The T-Rex Replicator Junior is a real tape echo pedal: a box with an actual motor, magnetic heads and small tape spools inside, not a digital emulation. T-Rex describes it as a "True, 100% analog tape echo pedal" and says it delivers "the unmistakable sound of a true tape echo that´s ever so slightly uneven, lo-fi and unpredictable"1. It is a scaled-down version of the company's full-size T-Rex Replicator, built around the same basic circuit but with one playback head instead of two, which is what lets T-Rex fit the concept into a smaller and more affordable box12.
The Junior was announced in May 2017, when the Danish firm shrunk the Replicator into this smaller format3. It is handcrafted in Denmark1.
What the Replicator Junior does
The Replicator Junior is a delay pedal in the tape echo tradition. Your signal is recorded onto a loop of tape by a record head, played back by a single playback head, and erased for the next pass. Because the tape and motor are physical, the repeats drift slightly in pitch and level, which is the character T-Rex points to when it calls the sound "ever so slightly uneven, lo-fi and unpredictable"1.
The Junior carries the same basic circuit as the full-size Replicator, which T-Rex calls its take on "the ultimate tape echo unit, complete with a motor, magenetic heads"4. The difference is the head count: the original Replicator has two playback heads, while the Junior uses a single playback head to achieve its echoes23. Gearnews described the Junior at launch as "a scaled down single tape head version of the T-Rex Replicator tape echo" and noted that "the whole system is 100% analogue and uses little tiny tape spools to run the echo"2.
Controls and switching
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Time | Sets the delay time between repeats1 |
| Feedback | Sets how many repeats you hear1 |
| Effect level | Sets the volume of the echo against your dry signal1 |
| Saturation | Shapes how hard the tape circuit is driven1 |
| Kill dry | Removes the dry signal from the output, for parallel effect loops1 |
The pedal has two footswitches: a tap tempo footswitch for setting the delay time with your foot, and a second for engaging the echo effect itself12.
Power and connections
The Replicator Junior runs on 12V DC, center negative, with the power supply included, and draws 200mA1.
When the Junior was announced in 2017, Gearnews reported it running off its own included 18V power supply2. T-Rex's current product page specifies 12V DC center negative1. The two sources disagree, so treat the maker's present specification as the working figure, and use the included supply rather than a generic pedal power source.
Input impedance is 500K ohm at 1KHz and output impedance is 1K ohm at 1KHz1. At 80 x 174 x 175 mm and 1,45 kg excl. packaging, the Junior is smaller than the full Replicator but still a substantial box compared with a typical compact delay pedal, which is the price of housing a motor and tape transport1.
Where it came from
T-Rex Engineering, the Danish effects maker, launched the full-size Replicator tape echo in 2015, with MusicRadar reporting at NAMM that year that "The Replicator is a real tape delay - everything is pure analogue"5. In May 2017 the company announced the Replicator Junior, shrinking the pedal to a single-head format3. At the time, no official price or availability had been set, with retailers estimating around £500/€600 and availability at the end of June 20173.
On That Pedal Show in October 2017, T-Rex's Michael Pagaard showed an early unit, saying6:
"this is the very first prototype number one and it's in production now and it's running it's stable"
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day reviewed the Junior in April 2019, describing it as "a simplistic but powerful delay pedal" with "a single playback head with three controls for Level, Feedback and Time", and concluding that "This simplistic but powerful delay really takes you back to the tape echo sounds of the 70's"7. The reviewer's overall view was that its true tape echo sound cannot be matched without the actual tape7.
That Pedal Show's demo gives a sense of the pedal in use, with Dan and Mick running the prototype through its paces alongside discussion of how it compares with the full Replicator6.
How it fits in the T-Rex delay range
The Junior sits between T-Rex's digital delay pedals, such as the Replay Box and Replica, and the company's larger tape and drum echo units. The full-size Replicator offers two playback heads, and the Replicator D'Luxe extended that format further, though T-Rex's webshop currently lists the D'Luxe as sold out8. T-Rex has since moved into drum echo territory with its Binson Echorec reproduction. If you want the tape echo sound without the motor and spools, a digital delay like the Replica is the practical alternative; if you want the real thing in the smallest box T-Rex makes, the Junior is that pedal.
Videos
Andertons Music Co
Guitar Bonedo
Pedal of the Day
Questions
Does the T-Rex Replicator Junior come with a power supply?
Yes. T-Rex lists a 12V DC center negative power supply as included with the pedal, which draws 200mA. When the Junior was announced in 2017, Gearnews reported it running off its own included 18V supply, so the maker's current specification is the figure to go by.
How many playback heads does the Replicator Junior have?
One. The Junior uses a single playback head, where the original full-size Replicator uses two. That single head is how T-Rex scaled the tape echo concept down into a smaller, cheaper pedal.
Does the Replicator Junior have tap tempo?
Yes. The pedal has a tap tempo footswitch alongside a second footswitch for engaging the echo effect, so you can set the delay time with your foot while playing.
Is the T-Rex Replicator Junior real tape?
Yes. T-Rex describes it as a true, 100% analog tape echo pedal, with a motor, magnetic heads and small tape spools, handcrafted in Denmark. It is not a digital emulation of tape.
Sources (8)
- → T-REX EFFECTS ← Pedals for guitar and bass players!, T-Rex Effects
- T-Rex Replicator Junior Tape Echo, gearnews.com, 2017-05-12
- T-Rex reveals Replicator Junior Tape Echo pedal, MusicRadar, 2017-05-12
- → T-REX EFFECTS ← Pedals for guitar and bass players!, T-Rex Effects
- NAMM 2015: T-Rex Replicator tape delay and Nitros break cover, MusicRadar, 2015-01-26
- That Pedal Show, That Pedal Show (YouTube), 2017-10-05
- T-Rex Replicator Junior Tape Echo, Pedal of the Day (www.pedal-of-the-day.com), 2019-04-13
- T-Rex Tape Echo Replicator D'Luxe, T-Rex Effects
