MXR EP103 Echoplex Delay

The MXR EP103 Echoplex Delay is a compact digital delay pedal from MXR that recreates the sound of the Maestro Echoplex EP-3, the tape echo machine from the 1970s whose preamp added color and bite to the signal passing through it¹²³. Dunlop's manual describes it as delivering "Vintage Echoplex EP-3 tape echo warmth and modulation"¹, and Premier Guitar called it "the first compact digital stompbox to wear the Echoplex name"².

Where the original EP-3 was a tape machine with a single head and a slider for setting delay times, the EP103 puts the same echo effects and controls into a small pedal format⁴. It carries a street price of $199 as listed by Premier Guitar in 2021².

Analog or digital?

The EP103 is a digital pedal. Stompbox Book's history of the Echoplex notes that Dunlop's EP103 Echoplex Delay Pedal "is also a digital one"⁶. Guitar World's tape echo buying guide lists its type as "Analog/Digital"⁷, which reflects a hybrid arrangement: Pedal of the Day reports that "The EP103 features an all-analog, hi-fi dry signal path, for a crystal clear signal when the pedal is bypassed"⁵. So the repeats are digital while your dry signal stays analog end to end. The manual also lists audiophile quality audio paths and a 96 kHz sampling rate among its specifications¹.

The controls

The EP103 keeps the EP-3's control set: three knobs and a footswitch.

The Sustain control also approximates the odd taper of the EP-3's own sustain control, with self-oscillation available at maximum settings, as Premier Guitar's reviewer noted².

Age mode

The Volume knob doubles as a push-button that activates Age mode, which introduces tape-warble-simulating modulation and a filtering effect that approximates tape degradation². Guitar World describes what it does in use:

Premier Guitar's reviewer found that activating Age mode "darkens the repeats, adds cool coloration, and at times even seems to lend randomness" to the modulation². Delicious Audio's delay roundup puts it more bluntly: "The tiny 'Age' control makes the repeats increasingly degraded"⁸. Once dialed in, the final Age setting can be locked in and accessed again by pressing the Volume control⁴.

In standard mode, the modulation sounds good, though the Premier Guitar reviewer noted that single-coil pickups and bright amps can highlight a faint regularity in the modulations².

Wet mode

The manual also describes a Wet mode, selectable via Startup Mode, that sends only the wet signal to your amplifier¹, useful if you want to blend the repeats elsewhere in your chain.

Delay time and tap tempo

The Delay knob covers 65 to 750 ms¹. For longer delays and for syncing repeats to a tempo, the pedal includes a Tap jack for the optional MXR M199 Tap Tempo switch⁴. With that switch connected, the maximum delay time extends to about four seconds²⁵. Guitar World's tape echo guide highlights the practical benefit: "you also have the option of tap tempo, allowing you to sync up your delay perfectly without any fuss"⁷.

On the original EP-3, players set delay times with a slider, and in Sweetwater's demo video Don Carr compares the experience directly: "it's like using the delay time slider on the old ep3"⁹.

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How it compares to the original EP-3

The EP103 offers the same echo effects and controls as the original EP-3 Echoplex tape echo unit, in a compact pedal format⁴. Reviewers have compared the two directly. Premier Guitar's reviewer set it against an early-'70s Maestro EP-3 and "was very impressed with how close the MXR came to nailing the Maestro's complex overall sound picture," while noting that "the dynamic range is narrower than on my EP-3, but it adds impressive tone variations"².

Guitar World's reviewer was equally direct about how it stacks up against other recreations:

Premier Guitar summed up the pedal as "an excellent delay and an authentic homage to the Maestro Echoplex EP-3 and it's many quirks"².

Sounds and pairing

Pedal of the Day describes the range of tones available: "If you want dark, brooding repeats, but also the option to have bright, clear delay tones, and a mix of everything in between," the pedal covers that ground⁵. The same review suggests it pairs well with the Dunlop EP101 Echoplex Preamp, which reproduces the preamp side of the original machine⁵.

Players looking for a fully analog alternative in the MXR line can compare the EP103 against the MXR Carbon Copy family of analog delays, or the stereo MXR Joshua Ambient Echo for rack-style ambient tones.

Videos

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Questions