Space Echo Check-up?

Jon~T · Post by **Jon~T** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:24 am

I LOVE my Space Echo RE-150
I got it last weekend at a Salvation Army auction for $225 CDN.

The large black rubber roller did not move and the tape was somewhat stuck together.

Some oil + moving the roller by hand and it was runnning in 30 minutes.

There's a bit of wobble and pitch shift at times that I may one day get fixed, but right now this is by far the best piece of gear I own. It's shockingly clean sounding considering it's age.

I believe in an old thread on here 8-track tapes can be used for Space echo loops. I think they should be 13 feet long. (?)

Jon~T · Post by **Jon~T** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:34 am

While on the subject of maintaining space echos and tape delays.

Head cleaning? some kind of alcohol + q-tips?
Roller cleaning? some sort of detergent?
Cleaning the felt pads?
Installing a new tape loop? (I kinda figured it out on my own but not sure if it's right)

I should dig out my Assistant AE handbook..can't be much different than a multitrack tape machine.

Also how do you integrate them int o a DAW workflow?

I've got a line out from my interface going into the Instrument jack, then a short cable from the Echo out to a DI and into a Pre of the interface.
In PT I can do it as a hardware insert, but more often I'm sending from a track to it, and printing to a new audio track.

Any way to figure out the manufacturing date from the serial #?

aurelialuz · Post by **aurelialuz** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:42 am

in my experience, only 8 track tape really works with these. 456 gives you crazy rad echo gain but breaks quickly. 8 track tape is lubricated on one side and was what these machines were designed for.

Jon~T · Post by **Jon~T** » Fri May 01, 2009 10:05 am

I cleaned my space echo yesterday. I hope I didn't let the mojo out!

Can anyone answer the questions above?

Paid In Full · Post by **Paid In Full** » Fri May 01, 2009 11:13 am

For general purpose head cleaning, get some Q-tips and 99% medicinal alcohol. Most alcohol on the shelf at the drug store is in the 70% range, so you need to ask the pharmacist for the good stuff.

Wet the q-tip with the alcohol and scrub each of the heads and any guides the tape touches, using new q-tips very frequently. Super dirty heads will leave chunks of dark brown residue on the q-tips, while slightly dirty heads will just lightly stain the q-tip. Keep cleaning until the q-tips no longer get discoloured when scrubbing.

aurelialuz · Post by **aurelialuz** » Fri May 01, 2009 1:37 pm

yeah, you should be able to get 99% off the shelf, but it has to be 99%. i wouldn't use detergent on the rollers...IIRC there is pinch roller cleaner, but i've always used alcohol on those too.

chovie d · Post by **chovie d** » Fri May 01, 2009 4:08 pm

I am scared to clean mine. just like you said..waht if I scrub the mojo right on out of it?

i'd marry my space echo if i could.

Jon~T · Post by **Jon~T** » Mon May 04, 2009 12:05 pm

I just found out all the manuals for Roland stuff is here: http://backstage.rolandus.com/

All the Space Echo owner's manuals are there.

My cleaning didn't seem to change the sound much if at all.
I had to scrape some thick rubbed off tape gunk from some parts. The metal plate that the heads are attached to had thick grime, I used a pencil eraser to get that up.

Jon~T · Post by **Jon~T** » Wed May 06, 2009 9:23 pm

I found this great guide to maintaining Tape Echos here.
http://mixonline.com/recording/tracking ... tape_echo/

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