Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

Scott_F

Scott_F

Flushologist
Staff member
Testing out these two pedals.

I have dialed in some David Gilmour On the Echorec (a pedal copy of the old Binson 4 head platter) a while ago. Man, I'm just plucking some bass notes to some old Floyd and man is it tickling that little lizard brain pleasure center we all have.

The Belle Epoch (translated Beautiful Age) is a stunning good clone of the old tape loop Echoplex. It's dang fine too.

If I had to choose between them, I'm not sure I could. And to top it off, I've got a Vapor Trails heading in to give it a run up against these two.

More to come.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

Nice. Catalinbread is on point with the tone they pack into their pedals. The Royal Albert Hall nails Page's tone from his Hiwatt days. Fun little thing to play with. Looking forward to hear your thoughts on the vapor trail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

My current pedal exploration is a bit what old is new again. I forsake all pedals 10+ years ago for guitar/cord/amp set up. Got rid of all pedals just about or at least stores them all deeply and darkly away in my bat cave.

Now I'm deciding that given a few great amps I have to provide foundation, I can greatly expand my sonic territory and not end up buying more and more amps as I really don't have the space for any more big toys. This is stuff you all know already. But it's fun to chase down a few times that make you smile.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

catalinbread makes some good stuff alright. know guys with both those pedals and they love em but ive really only used the belle and thought it had great texture. i have two deja vu's and a vapor trail and i only need so much delay so cant really see myself getting anything else any time soon. one deja vu is on my little board with a fuzz and timmy. the other two delays are on the big board that seldom gets used cause its big
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

I've got a Deja Vu as well and it's pretty darned nice. I like that random tape modulation effect in the Belle but only a dash of it. Not full on 3:00 or anything.

The freaking Echorec is just a space tripping mess. The biggest downfall for that are the 12 tape head pattern selections are a smooth adjustment knob and really ought to be a solid click when you turn from one to the next. Even sitting here on my couch, I have to play a few notes as I'm twisting the knob to find the pattern I want. That wouldn't work on stage for you guys that play live. I'd imagine you find one patter and put a dab of liquid paper or something on the pedal to mark it. Maybe two dabs and go between the two. It's a fairly unique type delay and wouldn't be for everyone. HOWEVER ,that being said, if you just hone in on one of the tape heads and leave it there by itself, it becomes just like any other delay pedal in that you can adjust everything else around it. I know that's not going to make a lot of sense as You really have to goof around with this pedal to understand it. (The Echorec) (The Belle is very quick to figure out and has gobs of tone with it's own preamp inside)
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

Love the Belle Epoch! Sounds and feels great through every amp I've tried. I just brought a Boss DD-500 home last night, hopefully will able to try it out today. I will compare it to the Flashback and Belle for certain delay types.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

I absolutely love the sound of my Belle Epoch but am less than satisfied with the effort required to dial in the one setting I use 90% of the time, and if I wanted an alternate setting for live use I'd definitely need a 2nd delay.

I was regretting not having purchased the Echorec until you mentioned the head combination selector has no detents.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

The Echorec pedal conveys an Instant Gilmourness, regardless of whether it is connected in the effects loop or in front of the amp. I had to have one.

I agree that the rotary Program Selector and the easy-to-lose sheet of card that explains what the numbers represent are a drag. I also agree that it can be difficult to accurately retrieve previously used control settings. Since I only use the Echorec pedal for recording, as long as everything that needed recording on the day was captured in the DAW, there is no issue.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

I picked up a Belle Epoch recently and basically have been using it as a slapback/boost. Not that it doesn't sound great on longer delay cycles but as an "always on" short delay/boost it just kicks all kinda azz. Tube screamer in front of it, then into an old Princeton it sounds brilliant.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

hydro said:
I picked up a Belle Epoch recently and basically have been using it as a slapback/boost. Not that it doesn't sound great on longer delay cycles but as an "always on" short delay/boost it just kicks all kinda azz. Tube screamer in front of it, then into an old Princeton it sounds brilliant.
Click to expand...

Do you have it true bypass or preamp always on? Preamp really sweetens up the tone.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

I keep the preamp on all the time, the tone changed too much (and was boosting the amp) when I had it switched. Now it's nice a seamless between "bypass" and delay.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

YeRedHouseOverYonder said:
Nice. Catalinbread is on point with the tone they pack into their pedals. The Royal Albert Hall nails Page's tone from his Hiwatt days. Fun little thing to play with. Looking forward to hear your thoughts on the vapor trail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

that albert hall is on my radar. clips sound great. thanks for the heads up.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

Scott_F said:
Do you have it true bypass or preamp always on? Preamp really sweetens up the tone.
Click to expand...

I am not sure, actually I have not opened it up since I got it. Is that an internal switch? It does get noticeably louder, with more gain when switched on so I am guessing it's in true bypass mode.
 
Re: Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec

I've had an Echorec since late last year and I love it. I passed on the Belle Epoch and instead chose the Skreddy Echo for the straight EP type tape echo. I have both on my live board. I sometimes use the Echorec in its more complex multi-head modes as the last thing in the chain for atmospheric volume swells, where it takes on a reverb-like texture. Stunning. The Skreddy does all the standard, ambient, 'untimed' delay stuff.



Cheers................................... wahwah
 
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