Your imitation of feed back was SPOT ON hah! Sounded exactly like it ! Nice work. Greetings from America 🇺🇸

That’s a “modern” one the earlier ones were valve powered. The old tape echoes were revolutionary in their time and I wouldn’t dream of playing without one in the early 1960s in fact I’ve still got a couple including an old Watkins Copykat somewhere. Those tape loops didn’t last long and as poverty stricken teenagers we soon learned how to splice our own from a reel of old reel to reel tape, much cheaper than buying the tapes sold by Watkins. Keeping the tape heads and transport mechanism clean helped a lot but the machines were far from perfect, the first Copykats didn’t have an erase head and had a permanent magnet in the tape tension arm, the socket it fitted in could still be seen on later machines with erase heads! Those old tape echoes did have their own sounds but these days I use pedals from Catalinbread and Strymon which make a pretty good job of capturing a lot of the characteristics of the old tape machines and more without the hassle.

Thanks for this, back in the early seventies I had this exact Watkins echo. I was playing through my 1960 strat into my early Vox AC 30. 1963. It was a great sounding effect. The amps gone, the copycats gone. The strat is will go to my son. Serial number 53271.

I repair the valve versions of these and the early Long John six playback machines. Lots of EF86 and ECC83s.

New tape and head clean might get it sounding like new.

While searching for my first tape echo, I came across the WEM Copycat and was immediately intrigued. I thought it might be a great addition to my setup, but sellers consistently warned that it was too fragile to ship. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get one, which was a real disappointment because I was very eager to try it out. The Copycat is definitely something I still want to experience, and I’m also interested in other gear from this brand. As someone who loves reviewing vintage gear, I’m really hoping to explore the Copycat in the near future!

Apart from the very worn out tape loop, I have found that degaussing the heads can make quite a bit of difference.

I had one of these in the 70's. I traded it in for something else of which I can't remember but, it ruined my experience of digital units that are so clean you can clean your teeth on them and absolutely souless.

I love your channel. It is informative and relaxing at the same time. You are the Bob Ross of amp repair. When I am awake, I learn a lot. When I need a nap, you are also very relaxing.

Oh I loved messing with one of these back in the 70's . One mans horrible feedback was another mans classic effect lol.

There was actually no way to adjust the tape speed on these, but a DIY fix is to wire a 60W resistive light dimmer in series with the motor.

Wow, I had two of them way back...Used it live, great sounds.. Awesome to see one again..Nice job..Ed..UK..😄

Thanks.I have an original early sixties copicat(valves and no circuit board, all wired to a tag strip).The three push buttons switch on each head,No1 first head etc.Push all three you get all three heads playing back.The erase on the early models, like mine have a magnet in the tape tensioner to erase the previous recording.It also has a large brass flywheel to minimise fluctuations in tape speed.love your uploads.

Hello Stuart. A perfect verbal demonstration that instantly brought back memories of these use to sound. That's the first one I have seen in a lot of years. Great video. Take care Stuart.

I had the earlier valve version with the double hinged lids. That worked much better than the later solid state one I purchased at a later date. I used to make my own tape loops as the Watkins ones were quite expensive but it was impossible to produce a perfect splice. This resulted in a muted sort of click each time it passed the record head. The only problem I encountered was the build up of oxide on the heads, they required constant cleaning. It was a very effective unit and worked really well with my futurama III guitar and my Selmer little giant amplifier. Thank you for resurrecting happy nostalgic memories.

You're the coolest Mr. Stuart.

Those old tape delays are so cool. Here in USA the Echoplex seems to be the most popular one. Haven't seen many of these WEM units... in fact this is first time I've been able to see one in any detail.

Oh, yes, I once had one of those. It's main design flaw however is the missing pinch roller. I even modded my own one by adding a pinch roller mechanism afterwards. 😂 And it of course wears out those short tape loops quickly.

Ah! Used to think these were the bees knees! It needs at minimum new tape, but only after a good head clean and a thorough degaussing.

My friend gave me free of charge a VOX echo chamber which is valve based from I guess 1960's maybe but some time later I thrown it out in the 1980, it must be a very rare machine these days. I wonder how much it would have been worth to a collector?.

Very short sighted customer to not have the noise and hum sorted by you while you had the lid off.

First video of yours I’ve seen. Loved it. Thank you.

I had an earlier one which I used only as a preamp . Really effective it was . Wonderful vintage stuff 🎉

This is one example where the modern digital versions are definite improvements over the original analog technology.

Hi Stuart, I bought my copicat from a second hand shop in South Wales about 40 years ago. It stopped working about 20 years ago and was put away in the attic. I finally got around to restoring it 3 years ago. Re-capped, erase oscillator circuit replaced, (which was the reason for the original fault) and a mains and output socket fitted. I have my own tape that I can splice to size. I also noticed that the serial number was scratched off so it was probably stolen from a pub in South Wales in the 70's where they were like a house effect unit for the guest guitarists, who all played Shadows music. It now has a great useable sound full of character. Sound example: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ebiYp8t8xM3Demw.htmlsi=XuU7sUkBsOnRnSUx

Thank you Stuart. It was interesting to see one of these solid state Copy Cats again. I had one in the 1970's which I refurbished and used for a while, but it never quite hit the spot for me and I went back to an Echoplex. I was after the valve driven Mk 1 version of the Copy Cat, but I was always beaten by another buyer when one came up for sale so never got to use one in the end.

My dad used one of these for years before finally switching to a fully electronic delay/ echo unit.

A nice bit of kit that really deserves so much more of your magic touch x

A great episode, Stuart. Until today I've only seen the Watkins in photos. Albeit noisy, and wrought with wow and flutter, I too believe a new spool of tape will improve the signal integrity. Also a head realignment is warranted as well. There was a distributor here in the states that offered tape reels for the Echoplex. If they're still in business it stands to reason that they may have a Copy Cat loop, or be able to splice several spares for that unit. Well done, as always, Stuart. Enjoy the impending weekend. Cheers!

Nice one Young Stuart. Personally I think the owner needs to put the thing in the bin! Probably needs new heads (not only the tape!) Had one back in the mid sixties and one of the problems was the tape would eventually decompose and block the heads up with oxide!!

would the chassis of the delay be grounded through the body of the instrument cable to the amplifier? or is that too high of an impedance to be effective?

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hello i have a leslie combo pre amp 1V. is for a organ but want to know if you can make it in to a stomp box so i can use it maybe it will be a cool project thanks and love your work thanks for helping us with your know how.from los angeles c.a.

I'm sure pink floyd had one of these toys.

Tape wear=dirty heads.

these are pricey