Yamaha E1010 Analog Delay

Very easy, but if you have some knowledge about how you get chorus, flange, tremolo, phaser, echoes, delays, or what is the diference between flange and chorus...
I don't have a manuel, but you can easily get one on the net.

Profesional guitar player, many guitars, mainly boogie mark II amps.
As I see not many here know the Yamaha, or what they have.
This is simply the best analog delay, chorus, flange and... so on unit!
I have always played delays, many of them started in the eighties with boss rdd10, than rdd20, dd3, dd5, dd6, many rack units...- this is the one for me.
Warm, beautiful sound. The only thing is, you get only one effect at a time.
AND, take care, it's not just up to 300ms delay, as most think! If you open it, you can adjust the delay trimer (many trimers inside, but it says delay next to it)
You can have over 2 seconds of delay !!! Imagine that at a analog machine!
Though it has some noise at extreme settings, but up to ~ 1 second or so, there is no noise !!!

No problems !!!
After years of use - just contact spray for the poties and it shines.
I had some simmilar problem as the one here changeing memory chips,
but it was just the input poti that needed to be cleaned !!!
Contact cleaner is all you need ...

Never contacted them...

25 years of blues, rock, modern sound, up to groove jazz (no boring standards soloing and no punk or trash metal)
This Yamaha is my best effekt purchase. It would be very hard to find another one, what I would try to do if...

Simple, straight forward...

Not Noisy at all. Warm and pure tone.

The thing is built like a tank. Very reliable.

It has never failed me.

I play a variety of styles. This is a good all around fatten up your sound Delay. I imagine it would sound good through a PA also.

If you want a tweekable delay this is the one unit that can change pitch and tempo in real time. Digital units will not do this. The back input has a delay only out so you can use it in an aux. If you want to hear what it sound like check http://unamusic.net and listen to Angels at my Door. I used a ton of the E-1010 on this track.

OK so it is a little noisy, however I usually gate effects like this to preserve the noise floor. You can always gate for effect too. I would roll off the high end if not in unity. However I would recommend using this unit in mono panned to one side; one can always DIRN this later. The thing I really loved about this unit is the feathery tails with a longer delay and modulation. The 300ms limit is not really a problem, how many tracks do you know that you can actually hear anything after 300ms?

You do have to be careful with guitar inputs on the front. The input circuit can be burnt if you don't watch the input level. I would advise keeping an eye on that. The unit I have, I bought at the Guitar Center on Sunset in 1983 and only had to have it repaired once for this very problem. It has worked flawlessly since then and I use on everything I record. No Kidding.

Do not know much, but from the other reviewers it seems like they are still keeping the E-1010 current.

I do not know what this is going for today, however I cannot image not recording without one. I would play a lot to replace it. This is an authentic classic effect and would say anyone who has one should treasure it. I have only the deepest regard for this awesome box.

it's a pretty self explanatory unit for it's time. has 5 buttons, i believe, to set the milliseconds. that is, you have 5 set timings. then all the big knobs for tweaking. the manual is still available from yamaha i think. or it can be found on the net.

this is the only analog delay i use. it just has "the sound" down better recorded to tape or digital than any other ones i have. super clean & super quiet. i don't gig with it though. stays strictly in the studio so nothing happens to it. use an old AD9 live instead.

it's got to be at least 25 years old now. never had a problem with it.

if i want analog delay on a recording, this is the only one i ever thing about using. it just has this great "air" to it. that justifies a "10" in my book. this model has modulation and depth knobs as well, which can produce some crazy effects/noise/etc. it also really rocks on drum tracks. i've been throwing everything in the mix through it for some songs just to get that airy quality. great unit

Plug it in, and it rocks!!!! Just 4 knobs, Effect Level, Feedback, Delay Time an' Input Level, very user friendly!!!!

I use this pedal mainly with a strat that goes into a Tubescreamer, into this pedal, and then into a Marshall JCM2000, I'm not a big fan of saturated sounds, I use a mild crunch like Brian Setzer, and I play mostly Rockabilly, blues and Country. The sound is very satisfactory indeed, for the price of the pedal ( I purchased it for 70 ?, used), and kicks the ass of other delay pedals I tried under 500$.

Dont know, just got it, but the guy who sold it to me has had it for a while, an' it hasnt malfunctioned, so I guess its not bad at all....

I love it. This is easy to get a great sound. I also learned something from other reviwers where you can pop the cover and tweak the front knob parameters even more. There are no patches to edit. Cool! Just a bunch of big knobs that work in real time.

I've used this with keyboards and with guitar. My guitars are mostly single coils: Fender Strats, Teles, and Tom Anderson. I have a couple of Les Pauls that are too thick sounding for me - but they work well with the E1010. Considering this is 25 years old, the sound is surprisingly quiet. Certainly no digital noise! Long live analog. I can't call the sound "pristine", but guitar racks have a certain amount of noise anyway. This does not add any significant noise.

Well, here's the rub: I've had to replace one particular memory chip over the years about 4 times. There is probably something wrong with the unit that continues to blow out this chip. When the chip is bad, the input LEDs al light up and there is no sound output. I open it up, replace it, close it back, and it works for another few years. So, if it failed, I'd have to limp through the gig without it. As a matter of fact, I have a Memory Man Deluxe that sounds even better - so I just use the E1010 on occasion.

Have not dealt with customer support. After the unit failed the first time, I saw what the repair tech did to fix it. I've fixed it myself ever since.

This is a good match for any style of music. I play Rock, R&B, Blues and you can always find a use for an analog delay/chorus. I like an approximate 250ms delay with just a touch of modulation. This unit nails that tone nicely. I've been playing for 35 years, I've done literally hundreds - maybe thousands of gigs. I've used many different effects. Digital effects are certainly getting better, but the analog effects sound so smooth....

Buy one, and a dozen memory chips, if the price is right....

I just got it, but all there is to it: a few REALLY big knobs.

The guy who gave it to me said it sounds like 3 nymphs singing under a waterfall, extremely exquisit, but since it's analog it's also ready to be aggressive and stuff.

It looks like extremely heavy build, but it also isn't very heavy, and it's like 27 years old or something! So, thumbs up!

THE YAMAHA customer support is EXTREME!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that is the main reason I'm writing this! Go to the support page in the UK (www.yamaha.co.uk) and you'll find EVEN the manual for the E 1010 in .pdf! I just got it!!!!!!!!!!!!! When in 2003. I had some issues with my eyes and the TX16W (1986.) sampler (I didn't see the midi in/out/thru/ on the back panel and I sent some e-mails about it to customer support. I know I'm an idiot, but I really didn't see that, I guess I was inlove at the time! :)) they responded the next day and the day after and we exchanged some e-mails untill we reached a solution! YAMAHA CUSTOMER SUPPORT RULES THE UNIVERSE!!!!!!! Unlike Roland or Korg, Yamaha decided to reach out, and that is why I buy new gear ONLY at Yamaha!!! When My Korg 01/W died, the korg dealer in my country told me to sell it for PARTS!!!!! There is NO WAY on their site to send an e-mail to Korg. I took the synth to Yamaha service, and guess what?! THEY FIXED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAMAHA RULES!!!!! :)

I got it from an old man who plays guitar and bass, he said the effect started "squeiling" (I hope the spelling is right) on a gig (yeah, after at least 25 years without service, playing EVERY night!) a few days a go, and he was too scared to turn this baby back on without service, so he wouldn't ruin it for good. He bought some new ART effects, and he sold this guy to me for 20 bucks!

it's so easy - allmost impossible to get nuthin' bad out of it.

I use this mainly for vocals and keyboards in studio, but it's also great master-effect if you lookin' for dub. only downer is same as every old analog delay: the longest delay-time ain't too long (300ms but can be modified for 360ms without dist/noise). after all it's so perfect for vocals.

yeh! it's now 20 years old and it will do when all Line6 and behringer are dead and gone...

yamaha is no better than any other manufacturer - there's no support for old gear... it sucks!

wish I had more of these... it's one of the best I have.

Very easy to use, the effect specific parameters are DELAY and FEEDBACK, FREQUENCY MODULATION and DEPTH, other than INPUT BASS TREBLE MIXING (dry to wet). The inputs/outputs on the back and front are great if you take it live or use it at home. The knobs are smooth and don't take on much dust, which can kill the expectation of getting an old unit. The direct out on the back is good if you dont have a handle on the dry/wet mixing on the front. Haven't used the footswitch much but by the looks of the schematic on the back, it will halt the delay.

Mostly quiet on the PA front, but noticeable in the studio. If you want the flavour but not the noise record it and DSP the noise out / gate it.

I use this unit mostly live for Electro / Funk / DUB and Reggae. Awesome! Great for triplates etc. Ragga Dancehall MC vocals mix up a treat. I have used it in all configrations, inline, half-inserted(great on mackie desks), direct out, on pre/post sends. No hassles.

You can saturate the input fairly well and sending the delay back on itself creates awesome building delays. A great unit with my Fostex R8 for dub/reggae

Although I want a back up unit, the E1010 has been dragged accross the countryside without a rack and it still pumps. The screws on the side are for the power transformer and the circuit board chasis. Mostly a well built unit.

None that i;ve heard of, find a music repairs shop who do Yahama,Roland and so on.

Apparently you can change the pot on the inside for increased delay times (700ms >?), this will increase noise and decrease sound quality.

This was a gift from our recording engineer.He simply didn't use it any more.Lucky me,this is very easy to use and you can also make some very crazy sounds with it!

This is one of the warmests,quietest most transperant a.delays I have ever heard,simply FANTASTIC,if you dislike digital delays and want a big,fat sound with loads of personality get one of these units,no longer made of course...

Built like a truck.Still works after 20 years,DEAD QUIET.

This unit is ,together with the old ROCKMAN ANALOG STEREO ECHO,the best non-tape analog delay I have ever heard.

All knobs, no memory or MIDI - this was built in the late 70s. But those knobs are nice and huge, and tweaking is easy. Built for stubby fingers on a dark stage or FOH rack. Two space rackmount analog delay unit, BBD chips with max 300ms delay.

Simple controls - input level LEDs, then the knobs are input level, bass boost/cut, treble boost/cut, delay time, feedback (positive only), direct/delay mix, modulation frequency, and modulation amount. There are also five push buttons for delay ranges; 10ms, 30ms, 75ms, 150ms, and 300ms.

There are input, output, and bypass jacks on the front panel. On the rear panel are duplicate input and output jacks, with an additional direct output jack.

Never got a manual for it - simple to use without one.

This is not among my favorite analog delay units for sound quality, but I keep it around because it has a panel full of knobs.

As to be expected with an analog BBD delay, the upper frequency range degrades with longer delays. That's not always a weakness, a natural echo has decreased highs anyways.

On my unit, if I use any mix level between all direct or all effect, the tone of the original suffers terribly, the output level drops. I can get around this by using the direct out and all effect on the mix for live/studio mixing, but guitarists should be forewarned this is *not* a good unit for inline effects like stompboxes.

I'm also not impressed with the fidelity of the original signal in the mid delay ranges (30ms, 75ms), but not sure if that's a malfunction in my particular unit.

The chorus/flange effect are not the greatest, which is the fault of the LFO - it's a sine waveform and the modulation is not smooth. You can hear the sweep slow between the extremes of the waveform. Triangle waveform is much better.

Most analog BBD delays are noisy, but not this unit. It includes a compander for improved S/N ratio, so it's nice and quiet. That's a big plus.

When I started playing clubs in 1981, our band had bought this unit and through the years it wound up in my hands. It hasn't broken yet.

I doubt that the mix problem is a malfunction, because I didn't pay attention to the fidelity until recent years and it's not the first unit to have such a problem (the old ART multi-effect boxes are notorious for this).

But it's getting old - hard to trust it without a backup, especially when Yamaha doesn't keep any parts for it anymore.

No experience.

However, Yamaha does in fact have a policy that they dispose of parts for any product over ten years out of production. So if I need parts I sure can't depend on Yamaha. Hence the worthless rating.

Well, it's not a good chorus/flange box, not a good echo box; what is it good for? Simple slap delay or Haas effects for simple stereo enhancement. Plus those knobs, can't beat the efficiency of knobs. I've been tempted to sell it on more than one occasion, and decided that there is no such thing as too many delays. For those applications where my Korg SDD boxes are tied up for doubling/chorus/flange, I still have the E1010 left over for simple slap delay and still have my digital multi-effect boxes for reverb. That's why I give it a "3" rating.

As for celebrity attachments, this is the box long favored by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush - you can hear it prominently featured on "2112". Enough with the associations with famous musicians, I have my own creative uses for this thing.

These things seldom come up used, which baffles me because there are delays with far better fidelity out there. I think there are two reasons why they are coveted: the analog sound does appeal to studios and musicians, and the S/N ratio is superb for an analog delay.