Legends in the world of pedals and effects, Electro-Harmonix, has just dropped a reissue of their Slap-Back Echo from 1978. We took a look at this reissue of an analog delay rarity.
Electro-Harmonix (also affectionally known as EHX) owns the space of pedals that are both inspiring and unique. They’ve often helped out our wallets and pedal board real estate by slimming down their classic designs both in function and size, and the latest release from them is the Slap-Back Echo in mini pedal format.
Coming from the late 70s, the Slap-Back Echo is a rare, big in size and small in variation unit. Seriously…it has a Filter on or off switch, a Blend knob and a footswitch. Electro-Harmonix decided it needed an update, but not too much.
The Slap-Back Echo Analog Delay Reissue is still all analog (hence the name…), has 3 Time positions, a Gain knob, and a Blend knob, and runs of 9VDC all packed into a tiny pico footprint. The Time varies from Short (45ms), Medium (65ms), and Long (100ms), the Gain adds +20dB of boost, and the Blend knob blends dry to wet echo.
Our first impression when we reviewed it in our studio — Noise Machines — was that the size and sound were exceptional. We’re wanting our pedal boards to be lighter and lighter, and at the same time, we’re wanting rare and interesting tones. Maybe the inclusion of a Time knob rather than a 3 way set switch might have been cool, but we don’t want to stray too far from the original, do we?
The housing is solid, the footswitch feels modern yet durable, and every control has enough space to quickly bend down and adjust. The input and output are well thought out as they are in different spots on the unit (trust me, when you build a pedal board, you welcome this), and power on the top of the pedal is the ideal spot.
The Gain was a neat addition to this pedal, as you can literally turn the Blend to 100% dry and use it as a boost pedal, and a nice one at that. Good work EHX! From there you can blend a tiny bit of Slap-Back Echo, and voila, you have yourself a perfect solo tone — both boosting and more depth in one.
Sure you can be a purist and fetch an OG Electro-Harmonix Slap-Back Echo pedal on Reverb.com for $1400+ AUD, or you could just get this brand new, updated version for $209 AUD that’s available now at all good music stores.
Find out more at ehx.com
