Say it out loud , I`m a geek and...

[hovard@online.no]

Hi , folks!   I have a gear question (sorry Kim ,I need this).

A year back I bought a secondhand Roland SRE 555 Chorus Echo. A friend of
mine had just bought one and his was amazing; no noise ,no tape flutter and
it looked mint. Needless to say, mine sucks. The reverb is dead , noise is
plentiful and the echo is destroyed by a stuttering/fluttering which makes
it useless. And I mean destroyed , not like a minor problem "like one must
expect" from an analog tape-delay. No , something is really wrong       
and its
killing me!     "why wait a year before fixing it?" I hear you muttering,
beneath the tape hiss. Coz I have been in a state of emotional and physical
apathy. Picture this: young boy moves to the big city , and after settling
in comes across a genuine tape-echo , the machine of his dreams!! After
parting with his hard-borrowed money he takes his Holy Grail home by subway
and foot. It was a dark and rainy night , my friends. Moist and cold , his
trembling hands struggled to keep the Coveted One out of harms way. Aah , I
was so naive! I did not remember the One and True Rule of Tape Echos: They
have a mind of their own , they have temperament , If you mess with them
they WILL retaliate! As I stumbled home , this strange feeling come in over
me. Like a dark force had taken control , saying ; "Now you are mine...all
mine".  I heard laughter echoing across the hills as I ran the through the
door. When I plugged it in and waited for Terje Rypdal to materialize I
tought; "We`ll see who has the last laugh,he he!" 
It was if the 555 looked up at me and said "who needs digital , anyway?" I
laughed out loud. Then I heard the gurgled sounds that came out , and I
haven`t laughed since. 
I fell into an abyss , all energy and willpower sucked out. I went school ,
practised , played in bands , made polite conversation , but inside I was
hollow. An empty shell.
I spent the following months slowly returning to life , rebuilding my
personality , waiting for the day that I could walk on stage and play
through my Roland SRE 555.

Then I found you.

The last piece fell into place. The color returned to my cheeks , strenght
was restored , hope revived. I was suddenly able to confront the problems,
ask the questions that needed to be asked. Like , "how does one clean the
tape-heads?" . Or rather, "Where are the tape-heads?". But most of all ,
"what the heck is a tape head?" . I found myself pondering over those
eternal questions ; "Can I fix the reverb?" , "Is there a site on the net
devoted to Tape-delays?" , "Where can I get new tapes?" And of course ,
this is where you fellow loopers come in. Now you have a unique chance to
help someone , do something that matters, make a change in the world!

My destiny rests in your mailbox , may it not go unnoticed. 

Yours truly, Thomas W