Xotic EP or Dunlop EchoPlex or ClinchFX EP-Pre or... ???

GilmourD

GilmourD

Eater of Worlds
Staff member
OK, so I wanna go the EchoPlex preamp/boost thing route. I'm just hearing things I like, but I'm not sure which way to go.

Initially I was thinking going with the Xotic... But is the Dunlop better/more faithful to the original preamp? The ClinchFX better? Or apparently the Tony Krank-made Orbit MB-3 Maestro Booster is a serious contender, too.

What've you guys used? What do you think?
 
TGP says the Dunlop doesn't come close. People seem happy with the Xotic EP boost.

I have no experience with any of it. But if I wanted an EP boost, I would get a Catalinbread Belle Epoch, and get a free delay pedal with my Echoplex preamp. :grin:
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
TGP says the Dunlop doesn't come close. People seem happy with the Xotic EP boost.

I have no experience with any of it. But if I wanted an EP boost, I would get a Catalinbread Belle Epoch, and get a free delay pedal with my Echoplex preamp. :grin:
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Besides the fact that I already have plenty of delay on my board, does the preamp stay on even with the delay itself off?
 
GilmourD said:
Besides the fact that I already have plenty of delay on my board, does the preamp stay on even with the delay itself off?
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There's a mini switch inside that changes the bypass from buffered to true. So if you leave it on the buffered setting, then the preamp is always on. I do that with my Echorec.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
There's a mini switch inside that changes the bypass from buffered to true. So if you leave it on the buffered setting, then the preamp is always on. I do that with my Echorec.
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Ever used one of the preamp only pedals? I have a TC Flashback X4 that works really well for the different sounds I need, so I definitely don't need another delay on my board.
 
The Xotic is nothing like the actual echoplex preamp. The ClinchFX is as close as is available to the actual EP circuit. Bear in mind, if you're looking for a boost, avoid the ClinchFX -- you won't get more than an additional dB or two from it. What you do get from it is a pleasant coloration and some rounding of the low and high ends. And it's fairly subtle. That being said, mine is an "always on" pedal, and I love it.
 
Psychotronic said:
The Xotic is nothing like the actual echoplex preamp. The ClinchFX is as close as is available to the actual EP circuit. Bear in mind, if you're looking for a boost, avoid the ClinchFX -- you won't get more than an additional dB or two from it. What you do get from it is a pleasant coloration and some rounding of the low and high ends. And it's fairly subtle. That being said, mine is an "always on" pedal, and I love it.
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The amount of boost isn't as important as the tone. I have a TC Spark Mini that I use as a pure clean boost, but a little bit of a goose on the input wouldn't be bad.

I hear the official Dunlop Echoplex is not very good, or is that just people repeating TGP ramblings?
 
GilmourD said:
That's the funny thing. That coloration is exactly what I'm looking for.
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Mark Wein said:
Yeah.....if you want that sound it's a great pedal. Just not what I was looking for in my rig. I think @Modern Saint has one too.
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The coloration never bothered me. What I loved about the EP most was that it thickened my Strat sound more which why I left the DIP switches alone. I have tried using the EP as a boost box but it doesn't work for me. What it does great (for me) is pumping the front end up and thickening the overall sound up. Also with my humbucker guitars, I did not need an OD box - only used a clean boost (Wampler DB+ mini) for solos. Well I did use OD for heavy sounding tunes.
 
Modern Saint said:
The coloration never bothered me. What I loved about the EP most was that it thickened my Strat sound more which why I left the DIP switches alone. I have tried using the EP as a boost box but it doesn't work for me. What it does great (for me) is pumping the front end up and thickening the overall sound up. Also with my humbucker guitars, I did not need an OD box - only used a clean boost (Wampler DB+ mini) for solos. Well I did use OD for heavy sounding tunes.
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Like I said above, I'm not so much looking for a ton of boost... Just looking for that added sweetness.

I'm really starting to look at the Orbit MB-3. For some reason that one is sticking out to me in a way I can't even explain.
 
GilmourD said:
Like I said above, I'm not so much looking for a ton of boost... Just looking for that added sweetness.

I'm really starting to look at the Orbit MB-3. For some reason that one is sticking out to me in a way I can't even explain.
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As mentioned the EP doesn't work well for me as boost. More so it gives the sound of my strats some girth. Hope you find what you are looking for.
 
Modern Saint said:
As mentioned the EP doesn't work well for me as boost. More so it gives the sound of my strats some girth. Hope you find what you are looking for.
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I'm kinda looking for that thickening effect that Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen had with their Marshalls. I just found out that the EP3 wasn't in EVH's chain anymore on 1984 and I went "Well, shit, that's why that album doesn't sound as good to me."
 
I have the Xotic EP booster, and the thing that I like about it is that it has internal dip switches that can adjust the boosted frequencies - higher or lower frequencies. This gives you the ability to adapt it to the guitar that you will be using. Boosting the lower frequencies can give the fattened sound that MS likes for his Strat. You could also boost the higher frequencies of a humbucker guitar for more clarity/range of tone (years ago, I installed Classic 57 pickups in my Epi LP to change the clarity/range). Now I have the Xotic EP booster to help me get what I want.
 
GilmourD said:
I'm kinda looking for that thickening effect that Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen had with their Marshalls. I just found out that the EP3 wasn't in EVH's chain anymore on 1984 and I went "Well, shit, that's why that album doesn't sound as good to me."
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My favorite VH sound was from Women and Children First and then Mean Street. I would start with your amp and guitar first before even adding pedals to the mix. Some of the things the EVH did with the variac and a full stack to get his sound was amazing. When I was into EVH, I came close to the sound by using a Mesa Boogie Mark IIB and a Partscaster strat. Back in 1980, we didn't have pedals like the EP Booster or the EP Preamp so I made a lot of setting adjustments on the amp and changed pickups on my strat. I settled on a Lawarence L90XL pickup in the bridge position. Other choices at the time were Duncan and DiMarzio unless you had the money for real PAF's and if you could find them. When I ran my Boogie through and extension cab with Celestion's, I got close that sound.

Also note that the albums I like, IIRC, he used the Marshall JCM800's which have that sound. Today I own a JCM800 amp and Marshall cab and can get that sound. However, that is not my sound anymore as 30 years later I have my own thing that I like.

Good Luck in your search and I hope that you find what you are looking for.
 
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