Strymon El Capistan

[Graham Pearson]

Anybody here messed with a Strymon El Capistan Echo Pedal?

I'm getting tired of lugging around and maintaining my Roland RE201. I hear all good things about the El Capistan. Is there any down side?

Cheers,
Graham

 

[Graham Pearson]

The purists will tell you there's nothing can simulate a real tape echo or a real Leslie tone cabinet. That's true in a studio setting, but when you're out gigging, you don't want to be hauling around delicate or finicky equipment and I spend a lot more time gigging than I do in the studio.

I ordered a Strymon El Capistan dTape echo unit a couple of weeks ago. If you Google this unit, it comes highly recommended as one of the best tape echo simulators out there. Mine is version 2. I'm not sure how it differs to version 1 except the 2 footswitches are silent - they don't "click" when you step on them.

Not only does the unit simulate all of the idiosyncrasies of a tape echo unit, it also provides a decent reverb. These are the 2 effects I use most often out on a gig.

I am totally satisfied with this effect. It's a tone tweaker's dream. In a live setting, there's no way I could tell the difference between it and my Roland RE201. They're not cheap new - mine cost $300 plus shipping.

Let me know if I can answer any questions about the El Capistan. By the way, I'm in no way affiliated with Strymon.

http://www.strymon.net/products/elcapistan/

 

[plugnplay]

Just about anything Strymon comes out with seems to be golden. And as the above post mentions, when playing/gigging out the little bit of difference between the real deal and the Strymon are going to hard to hear. Once a guitar mixes in with a band setting it is almost like an illusion. Guitar may need to almost sound kind of not so hot to sit well in a mix versus playing just the guitar alone. Same with mixing when recording. Many isolated guitar tracks on great albums sound kind of janky alone, but in the mix it just sounds awesome.