Weird stuff from the attic: 70s 8-track tape delay

Опубликовано: 24 Март 2025
на канале: DIYguitarGuy
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I have some stuff laying around in the attic and one of these things is the Kastam SS-100 Echo Chamber Concert, a tape delay machine from the seventies. It uses 8-track tapes for its effect, which are ideal since they were cheap and they are looped, so you don't have to rewind them when the tape runs out. A downside is that these tapes and their machines were prone to have fluctuating speeds, so there's a lot of unpredictable modulation going on. Not that bad if you're looking for that kind of sound.

There are input jacks for an instrument and mic, a single output jack and a footswitch jack. It has 6 preset speeds and controls over the amount of repeats (or feedback), echo volume and mic volume (or gain). In the back there's the power cord (this machine runs on 220 volts) and the 8-track tape is removable.

0:00 intro
0:43 initial testing, fiddling with the knobs
4:06 breaking it
5:08 opening it up
7:08 opening the 8-track and cleaning parts
10:36 recording the output
11:27 measuring delay times
12:21 using a footswitch
13:08 testing the mic input
15:08 using it in a song

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