Hello, Echoplex, Endings, Bass Solo, Tags?

["Mark Smart" <mwsmart@insightbb.com>]

HELLO:

After a long absence (during which I had total hip replacement 
surgery and played Stick a lot), I rejoined. 

I posted on here a while back about the pedalboard I built for
jazz looping with the guitar:

http://www.marksmart.net/gearhack/jazzpedalboard/jazzpedalboard.html

Lately I've been practicing with this again and figuring new 
things out. Even did a couple of gigs with it. 

ECHOPLEX:

And this week I broke down and ordered a Gibson
Echoplex, which I hope to incorporate into this setup. I 
finally got tired of not having any easy way to record more
than one loop for a tune, and Musician's Friend had a blem
special I couldn't pass up.

Once the Echoplex arrives I will probably have more questions
about it. But one thing I can ask now is: has anyone built
a homemade pedalboard rig for the Echoplex like this..

http://www.pedalboards.com/images/3BRDSWCOVER.jpg

...? If so, what did you use to mount the rack unit?

JAZZ ENDINGS:

I did finally figure out a way to end a song with the existing
rig with the two RC-20's. It requires some foot acrobatics but
sounds pretty good:

1. I took the knob and rubber knob cover off my MXR Phase 90
   and put it on the Phrase Select knob of the left-hand RC-20,
   the one that stores the Peter Erskine drum loops. Now I
   can select the drum beat with my left foot while playing.

2. In the one-shot slot (#11) I recorded a sample from the
   Erskine disk of Peter hitting just a bass drum and crash 
   cymbal.

3. After I have recorded the accompaniment loop (bass+drums or
   chords+bass+drums) into the right-hand RC-20 and shut off
   the left hand RC-20 (this is done by simultaneously hitting
   the Stop pedal on the left RC-20 and the Record/Play pedal
   on the right-hand RC-20...this is why they're so close together
   on the board), I move the Phrase Select knob on the left-hand
   RC-20 to position #11 with my foot while playing the head or
   a solo on the guitar. Now this one will play the crash when
   I hit its Play pedal.

4. At the spot where I want to end the tune I shut off the
   right RC-20 and play either a "Take The A Train" break, a
   "Count Basie" break, or some other common ending break with
   no bass or drums behind it.

5. Finally I hit the last chord while hitting the Play pedal
   on the left RC-20 to produce the crash.

Kind of convoluted, but hey, it works. 

BASS SOLO:

Another recently discovered trick...simulating a bass solo
in the middle of a tune. Hit the Play pedal on the left RC-20
and the stop pedal on the right RC-20 at the same time (this 
requires two feet). Move the switch on the guitar to the 
"Bass-Only" position (so all six strings are going through
the octave divider). Play a bass solo over just drums. At 
the end of a chorus, hit the two middle pedals again to stop
the pure drums and re-start the main accompaniment loop.

I hope to still use some variation of these tricks with the
Echoplex as well. I'm thinking about using the right-hand 
RC-20 for storing more pre-recorded drums loops once I have 
the Echoplex. Maybe store hi-hat loops at the same tempo as 
the ones in the left RC-20, so they can be set to the same 
slot and ping-ponged back and forth to produce the illusion 
of a drummer changing from swinging to two-beat.

I'm pretty excited about the Echoplex. I've borrowed one from
my friend Tim McKeage several times and already know how cool
they are. 

TAGS?:

Maybe there is a way to tag an ending with it. Does anyone know
how to do that...to tell it "now repeat the last 1/8 of that loop
several times"?

Thanks!

Mark Smart          
http://www.marksmart.net/