Tape delay: Mimicking the el Capistan "Tape Bias"

D

dk_ace

Experienced
I spent a lot of time last night trying to get a tape delay sound I liked out of the Axe-FX. I did get quite close to what I wanted, but I'm still missing some elements.

One of the things I wasn't happy with was the way it was oscillating. I like self oscillation that gets going and stays swirling in the background without getting high pitched and taking over the signal. My Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai does this pretty well, and the el Capistan does it perfectly from all the demos I've seen.

What I'm trying to get is response similar to the EC with it's Tape Bias maxed. You can hear that on the first of their youtube video series demoing the EC. Last night I was trying to force this to happen in a variety of ways, but all to no avail. I tried very careful feedback settings, compressors, drives, etc but none of it worked.

Anyone have an idea how to get the delay oscillation to work like that?

Thanks,
D
 
Well I've spent quite a bit of time with this endeavor over the weekend. I've gotten some great, trippy delays, but this one aspect has still got me scratching my head. If anyone has any idea how to manipulate the oscillation of the delays, I'm interested. In my pedal experience, delay pedals that self-oscillate do so with their own unique character. I'm sure there is a way to affect what the Axe-FX's oscillations sound like, but I've yet to figure it out.

Just getting them to act like the EC with the bias maxed would make me happy, but I would also like to be able to control how they sound with regards to tonality as well if it's possible. Some delays have very warm oscillations, while most others I've used get very harsh and piercing (as it is now, the Axe-FX oscillation is leaning towards this category in my attempts).

D
 
have you tried sending the delayed signal through a Tape Dist with low Hi Cut and/or Treble?

If you could post what you got so far, I'd like to give it a try.
 
Sure. If I have time to grab my computer, I'll try to post it later this evening. If I can't grab my laptop, it will be Thursday before I can get it posted.

I've tried the tape dist block, but that didn't really do anything besides make the repeats dirtier. I thought I could use the compressor to do it, but I couldn't get that to work. I haven't given up, but I'm running out of ideas.

D
 
Did any progress ever get made with this? I love the way the bias works on the El Capistan, and if there were a way of replicating that with the Axe, I would be thrilled to hear how.
 
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