Catalinbread Belle Epoch EP3 Tape Echo Emulation
Brand new in original factory packaging. Z String Music is an authorized seller.
Catalinbread wants you to know:
Faithful sonic recreation of the EP-3 tape echo. Yes, including the preamp.
"The Catalinbread Belle Epoch is the closest thing to a real EP-3 that I've ever played."
- Eric Johnson
The Catalinbread Belle Epoch Tape Echo, has tape echo sounds so authentic you'd swear there was tape inside the pedal! Inspired by the Maestro Echoplex, EP-3 model, perhaps the most famous tape delay ever, the Belle Epoch features everything we love about the EP-3 in a small, maintenance free pedal format. We felt that a "tape echo" pedal was much more than just a standard digital delay with some "filtering" on the repeats. There are a lot of subtle and not-so-subtle traits of the Echoplex that needed to be implemented in order to be authentic. The preamp, the self-oscillation character, the ability to control the "record level" of the signal hitting "tape", the wow and flutter, the way the repeats decay, the way the circuit interfaces with the amp and other pedals... all these things were important to get right. The original unit was used as a musical instrument unto itself and this is what we captured with the Belle Epoch.
Controls
MIX: This control replicates the functionality of the Echo Volume control on the EP-3 and uses the same basic passive mixer circuit. Set at minimum to get dry only. Set at maximum to get wet only. You’ll find that you’ll probably want to run the Mix control lower when running the Belle Epoch into an overdriven amp or a dirt pedal due to the fact that the signals will be compressed and therefore bringing up the level of the repeats.
Tone/Record Level: This control sets how hard the “tape” or delay line is hit. It does not affect your dry signal and only affects the initial first repeat. Turning the knob while repeats are playing will not affect them. In practice, you’ll want to use this control in conjunction with the Mix control to set your balance for the delayed sound vs.your dry signal. You may find that you will end up presetting the Mix control (typically from 9:00 to noon) and controlling how present the repeats are with the Tone/Record Level knob.
With the Tone/Record Level knob set low, the initial repeat will be very quiet, thin, and airy. When set high, the initial repeat will be very loud, thick, and slightly distorted. If you like the sound with the Tone/Record Level set high but want the repeats to be quieter, just back down the Mix knob. Conversely, if you like the airy, light tone of the knob set low, but want it louder in the mix, just turn the Mix control up. Use both of these controls together to get your sound and balance! Noon is a good starting point for the Tone/Record Level and then you can adjust it up or down to get what you’re looking for.
SWAY/MOD: This control sets the amount of random tape wow and flutter effects in the echoes. At minimum, there is no wow and flutter. For the most realistic tape warble, set this control fairly low - 9:00 to 10:00 is a good sweet spot. Of course, you can crank it up and get some serious pitch warble going! Also, with really short delay times you may want to set this control lower for the most realistic tape sound. With longer delay times you can get away with a lot more.
ECHO SUSTAIN: This controls how much delay signal is fed back to the delay line to get multiple repeats. From minimum up to around noon you’ll get a fixed number of repeats with a great decay curve. Above noon you start to get into infinite floating repeats and then into self-oscillation.
The Belle Epoch will generate self-oscillation tones by itself, without any guitar signal present at the input, when the knob is turned from around 2:00 on up. The Echoplex did this too and this was an important attribute for us to dial in!
You’ll notice that up until the self-oscillation point the repeats get successively thinner as they decay. But from the self-oscillation point on up, the output from the pedal will be VERY loud. This is how the Echoplex behaved too and is part of its mojo! High settings of the Echo Sustain control are not for the faint of heart! As you get into your self oscillation jam you can turn the Mix control down to keep things somewhat sane.
ECHO DELAY: This controls the delay time, from about 80ms all the way up to 800ms. It was designed to be manipulated in real-time, as you are playing, to get the same sounds as an EP-3. You’ll notice, especially when the EchoSustain is turned up a bit, that the echo sound “lags” a bit, much like how the Echoplex behaves when you move the slider back and forth. If this knob worked in a linear fashion like on a standard delay pedal, you’d miss that bit of authenticity in response!
Use this knob together with the Echo Sustain knob to play complete soundscapes without touching the strings on your guitar!
Under the Hood
Gain Trimmer: This sets the gain of the preamp. It is factory set just above unity gain. At maximum gain, you’ll be treated with a gloriously huge fuzzy boost that sounds amazing into a cranked amp or foundation overdrive. You’ll still be able to clean up from your guitar’s volume knob if you run it this way! If you choose to adjust the internal gain, do so carefully, when adjusting trim pots, it is important to recognize that you must use the correct tool for the job and do very careful work. Trimpots are much more sensitive to adjustments than the knobs on the outside of the pedal. Use a #00 Philips screwdriver, make sure the tip is seated correctly and only make 1/8 turns at a time.If the the trimpot doesn't seem to move, it is at it's full rotation. Do not attempt to force it beyond these full clockwise and counterclockwise positions or you will destroy the trimpot.
The original EP-3 did not really boost so much as color and saturate the sound slightly. The all-discrete preamp in the Belle Epoch gives you the same benefits but with added gain control and more touch-sensitivity!
Buffer / True-bypass Switch: From the factory we ship the Belle Epoch in true-bypass mode. You can use this switch to set it to “buffer” mode. (It’s not really a buffer, it’s a discrete preamp, but non-true bypass mode is commonly referred to as “buffered” mode.) So, in “buffer” mode, the Belle Epoch’s preamp is always in the signal.Besides always having the great discrete preamp in your signal path, this mode offers another benefit - “trails”,meaning when you turn of the pedal from the footswitch, the remaining repeats will keep playing but any further playing will not result in any echoes.
POWER SUPPLY (not included)
To power the Belle Epoch use a 9-18V DC Negative Ground power supply that can deliver a minimum of 70mA. No, you can't run it on batteries! We recommend that you try it on both 9 volts and 18 volts to see which voltage you prefer. But for the best Echoplex-like response, definitely try it at 18 volts!
