Description
The Catalinbread Belle Epoch Plus is a modern evolution of their flagship tape echo simulator, and it's made for players chasing the vibe and character of a vintage Echoplex without the maintenance headaches. This version keeps the soul of the original Belle Epoch but expands it with a tap tempo function, improved bypass design, and more headroom, making it a great fit for modern rigs. If you're building ambient textures, vintage slapback, or want that Echoplex preamp magic always on, this is built to deliver.
At its core, you've got five key controls: Sustain for feedback, Mix for wet/dry balance, Tape FX for wow and flutter, Rec Level for how hard your signal hits the delay circuit (with tape saturation), and Echo Delay for setting your delay time. New to the Plus version is the ability to hold the footswitch to enter tap tempo mode, or hold again to go into tap bypass mode. You also get three selectable tape "age" modes, letting you pick from pristine to worn-out, adding more organic unpredictability as you go.
It takes a standard 9VDC center-negative supply (200mA minimum) and integrates well on boards thanks to its improved impedance handling and noise gate. The preamp itself has a higher dynamic range now, staying true to the EP-3's feel but with a bit more hi-fi clarity. We've seen this work great on both guitar and synth boards. If you love tape delay but need it in a pedalboard-friendly, gig-ready form, this one nails it.
Specifications:
- Power Requirements: 9VDC (center-negative), 200mA minimum
- Delay Time: Up to ~900ms
- Controls: Sustain, Mix, Tape FX (wow/flutter), Rec Level (tape saturation), Echo Delay
- Features: Tap tempo (hold footswitch), tap bypass mode, three virtual tape age modes
- Bypass: Improved buffered bypass with optional noise gate
Sku: BELLEEPOCHPLUS
