J. Rockett Audio APE delay preamp

The J. Rockett Audio APE delay preamp is an analog pedal built around one idea: putting the preamp color of the Maestro Echoplex EP-3 tape delay in front of a modern delay pedal. Guitar World's Jonathan Horsley described it as replicating the entire analog circuit of the EP-3, from input to output, for what he called old-school Echoplex tape delay magic¹. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio put the purpose more plainly: "the APE is a preamp circuit whose simple purpose is to feed your delay, by adding the color of the revered Echoplex EP3"².

What it does

The EP-3 was a tape echo, and the character of its preamp stage is something players have long chased when pairing a digital delay with an analog front end. The APE packages that stage as a standalone pedal. It can be placed in front of a delay pedal, or in a loop setup where the delay pedal is connected to the APE's external delay loop, working like an amplifier's effects loop¹.

Controls and operation

The pedal has two footswitches: one turns the pedal on or off, and the other engages loop mode, which brings the connected delay pedal into the signal path¹. A Mix control sets the wet/dry mix in loop mode¹.

¹

Where it sits on a board

For a player looking to put the EP-3's preamp character in front of another delay, the APE offers that coloration stage, built to replicate the entire analog circuit of the EP-3, from input to output¹. In loop mode, a Mix control sets the wet/dry balance between the APE's preamp and whatever is in the loop¹. For more on the pedal itself, see the J. Rockett Audio Designs A.P.E. Echoplex EP3 Preamp page, and for the wider category, see Delay Pedals and Preamp Pedals.

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