Advice from anyone with Space Echos?

[Alistair]

Hi guys,
I know a couple of you have Space Echos and was just hoping for some advice.

I've had a RE201 for a couple of years, and love it. However, whenever I use it, there is a distinct loss of high end- something that sounds to me like an impedance mismatch. This is particularly obvious when just going guitar----> 201------> amp.

I think the previous owner had it serviced about 6 months before I got it, so I'm wondering if something was changed in the guts that maybe causing this. Or is this high end loss pretty standard for Space Echos? It's the only one I've ever had, so unsure what's normal.

I've had it serviced by Logitronics for motor issues, and they didn't mention anything about tone loss, but I don't know if they checked as I only mentioned motor problems, not preamp/tone issues.

[Ben M]

How old is the tape Alistair?
I'm slowly doing up my RE301 which is starting to sound pretty good. A new pinch poller and some new felts have done wonders for it's performance.
Obviously giving the heads a good clean and a new tape would be my first moves, but if you've already done that I'd give it back to the nice service man and see if the electrical side of things are up to scratch.
There are so many factors that could be causing your impedance/tone issue.... it's scary.
Can you get any tone/top end out of it.....or is it just plain muddy sounding?

Always happy to talk space echoes.

[Alistair]

Hey Ben,

thanks for the reply. For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure it's nothing to do with the tape. I've replaced the tape once or twice with no hassles, and no change in tone. The problem is more that even with the echo/reverb switched out (echo/normal switch set to normal), I still lose top end and a bit of volume too I think. It also has that weird 'wrong impedance' feeling you get when you plug your guitar straight into a PA or something like that- sort of clicky and less body to the notes.
That being said, where did you get the pinch roller and felts? I have an intermittent issue with the felts next to my roller grabbing, and the roller itself has lost it's rubberyness (if that's a word!) and have gone rock hard. I thought space echo parts were almost impossible to find.

[Ben M]

Sounds like it's back to the nice service man Alistair. Somethings not quite right.

Pinch rubber was replaced by;
http://www.terrysrubberrollers.com/
In the US. Very easy and only cost about $60 all up. Terry is the man in rubber. hmm....does that sound sound right?

Felt I bought recently from WA. B&M felt, it's a wool/felt blend. I just bought a couple of small swatches. I really just paid for the postage. Go the 3mm wool felt. They have a few colours. No green though.
http://www.bandmfelt.com.au/

I'm also assuming you've tried a few other leads and guitars to test this.
Are there any other new additions you can see on the echo? like input jacks?

[Alistair]

Thanks Ben, that's great. I'll get around to replacing the felt and roller in the future- at the moment it's just got some felt from spotlight in there. Seems to be doing the job, but I do worry about it shedding.

Yep, ruled out all possible other causes. It's definitely something in the Space Echo, and not related to the tape. No visible external mods, but I guess it's probably near on 40 years old now, so who knows where it's been in it's life!

[Chinagraf]

Space echoes don't sound dull if they are working right. I have a 501 but miss the 201. I am always keeping an eye out for a cheap one. I never see them...
Have you put a mutlimeter on the pot for the treble control? Could have crapped out maybe..

[Alistair]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the EQ should only effect the repeats? This is not an issue with the repeats, it's the actual dry sound that changes. Treble control does affect the wet signal.

I bought this for the max I was prepared to pay for a 201- I think around $600-$650 from memory. They seem to be all over ebay at $1k now, which is a bit extreme. Funnily enough I'm always keeping my eyes open for a 501!

[Futureman]

Don't forget the SRE-555

same as 501 but in rack form.. weighs a bit also.

[Thirteen]

Thirty year old caps could be a problem, particularly if it was not used for long periods.... Also magnetised heads, or even someone having adjusted a trimpot incorrectly at some point.

[Alistair]

Thanks Steve- I guess it's time to crack it open and have a look. Caps/trimpots I can do, demagnetising heads etc is out of my skill set.