http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ The Sound-O-Mat, located in Portland, Oregon, is a Post-Production and Mastering Audio & Video (DVD) Studio with two sound engineers, as well as a small "boutique" record label. This blog is a way to share our adventures and experience in the world of audio! PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT US HOPING TO BUY Roland Tape Echo PARTS. PLEASE DO contact us if you have parts or broken Roland Tape Echoes to sell. Thanks! en-us wayne@sound-o-mat.com 2008-08-09T16:19:17-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html Unfortunately, we've been sitting on two Electra EP 350 tape echoes as well as two Roland RE-201's as we're down to two people, one who is traveling abroad (thank god for Internet cafes in every country now) and another who is very sick. It's put a big dent on our hopes to restore the tape echoes we have and sell them. We won't be putting the Roland RE-201's up on this site nor Ebay, since people do not seem to know a good deal when they see one. Once we get them working as best as possible for NM- condition (they're definitely not mint) we'll sell them locally as fortunately Portland has enough bands that have "made it big" (aka signed to major labels) that they'll pay top $$$ for one they see in a local shop and can play with. But the Electra EP 350, which we want to talk about here, the local shop won't even carry. Turns out that a decade or more ago (we haven't pinned down an exact year yet) the Electra company was bought out by "Krate" (spelling?) who makes cheap, rip-off junk and has a bad reputation even amongst bad musicians (of which... 316@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2008-08-09T16:19:17-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_general.html In the last year, or at least most of 2008, we've had problems here at the studio in that we've lost one partner / co-owner, another is one who tends to travel (which has really helped our Loop-O-Mat business by sending back native recordings from Asian countries, but it's left us with only one person, who was already responsible for all the accounting and such to also do the work. Sadly, he's not been well, and is under diagnosis for a weird blood disease. As such, we've been sitting on some simple cleaning and adjustments for two NM- Roland RE-201 tape echoes and two Electra EP 350 echoes. We've some good news in that we've got a (hopefully) mint NOS Roland RE-301 / RE-501 / SRE-555 replacement motor coming in, although it's not by Samyana / Pioneer which makes us suspicious of the manufacture, as well as possibly another Electra EP 350, which we'll discuss in a later posting. The problem is that the studio has one fairly sick (and potential fatally ill) person manning it at this time. Not great news, but at least an update.... 315@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ General 2008-07-19T16:11:33-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_albums_reviews.html OK, up until last week, we (Wink, Rob, Wayne) hated Beck. Loathed him. Wanted to kick him in the nuts. Over-rated. Wouldn't have a record deal if Thurston Moore hadn't gotten a great blowjob from him. Another piece of crap musician Moore delivered to (then) Geffen (now Interscope, the ONLY label - that matters, and their best artists are fleeing like rates from a spaceship with an air-leak) - yeah, we could write paragraphs about The Ways In Which We Hate Beck Because He's a Talentless Fuck. But his most recent CD "The Information", from 2007, with accompanying DVD... for $2 cash. Honestly, Wayne bought it figuring he could sell it for $10. Ha! Life loves to throw curve balls. All three of us think this is the best CD we've heard in the last year. Really, it's that good. It's like he learned everything that was good on all his earlier CDs that other musicians made happen, and did it himself. This is his "Pet Sounds" or even the Beach Boys album that never was (Brian Wilson finally released it in 2005, but please.) Great tunes, great lyrics, breaks into choruses or orchestra parts, a complete but seamless pastiche... 303@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Albums Reviews 2008-06-03T22:16:09-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html Someone wrote the other day and asked: "Could you please tell me how to properly align the heads?" Here's our answer: Do you have a tape loop with test tones (sine wave at various frequencies) and the ability to measure the output? That's the only way to do it correctly. That said, the better answer is "Don't Panic!" Tape head alignment is highly over-rated on tape echoes. On reel-to-reel and tape cassette recorders, it was important, since you wanted to make sure that what you recorded, say, four years ago, would play back and sound the same. But since the tape loop is being written to over and over, if they're slightly off, it doesn't matter, since it's playing back what it just wrote It takes about 15-20% variation off alignment before you start losing certain freq. ranges. And even then, given the units, there's already so much freq. loss which acts like compression and they have to get really bad before you'd notice the loss. We've had heads that were very out of alignment and they still passed the tests with the test tape loop. If you still want to try, there's a trick using a laser level that... 297@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2008-05-22T23:21:38-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html Got the following request for (free) info today. We've decided that we will respond to requests if we either feel they'd make a good blog entry or if someone wants to pay us for our time and experience. Really honest, we are not mean people, but none of us at The Sound-O-Mat of us is rich, far from it, we're all just getting by. We promise if any of us every gets rich, we'll be happy to answer questions all day for free. Scouts honor. So here is the question we got, reworded a bit since the writer probably doesn't speak English as a first language: "I have a Roland SRE-555 and if it has been off for a couple of hours and I start it up after its been running a couple of minutes it slows down the tape speed. If I direct restart it it speeds up again but slows down after a minute it gets worse as longer it runs. If I pull out the pinch roller so it not in contact with the capstan, the motor speeds up. I can also pull out the roller a bit so its still in contact with the tape and... 293@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2008-05-18T16:16:31-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html We recently got an email: "Are you parting out a Roland re-301?" Reply: Nope. Can we ask where you saw that? We're trying to write up everywhere that we no longer have any Roland parts nor will we be getting any. Our main site and on the blog says that we are not selling Roland parts, but we're still finding places we need to add that info. So for the record, we do NOT have any Roland parts, we are NOT parting out a Roland Tape Echo and we are NOT likely to be buying any parts. Sadly, it's far too much work for the prices people want to pay, not to mention all the requests for free advice. If we were wealthy and didn't have to struggle to get by, we'd be happy to, but we're barely getting by. Sorry. "also... did the Re-301 have "feet" on the side like the re-201?" Reply: Early model RE-201's did not have feet on the side, but they were added in one of the later models, as it was "revised", we're learning, in minor ways, probably a dozen times. The later RE-301 and -501 units all had the "side feet" from the... 275@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2008-04-23T17:29:22-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html We're listing an early model Roland RE-201 Space Echo analog tape echo unit for sale here at a discounted price of $599. SERIOUS BUYERS ONLY. If you want to pick this up locally, expect to come with money in hand - we will no longer entertain people who just want to play around with it and "aren't sure", etc. etc. when they simply don't have the money. Go to a music shop and play with one if you're not positive you're ready to buy. It's in perfect working condition, having been thoroughly cleaned, all electronics tested and fixed, with a new tape. We prefer local pickup, but if you're willing to pay for UPS packing, shipping and insurance, and will make an insurance claim should anything not work, we'll be happy to ship it, but we advise the expense of 2nd Day Air as UPS Ground seems to break these old tape units more often than not. If it doesn't sell, we'll list it on Craigslist for awhile, and then it will be off to the consignment shop, which already has several buyers lined up starting at $700. We already has it there but it needed adjustments, so it's... 261@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2008-03-08T17:23:12-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html The Electra EP 350 "Flat Response" Tape Echo We'll start out with a controversial assertion that we base on our own 10+ years of experience owning up to two dozen tape echoes at the peak: the Electra EP 350 (no dash) is far better than the Roland RE-301/501 Space Echo. Period. There, we've said it. It doesn't do "sound-on-sound" nor does it have a chorus effect from what we can tell, but aside from that, it's perfect. This is an article we started awhile back and really should have finished. You see, we've since learned that Electra "turned into" Crate - or so the average musician in Portland would say, it turns out. Actually, it was another company that bought out Electra, then turned into Crate, who makes crap. Nonetheless, he and he's convinced that his clientele feels the same (I think only because they listen to him) that people see "Electra" and they think "Crate" and then "Junk." He wouldn't even listen to my "play it, dude, you'll be blown away, it might be the only tape echo better than a Roland RE-501/SRE-555!" Hence this article. Sorry if it's a bit rushed, but being over a month old,... 201@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2008-03-03T18:07:47-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html We currently have no units or parts for any tape echoes except we have proper graphite-backed replacement tapes built to Roland RT-1L specs. We have a Watkins, an Electra, which we'll prolly keep, since the reverb is amazing, but everyone wants the Roland RE-201 sound right now. So if we can get both our RE-201's working, we'd rather sell those for $600-700 and keep the Electra EP-350, since it's not well-known (it's very rare) and the few who have heard of Electra know they turned into the company "Crate" that makes cheap repro crap junk. But this is an old Electra built in Italy back in the 1970's and is pure quality, so like the Ace-Tones, we'll let people pay us way too much for tape echoes that don't sound nearly as good. Anyway, again, the main point is that right now: All we have for sale is replacement tapes and manuals at this time. You can purchase what we do have available at The Sound-O-Mat using PayPal. Please contact us if you would like to pay any other way, but PayPal is the only way we can accept credit cards, although we hope to add Google Checkout soon. We're... 243@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2008-02-12T23:57:23-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html This mostly applies to Roland RE-series Space / Chorus Tape Echoes, but since we collect and repair almost every type of tape echo made, this info pretty much applies to anyone contacting us about any make/model tape echo repair. Please read, otherwise your email will be ignored. 1. Do not ask us questions about how to fix your tape echo. Just don't. We have lives and jobs and are barely scraping by these days, and the last thing we need to do is spend 4+ hours, 7 days a week answering and replying to email questions about your tape echo. We're glad you love yours, we love ours, but unless you're willing to fork out some $$$ for our time AND vast expertise, we can't afford to waste all day answering all the email we get. Sorry. In a better world, we'd be rich, idle, and would be happy to do it for free. Honest. 2. Regarding repairs: yes, we still repair almost every type of tape echo and have replacement tapes for most, but at the very least, understand this: a. It will cost you USD $25-30 at least to ship it to us each way, so that's $60.... 240@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2008-02-10T22:39:43-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html The Roland RE-series Tape Echo motor we had has been sold. Inquiries will be ignored, as we will post should another become available. Thank you.... 209@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2007-12-05T17:22:42-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html We've known for over a year that Roland ceased production of ALL RE-series Space / Chorus tape echo parts around the very start of 2005 and that pretty much all parts have been unavailable for two years or more. But someone wrote us to say they stopped making other parts, such as tape heads, even longer ago. We haven't been able to verify this but just pass it on as potential information: "Many years ago when Roland was still supplying replacement heads I ordered a set and at that time removed the playback heads (record head was no longer available at that time). I still have the playback heads that were about 5 yeas old then. The replacements have been in the unit for about 22 years. So I have been planning on reinstalling the orginal playback heads given that they have substantially less hours on them." So parts from a used system is about the only thing one will find for repairs, sad to say.... 190@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2007-11-19T17:43:09-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html NOTE: WE HAVE NO MOTORS LEFT FOR SALE. We are looking to buy new or used motors, please contact us if you have one or more for sale. DO NOT CONTACT US HOPING TO BUY PARTS. Since Roland first started making its RE-series Space / Chorus Echo analog tape units, they used DC Brushless Motors. It's worth reading about them because it explains why the motors in these (and many) tape echoes tend to work or not work, and little in-between. We recommend reading the whole article, but some key points: Tape echo motors are Reluctance Motors. An electronically controlled commutation system, instead of a mechanical commutation system. The controller performs the same power distribution found in a brushed DC motor, but using a solid-state circuit. Several advantages over brushed DC motors, including higher efficiency and reliability, longer lifetime (no brush erosion), elimination of ionizing sparks from the commutator, and overall reduction of noise and electromagnetic interference (EMI). The maximum power that can be applied to a BLDC motor is exceptionally high, limited almost exclusively by heat. BLDC motors require complex electronic speed controllers to run. Sayama/Pioneer motors used by Roland are "inrunner" types, although these means less torque, but... 198@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2007-11-13T13:25:33-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html Back in the late 80's, we believe 1988 to be exact, Roland unveiled its first digital version of the analog tape Space Echo series with digital reverb - an amazing, unique unit in a class all by itself, unlike any other echo or reverb unit (especially both combined.) They didn't sell well, and few were sent to the U.S. (it was mostly sold in Japan) so they're very rare and hard-to-find, although they do pop up 1-2 times a year on Ebay. This was Roland's first real attempt to create a digital version of its earlier models of it famous RE-series tape echoes - the RE-101, RE-150, RE-201 Space Echoes. No attempt at the "Sound-on-Sound" effect, due to limited memory, nor built-in Chorus like the RE-301, RE-501 and SRE-555 Chorus Echoes. It fails dismally at creating a sound anything like an RE-201, which is what it was supposed to model, but while not succeeding at that, they instead created a very unique guitar-oriented echo/reverb effects unit that has a place of its very own, a sound unlike anything else, and is very much a compliment to one or more of the analog tape echoes, sounding very clean but lush, bright,... 195@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2007-11-10T12:31:11-08:00 ]]> http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/archives/cat_tape_echoes.html We have a single tape loop for an Ace-Tone EC-10 or EC-20 Echo Chamber analog tape echo. It's a short loop, and might require some adjustment of the tension bar in both models, but that's easy to do. Please contact us at info@sound-o-mat.com for info and purchase. USD $20 plus shipping.... 194@http://blog.sound-o-mat.com/ Tape Echoes 2007-11-08T16:06:47-08:00 ]]>