Enter to Win a $8000 PA System!

Catalinbread Belle Epoch Tape Echo Pedal - Silver

Digital Tape Delay Pedal for Electric Guitar with 80-800ms Delay Range - Silver
$209.99

Earn $11 back in Bonus Bucks OR pay $9/month with 24 month financing*

Find it used on Sweetwater's Gear Exchange
listed for
$150.00
In Stock!

Only 5 left in stock! Order Soon!
Add to Cart
Notify me about deals

Ask An Expert

Our expertly trained Sales Engineers are ready to help!

What is a Sales Engineer?

Most Popular Accessories & Related Items

Catalinbread Belle Epoch Tape Echo Pedal - Silver
In Stock!
$209.99
Add to Cart
Add to list
Back to navigation

This article was Written By

Our Product Research Team

Get to know them!

A Digital Tape Delay Faithful to the Original EP-3

Catalinbread has done loads of research in producing the Belle Epoch Tape Echo Pedal, and the result is a user-friendly, digital incarnation that perfectly honors the well-loved Maestro Echoplex EP-3 tape delay. The Belle Epoch delivers all the fantastic analog variation and dynamic power of the original; it even has the discrete preamp and self-oscillation that helped make the EP-3 a legend. You get the Mix control to replicate the EP-3's Echo Volume control (100% dry to 100% wet signal), Tone/Record Level to control the punch of the first repeat, Sway/Mod to change the amount of randomized "wow" and flutter effects that are present, an Echo Sustain (control over how much of the delay signal is fed back for multiple repeats), and an Echo Delay knob that lets you choose a delay time within the original EP-3's range, from 80ms up to 800ms. Plus, there's an internal trim pot, so you can set the gain of the Belle Epoch's great-sounding preamp.

Gear that makes you want to play

The self-avowed gearheads at Catalinbread focus on making musical devices that they want to use themselves — "gear that gets us excited and inspires us to play." The result of that authentic focus and unwavering integrity is the type of innovation that isn't market-driven; Catalinbread creates its own market for products players love, whether overdrive, delay/reverb, fuzz/distortion, or tremolo/modulation pedals (many of which are available at Sweetwater). The Belle Epoch Tape Echo Pedal is a great example of Catalinbread's exciting, inspiring innovation.

Catalinbread Belle Epoch Tape Echo Pedal Features:

  • Faithful digital re-creation of the original EP-3 Tape delay units
  • Discrete preamp improves your guitar tone from low-volume cleans to saturated fuzz
  • Mix knob rotates from 100% dry to 100% wet signal for super-creative, precise control
  • Tone/Record Level controls the punch of the initial repeat
  • Sway/Mod brings back the random "wow"/flutter effects for realistic tape sound
  • Echo Sustain lets you decide how much delay signal to feed back into the delay line
  • Echo Delay controls delay time; set it anywhere within the EP-3's original 80–800ms range
  • Self-oscillation (Echo Sustain set high) makes it an instrument in itself
  • Internal trim pot sets preamp gain
  • Made in the USA

Warranty Info

Sweetwater's FREE 2-Year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty

Extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

  • Save money with FREE parts and labor
  • Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time
  • Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department
Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage

Free 2-year Warranty

Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ Warranty gives you extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage
Tools Icon

Save money with free parts & labor!

Fast Icon

Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time.

Award Icon

Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department.

Back to navigation

Tech Specs

  • Pedal Type: Tape Echo
  • Analog/Digital: Digital
  • Max Delay Time: 800ms
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4"
  • Outputs: 1 x 1/4"
  • True Bypass: Yes, Switchable to Trails Mode
  • Power Source: 9-18V DC power supply (sold separately)
  • Power Usage: 60mA
  • Height: 1.96"
  • Width: 2.36"
  • Depth: 4.33"
  • Weight: 0.40 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: NEW LOOK BELLE EPOCH®

What Makes Our Sales Engineers Great?

Sweetwater Sales Engineers are a world-class team of experts dedicated to you. Hand selected from across the globe, each brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of music gear to provide you with unparalleled service completely free of charge. Friendly relationships, real trust, and the right gear are only a call or a click away!

Back to navigation

Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 5/5

Organic sounds

This is a great pedal. I want to say delay pedal but it's so much more than that. It's warm organic and lush sounding on its own and blends in nicely with the other pedals on my board. It is designed to be ran in front of the amp and sounds better that way rather than running through the effects loop at least to my ears anyways. I run the bell epoch in front if the amp and a carbon copy in the effects loop. Running the bell epoch and carbon copy together with a fuzz in front gave me a convincing eric johnson type tone. The two delays working together with the fuzz gets a smooth somewhat dark tone that smooths out the pick attack enough to get the "violin" tone thing going. I could see how this pedal could be frustrating but after taking it out of the loop and putting it in front if the amp it became very usable.
Rated 5/5

Fantastic sounding pedal but takes some time to learn

As mentioned in a previous review, this one can easily getaway from you if you set it up wrong but once you learn how to use it you can get some amazing sounds.

If you keep the rec level low, turn the sway off and the mix up, it makes a fantastic warm but natural sounding delay. If you turn the rec level and sway up and the mix down, it starts to sound more like a used Echoplex. As a rule of thumb, I generally keep sway and rec level below 2 oclock
Rated 4.5/5

Patience is its own reward.

As others have written on various websites, the Belle Epoch has a learning curve and is at first untamable. It misbehaves like a wild horse. But, with some patience and careful listening, this pedal oozes a certain 'je ne sais quoi' of analog secret sauce. Small moves, Ellie. Dial it in gently. Yeah, probably half of the dials' range are unusable, so don't just go randomly tweaking. I got the Belle Epoch at the same time as the Strymon El Capistan, not expecting to like the Belle Epoch, and indeed I didn't at first: insta-sell. But over the course of just a couple of days, the Catalinbread started whispering secrets to me. Still not hearing anything super special from the Strymon, by comparison, but it does its job well. Advice: if you buy it used, as I did, open up the unit and turn the gain to halfway or below: unity gain or lower. And, turn the True Bypass on so that you get to choose when you want the preamp in your signal path. This is the first step to getting a saddle on the Belle Epoch. Dial in just a tiny bit of mod and the mix, both below 10 o-clock. This is where the sweet spot is. All of a sudden there's vintage syrup on your tone. Kudos to Nick (R.I.P.) and Howard on this one!
Rated 3.5/5

Good but not Great

This one is fine, it's fun to use. I love Catalinbread, but this thing gets uncontrollable way too quickly. I've used actual EP-3 units and you can tweak them a lot more before they start to "get away" from you. Even with the "Echo Delay" knob barely past 12:00, it starts to run away to that "uncontrollable" territory. It's fine if you don't go passed that, but in my opinion, it doesn't really sound so much like an EP-3. I will say, the real star of Catalinbread's Epoch Series is the Epoch Boost. That's a heck of a good boost/preamp and makes pretty much anything sound great.
Music background: Couple decades of playing, building and repairing guitars for a living
Close Close $8,000 PA System Giveaway -- input your email address below to enter or click here to learn more.

See giveaway details & rules or check out our past winners!

Success!

Your email, test has been entered to win this giveaway. Good Luck!