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Before playing a Shadows tune I dutifully change the settings on my Baby Blue to those recommended for the unit and this got me thinking.

The Baby Blue comes with about 30 different settings for about 50 tunes and these will get you close to the original recorded sound. But in a live situation did Hank really change his echo machine settings for each tune or is there a generic delay setting that will cover most, if not all, tunes?

There is a video on YouTube in which the man himself explains that his sound is (or can be) achieved by using two delays: one short and one long. Is it really as simple as that?

If there is a "one size fits all" setting which tune would that be? Does anyone know what Hank did for live shows, particularly the period up to the mid-sixties which is the era that interests me the most?

Although not 100% spot on, I can set a couple of patches up that are capable of getting me through a gig playing Shadows hits, turning echo levels up or down for certain tunes, so the answer yes but it won't satisfy the purists.

I'm currently using two different settings live on my Boonar, which simulates a four-head Binson Echorec: For the faster numbers (apache, fbi, the boys, dance on, kon tiki, chattanooga...) I activate heads 1, 3 and 4, for some others (atlantis, wonderful land, theme for young lovers, cosy, peace pipe etc.) heads 2, 3 and 4.

I reckon Hank might have given his echo unit an occasional tweak when playing live but he didn't reset it for every tune to try and replicate what was on the record. With modern programmable gear we can do just that with a tap on a footswitch but does that make us sound like the man?

I think Hank did alter some settings during live performances. On the ‘Very Best’ DVD, you cansee him walk over to his Roland RE-301 at one point.

Tim.