Crumar Echo Tape Delay Pedal is a tape echo emulation modelled on 1970s Space Echo style machines and handbuilt in Italy. It reproduces not just delay time but the behaviour of the tape path itself: saturation, tonal change across transport speeds and the hiss that in these units was an inseparable part of the sound.
Repeats that live rather than simply copy
In a tape echo the loop is only a few centimetres long and wears out fast, so its defects are far more audible than in a reel-to-reel recorder. Speed is never stable, which produces wow and flutter and small pitch shifts across successive repeats. On top of that comes a behaviour digital delays do not have at all: the erase head cannot fully clear a saturated signal, so a heavily driven sound can leave a trace that returns some fifteen to twenty seconds later. Echo reproduces that too, along with the slip as the tape splice passes the capstan.
Three heads, EQ and spring reverb in one path
The pedal provides three independent delay lines acting as heads, which covers short, medium and long repeats and their rhythmic combinations. Separate bass and treble controls act on the echo path, so repeats can be darkened or brightened without touching the dry signal, which runs fully analogue. A built-in spring reverb emulation adds the ambience these machines were known for, and a tap tempo footswitch locks the time to the song without looking down at a knob. Separate echo-only and dry/wet outputs make parallel routing straightforward.
KEY FEATURES
- Emulates classic 1970s Space Echo style tape units
- Three independent delay lines acting as tape heads
- Detailed recreation of tape saturation and modulation character
- Dedicated bass and treble EQ for the delay path
- Built-in spring reverb emulation
- Tap tempo footswitch
- Fully analogue dry path
- Independent echo-only and dry/wet outputs
- Connects via Crumar One-Cord or a standard 1/4 inch input
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Type: tape echo emulation
- Delay lines: 3, independent
- EQ: bass and treble on the echo path
- Reverb: spring reverb emulation
- Dry path: analogue, no digital conversion
- Outputs: echo-only and dry/wet, separate
- Dimensions: 114.3 x 33.8 x 94 mm
- Power: 9 V DC centre negative, 300 mA, PSU included
- Manufacturer: Crumar, Italy
