Fulltone Tube Tape Echo - TTE - In stock and guaranteed to be latest version.
In stock right now! New shipment arrived July 9th, 2008! Guaranteed to be latest version!
TTE's are shipping after 11 months and
$275,000 worth of tooling, sweating and high hopes. In short, it turned out
better than Mike Fuller had imagined, but they can only make about 5 units per day
(x 4 day work-week) making it many months before you'll see any TTE's sitting
around unspoken for at most stores. Some dealers are going to keep a unit
in-stock for folks to demo, but I understand most the first 400 or so are spoken
for by customers who've been waiting since last year.
Lo-fi Windows Media clip of the TTE in action. (Pardon the strat's selector-switch
failure during the tune.) It's Mike Fuller playing a stock late 50's
Strat----> TTE--->1967 Deluxe Reverb...No Chorus or other effects, and
only the $300 Canon S230 Digital Camera's built in Microphone.
Why a Tape Echo?
If you ask that then you have
never played a healthy Echoplex! No delay (rackmount or pedal, analog or
digital) can replicate the natural, warm, and shimmery tones of an old Echoplex.
Unless you've experienced it you don't know what you're missing.
Yeah, but they're noisy and unreliable!
Yes, they certainly WERE....but the Fulltone TubeTapeEcho
(TTE) is dead-quiet, and they've completely re-vamped both the
electronics, the tape transport path, and even the tape cartridge itself to the
point of near-overkill. Their TTE produces less noise than most
delay pedals.
How much delay time?
From a quick slapback to over 1 second. There is a top panel-mounted dual
speed toggle switch to choose between: Hi-Speed and
Lo-Speed operation. Hi-Speed gets you lots of Highs, less Bass,
and a True Repeat without the Pitch variation of the old Echoplex.
Lo-Speed is waaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrm, lots of Bass,
less highs, and a slight "warble" that imparts a natural chorus effect made
popular by people like Eric Johnson.
Why tubes?
Because they sound so good.....the enhancement to your basic tone is
something you will not want to play without once you feel it, and you'll never
again have to worry about signal loss due to long cables and too many pedals on
your pedalboard.
What makes yours better?
- The big AC motors of yesteryear were noisy and
inefficient so I replaced it with a servo-controlled hi-torque DC motor. Not
only is this more quiet, but it is more stable and is 1/4 the size, allowing
for a smaller overall housing as well.
- The TTE uses 2 x 12AX7 tubes (for the Record and Playback sections) with
@200 volts DC and supply the filaments with 12 volts DC to reduce the hum
further. The erase/ Bias section function uses one x 12AU7.
- Handwired audio path, and world-famous Fulltone Made-in-USA Craftsmanship.
No PCB-mounted Tubes or Jacks in this thing.
- Stereo outs! Yep, how many times have you longed for a slight slap or long
bounce between 2 amps in the studio or on stage? But this ain't just
stereo....there are 3 stereo modes.
Mode #1: Guitar/Echo on the
Left---->Guitar/Echo on the Right
Mode #2: Guitar/Echo Left---> Echo
on the right.
Mode #3: Guitar on the left----> Echo on the right
amp.
- Better Tape Heads. The TTE has proprietary (custom-made) Erase, Record,
and Playback heads that not only have better frequency response than the
oldies, but are designed to last well into your retirement.
- Fulltone ETC-1 Tape cartridge...if you can't find it, make it yerself! The
ETC-1 not only is a direct replacement for all Tube and solid state Echoplexes
ever made, but it's loaded it with a vastly superior tape loop made with
polyester backing and a higher bias Tape formulation. The ETC-1 not only
sounds MUCH better, but is not prone to the shedding of the replacement tape
(made by another company) you've been using. This is a big deal when you've
been paying almost $30 for a tape that only lasts a month, if you're lucky.
Who's tape do you think is going to last longer when you run theirs for 10
minutes and a residue of brown dust appears all over the heads, rollers, and
top of the chassis! That "build-up" is what creates distance between the tape
and tape heads causing degradation of the echo-repeats and also causing the
pinch-roller to slip against the Capstain, which leads to wildly out-of-tune
echo-repeats. That brown dust accumulating is your tape (and your echo tone)
disintegrating before your very eyes.
- Nickel Plated Stainless Steel Parts because Mike wants the stuff I make
to outlast him and look great.
- Echo Tone Control. The TTE has a very full-range/full-frequency Echo
Sound.....but you can alter it to as vintage as you want a Tone control
affecting only the repeats.
- Smaller. Old Echoplex EP-2 models have that cool
little side compartment for storing stuff. Mike Fuller puts that storage
place into a Heavy duty (wood-reinforced) Cordura Nylon Gig-Bag. (included)
This, along with some downsizing, due in part to the use of a DC motor, allows
for a very compact, stout unit that can sit on your amp, in your pedalboard,
or off to the side without taking up too much precious real
estate.
