Roland stopped producing parts for any of its RE-series Space/Chorus Tape Echo line in 2005, and dropped all technical support at the end of 2006. Parts ran out some time in 2006 and spare parts, especially NOS ("New Old Stock") are garnishing some fairly high prices.
They had been supplying parts and technical support for the RE-201 and later models up until they dropped it at the end of 2006, rumor has it to try to boost sales of their digital tape echo pedal, the Roland RE-20, which has been out since 2005 but has not sold well at all (in part because the Guyatone model is better, and the Danelectro model even better still.)
Someone recently wrote us to ask about motor problems, which we get email about 1-2 times a week. Here's what the question was:
I have a problem with my Chorus Echo 301, serial # 867560. The drive motor has gotten stuck on several occasions and gradually slows down during operation. The speed is quite erratic, starting out quickly, as per normal, but eventually locking up if the unit is left on for a long enough time.Could that be a failing motor?
It is my understanding that replacement motors are available for these
units. If so, I would appreciate some general information, including cost of purchase.
Basically, we wanted to make two points:
1. There are no replacement motors to be bought, and the motor used in the RE-series models is so particular to them that there isn't another manufacturer's motor you can substitute for it. We've spent way too many hours looking for one. We'd love to be proven wrong, but nobody we've talked with in the industry seems to think anyone makes anything even remotely similar to the Roland tape echo motors.
2. The motors in the Roland tape echoes are DC brushless direct motors, and as such, tend to work or not. They don't slow down, or work erratically very often. Almost all the time they work or they don't, period.
Here's what we wrote in reply:
If your RE-301 has the original motor, then it's a brushless DC direct drive motor. They tend to either work or not, they don't have a lot of moving parts, so they tend to work until they just die.The speeding up/slowing down can be caused by an old tape and/or the tape path, pinch roller, etc. needing to be properly cleaned. These machines need to be cleaned at least once a year if they see little use, as often as 3-4x a year if they're played often.
So it's doubtful the motor is failing but instead just that the unit needs a new tape and a thorough cleaning. We can provide both/either. DC direct motors just work or they don't. As for replacement motors, Roland stopped making parts back in 2005 for all tape echo units (although the motors during the last years were made for them by Pioneer) and dropped all technical and parts support for all of their analog tape echos at the end of 2006. As such, replacement motors are almost impossible to find. We've tried to find another manufacturer but the motors are very different than most DC direct motors - they have separate circuitry to control the speed of the motor, rather than the usual approach of just raising the power levels to make it go faster, less to go slower. This provides for a much more consistent motor speed and reduces the wow & flutter quite a bit (although it doesn't eliminate it, and it's very much a part of the "sound" of these units.)
We do have a one NOS new replacement motor available, but it's $300, as they are almost impossible to find, and we'd prefer to use it as a replacement part to restore a tape echo with a dead motor. You can try to search for another one, but we've spent a lot of time on it without any luck - all the extra parts sold out within a year or so after they stopped making everything back in 2005.
We have the following Roland Audio Equipment Manuals for sale, all black & white except Tape Echo unit lid instructions which are color, and as otherwise noted. Please contact us at info@sound-o-mat.com if interested. Or go to this manuals for sale page where you can use PayPal or Google Checkout to purchase the inventory, which will be added as quickly as we can get it posted.
Photos and ordering are available on our Web site at:
Some of the manuals we have available are listed below, and we're adding more as we get them sorted out. We recently added the Maestro Echoplex EP-4 Owners Manual.
We will be listing more with photos as we have time to catalog them. Shipping is extra and will be combined for multiple orders. Please contact us at info@sound-o-mat.com if you would like to order a copy of any of the above. Payment accepted by check, money order, or with Google Checkout or PayPal with a 4% service charge. Prices are postpaid in the U.S., please contact us if you want to ship international.