Manual
Ah the misunderstood delay/echo…..rather than go into the
technical description of this effect, let’s keep it simple. The Red
Repeat is designed to take your guitar signal and repeat it after
a given amount of time. The simplest description comes from
the Echoplexes and Space Echoes of years ago. If you envision
a tape recorder with the recording head and the playback head
in line with each other, and the tape (usually a loop of some sort)
running….you play a note on your guitar which is recorded onto
the tape by the recording head and is then played back by the
playback head immediately after. The delay time is determined
by how far apart the recording and playback heads are, and by
simply adding more playback heads, that original note is played
back as often (or repeated) as you have playback heads. Ok,
that is oversimplifying the whole thing, but you get the idea.
The Red Repeat takes this old technology and brings it up to
modern standards. The Echo control basically determines the
amount of this effect, from barely noticeable, to sounding like
two guitars playing at once (slap-back). The Tone control chan-
ges the presence (EQ) of the echoed signal, leaving your
original signal EQ the way you set it up. The Time control
adjusts the space between your original signal and the echoed
signal from 0 to 600 milliseconds, and finally, the Repeat control
determines how many echoes there are from each signal. So
again for guitar-players who need it super-simple….the Echo
and Time controls tell you how much echo and how much space
between echoes….and the Tone and Repeat controls determine
the actual presence of the echo and how many echoes there
are.
The Red Repeat can be used to fatten up your sound, as an
alternative to reverb, to give a very percussive flavor to your
playing, all the way to the longest delays which you can play
over top of, like a short loop. This type of effect has been used
since the 50’s, and has helped shape the signature sounds of
Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Gene Vincent, Brian Setzer, David
Gilmour and countless others, and once you understand the
effect, is usually pretty easy to spot in recordings. Remember,
Delays can come before or after your distortion pedals, but
usually after amplitude (volume) effects.
ECHO
TIME
REPEAT
TONE
50'S SLAPBACK
To get that percussive 50’s slap-back sound, turn
up the Echo to somewhere around 12 o’clock,
brighten the presence to about the same and
maybe add just a touch of Repeat. Great for 50’s
rock&roll solos, rockabilly and snappy country
licks.
SAMPLE SETTINGS
ECHO
TIME
REPEAT
TONE
WARM VINTAGE ECHO
Set your Echo around 12 o’clock, keep the Tone
between 9-11 o’clock for warmth, set the Time
about 11 o’clock (250 milliseconds) and the Repeat
around 10 o’clock (keeping in mind the tempo of
the song). Works well for arpeggiated back-ups
and solos.
DRAMATIC ECHO
Set your echo around 12-1 o’clock, brighten up the Tone
somewhat, increase the Time to about 3 o’clock and
increase the Repeat (again keeping in mind your tempo).
Dark and dramatic…..very Pink Floyd
ECHO
TIME
REPEAT
TONE
