjustment to go away when they switch the delay off...
If the delays sounded better, I'd give this a 9 or 10, but as it is, it gets a 7.

It seems very reliable, solid as a brick.

Probably good but don't really know...

I'd suggest the digital version of the Echodrive and since they no longer make the analog one it shouldn't be a problem. If this pedal only cost $100-150, I would of surely kept it, but for $500, no thanks! I'm not sure the $400 digital Echodrive is worth it either, but I haven't heard it so I can't say.

wonderfully easy, instructions are printed on the bottom.

sounds great, super warm, gritty low-fi just like an ol' tube echoplex.
I use a 58' Gibson LesPaul Special, an 82' 57'Strat re-issue, a 64' Silvertone and a 74' tele through a bunch of assorted vintage MXR, Ibanez, EH pedals as well as a few newer Menatone pedals. into either a 67' Vibrolux, 66' Princeton, 71' Deluxe Reverb, 66' Bassman Head through a Marshall 4x10 cab, or my 71' superlead through 4x12 Marshall cab with Vintage 30's.

it hasen't faltered yet, besides the super hi-end roll-off issue, which I totally agree with.
there is a super easy way to remedy this problem.....
replace the tube! w/ a better quality 12ax7. or better yet, what I tried was a NOS Sylvania 12at7. which has LESS gain than the 12ax7. so you don't overdrive the preamp as much (hence cleaner,clearer, more defined highs.
still way warm & huge tone.
also it allows the drive control to be more interactive. you can have clear echo when turned down, but still have it feedback and freak out on it self when maxed!
I also want to try a 12au7. which would even be less gain that the 12at7. try experimenting with a few different pre-amp tubes from a guitar amp. they shouldn't hurt the Echodrive because
1. the thing is built like a tank!
2. the 12ax7 has the most gain of the guitar preamp tube family.
checkout www.varidrive.com click onto the varidrive, and you'll see the tube gain chart.

I love this unit, I tried the SS model just to check it out. it sounded great, but to my ears the analog one is the shit!
my only complaint is that the tube isn't of the best quaility. but again that can be remedied quickly.

I have been using and gigging with the SIB Echodrive analog version for almost a year. This unit is very easy to understand and use, especially for those of you who are already familiar with Echoplex controls. Immediately you can get a good Echo/delay from this unit. Over time, as you play with the unit you will discover that each parameter replicates very close the original functions found on a tube Echoplex. There really is no directions for this unit other than a label on the bottom side that describes in brief what each function does. The functions on this unit include, an over all output level , mix , amount of repeats, delay time, record level. There is an input jack for a passive volume pedal (not an expression pedal) which allows you to operate the mix control by foot (real time). Note...The digital version of this pedal will not allow you to do this.

I am a working top forty guitar player. My setup generally is either a Fender reissue strat with EMG SA pickups or a Tom Anderson Hollow Classic with Anderson pickups. Sometimes I also use an Anderson Cobra with Seymore Duncan Antiquity pickups. My pedal board includes in this order: A Fulldrive II, a Barber Dual Unit, Fulldrive Fatboost, Fulldrive Choralflange, Fulldrive Tremelo, SIB Echodrive. My amps are an early seventies small top 50 watt 4 input Marshall with a 2x12 cab. The cab is loaded with a Vintage Thirty and Celestion Blue. For small club gigs a Dr Z Carmen Ghia 2x10 combo. The SIB is very quiet with either amp. The true bypass is dead on. There is no coloration of the signal when this unit is switched off. My only complaint about this unit is the high end roll off. I have used Echoplexes all my life and I know the characteristics of these units well. The high end roll of on the SIB is a little more than a good tube Echoplex would have. If my Echoplex had as much high end roll off as the SIB I would clean and demagnetize the heads, and get a new tape. Now some people may like this about the SIB. I found, depending on the amp you use with this unit it may not be a problem. With my Marshall, I get back some of the high end by tweaking the presence control. This unit sounds great with my Marshall. With the Dr Z, the SIB is too muddy and takes away from the pristine presence and clarity of this amp. The Z does not have a presence control so I can't compensate for the loss of highs when the SIB is on. Other than a little too much high end roll off, this unit sounds like a tube Echoplex. You will get an exact copy of an "early seventies" delay heard on almost every classic rock album of that era.

I have been gigging with this unit for over a year and have had no problems.

I have called Rick at SIB to talk about the design of this unit and he has been very helpful. I am sure if it needed repair he would take care of it without a problem.

I rate this unit very high for what it does. I have gigged with it for over a year and love the sound of it. I have tried many delay units including the Chandler and have always gone back to my Echoplex. This is the first time I have been completely satisfied with a delay that sounds like my Echoplex. I have not used the Huges Kettner or the Moog delays that are now on the market so I can't provide a comparison to those products. If it were stolen I would replace it, which would be hard because it is not being made anymore. It has since been replaced by a digital version that SIB claims is in some ways better. I wish the unit had less high end roll off and more foot controlled parameters {such as the mix control like the Moog}. It is the best sounding delay I have used for recreating the Echoplex vibe. I highly recommend this unit if you can find one.

It's a cinch to set up and use. The parameters on the knobs are common enough to speak for themselves. There is a long/short delay switch on the side that is not marked (and mine didn't come with a manual), but if you're plugged in and you engage it, it becomes obvious what it does. And this pedal is red, not blue. Looks great!

"Sound Quality": a loaded question when dealing with an echoplex simulator. Does it sound like an Echoplex? Not as much as the analog Echodrive, IMO. But it enables you to do lots of different things that the analog version can't do.

1) It lacks the high-end rolloff that characterizes the analog version, trading it for a truer reproduction of tone coming from your guitar. I've never heard an Echoplex that wasn't dirty-sounding as all heck, so that's why I said that the digital version of the Echodrive is less true to the form. But that's not necessarily true, depending on what your perception of an ideal tape-echo sound is.

As a side note, notice that I said "high-end rolloff" as opposed to "low-end rolloff". I've always noticed that the tape Echoplexes actually get a low-end rolloff happening even with short feedback settings, but every non-tape analog delay pedal I've heard cuts the frequencies in the high end, which sounds inaccurate as a simulator (although still very musical) to me. Note that this version does neither, UNLESS...

2) You turn the feedback way up. Then you can get the crazy "runaway" sound - it's very nice, especially for a digital unit! And with that comes all of the high end (harmonic?) sizzle that you're hoping for, implying a perceived low-cut to my ears.

3)Delay times can be much much longer, to the point of even becoming a useful looping tool. A great feature which may elimate the need to gig with an analog delay for slapback sounds, and to simultaneously shlep around a Boomerang for the longer, loopier-sounding stuff.

I should say that I happily own both a Boomerang and an analog Echodrive, and that they both do their thing very well - better, in most cases, than this unit. Maybe it's a matter of convenience, but I primarily enjoy taking the digital Echodrive to jams - less bulk with lots of options. That and running it BEFORE a tube distortion circuit (call me crazy, but I think that gets it to sound more analog in the sense described above).

Everyone knows that these things are built like tanks. I would never anticipate any problems.

I think that I actually got one of the first of these digital units that were sold (I had to wait 6 months to get it drop-shipped via a dealer in Honolulu). At one point, the kind dealer had conference-called me and SIB, allowing SIB to explain to me what was taking so long. R&D is obviously important, and knowing that they didn't just slap a digital chip into the existing Echodrive circuit is re-assuring. They also said if I had an analog delay chip that I'd rather use, I could send it to them and they'd install it for me. Gotta love that.

See the above comments for this category..

Takes some tweeking, really, to get the right sound. The Record Level control, I assume, controls the level sent to the delay chips, and doesn't seem to affect the sound much; but I think it's best to set and forget at 12:00 o'clock (50%) to keep from either starving or overdriving the bucket brigade (which is not a problem, though). This device, at least for me, seems to want to do a lot of repeats and play the delay sound pretty loud, so I have to back off the mix and repeats quite a bit to get a subtle, usable echo.

No noise. The tone is very warm, despite what previous reviewers have said. There are good and bad points to the EchoDrive's tone; it's not _all_ good. Let me point them out, so you'll have a more realistic sense of this unit:

GOOD:
1. Very forgiving of the input level, due to the tube driver. You just can't overdrive this thing! Doesn't need careful monitoring of the input level like _every_ solid state and digital unit requires.
2. Full, round, tube sound. The direct, un-delayed signal is transparent, and the delayed signal is big. Not sterile or harsh or thin or pixillated like a digital. There is no clamped, tinny sound you will get from a solid state unit (even the venerable Roland Space Echo suffers from this ailment).
3. True bypass switch; when it's off, it's out of the loop.
4. No worn-out tapes or dirty heads to deal with, and no inevitable glitches from tape splices.

BAD:
1. Rolled-off highs and slightly colored, low-fi delay sound. Not pristine or in-your-face enough to convincingly do the self-accompanying repeats represented by "Run Like Hell" or "Talk To Me" by Pink Floyd and much of The Edge's work in U2. For those applications, maybe an MXR, Chandler, TC Electronics, or a WEM Copicat digital unit might be the best choice? (I haven't tried any of these, but they're used by some of the best and have great reviews)

It does sound like a tube EchoPlex; the only problem is that it sounds like the tape is a little too worn out. If my EchoPlex or Space Echo sounded this crappy, I'd put a new tape in it and clean and demagnetize the tape heads. It's not that bad, though; I can live with it. Apparently this is not fixable. I emailed one of the SIB partners about it, and the high end has to be rolled off the delay output, because the clock signal for the analog delay chips becomes audible if you don't. Just thought you should know...

Besides being built very much like a brick, the design quality of SIB is admirable. At any rate, it's way more reliable than a tape echo could ever be. If you forget the AC cord when you go to a gig or someone's house with it, any AC cord from a computer, monitor, printer, or Marshall-style amp will do. So you could replace the stock straight cord with a right-angle cord to get more room in your pedalboard (like I see someone did, in another review below, and drilled a hole in the bottom of his board to run the cord though) or a longer one if need be.

Very nice and accessible via email. They will answer all questions promptly. No problems.

I traded a Roland Space Echo RE201 (worth at least $325) and an old MXR Phase 45 (worth about $45) to 30th St Guitars (http://www.30thstreetguitars.com/) for it. That's why all the comparisons to a tape echo. (I had just gotten totally fed up with the Space Echo after I couldn't get a decent replacement tape made that wouldn't glitch every time it came to the splice no matter how carefully I spliced it. I had found it impossible to find NOS Space Echo tapes, but since then I found a couple of them around online.)

Overall, a very solid, warm, and musical unit, well suited for just about any echo application. Haven't tried hooking up a volume pedal to modulate the delay time yet, but that would be really fun if you're into dub or crazy DJ effects.

Just don't expect pristine audio quality from the delay signal, 'cause it aint gonna happen.

I like it, and I'm not planning to sell it or trade it unless I find a better value with superior sound quality, which is not likely. I would consider trading it for a real tube EchoPlex, though, because tapes are readily available for those.

The unit is very easy to use. It has all the standard delay knobs: time, repeats, and mix as well as record level and drive. The manual is printed on the back of the unit...that's how simple it is.

The sound quality on the Echodrive is superb. It is not noisy at all. I am using the unit with a Relic Tele--->Z Vex SHO--->Blackstone Overdrive 2--->Crowther Hotcake--->Klon Centaur--->Echodrive--->'64 Fender Vibroverb and/or Matchless DC-30. My favorite thing about the unit is the drive control. It has the most humongous boost in beefiness when you kick it in. Gone are the days when you lose tone after you kick in your delay.

This thing is built like a tank and then some. I have an Ibanez AD-80 and MXR analog delays as backups, but I don't think I'll ever need them.

I am not sure because I have never dealt with them directly.

I give it all 10's due to the fact that I cannot imagine a more perfect delay. It is fat and warm but not mushy. I would definately buy a new one if it got stolen...if they have any more. I also have an Ibanez AD-80, an MXR Analog delay, and an old Digitech 8 sec Delay/Sampler. The SIB soars high and above all of these pedals.

Their is no formal manual as such- knob functions are silkscreened
on the under-side of the steel case for 1st time reference.{It is not
a decal or sticker} The knobs interact predictably with each other.
The case is dark-blue power-coated. Find your ideal sound, and put a
tiny 'dot' of 'White-Out' next to each scribe-line for quick reference. You will love the massive & quick changes in sound as you mess-around with the controls. Everything you would want to have control over is right there.

I love great echos for the tunes that call for it. This is the best
sounding unit I have ever heard in pedal format. The warmth you can feel in your fingertips as you play through it is something the other
boxes can not do. Previous favorite was a Boss DM-2 analog delay. Yes-I own the new Line 6 Delay- the 'Swiss Army Knife' of delay pedals. A great and versital unit, but it DOES NOT compare to the Echo Drive.
Your guitar signal comes into a 12AX7 tube, then on to a pair of delay circuits, and then back through the tube again. This echo is incredibly rich sounding, and does not get the 'crunchiness' on the very high notes that some of the other units do. The Line 6 has a clear sound, but the resulting output is not warm- I would describe it as 'sterile' sounding, as well as to the dynamic touch as you play. 'Sterile' vs. 'alive' is how I would distinguish the two. The Echo Drive can be
set using simple pots to have the 'echoed' notes be LOUDER that the initial note, if you'd like! You can also induce a desireable mild
overdriven sound to the echo if you want, as well as adjust the
output volume to be higher than the original guitar signal if you want. It is not stereo- but a stereo mix can be done in the mixing
board by the soundman, and you don't have to take 2 amps. Unlike the
Line 6 Delay, this unit has an internal power supply. The Line 6 uses
a hugh wall-wart- sold spearately. Both of these pedal are real estate
hogs, but are much smaller than an 'EchoPlex'. Max delay time is almost a full second, but I find that longer delays are hard to fit
into a song. About 300 ms is all I ever seem to use. The repeats can
be tuned to do a v e r y gradual fade-out, with very decent sound resolution. You can also set it to do long-drawn spacious echos- almost reverb-like. I could never get the Line 6 to do this as well. The Echo Drive is extremely quiet when in use. It is 'voiced' very musically! The high's are not rolled-off as severely as an EchoPlex, and I have never personally considered that to be a great feature of a tape-based unit- more of an inherent flaw if you ask me. The Line 6
is well distributed, and you either have one, or you are going to get one. But as soon as you try the Echo Drive {perhaps the best EchoPlex replacement ever built } the Line 6 will be sold to a friend or put on eBay. The difference to the audience may be nill, but the difference to you as you play through it is NOT subtle. This unit
is a player's dream come true- I kid you not. I had the luxury of being able to try one out at Jeff's Guitars here in San Diego- one
of the very 1st ones built. I had also just purchased the Line 6
3 weeks before this 1st batch was available. The Line 6 is a keeper,
and a really nice 'Jack-of-all-trades', but it is the Echo Drive that
made it to the pedal board. My observation is that the Line 6 did a
nice job of replicating the Boss DM-2, but is not nearly as
good sounding as the real DM-2.[The DM-2 is not 'sterile' sounding]
But the Echo Drive is clearly the king! No question. 'Red House'
though this unit sounds like you're playing to the studio recording.
The Line 6 is an absolute engineering marvel, and I give the design
team two thumbs up for what they have delivered to the world. But if
you are truly serious about your tone, you HAVE to at least play through an Echo Drive once. That's all it takes.

So far, so good- but like my amps there is a genuine tube inside.
But unlike the older units it replaces, there are no heads to clean,
no heads to de-magnatize, no tapes to replace, doesn't need it's own
road case, doesn't need it's own stand when in use, etc.

If you ever find it necessary, you can communicate with the actual
designer of the unit. Rick Hamel is a very, very nice person. He
just relocated to St. Louis as of 6/1/2000.

It has sounded wonderful with every combination of guitar and amp
it have run it through. I would definately buy another one.
Love the sound. Just love it! Footprint is smaller than the Line 6,
but I still wish it was the size of a Boss. But there is a 12AX7 and
an AC power supply built-in, something Boss-sized pedals do not feature.