FIRST LOOK: Hagstrom HJ600 and Electro-Harmonix #1 Echo

New products are like proverbial buses. You wait for ages, then two come along at once.

Luckily, the two latest bits of guitar kit to arrive at MusicRadar HQ are happy bedfellows, in the shape of the Hagstrom HJ600 hollowbody electric, and the Electro-Harmonix #1 Echo digital delay stompbox.

The Hagstrom is a six-stringer ideal for mellow blues and jazz with a spruce top and maple back and sides, while the #1 Echo is a new delay from EHX that promises warm analogue-style repeats despite its digital innards.

Here´s a reference clip we recorded with the Hagstrom, sans delay, using just the Small Tweed preset on Line 6´s GearBox software plug-in with a touch of reverb:

Here are three clips using the Hagstrom with the #1 Echo into a dry Small Tweed sound on GearBox. The first is a fairly mellow delay with the blend control set to 11 o´ clock, the delay time at one o´ clock and the feedback set around two o´ clock:

Next, here´s a nice slapback-type sound that´s great for early rock´n´roll and rockabilly. Here, the blend control is set around nine o´ clock, the delay time set at 11 o´ clock and the feedback on one o´ clock:

Finally, here´s the delay in full-on noise terrorism mode. We set the feedback control all the way up and manipulated the blend and delay time knobs manually:

Keep clicking back to MusicRadar for full reviews of both products and sneak previews of all the hottest new kit.