SIB Mr Echo

The Mr. Echo is a relatively simple delay pedal. DELAY controls the amount of delay time, RATE controls the repeats, MIX controls how much of the signal is affected, and LEVEL controls the output volume, there is a SLAM momentary footswitch (which does a pretty cool thing), and a BYPASS switch (ON/OFF). The pedal is true bypass...

I bought MR. Echo to back up my Ibanez AD9 (really sweet, and worthy of the hype, BTW). In order for it to be a suitable back up though, I needed to make sure I could coax the exact same (2) delay sounds. Lining them up side by side it took me about 15/20 minutes to get what I needed/wanted - the hardest/most difficult thing for me was setting the VOLUME and MIX to exactly where I wanted. It wasn't that hard, and I was going for a very specific sound - the AD9, which I was able attain.

My gear...

Guitars: (2) Epiphone Les Paul LE's w/ Seymour Duncan JB's
Amp: 1978 Marshall 50w JMP w/Red Bear 4 x 12
Effects: Boss TU2>Ibanez FL9>Fulltone FDII>Teese Wizard Wah>Ibanez AD9/SIB Mr.Echo>Boss/Tone-Jam modified GE7

As stated in the "Ease Of Use", it took me a little time to find the exact sounds I wanted, but I found them. Then I was able to really compare the tones.

Take in mind that the Mr. Echo is digital...Compared to the AD9 set to similiar settings, the Mr. Echo gets a 9 out of 10. The Mr. Echo's delayed signal is not quite as warm and fat as that of the AD9, but the high end roll off gives a really good approximation of an analog delay crcuit. The delay is very warm and lush, without a hint of "ping" or digtal coldness. Very, very nice sounds. Great sounding delay.

The SLAM feature is pretty trippy. I like it...kind of like pitch shifter, but...maybe that isn't the best way to describe what it does...it kind of makes the signal modulate...its spacey...like a rushing "WOOOSH" or "WARBLE" that climbs up, then falls. I like it !!! Very cool.

I am really pleased with the tones of Mr. Echo - especially for the price !!! It is allowing me to keep my AD9 safe for recording only purposes, but still retain a great delay tone when practicing and playing live.

There have been some units going around with some faulty resistors that were causing bad tones - mine was not one of those.

Its built by hand, and after opening it up (c'mon, you have to open up a hand made pedal !) the soldering looks very neat and clean (very Fulltone/Teese-like).

The pedal itself feels very sturdy...very heavy. I was thinking immediately of Fulltone in regards to the case/build.

The only issue I had was with the pedal was with the SLAM momentary switch. I set the pedal to repeat the delayed signal 4 times (about 9 o'clock), and the pedal works as it should...but if I either stepped on & let go of the SLAM button, or even turned the pedal "off" then turned it back "on", the REPEAT parameters were "magically" changed to pretty much endless repeats - and the REPEAT knob had not been moved...not good. I worked with the pedal for about 2 hours, using both the battery and a power supply (DC Brick - 9v) - same issue with both power sources. I spoke with Rick at SIB the next morning (see cusomer service rating) and was told that its probably a dirty momentary switch - cleaning it by either pressing/depressing the SLAM button multiple times or by spraying a plastic safe electrical contact cleaner/lubricant would resolve. Problem solved.

I don't think I will have any more issues with the Mr. Echo. I am confident it will perform flawlessly...I will still be bringing out my AD9 just in case, but I also bring an extra FL9, TS9 and Arion Tuner pedal, too - you never know what can happen out there....

You cannot rate customer support with having to contact them for something.

I got to deal with Rick first hand due to the SLAM button issue I had. I got his number from Musictoyz.com (friendly people via e-mail, not so nice via phone) and called him at 8am PST on the dot.

Rick answered after the first ring, as was very attentive. I explained that I was very fond of the pedal, but there was a problem. After detailing the issue he immediately told me that the SLAM switch was probably dirty. He gave me advice for the remedy (plastic safe electrical contact cleaner/lubricant) and off I went. He was very polite, and sounded very sincere/concerned with my happiness with his product. He said that if the pedal was still acting up that he would do what was necessary to get me a 100% functioning Mr. Echo

He was right about the switch - a lttle spray of cleaner/lube follwed by some drepressing of the switch, and BOOM, fixed.

I play hard rock/metal (think STP/TOOL). This pedal works just fine for me, and what I do.

I can honestly say that Mr. Echo is allowing me to put my AD9 in reserve/a safe place so that I can use it when it matters most - recording !!!

The construction is very sturdy, and the customer support great.

The delays themselves are very warm and analog like - much better than the DD3 I had previously to the AD9. I am very pleased with Mr. Echo - absolutely. If the pedal was only a standard "delay", without the SLAM function, it'd be very cool...but that function is darn cool, and I will be using it for plenty of stuff, for sure.

I have to keep going back to the fact that I had it side by side with my AD9, and Mr. Echo blew me away with its sound quality. I did not expect it to be as good as it is.

I would be pretty upset if my MR. Echo were lost or stolen...and I would buy another immediately if that were to happen.

I am definately recommending this pedal. Great tone, great functionability, true bypass, great price...c'mon !!!

Very easy to use, 4-knob delay unit. Delay time, repeat time, wet/dry mix, output volume. One of the simplest delays around but also very flexible given the relatively short (max 1/2 second) delay. No manual, but who needs one? The "slam" button is a bit of a gimmick but can be fun.

Firstly, it's a lo-fi echo so don't expect studio quality! But also my (brand new) model has the early production fault where it's easy to overload and get a harsh distortion just by playing hard (i.e. just the output level from your guitar's pickups will cause this distortion). Apparently later models have a different resistor value somewhere which cures this. But from my point of view, this makes an already lo-fi unit sound absolute rubbish unless I remember to wind back the volume on the guitar a bit. It's not a problem with more compressed sounds such as through an overdrive unit, but with a guitar straight into the pedal it's very easy to get this unpleasant breakup.

No idea what SIB products are like generally, but the on/off footswitch in this feels weedy compared with my Fulltone and Barber pedals. If anything goes it'll be the footswitch I reckon.

Awful. Have emailed SIB and SMF amps asking for a fix for this faulty unit, and have got no reply. Forget any support from these guys because they're just not interested. Anyone know a phone number for SIB? They certainly don't stick it on the website. The original supplier (MusicToyz) offered to swap the unit but unfortunately I'm in the UK and bought mail order from the US so shipping and a 2nd round of import duty would be prohibitive.

I've been playing over 3 decades and have loads of other gear from cheap-and-cheerful right up to boutique. I gig all the time and put equipment through its paces onstage, not sitting in some office. The Mr Echo would probably be an excellent lo-fi stomp echo box if only I hadn't got a dud, I far prefer it to equivalent Boss units for example except you know Boss kit will work straight out of the box. I'd really like guys like SIB to compete with the giant corporations but unless they change their approach they'll just be a flash in the pan.

I purchased this pedal about six weeks ago and have played through it quite a bit. I found the pedal easy to get a good sound. A very sweet sounding delay and I have used them all just about. I got it after having the Echodrive. I liked it but it wasn't very pedalboard friendly given its size & the AC cord, however the Mr. Echo is a great size for a pedalboard and will take an adapter.

This is really a sweet sounding delay. I'm pretty sure it is digital, but its EQ'ed to roll off the high end. There is some hiss with this pedal, but its hardly noticeable. The repeats fade nicely and they get a bit fuzzier with the decay. There also seems to be a slight hint of detuning after about the 3rd to 4th repeat. The rig I use is an 86 PRS Standard, Boss TU-2 Tuner, SD Pick-up Booster, Fulltone SupaTrem, SIB Mr. Echo into a 50 watt Marshall 2204S head and into an older Marshall 1936 2x12 cabinet with Greenbacks. I'll give it a 9 because of the slight hiss and I don't care for the "slam" feature.

It seems to be built like a tank; like most high quality boutique pedals. I would gig without a back-up.

I haven't had to contact them. I hope the horror stories in the previous reviews will have been resolved.

I am giving the Mr. Echo a 9 overall because I wish it had about 100 more millisecinds and some way to adjust detuning the repeats like the EH Memory Man, however that pedal is nearly useless because of the overloading problem (especially with a booster pedal.) I play blues/rock and country/rock/americana and I've been playing for about 23 years. If it were stolen or lost I would get another one because at this point I haven't found anything better for my needs. Like I said before I've used every kind of delay pedal and I prefer the Mr. Echo. I've used the EH Memory Man, Line 6 DL4, Akia Headrush, Carl Martin Delayla, and SIB Echodrive. The simplicity of this pedal and its warm tone help me make music and get the tone I like..

very easy to use. knobs are laid out and labeled so that even a 3rd grader could figure it out. slam switch is something you need to try to fully understand. cool feature.

the delay sounds warm and smooth. very fat.. unlike digital delays where the delayed note can sound thin, almost artificial, the Mr. Echo delays are much warmer and organic. very good sounds out of this delay pedal. the slam effect is pretty cool too and like i explained above, needs to be tried to fully see the potential of this feature. pretty cool when releasing the switch to get that modulation. i also like the fact that with the volume knob, i can get signal boost.

built solid. dont think i'll ever have a problem with it.

i have no idea about customer support. never tried contacting them

this is a great pedal and a great price. i dont know what the other two reviewers are talking about. maybe they had a bad batch. i checked musictoyz.com and the website mentioned that a problem was fixed in this pedal. so maybe there was a bad batch. maybe i got one of the good ones, i dunno. ... all i know is this pedal is on my board now. with pedals that are worth 2-3 times more. great delay for anyone who's tired of typical digital delays.

Extremely easy to use but... boy is this a bad product!!!???

I use a stratocaster feeding a Vox wah into a fulldrive2 into a fender-type amp (a 65 twin reverb clone). I have owned and played a few SIB products in the past and they were really good (varidrive, buttface, etc). This Mr Echo though sounds so horrible that I find it hard to believe that SIB put it out. Aparently they tried to make it sound like a tube/tape echo unit by adding some distortion a some filtering to the delayed signal. The result was a disaster. If you use many repeats the thing will start to make all sort of crackling sounds. The delayed signal is very distorted after 2 or 3 repeats. The slam switch is another desapointment. I thought it would give me great endless echoes for a spacey ending for guitar solos... and nope. It can sound a little interesting if you keep the repeat knob very high. But at normal settings (2 or 3 repetitions before fading), the slam did nothing but make me laugh. It' s so ridiculous...

As far as I am concerned, this pedal is a defective project. It need not to break to be useless... A stillborn.

Nonexisting. Try contacting them at www.smfamps.com and you'll see what I mean.

I play rock, blues, and a bit of fusion (jazz-rock). I was looking (still am) for a good nonexpensive short-time delay pedal that was true bypass. Mr Echo sounded promissing but... I am probably paying a bit more and getting a Line 6 DL4 or a Guyatone Tube Echo.

Impossible to get any good sound. No manual.

I use a Don Grosh strat, a Dr Z MAZ 38 amp + 2x12 cab, Clyde wah, Voodoo lab microvibe, SIB nick nitro, MI audio tube zone, Direct Drive SS, Line 6 modulation modeler, roger mayer voodoo 1. Mr Echo is useless. It is noisy, it crackles all the time, its delay degrade faster than a broken tape answering machine, it distorts your signal, etc. The slam switch is useless (it makes your guitar fart!!!! I'm not kidding!!!!). This is the worst pedal I have ever had.

I will never use this pedal. I played with it for 5 minutes just to realize the piece of crap it is.

There is no costumer support at all. The web page has no contact info, no email. There is no manual or contact info in the pedal box.

This pedal is a waste of money. I am not kidding: this thing is totally useless. I am selling it. I just got a cheap used ($25) danelectro delay pedal and it sounds better than this Mr Echo thing for which I paid US$110 plus $60 import tax to Brazil plus $20 shipping. Hey SIB how about sending my money back??