The Maestro Echoplex EP-3 is a tape echo unit introduced in 1970, the solid-state successor to the tube-based EP-1 and EP-2. It records your guitar onto a loop of magnetic tape and plays it back a moment later to create repeats, and it stayed in distribution from 1970 to 1991, the longest-made version of the Echoplex123.
What made the EP-3 more than a delay machine was its preamp. Dunlop, which now sells a standalone Echoplex preamp pedal, says "guitar players were hooked by the way its preamp sweetened up their sound"4, and RockBoard describes the unit as prized "as much for its tone conditioning ability as its tape echo effect"5. Premier Guitar's reviewer called the preamp's color and bite "one bonus of using an original Maestro Echoplex EP-3 tape delay"6.
How the EP-3 makes an echo
The EP-3 sets up an echo using actual magnetic tape. On That Pedal Show, Dan and Mick walked through the machine: a record head writes the signal onto the tape, a playback head reads it back, and an erase head clears the tape for the next pass9. The tape runs in a continuous loop around rollers inside the unit.
Delay time is set mechanically. As Dan explained on the show, "what you would do is actually move the tape head along this track here so to go longer I would extend it"9. Sliding the head along its track lengthens or shortens the path the tape travels between recording and playback, which changes the delay time.
Guitar World's Chris Gill puts the practical range at "about 80 to 800 milliseconds, although due to the mechanical nature" of an Echoplex the exact times vary from one unit to another1. For reference, Eddie Van Halen's echo setting for "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" was Echo Repeats 1, Echo Volume 2, Echo Delay 12, approximately 300 milliseconds1.
Inputs, outputs and modes
The EP-3's connections are simple by modern standards. In addition to input and output jacks, there are footswitch jacks for echo on/off and playback functions1. On the EP-3, the output moved to a 1/4" jack, replacing the attached output cable of earlier Echoplexes10.
A toggle switch on the unit selects between two modes1:
| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Echo | Standard tape echo with fading repeats11125 |
| Sound-on-sound | Layers new playing onto what is already recorded on the tape, an early form of looping1 |
History and versions
The Echoplex line ran through several versions, including the EP-1, EP-2 and EP-32. The two earliest versions, the EP-1 and EP-2, used tubes, while the EP-3, released in 1970, was a solid-state update to the previous tube-based versions13142. It was also the longest made version of the Echoplex, distributed from 1970 to 19913.
The EP-3 came out of a direct instruction from Maestro. Designer Mike Battle told Vintage Guitar: "Maestro instructed Battle to get rid of the tubes and update the machine… so I developed the EP-3"8. The result was the solid-state EP-3, which Stompbox Book's William Weir notes "was a lot more reliable and less expensive" than the tube versions2.
Within the EP-3's long run there were variations worth knowing about:
- Two preamp versions. Aion FX identifies an early version that was brighter and a late version that was a little darker and fatter, the difference being a single capacitor added to the first JFET stage in the later version7. MusicRadar likewise notes the brighter-voiced first-run units, which had a very subtly brighter tone13.
- Fewer than 500 early units. Catalinbread states the "Early" EP-3 models total less than 500 units14.
- Harris-Teller units. Some EP-3s say "Echoplex" on the front instead of "Maestro" and carry a "Quality Product from Harris-Teller" tag10.
The EP-3 was distributed from 1970 to 1991, the longest-made version of the Echoplex3. Echo Fix hosts a user and service manual with schematics covering the EP-1 through EP-4 for anyone working on one15.
Reliability and servicing
Original units are machines, and they behave like it. On That Pedal Show, Dan and Mick were blunt: "they're not very reliable" and "it's pretty noisy I don't know if you can hear that in the background"9. Pedal of the Day describes the older units as "finicky, tricky to repair, costly at times and not always the most road-worthy for the touring musician"16, and again as "temperamental, expensive and rare"17.
Parts are no longer available from the original maker, but Echo Fix has researched and manufactured new parts to original specifications18, including:
- An Ultimate EP3 service kit and a DIY full service kit, both precision made exceeding original specification1918
- A new record/erase head for the EP3 and EP420
- An updated rubber pinch roller with low friction sealed bearings, described by Echo Fix as "an excellent improvement on the original rubber roller"21
Chase Tone also makes a replacement vintage-style black knob for repairing EP2 and EP3 units22.
What reviewers said
Guitar World's Chris Gill found the EP-3 "is more often favored by players who want more clarity and definition from the echo repeats," particularly guitarists who plug directly into an amp driven to distortion, and that "it also excels at unorthodox special effects that even the best digital modeling units don't quite replicate"1. MusicRadar's Rob Laing called it "the definitive delay for many players"23, and MusicRadar's Trevor Curwen refers to it simply as "the long-running solid-state EP-3"24. Pedal of the Day credits it as "a tape delay, but one with such a distinct sound that it has been the standard of echo units"11.
Guitar World's review of the Dunlop EP-101 Echoplex Preamp, a modern pedal built around the EP-3's preamp circuit, noted that "the EP-3 has a sweet-sounding preamp that does wonderful things to a guitar's tone, even when the tape echo effect is bypassed"12.
Reviewers have noted both what the EP-3 does well and its drawbacks. It excels at unorthodox special effects that even the best digital modeling units don't quite replicate1. On the other hand, the original units are described as finicky, tricky to repair, costly at times and not always the most road-worthy for the touring musician17, and tape echo machines of this kind are not very reliable16.
Who uses it
The EP-3's user list is long. JHS Pedals' history of tape echo says "This echo has been used by Jimmy Page, Brian May, and countless others"3, and Aion FX describes the EP-3 as "famously used by Jimmy Page, Brian May and many others"25.
MusicRadar notes it was "used by the likes of Eddie Van Halen and countless others as an always-on tone-sweetening weapon," meaning many players left the preamp on all the time and used the echo only when needed13. Catalinbread documents a more specific case: "Eric Johnson used to run his Echoplex before his BK Butler Tube Driver, preferring the sound of a saturated echo," pushing the repeats into distortion rather than distorting first and echoing after14.
That preamp-only use is why the EP-3's circuit lives on in modern preamp and boost pedals from Dunlop, Catalinbread, Chase Tone and others, all built around the EP-3's JFET input stage42625.
Videos
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Granville Guitars
L.A. SOUND DESIGN
Questions
How does the Echoplex EP-3 make an echo?
It records your guitar signal onto a loop of magnetic tape using a record head, then plays it back moments later through a playback head, with an erase head clearing the tape for the next pass. Moving the playback head along a track changes the distance the tape travels, which lengthens or shortens the delay time.
What is the delay time range of the Echoplex EP-3?
Delay times generally cover a range from about 80 to 800 milliseconds. Because an Echoplex is a mechanical machine, the exact range varies from one unit to another. Eddie Van Halen's setting for Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, for example, sat at approximately 300 milliseconds.
Is the Echoplex EP-3 solid state or tube?
The EP-3 is solid state. It was introduced in 1970 as an update to the earlier tube-based Echoplex designs, after Maestro instructed designer Mike Battle to get rid of the tubes. The earlier EP-1 and EP-2 used tubes in their preamps.
What is sound-on-sound mode on an Echoplex?
Sound-on-sound is a mode selected by a toggle switch on the EP-3, alongside the standard echo mode. Instead of fading repeats, it layers new playing onto what is already recorded on the tape loop, letting a player build up parts against themselves, an early form of looping.
Are original Echoplex EP-3 units reliable?
Not especially. Reviewers describe original units as noisy, finicky, tricky to repair, costly and not always road-worthy. Replacement parts are no longer available from the original maker, though companies such as Echo Fix now manufacture service kits, rollers and record/erase heads to original specifications.
How many early EP-3 models were made?
The early EP-3 models, the brighter-voiced first-run units, total fewer than 500 units according to Catalinbread. Later units rolled off some of that brightness with a single capacitor added to the first JFET stage of the preamp.
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