Members Ringo_Mop Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 I bought a used Danelectro Reel Echo. It sounds great. Everything seems to work, the SOS etc. But I noticed that the long horizontal slider that is supposed to control the speed does not seem to do anything. And I don't seem to have control over the temp light flash. Since this is a digital pedal, do I need to change the mode or something? Is there a tap tempo function? I don't have the manual and Danelectro's website and (lack of) support is useless. Thanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ringo_Mop Posted April 6, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 Nobody? Come on folks I need to know! I don't usually top my threads but this forum moves fast! I don't want it to get buried. I help out when I am able to answer someone's q, and this is a simple one. So if you have a Reel Echo please lemme know. A pdf manual would be even better. BTW - regardless of whether mine works properly or not, this thing sounds really really good! If it's stuck on one speed, well at least it's about the speed where I'd set it anyway. I have a Univox tape echo too, it was a cheap tape echo back in the old days but it's great for making anything sound vintage. But when I run it in parallel with the Reel Echo, suddenly my Univox sounds like a tube Echoplex! Then throw my equally cheap Danelectro 9100 tube reverb into the line and I am instantly transported to somebody's garage in 1966. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheAtomicJeff Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 There is no tap tempo for that unit and the horizontal slider is supposed to work; no special mode required. Sounds like you have a broken/defective one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thebloodbrother Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 your sig confuses me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheAtomicJeff Posted April 6, 2008 Members Share Posted April 6, 2008 your sig confuses me. agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Yeah, as TAJ said, the slider SHOULD work - that's what is used to set the delay time. Works great on mine. There is no PDF manual for the Reel Echo that I am aware of. I can see if I still have whatever came with mine in storage, but it might take a while... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ringo_Mop Posted April 12, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 12, 2008 Thank you for the replies. I ended up taking the cover off of mine to inspect it. I did not see anything that looked bad, but I cleaned it all up with electrical contact cleaner, especially the slide mechanism, and checked the three wire connector that leads from the slider mechanism to the board. If there was anything that would cause a problem like this when all looked good then it would be that connector. I unplugged it and checked that the contacts were straight and then plugged it back in and made sure that it was firmly in place. Then I closed it back up, said a prayer to the pedals gods, and plugged it in. Voila! It works perfectly. I guess that the plug wasn't fully plugged in. Not bad for $60 (although it was supposed to work perfectly when I got it). The lesson to be learned here is to always check the simple things before you sell your pedals cheap because they don't seem to work properly. The poor guy who sold me this one probably tried to get support from Danelectro and gave up. Which leads me to... ...those who were confused by my signature. It came about when I tried to get support for the pedal from Danelectro. All that I wanted to know was if there was anything special about the slider, and if there was a manual that I could download. But if you go to their website, Danelectro.com, there is no support page or link, no contact information, nada. I got pretty steamed about that and tracked down the information myself with no help from Dano. In fact they are not even called Danelectro, they are called Evets Corp. I admit that a few of their pedals are good and innovative, and besides the issue with my pedal it was well made when I looked under the hood. But that lack of support is unacceptable. So I put the information in my signature in case any frustrated customers needed it. Makes sense now? Thanks for the replies! Now I have to look into the two BOSS VT-1's that I got for $80, they look new but supposedly only emit a hum instead of audio. I haven't tried them out yet but that will be a nice score if I get them working right, or even better, if there is nothing at all wrong with them. It wouldn't be the first time that supposedly broken gear bought cheap works fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Voila! It works perfectly. I guess that the plug wasn't fully plugged in. Not bad for $60 (although it was supposed to work perfectly when I got it). I can't say with certainty that this is what happened in your case, but it's very possible the connector came loose in shipping - I've seen it happen before, even with factory fresh, "new" pedals / gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ringo_Mop Posted April 12, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 12, 2008 Voila! It works perfectly. I guess that the plug wasn't fully plugged in. Not bad for $60 (although it was supposed to work perfectly when I got it).I can't say with certainty that this is what happened in your case, but it's very possible the connector came loose in shipping - I've seen it happen before, even with factory fresh, "new" pedals / gear. I agree with you completely Phil, especially since the plug seemed secure when I first checked it. But I also cleaned the slider track and tightened the two little screws on the outside of the pedal that attach the slider track. Actually it may have been that last thing that ended up fixing it, because if those screws are not tight enough then perhaps the contacts would touch properly and then the slider wouldn't work. I am going to take it fully apart today (I only had it halfway apart last night) because I'd like to try to find out what I did to fix it, and if those screws do anything to change the height of the slider as far having proper contact or if the slider is a one piece mechanism with no adjustment (if it is then I'm back to suspecting the connector). I also want to be sure that it wasn't a questionable solder joint that I could not see but unknowingly pushed into a better position. I like to know that my pedals are going to work when I need them to! And if I figure it out then I might be able to help somebody else who has the same problem. It's a lot easier than contacting Dano! But again with due respect to Dano as far as the pedal itself, it seems to be well made on the insides. It's neat and everything is well supported. I just picked up a Spring King for $80, it's a nice pedal too. They are both quite cool but definitely on the extra large size. They're huge! I am not currently using a pedal board because I am not gigging, but if I start up again and get a board I would not use these on it because the two of them would take up half the space. They are fun otherwise, they sound good, look good with nice paint jobs, and seem to be well made in spite of my issue, which turned out to be minor. I knew that it had to be minor because it's just a slider and some solder joints, not much to go wrong there. BTW - Yeah I know that the pedal does not have a tap tempo. I phrased that wrong. I just meant that I could not make the flashing tempo light change because of the speed control not working, but it all works properly now and the light flashes faster or slower depending on where the speed slider is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheAtomicJeff Posted April 12, 2008 Members Share Posted April 12, 2008 For $60 you got a great delay. I think it has the best Nashville slapback delay I've heard from a pedal. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KjStrat62 Posted April 12, 2008 Members Share Posted April 12, 2008 I have one upstairs somewhere. Maybe under the couch. I need to find it and try it out again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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