This is perhaps the best rival to the Space Echo series. It features everything that can be found in the RE-201, but also “sound on sound” and more flexible routing of the delayed signal. The fidelity of my unit is comparable to a 201, perhaps a bit brighter sounding.
The tape transport on my unit is extremely stable, as a result the delay has very limited wow and flutter. I didn’t have to change the drive belt, it was still in good shape. The reverb uses two springs that span almost the whole width of the unit. The tone knob is really strong: at max treble, bass frequencies are completely cut out. You can shape the delay tone very aggressively if you want to.
– Each head has an on/off button for playback and feedback
– spring reverb and “swell reverb” setting
– sound on sound (plural and single pass)
– effect selector (reverb only, mix, delay only)
– unusual transport: two pinch rollers around the capstan
Owner’s Manual. Click to download.
Service Manual. Click to download.
Technical Info / Service Notes
My unit was working great when I purchased it, except for a burned light bulb for the VU meter (12v) and a loose output jack. Turns out the jack’s plastic casing was broken in three, disabling proper contact with the cable tip. A quick replacement solved the problem.
Also, when I opened the unit I found that some electrical wires were resting against one of the reverb springs (they are not encased in a tank, see below), hampering its movement. After I moved these out of the way the reverb sound improved.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Evans (Japan) |
| Date | Probably late 70s |
| List price | |
| Transport type | Free running tape loop, dual pinch rollers |
| Motor speed | Variable |
| Playback heads | 4 |
| Head selection | Each head can be turned on/off for playback (just one repeat) and feedback |
| Delay time | 100ms - 800ms (from owner's manual) |
| Inputs | Mic x 2, Instrument |
| Outputs | Output (mix), PA out (wet only) |
| Wet output only | |
| Pinch roller | Disengages from capstan when unit is off |
| Tone control | Bass/mid/treble switch at input stage and 1 tone knob for delay signal |
| Remote Control | 4 jacks: echo on/off, reverb on/off, sound on sound on/off, sound on sound plural/single |
| Operating Voltage | |
| Related models | Identical to the Multivox MX-312 sold in North America. Almost identical to the Evans SE-820. |
Gallery
seems to be identical to my SOLTON Cathedral echo model E-3000 from west germany.
same features, same front panel, same output & input.
This seems to be similar to the Evans SE-820 I’ve just bought but which has a number of problems.The pots PCB had become detached from the front panel and like you, the reverb springs has wires touching them, making for some horrible resonances. The sound-on-sound switch had disintegrated and the bulb unit has become detatched from it’s mountings.I’ve managed to fix all the problems except the bulb as I can’t find where it should go back to.It’s G shape mount has to screw holes and a sponge pad which I reckon must hold the VU in place but can’t see how. Any suggestions would be very welcome.
Brilliant! VU lit and secure now. Thanks for the help and a great resource you have here. (and I’m envious of all the gear!)
I have a mx312 and i’m missing the small pinch roller. This is the one under the plexiglass lid adjacent to the green felt spring-like tension tab (not one of the two big rubber pinch rollers). I am going to try and have Terry of terry’s rubber rollers try to manufacture one of these for me, as i’m getting warpy sounds of tape going over the tape heads.
Could someone please measure the diameter of theirs? Thanks!!!
i have a beautiful MX-312 that has power supply problems!! I can’t find any schematics for either machine! was wondering if anyone has the details of primary and secondary supplies OR would be kind enough to measure the currents used?
Desperate to bring it back to life!! And would be, of course, eternally grateful!
Thanks
hello, i have a evans se-780 and it´s finally working!!! i have some virgin tape for making the loop but i don´t know how long it should be. can anyone help me? thanks a lot (excuse my english…)
Hiya, does anyone know where or I can find a replacement or similar motor for my Evans super echo? Thanks
I found a multivox 312 but its missing the pinch rollers. What size pinch rollers do I need for the unit?
Thanks, I also removed the cables that were touching the springs and sound improved quite a lot.
Great! I’m happy the site was useful for you.
Weirdly, Multivox had two virtually identical models based on this design, the MX-312 and the MX-201. There’s some very minor differences in the area where the tape exits the tank but otherwise these machines are identical. Why two? I haven’t the foggiest, though I wonder if Roland sent them a C&D over the “201” name.
There’s some very nice (and unique) features on these units. In addition to button selection of any combination of four heads for the echoes you can also independently select which heads participate in feedback making for a mind-boggling number of combinations. The feedback buttons are spring loaded but you can push multiples down (much like the rhythm selectors on old drum machines) though the feedback can get out of control very fast. “Swell Reverb” allows reverb to affect feedback leading to more madness. There’s tone controls for both the inputs and the echoes. Finally there’s *two* types of sound on sound, a single iteration like the RE-301 and 501 and a mode where you keep adding on to the loops. There’s also a footswitch control to lock in the loop and prevent the signal getting too muddy. Did I mention the feedback and reverb (and the “swell” verb too!) also work in sound on sound? That’s something the Roland’s definitely don’t do!
The achilles heels of these Evans/Multivox/Solton units are the rubber belts, and the fact that they need a thicker tape stock due to increased pinch roller tension. Those exposed reverb springs also are a pain as the wires to the panel board run right over top of them.
My MX-201 has a fault where the dual op amp for the instrument input and the VU meter is acting up. I found an intermittent ground on the op amp and it worked great for a month and now the problem has returned. I’ll get to the bottom of it eventually, but the two mic inputs work fine (just no VU meter for the levels).
Great observations Rob, thanks for posting! The features of this unit are indeed numerous, it can pretty much do everything… If you don’t mind me asking, what do you use as replacement tape stock for your unit?
Funny enough I haven’t had to replace my tape yet, it’s been operating for 5 months almost daily with no signal or transport issues. MTE acknowledges the need to thicker lubricated tape stock so that’s probably going to be my source. Hopefully he can tell us what stock he’s using: http://www.mytapeecho.com/tape-loops/multivox-echo
As an aside, here’s a source for belts:
http://www.vintage-electronics.net/frx12-0.aspx
Thanks for the info Rob! Very useful for me, and for whoever stumbles upon this page as well I’m sure. People ask me about replacement belts for various units all the time, so having those specs is great.
Always glad to contribute!
A couple of other interesting observations about these echoes. The heads are evenly spaced apart so head 2 would give you an echo 2x as quick as head 4, etc. Also quite useful is the speed pot CV exactly doubles the motor speed from slowest to fastest. Both of these features make changing echo modes and tape speed quite musical because your rhythms and pitches wouldn’t sound off. It’s by and far the most instrument-like of any tape echo I’ve used. The reverb still seems a little weak on my unit but I think that has to do with the nature of the exposed springs (quite unlike the Accutronics tanks in the Rolands) and the isolation foam underneath the springs has gone rock hard. I’ll try some new foam when I get a chance.
…and I finally got to the bottom of my op amp issue — the 100uF coupling capacitor was flaky and also had a bad ground. Not unexpected in a 45 year old piece of gear.
Do you have any other info regarding the Evans Corporation? I have an EG-601E guitar amp which I bought second hand some years ago. It needs a few little bits and pieces to get it back up to speed, but I can’t seem to find much info about Evans on the net.
Keen for any info or leads.
Thanks
Ben