Roland re301 space echo no echo

[pontiacpete]

Hi everyone,,
I have one of these here where everything seems to be working i.e the reverb, chorus and basic amp and even the pinch roller and motor appear to be work moving at a steady speed. But there's no echo.
Checked the switch, that's not the problem, jumped it.
When rotating the mode switch mode 1, 4 and 6 hum louder than others but no echo on any.
Should I be looking at the jfets Q22 , 23? These are the first after the echo switch, marked "6" with a circle around the 6.
Or the ones on the previous page, like Q18...?
I'm not really sure which way to go with this,
Is the problem at the heads?
Or in the circuit?
I would really like to learn more about these things. I get asked to repair them so often.

Thanks in advance!!

[pontiacpete]

tape was in backwards. Ouch. What a dumb a$$.
It still doesn't sound 100% but getting closer

[olddawg]

tape was in backwards. Ouch. What a dumb a$$.
It still doesn't sound 100% but getting closer

I owned/used a 201 back in the day. Couldn't wait to get rid of it when affordable rack delays became available. Anyway, make sure the head is TRUELY clean and not trenches. Don't trust nos tapes and if you are reloading your own tapes, be aware that they don't like hi bias tape. Use "normal" tape. Demagnetize the whole tape path. Check the guides for trenching.

[rockinrob]

I haven't worked on a 201, but I often work on Echoplexes.

Demagging is HUGE - this is sometimes enough to take an echoplex from having barely any echo to sounding nice.

In my experience the cheap radio shack style demags work ok, but it takes a Han-d-mag to really do it. I was amazed at the difference when I finally got one

[Leo_Gnardo]

Demagging is HUGE - this is sometimes enough to take an echoplex from having barely any echo to sounding nice.In my experience the cheap radio shack style demags work ok, but it takes a Han-d-mag to really do it. I was amazed at the difference when I finally got one

True 'nuff, the Annis Han-d-mag is indispensable. Plus you can use it to bulk erase cassette tapes or crack open walnuts. If your tools become magnetized and it's a pain in the neck, Han-d-mag to the rescue. So good in fact, I have two! Ready for stereo.

[pontiacpete]

Have a hand-d-mag here too. Try demaging this one a couple of times. Must be something more.

Ended up giving up on this unit. When will i learn to say to just say no?

[rockinrob]

My first echoplex had a solder bridge from someone monkeying around with it!


Same symptoms, no echo. I was so happy when I figured that one out!