The small Drum Age knob on the back of the pedal adds or removes the character displayed by older, worn-out units (mostly loss of volume and high frequency and a more random modulation). With a delay time increased to 1k milliseconds, it replaces the 12 positions of the “Switch” knob with an increased 16 combinations allowed by the four Playback Heads buttons. Uniquely, it allows you to switch from Repeats to Swells through a second footswitch. Here’s a gallery of the most popular (and, as far as we can tell, also the only) Binson Echorec emulations in stompbox format:Ī digital pedal, the Boonar faithfully recreates the character and functions of the Echorec 2, sharing the same analog signal path as the original but with high voltage driven FETs as tube emulators and a DSP unit recreating the magnetic memory drum-based effect. ECHOPLEX RECREATIONS USING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGYĪlthough the fascination with this vintage machine is still intact, not very many pedal manufacturers have attempted to encapsulate this effect’s sound in a compact stompbox enclosure. The most popular version of the effect was probably the second one ( you can find it used here), released in 1960, which added a few new controls to the front panel, including a 12-way “Switch” knob (far right in the picture below) that could recall 12 configuration presets for the magnetic heads: each selection produced different single and multi-tap delays. It has a maximum delay time of about 300-330 ms and maintenance can be difficult due to hard to find replacement parts and spares. Obviously, the ’60s-era Binson Echorec is now an old, big and noisy machine. The Binson Echorec has three input and three output channels (with a jack or Geloso socket), and a channel selector on the front panel. One head is used to record and the other four heads for playback. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, many players and bands, like The Shadows, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, used it to obtain that typical sound from outer space that this magic machine can create with its innovative magnetic drum system (small heads with variable positions around a rotating disc with a thin steel band/drum on it), supported by a tube circuit (six 12AX7 tubes) with an electric motor that produces the echo effect by a thin steel recording drum around the disc with the heads system arranged on the edge of that drum when the disc is rotating.
It’s based on a magnetic drum system (called “memory disc”) that was more durable and stable than the magnetic tape used in the same era in other delay/echo units.Īnd this is version 2 :
The Binson Echorec is an old echo device produced in the 1950s in Milan (Italy) by Binson Amplifier Hi-Fi company. Here’s a quick history from the Volume 4, Number 3 issue of Gearphoria:
the 2nd version also introduced the concept of a Multi-Mode effect, thanks to the “Selector” knob, which delivered three different effects: Echo (slapback delay), Repeat (regular delay mode) and Swell (delays with overlaps) Thanks to its innovative design featuring multiple reading heads, it introduced the concept of “multi-tap” delay – something tape can’t do – and also of modulated repeats. When it was released in the ’50s, the Binson Echorec was pretty much a game-changer in the still young, tape-dominated world of echo effects. A Guide to the Best Binson Echorec Pedal Clones This article was updated on – For a more comprehensive article about delays organized by type, see our Best Delay Pedals article.
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