SWELL: The SWELL knob is essentially the feedback control of the delay. When this control is fully counter-clockwise you will get one repeat (well, 1-4 repeats depending on which playback heads are active.) As you raise the control you'll get more repeats, giving you that famous Echorec swirl!
MIX: The MIX control allows you to run the Echorec completely dry (very useful as a bonus boost when run in TRUE BYPASS) or 100% wet (which works great in stereo or multiple amp setups) and anything in between. Please note that the Mix control is still active when the pedal is bypassed if the internal switch is set to “buffer”, but there will be no new wet signal present if you turned the mix to full clockwise. However, if you have a nice long self-oscillation trail going, it will keep going when you hit the bypass footswitch! If the internal switch is set to “true bypass”, then the Mix knob will have no effect when the pedal is bypassed.
TONE: The TONE knob controls the timbre of the echo repeats. It is a tilt-style tone control. Around 12 o'clock, you'll get a relatively flat, neutral EQ. Turning the knob counter-clockwise will give you darker, thicker repeats, ranging from a mild burnishing to deep, murky repeats. Turning the control clockwise will result in brighter, thinner repeats. This adjustment is particularly useful for emphasizing the attack on rhythmic repeats or for adding a shimmer without muddying up the fundamental note of your playing.
DELAY TIME: The original Echorec had a maximum delay time of 300ms. The delay time on the Catalinbread Echorec goes from about 40ms to 1000ms. And the cool thing is you can twist the Delay Time knob in real-time to get speeding-up / slowing-down, spaceship warp landing sounds!
PROGRAM SELECT: The original Echorec featured a 12-position switch that controlled different playback head configurations. However, due to its mechanical nature and fixed disc speed, not all combinations were usable. The Catalinbread Echorec revolutionizes this aspect. By allowing the delay time to be adjusted for the single playback head, we've made all combinations accessible, including rhythmic patterns that were previously unavailable. This innovation extends to Programs 7, 10, and 11, showcasing these novel patterns.
INTERNAL CONTROLS
BUFFER / TRUE BYPASS SWITCH: From the factory, we ship the Echorec in "buffered" or "trails" mode. (It's not really a buffer, it's a juicy preamp, but non-true bypass mode is commonly called "buffered" mode. You will be able to run long cables without signal loss though in this mode!)
MODULATION TRIMPOT: This trimpot is at the top left of the circuit board. This pot adjusts the modulation depth. From the factory we ship the trimpot set to 1.00-1.1V DC. This is the optimal setting for the modulation to create a circular illusion of the recording drum without getting too cartoon-like. You may however wish to dial it back or crank it up, depending on taste.
GAIN TRIMPOT: This trimpot sets the Echorec’s preamp gain. It is factory set at unity gain. But you can dial it up for quite a substantial boost if you want.
To power the Echorec, 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. As mentioned in the previous section, there are differences in headroom, output level, and overall feel between the two voltages - both are compelling!