Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe
The Echoplex EP-3 is one of the most coveted tape echo units in history. The Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe is the closest a pedal has ever come to putting one on your board — and then it keeps going. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe takes center stage — running into my Prisma Guitars Sunset with Lollar Gold Foil pickups, into my Benson Amps Vincent.
The Maestro Echoplex EP-3 was the tape echo of the 1970s. David Gilmour, Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen — the EP-3 defined the sound of electric guitar through the period as much as any amp. Players have chased its preamp as much as its echo: the JFET preamp, mixer stage, and high-gain silicon transistor record and playback amplifiers impart a warmth, openness, and three-dimensional quality to every signal that passes through, even with no echo engaged.
The Belle Epoch Deluxe reproduces that signal chain component by component. The 9V DC power is converted to 22V internal rails via a voltage tripler — exact to the original EP-3 spec. A 24-bit high-fidelity digital delay line replaces the tape cartridge. Every other stage is analog and faithful to the original.
Six echo programs expand the EP-3 foundation significantly:
Mode 1 — Classic EP-3 Echoplex. The original tape echo character, wow and flutter included, with that JFET preamp coloring everything.
Mode 2 — Analog/BBD-voiced delay. Warmer, darker, with a subtle chorus quality on the repeats.
Mode 3 — Roto Swirl. The delay signal passes through a rotary cabinet simulation. Expression pedal controls rotary speed.
Mode 4 — Resonant Filter Sweep. The repeats are swept through a resonant filter, manually or via expression pedal.
Mode 5 — DMM Chorus (Deluxe Memory Man-voiced).
Mode 6 — DMM Vibrato.
A second footswitch triggers momentary self-oscillation, tunable via internal trimpot. Expression pedal — sold separately, used here with a newly acquired Catalinbread tap switch — controls delay time, echo volume, rotary speed, or filter sweep depending on the program.
🎛️ Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe: https://catalinbread.com/products/belle-epoch-deluxe
🎸 Prisma Guitars Sunset: https://www.prismaguitars.com/collections
🎸 Lollar Gold Foil Pickups: https://www.lollarguitars.com/gold-foil
🔊 Benson Amps Vincent: https://www.bensonamps.com/amps/vincent
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🎸 Prisma Guitars Sunset | Lollar Gold Foil Pickups
🎛️ Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe | Echoplex EP-3 | 6 Echo Programs | JFET Preamp | 22V Rail
🔊 Benson Amps Vincent
