Wampler Faux Tape Echo review

Tape-aping digital delay pedal

  • £219
  • €249
  • $219
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Tweaking the Movement and Sway knobs allows you to alter the chorused delay sounds

MusicRadar Verdict

The flavour of tape echo without the hassle.

Pros

  • +

    Large variety of tones and applications. Excellent build.

Cons

  • -

    Price.

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The Wampler Faux Tape Echo provides an all-analogue, un-messed-with dry signal path combined with digital delay note clarity that can be tweaked with analogue tone shaping plus (bypassable) modulation.

"Tape echo can be a perfect fit with guitar and this will give you similar sound in a much more convenient way"

With the modulation bypassed, you get a nicely voiced delay varying from a quick slap through to the more spacey 800ms maximum delay - all governed by standard level, repeats (regeneration) and echo (delay time) knobs and the practical Shade control, an EQ that dulls the repeats to sit snugly in with your sound.

Modulation (the Faux Tape Reel) takes the form of the Movement and Sway knobs, which offer plenty of variations on chorused delay sounds and recreate some of the flavour of analogue tape, albeit less random in its variations.

Tape echo can be a perfect fit with guitar and this will give you similar sound in a much more convenient way. There's a tap tempo option, too - you wouldn't get that on a tape echo!

Trevor Curwen

Trevor Curwen has played guitar for several decades – he's also mimed it on the UK's Top of the Pops. Much of his working life, though, has been spent behind the mixing desk, during which time he has built up a solid collection of the guitars, amps and pedals needed to cover just about any studio session. He writes pedal reviews for Guitarist and has contributed to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Future Music among others.