A Timeless Classic Reborn

Experience the dreamy sound of a classic ‘60s tape echo complete with the harmonic richness of the accompanying tube preamp.

Enjoy organic and ethereal modulation produced by countless subtle mechanical imperfections, and easily dial in anything from warm slapback to expansive echo feedback beds with a strikingly gorgeous stereo image.

With beautifully-tuned low frequency response, lush tape saturation and sublime echo decay, EC-1 provides all the best of what a tube driven tape echo can deliver.
Strymon EC-1 on top of an amp against a dark wood wall.    

Tape, Tubes, and the Best of the Best


Development of EC-1 started with the groundbreaking single moving head algorithm originally developed for our El Capistan pedal, which is renowned for its lifelike reproduction of vintage tape echo. 
EC-1 with an Echoplex in the background.    

From there, we were fortunate to acquire what turned out to be a very special Echoplex EP-2, as the unit was in amazingly good condition and had been worked on by storied technician Cesar Diaz. We discovered that several purposeful and skillfully-implemented modifications had been made to the unit, including tweaks to the tube preamp for a warmer sound closer in frequency response to an EP-3. The modifications seemed aimed at bringing the best aspects of the various vintage Echoplex models into a single unit, and the inspiring result significantly informed development of EC-1, imbuing it with a special character that is immediately nostalgic.
Full-Featured Compact Stereo Tape Echo


EC-1 offers impressive power and flexibility in a small and elegant form factor.

Selectable tube-modeled preamp voices. Artifact-free tap tempo. Discrete stereo operation for independent processing of the left and right stereo inputs. Straightforward controls and expression pedal capability. High-impedance, ultra-low noise discrete Class A JFET stereo input preamp for exceptional touch sensitivity, dynamics and feel. MIDI control of tempo, patch save/recall and more. Premium components, rugged construction and a USB jack for performing firmware updates or controlling the pedal from a computer.
Echoplex on at an angle on top of an Echoplex.    

Input Signal Enhancer.
Featuring meticulous tube modeling techniques, EC-1 offers a choice of two authentically reproduced preamp circuits that lend a subtle vintage character to your input signal.

One is based on the classic EP-2 tube preamp and features an enhanced high-end shelf perfect for brightening up darker humbuckers. The other preamp option (the default setting) produces a warm, balanced response based on the modded preamp circuit in the EP-2 unit that we studied during the development of EC-1.

This option adds a pleasing sense of heft, especially to single-coils. Both preamp choices offer an optional boost of up to +6dB, or the preamp can be bypassed for an unprocessed dry signal if desired.

Features
- MIDI
- True/Buffered Bypass
- JFET Input
- Stereo
- ARM Processor
- Tap Tempo

Limitless Possibilities.
EC-1 features full MIDI implementation and 300 presets, allowing you to control it remotely by sending MIDI commands from your controller or DAW via the EXP/MIDI jack or USB-C connection.

Remotely bypass or engage the pedal, automate Speed or other knob adjustments in your DAW or recall unique presets for each song on your setlist — the possibilities with MIDI are limitless.

Controls & Routing
Use the interactive dots (+) to learn more about EC-1’s knobs, switches, and inputs/outputs.

TIME
Controls the delay time (the virtual equivalent of sliding the record head closer to or farther away from the playback head), from 50 ms to 1 second.

All the intricacies of a sliding record head tape echo are faithfully reproduced so that adjusting the control while repeats are happening can produce interesting, authentic audio effects.

MIX
Controls the balance of dry and wet signals from 100% dry at minimum to 100% wet at maximum.

50/50 mix is at the 3 o’clock position when REC LEVEL is set to low.

TAPE AGE
Controls the bandwidth of the tape, just as it would change over time in a physical tape delay machine.

As regular tapes wear out, their bandwidth becomes limited The TAPE AGE control recreates this wear effect. Set to minimum for a fresh, full-bandwidth tape As the knob is turned clockwise, higher frequencies are reduced.

MECHANICS
Controls the amount of mechanically-related speed fluctuations and media irregularities, including friction, creases, splices, and contaminants. Set to minimum for a fresh, clean recording medium. Set to maximum for a recording medium that is in need of service. The left half of the knob increases low-speed fluctuations, while the right half settings bring in high-speed irregularities.

REPEATS
Varies the number of delay repeats from one to runaway, saturated oscillation. Set to 3 o’clock for sustained, infinite repeats without runaway.

FOOTSWITCH
Engages and disengages the effect. The RED LED on at the top of the pedal indicates that the effect is engaged.

Also used to enter/exit Tap Mode, and Save Mode.

REC LEVEL
The 3-way toggle switch selects the gain of the signal fed into the virtual “record head,” allowing you to optionally push the echo machine harder for more saturation on the repeats:

low: (left position) unity gain with optimized bias for the cleanest repeats.

med: (middle position) 6dB input signal boost, with increased bias for slightly saturated repeats.

high: (right position) 12dB input signal boost with further increased bias for heavily saturated repeats.

IN
(TRS jack) High impedance, ultra low-noise, discrete Class A JFET stereo preamp.

OUT
(TRS jack) Low impedance stereo output.

EXP/MIDI
Multifunction communication jack for external control of EC-1’s features and functions, including MIDI, expression pedal, and more. See manual for full details.

9V DC
Only use an adapter with the following rating:
- 2.1mm, center-negative
- 9V DC
- 250mA minimum (Adapter sold separately.)

USB
Computer connection for MIDI I/O and firmware updates.

I/O MODE SELECTOR
mono: use with a mono input signal, such as a guitar. Output is mono. Defaults to True Bypass.
mono -> stereo: use with a mono input signal. Output is stereo. Bypass mode is Buffered Bypass.
stereo: use with a stereo input signal. When used with stereo cable connections to the OUT jack, output is true stereo. Bypass mode is Buffered Bypass.
Stereo I/O requires a TRS adapter or cable.