The Mr. Black Black LTD. Echo Repeater is a pedal that produces echo, or delay, effects: it repeats the notes you play, with the repeats fading away behind your dry signal. Mr. Black describes it as "An absolutely beautiful, straightforward & perfectly voiced echo, with trails on bypass and wild self-oscillation at high Feed Back settings."1
What it does
The Echo Repeater sits in the delay family of effects: it takes your guitar signal and plays it back one or more times, quieter each pass, to create space and depth around your playing. Mr. Black gives its echo time range as 45mS to 450mS, which runs from very short, slapback-style repeats up to a medium delay length.1
Two behaviors shape the sound in practice:
- Feed Back sets how many repeats you hear. At high settings the pedal self-oscillates, meaning the repeats build on themselves and run away, an effect Mr. Black describes as "wild."1
- Trails on bypass means the echoes keep fading out naturally after you switch the pedal off, rather than cutting off instantly.1
Mr. Black's own product page puts it this way: "There is something in this pedal that pulls songs out of you."1
Where it sits in the Mr. Black range
Mr. Black makes several delay and echo pedals, and the Echo Repeater is part of the company's Black LTD. line, which also includes the Black LTD. Digi-Delay. Other delay pedals in the range include the Tapex 2, the JDD-3000+, the Ambience Echoverb and the SS-850 Solid State Echo Chamber. For a wider view of the category, see the Delay Pedals page.
Questions
What is the echo time range of the Black LTD. Echo Repeater?
Mr. Black lists the echo times as ranging from 45mS to 450mS. That covers short slapback-style repeats up to a medium delay length, which suits rhythm playing and lead lines rather than long ambient washes. The Feed Back control sets how many repeats you hear, and at high settings the pedal goes into self-oscillation, a runaway repeat effect some players seek out.
What does trails on bypass mean?
Trails on bypass means the echoes already in motion keep repeating and fade out naturally after you switch the pedal off, instead of being cut dead. Mr. Black describes the Echo Repeater as having trails on bypass, so a phrase can ring out over a clean passage even with the effect disengaged.
Sources (1)
- Black LTD. Echo Repeater, Mr. Black (mrblackpedals.com)
