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Topic: Buddie's mystery box? |
Gary Walker
From:
Morro Bay, CA
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Posted 17 Apr 2003 11:26 pm |
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| In the spring of 1962 I attended a concert that consisted of Ray Price, Bobby Bare and Johnny Cash in Fresno CA. Bare opened the show and Buddy came out carrying a box that I think he placed on or near his amp. At this show, Price debuted "Night Life" also and I was so stunned I almost couldn't keep focused on the beautiful girl that was with me that night. My question is, was this a spring reverb unit because amps did not include them at that time yet? Just curious, Thanks, Gary. |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 18 Apr 2003 4:43 am
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| It may have been Buddy's Echoplex - or was this too early in his use of outboard gear? |
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C Dixon
From:
Duluth, GA USA
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Posted 18 Apr 2003 6:05 am
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Yes, it might have been Buddy's Fender Echoplex, which was the original type of delay units. He used this on his classic, "Witches Brew".
carl |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Paul Graupp
From:
Macon Ga USA
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Posted 18 Apr 2003 5:28 pm
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Carl: I had one of those Fender units but while I can't recall the proper spelling, it was called an Echo-Phonic. There has been a recent thread in Electronics about this unit and I agreed with everything they had to say about it. You had to be in electronics to keep in loaded with tape and repeating properly.
Regards, Paul  |
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Gary Walker
From:
Morro Bay, CA
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Posted 18 Apr 2003 6:37 pm
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| I also had an Echoplex but this box was not as tall, possible 3 to 4 inches tall. I don't know whether the Echoplex was on the market that early. Spring reverbs were starting to crop up on a smaller scale than the Hammonds unit. I had one that the spring was in a horseshoe like shape and the dial would rotate to increase or decrease the verb but the sound was pretty bad. |
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Al Marcus
From:
Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)
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Posted 18 Apr 2003 7:06 pm
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| I don't know about Buddy, but the Echoplex was on the market in 1962. I was considering buying one but at the time they were fairly expensive in 1962 dollars. They were a great unit for a few years and used by many guitar players , made them sound impossibly fast on stingle notes.They even fooled a few people for awhile.......al |
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C Dixon
From:
Duluth, GA USA
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Posted 18 Apr 2003 7:34 pm
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I owned a Fender echoplex like Buddy used on "Witches Brew". It was an endless tape drive recorder/player where the playback head was on pivoting arm. That is, as you moved this arm, it moved the playback head closer or further from the record head.
This permitted a variable delay. IE, the unrecorded sound was heard first and then the recorded sound was played back in given milliseconds depending on where this adjustable arm was located; respect to the record head.
Indeed it was a troublesome bugger. I worked on them for several dealers in Ft Lauderdal back in the 60's. The endless tape was always causing problems. The heads were always getting our of alignment.
It was the ONLY piece of Fender gear that I thought was NOT up to the hight standards that Leo Fender used on all his other products. I kinda thought he may have farmed this product out to another firm; since the quality was not good IMO. But I do not know this to be a fact.
The unit was about 11 inches long, about 9 inches high and about 7 inches deep as I recall. Carrying handle on the top. Black vinyl convered like the Fender amps of that era.
In the hands of a maestro like Buddy, it was years ahead of its time when Buddy was using it. Of course today, Digital delays put it to shame. But some feel that the analog sound it gave was better. Maybe so I have not a clue.
carl |
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