How did Ed connect his Echoplex in front of his Marshall?

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dnatronic
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Re: How did Ed connect his Echoplex in front of his Marshall?

Post by dnatronic » Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:57 am

You should really give it a try after the amp.

leadguy
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Re: How did Ed connect his Echoplex in front of his Marshall?

Post by leadguy » Thu Feb 11, 2010 11:23 am

Yes well I have done that.

Even though my Marshalls went long ago I can slave my Nano 1/2 watt through my huge 5 watt load resistor into a H&H keyboard amp that I picked up.

I'm going to put a clip up of the Echoplex in front of the amp because there are people posting about unnatural noise levels when the Echoplex is in front of the amp which to me means that their gear is not 100% or how they are setting it up is not 100%.
I've just got to set up my recording stuff which I currently don't have set up and track down mp3 convertors and whatnot which I don't use.

I used to use a stereo Ibanez CS9 chorus (which I sold long ago) back in the 80s when chorus was big and I just recently bought an original Ibanez CS9 chorus from the 80s and it's way noisier than the Echoplex and I used to use the Ibanez Chorus in front of the amp with a TS9 Tubescreamer as well and there were no problems with noise.

Another reason for the Echoplex in front of the amp is the very high impedance that the guitar signal hits which can influence the guitar volume turn down muddiness syndrome.

Ed is just about always able to turn down the volume and be very clear even on the 1976/77 boots where he's using different pickups so it points to not really being a pickup or volume pot thing but something else.
If there is a high impedance FET buffering the guitar signal before the amp then this buffers what's coming from the guitars volume pot (through other effects bypassed or not) and if the FET is after the first amp then this effect just doesn't happen in the same sort of way as the FET is then buffering the first amps output.

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gtrmike
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Re: How did Ed connect his Echoplex in front of his Marshall?

Post by gtrmike » Sat May 15, 2010 12:28 am

Just for the record,,,,,its not even half true that any FET preamp will do what the solid state EP-3 does. The EP-4 is not near as good. The EP-3's tone even in bypass mode will make any amp just better. Its more than just any FETs. The FETs in the echoplex are big clunky parts and there are at least 7 caps that add to the sound. You cannot get this out of a simple FET preamp. The whole circuit has a lot to do with the mystery.......just buy an echoplex ep-3 and you'll see. As far as EVH goes why cant evryone just do their own thing like Eddie did...even if you had the same exact equipment that Eddie used and had him set it, it wouldn't matter you could never sound like him. Eddie sounded like Eddie and he had great technique,,,he could sound good through anything. His studio recordings are processed and his live sound sounds nothing like the recordings. Go on youtube and type in Van Halen 1978 or 1980 and listen, you will see that Eddie's tone was no more than a Marshall Plexi and very organic. Nothing special! The man did it because he knew how to play clean. People get all caught up in the hype! Focus on your playing man!

gtrmike
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Re: How did Ed connect his Echoplex in front of his Marshall?

Post by gtrmike » Sat May 15, 2010 12:35 am

The Echoplex is only noisey if you move the chicken head knobs past 9-0-clock. Its no different than any other pre-amp. If you turn the volume or gain way up its gonna make noise. If you put both the repeat and echo volume knobs at 9-0-Clock or less that is about where you want to be. You can fine tune after that.

leadguy
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Re: How did Ed connect his Echoplex in front of his Marshall?

Post by leadguy » Sat May 15, 2010 3:00 am

The main difference between a EP4 and a EP3 is that the EP4 has a low impedance output buffer and the EP3 doesn't. This was added to the EP4 so that the EP4 can deliver it's output into lower input impedance devices in a more stable way than the EP3 can.

A guitar amp is a higher input impedance so the EP4 and EP3 output difference doesn't matter too much in the case of the Echoplex going directly into a guitar amp's input but if the Echoplex was going directly into a lower input impedance device, then the EP4 will perform in a better way than the EP3.

The EP4 is really just the EP3 with some small mods so that the EP4 can interface with more devices.

The schematics are all on line.
The EP4 is more like the Xotic EP FET preamp design and the EP3 is more like the ClinchFX FET preamp design.

FET's are often used as buffers and have transfer characteristics that are similar to a tube in some ways.

In my experience, buffers before amp inputs, can strengthen certain signal frequencies.

It's really up to everyone's taste's to decide what to use and not just copy Page or Slash's or Ed's or whoever's gear at a particular time.

We all know (or should know) that a thing like a FET buffer can't help in coming up with riffs or songs or playing style etc etc.
No one really needs a FET buffer Echoplex, a tube buffer Echoplex or a Phase or a Wah or a Leslie, it's up to personal taste as to what to use in the end.

Keef Richards and Ed seemed to come up with some ideas with just a guitar and a tape recorder.

If for some reason I'm playing some Rockabilly then I would roll out the Echoplex and preferably a Fender type of amp. If for some reason I had to play a song off VH1 then I would roll out the Echoplex, Phase and Flanger with a dimed 50 watt or 100 watt Plexi type of amp with a Variac.
"When your swinging, Swing some MORE" ~Monk

uiovbged332
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Re: How did Ed connect his Echoplex in front of his Marshall?

Post by uiovbged332 » Wed Jul 06, 2022 11:13 am

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