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I wonder, is there a list of time and head settings for the Shadows tunes?
Regards, Emiel

The Blue Baby came with instructions with head timings for various echo machines it mimics I think Stanley Effects has a download for them on site.

Some years ago I published this:

and if anyone can make additions, here is an editable table:

Roger and Wolfgang,
Thank you for your information!
Regards,
Emiel

This information begs the question, was there a varispeed facility on the Meazzi echo boxes ? There certainly wasn't on our Meazzi Factotum PA version.
If there was no varispeed, then those head timing figures are suspect as it must have been a fixed speed and those various timings couldn't have been achieved, meaning that the measurements must be faulty, or the figures were taken from several different machines

It is however easy to replicate these figures with todays technology.

The head timings on Hank's echo units can be found in section 2 here: http://www.tvsspecialtyproducts.com/han ... units.html
I base most of my settings on these.

ian

dave robinson wrote:This information begs the question, was there a varispeed facility on the Meazzi echo boxes ? There certainly wasn't on our Meazzi Factotum PA version.
If there was no varispeed, then those head timing figures are suspect as it must have been a fixed speed and those various timings couldn't have been achieved, meaning that the measurements must be faulty, or the figures were taken from several different machines

It is however easy to replicate these figures with todays technology.

Hi Dave,

Yes, the Echomatic 2 had a simple mechanical (not electronic) way of smoothly varying the speed. The Echomatic 1 was equipped with a staggered speed control which was built into the choice of echo settings on the central rotary knob. Those choices varied between models (eg: F, J, etc). The speed for each setting was predetermined, meaning each setting was locked to its own, unvariable speed (ie: the Apache setting was only ever played at one speed which could not be altered).

As far as I know, all later tape Meazzis were made with no function to alter the speed. Shadows players such as myself who are/have been lucky enough to own these original units have had them altered to copy Hank's original settings. Those alterations usually include swapping the original AC motor for a DC one. That allows the user to emulate the varispeed function on the Model 2 and provides scope to make up your own settings (providing you have modified the unit to have individual head selection), meaning the options become infinite.

HTH...

I made this just to get a visual comparison of the echo timings, data was from Paul and Spikes TVS site.

Some nice info there, Thanks Justin

Thanks

Scott

Thanks for those gents, I'll compare with what I have here from Charlie.

Having measured the echo timings from the original recordings I found no evidence of the use of variable speed on any of the Shadows tunes, apart from Zambesi (running slower) and possibly Flingel Bunt. The head amplitudes certainly change but not the basic head timing, apart from some quite small variations that are probably due to wear and changes in head pressure. This applies to both the Echomatic 1's (5 and 6 head machines) and the Echomatic 2's and the timings are essentially as shown on the TVS web site. There were versions of those machines with variable speed provided by either tapered or stepped drive pulleys, but no evidence of their use by The Shadows.

For those interested there is also a lot of information about Meazzi's on a Dutch site:https://translate.google.nl/translate?sl=nl&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=nl&ie=UTF-8&u=www.cliff-shadowsmeeting.eu&edit-text= Go to the "Shadows Music Gear Vox" tab, then "Vox and Jennings Tube Ultrasounds (England)". For some reason Google translate changes" Echo Units" to "Ultrasounds"!

Paul.