Tape delay degraded repeats

Karl Houseknecht

Karl Houseknecht

Power User
I've been after these kinds of delay sounds with the Axe-Fx for some time now. Don't get me wrong, the Axe delays are nice, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get that degraded repeat that you hear on these tape delay sim clips:

https://youtu.be/PvV9kUd3O5U

Not trying to compare to Strymon, I'm just illustrating what I'm after here. The Axe-Fx tape delays seem too...pristine.
 
Karl Houseknecht said:
How do I add distortion? On the Mono Tape setting, the Drive control doesn't seem to do anything, even at max.
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It should. The Drive is designed for "line level". If you are running the delay before the amp block (which you shouldn't) you won't get any distortion.
 
FractalAudio said:
It should. The Drive is designed for "line level". If you are running the delay before the amp block (which you shouldn't) you won't get any distortion.
Click to expand...

I was running the Axe in 4CM with my amp (set clean). My loop is set for -10db, so maybe that is the problem?

I do get drive when running direct with the delay after an amp.
 
rodzimguitar68 said:
Yes, quite frequently, in fact. I like the "fizzle" and musical dissonance from the artifacts.

It's sort of like unison bends that are intentionally beating against each other.......but every time you change notes and it's beautiful.

sniff....sniff....I'm getting all choked up, just thinking about it.
Click to expand...

Okay, I've increased the range of the Drive parameter so you can get distortion when running the Delay at "instrument level".
 
I dragged out my Strymon to compare and I don't hear any appreciable difference. I'm guessing our tape algorithms are very similar. I had to increase the modulation and drive quite a bit and turn the high cut way down to get the same effect. That's one pretty worn tape echo they based their model on ;)
 
m3kk2.jpg
 
FractalAudio said:
I dragged out my Strymon to compare and I don't hear any appreciable difference. I'm guessing our tape algorithms are very similar. I had to increase the modulation and drive quite a bit and turn the high cut way down to get the same effect. That's one pretty worn tape echo they based their model on ;)
Click to expand...

lol...well, it's "vintage" gear, right? :)

I remember my guitar teacher around 1985 or so dragging out his prized Echoplex to show me. It was like casting pearls before swine. I took a play through it and said I'd rather use my Boss digital delay because the repeats on his weren't "clean". SMH...
 
I know this is not a wish list type thing but I so wish I could use the mono tape delay in a dual configuration. I almost only use my delay blk in a dual config panned center


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FractalAudio said:
It should. The Drive is designed for "line level". If you are running the delay before the amp block (which you shouldn't) you won't get any distortion.
Click to expand...

I think back in the days many people used their tape delays like the Echoplex before the amp. Maybe it was the only way because most amps didn't have fx loops then? Not sure when the firsts amps came out with fx loops though.
 
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