Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
(opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)
  • Guitars
  • Amps
  • Pedals
  • Drums
  • Synths
  • Software
  • Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Recording
  • Buyer’s guides
  • Live
  • DJ
  • Advice
  • Acoustic
  • Bass
  • About us
  • More
    • Reviews
Magazines
  • Computer Music
  • Electronic Musician
  • Future Music
  • Keyboard Magazine
  • Guitarist (opens in new tab)
  • Guitar Techniques (opens in new tab)
  • Total Guitar (opens in new tab)
  • Bass Player (opens in new tab)
More
  • 9 next-gen drum plugins
  • SampleRadar: 163 tape loops samples
  • Best free music-making software
  • Best electric guitars 2023

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. Home
  2. News

5 great modern ways to get an old-school tape echo guitar sound

By Guitarist magazine
published 27 June 2012

Line 6, Fulltone, Boss, Hughes & Kettner and Vox pedals

  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
Line 6 DL4
£219

Line 6 DL4

With Hank Marvin the man of the moment thanks to that Mattessons advert, the bumper tape delay feature in Guitarist magazine issue 357, on sale 29 June, couldn't be better timed.

Genuine tape echoes like Hank's (check out the mag for the full skinny from the man himself) sound wonderful, but can be rather noisy and a tad unreliable. Click onwards for our choice of five modern units that do a great job in mimicking a tape’s classic tones. First up...

From bedroom-only players to stadium-rockers such as Kirk Hammett, thousands of guitarists swear by this green meanie when it comes to delivering versatile delay effects. It offers an eminently usable tape echo preset - plus a great deal more.

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
Fulltone Tube Tape Echo
£999

Fulltone Tube Tape Echo

Not the only genuine tape-based echo available today, but certainly one of the very best and, unlike the original units, this isn’t prone to breaking down at the drop of a hi-hat.

It’s built to Fulltone’s typically high standards, so if you can find one (and you can afford it), get your wallet out.

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
BOSS RE-20
£220

BOSS RE-20

This impressively authentic and modern recreation of the classic Space Echo does away with the tape, but loses very little of what made the original sound so good in the first place.

It’s an especially good choice for fifties and sixties sounds.

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
Hughes & Kettner Replex
£499

Hughes & Kettner Replex

An incredibly versatile yet slightly intimidating tube-driven delay that, thanks to its innovative Vintage Factor pot, can mimic genuine tone degradation extremely accurately.

Easier to use and more reliable than an Echoplex, this is a wholly professional unit.

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
Vox Delaylab
£238

Vox Delaylab

Among the DelayLab’s myriad features are a number of excellent tape echo simulations, and any three of its presets can be assigned to the unit’s footswitches at a given time.

It sounds great!

For much, much more on all things tape delay, plus exclusive video clips of all of these units and an original Watkins Copicat, check out Guitarist magazine issue 357, on sale 29 June. Don't miss it!

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
Guitarist magazine
Guitarist magazine
Social Links Navigation

Guitarist is the longest established UK guitar magazine, offering gear reviews, artist interviews, techniques lessons and loads more, in print, on tablet and on smartphones 

If you love guitars, you'll love Guitarist.
Find us in print, on Newsstand for iPad, iPhone and other digital readers

  1. Paul McCartney and John Lennon in 1966
    1
    John Lennon on completing Eleanor Rigby's lyrics for Paul McCartney: "It's his first verse, and the rest of the verses are basically mine"
  2. 2
    Watch Jimmy Page demo some of the most iconic guitars and amps in Led Zeppelin history
  3. 3
    Watch Miley Cyrus’s Flowers being recreated in GarageBand for iPhone in less than 10 minutes
  4. 4
    Tony Banks on why he would have “screwed up” In The Air Tonight if Phil Collins had given it to Genesis
  5. 5
    5 songs producers need to hear by... Depeche Mode
  1. Tony Banks
    1
    Tony Banks on why he would have “screwed up” In The Air Tonight if Phil Collins had given it to Genesis
  2. 2
    John Lennon on completing Eleanor Rigby's lyrics for Paul McCartney: "It's his first verse, and the rest of the verses are basically mine"
  3. 3
    Watch Jimmy Page demo some of the most iconic guitars and amps in Led Zeppelin history
  4. 4
    5 songs producers need to hear by... Depeche Mode
  5. 5
    MIDI’s 40th anniversary is set to be celebrated at the 2023 NAMM Show, and MIDI 2.0 is also being previewed

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab).

  • About Us (opens in new tab)
  • Terms and conditions (opens in new tab)
  • Privacy policy (opens in new tab)
  • Cookies policy (opens in new tab)
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers (opens in new tab)

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.