Roland RE-200

The Roland RE-200 Echo Chamber was one of the earliest models of tape delay that Roland produced being released in 1973, being released with the Roland RE-100. Roland had previously been releasing tape delays under the name Ace Tone, these units included the Ace Tone EC-1 (Echo Chamber 1). The Roland RE-200 was released with had the addition of a spring reverb. This was the main difference between the RE-100 and the RE-200. [Page 4, Roland RE-100 & RE-200 Operation Manual] The RE-200 was similar in styling to the later Roland tape delay units, house in a similar black wooden casing. The fromt panel had a mode selector dial with eleven different effect settings. For repeat sounds settings 1-4 were used and settings 5-11 were used for repeatand spring reverb effects. [Page 4, Roland RE-100 & RE-200 Operation Manual] There were controls for intensity which when turned clockwise would increase the number of echoes. The repeat rate control was used for adjusting the repeat times of the echoes. Controls were also available for the echo volume, this would decide how much effected signal would be heard along with the original signal. [Page 4, Roland RE-100 & RE-200 Operation Manual] There were two controls for the tone of the output signal, these were simple bass and treble controls. The difference that these early units had from later models was the standby switch. This switch controlled the tape movement. When the lever was pushed upwards the tape began moving to activate the echo sound. When the echo was not needed the switch was pushed downwards, the idea of the standby switch was to assure longer lives of the tape heads and the tape itself. [Page 4, Roland RE-100 & RE-200 Operation Manual] The Roland RE-100 and Roland RE-200 were soon replaced by the Roland RE-101 and the Roland RE-201. [Roland RE-201 Operation Manual]

Other Roland Tape Echo Units

*Roland RE-100
*Roland RE-200
*Roland RE-101
*Roland RE-201
*Roland RE-301
*Roland RE-501

References