Interest in the Hall and Collins Signature Echo pedal

[mickey228]

Hi Charlie, I'm in New Zealand, a long way from UK. I'm a fan of the Shadows and have read a lot about the echo units they have used. I have a Yamaha Magic Stomp which is good but not good enough to give me the vintage Shadows sound. I'm very interested in purchasing the Hall and Collins Signature Echo pedal but have recently read about the problem of freezing of the display screen. I will follow this with interest before proceeding with my purchase which I am keen to do. Are you still producing this pedal and will you make it USB compatible? Thanks, Michael

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Michael,
Thanks for your interest in the Hall & Collins Signature Echo. The unit is still in production but there are no plans to add a USB interface.
Regards,
Charlie

[mickey228]

Hi Charlie,

I'm in touch with Derek your General Manager on my order for the HCSP unit.

Thanks,
Michael

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Michael,
OK, very good!
Regards,
Charlie

[mickey228]

Hi Charlie,

My order placement for the HCSE unit is pending resolution of the screen freeze problem that you've had a lot of communications on. I thought I'd be cautious so as to avoid possibly getting a unit with the problem as I'm on the other side of the World. Are you getting any closer to resolving the problem? I'm very keen on purchasing a new HCSE unit.

Thanks & regards,
Michael

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Michael,
You may have read in another thread about the owner who first reported the problem apparently solving it by changing to a different guitar cable. I am interested to follow this theory and see where it leads to. I will report any findings when they happen.
Stephen the technical person at the factory has devised some code that resets the unit every time the up or down footswitch is pressed, thereby clearing any fault that exists at the time (the fault does not show up until a footswitch is pressed so the added code would mean that the fault would never be seen if present). The only problem we have is reassembling the whole code as we do not yet know the memory locations of the individual patches. We hope to sort this out by examining John's computer in Australia when that can be arranged.
Regards,
Charlie

[pitts]

Hi Michael,
I have a H&C echo unit.
If you want to try one out Im in Rotorua..
If your in the area..
Cheers
Ray

[mickey228]

Thanks Charlie,

Yes, I read about the guitar cable solution.

I'm confident you will resolve the source of this problem soon. I will follow your progress in future threads.

I'm not in any hurry as the HCSP unit is for personal enjoyment and not for gigs or playing before a public audience.

Regards,
Michael

[mickey228]

Hi Ray,

Thanks for your offer. I'm in Wellington and seldom travel to Rotorua.

How long have you owned your HCSE unit and what's your view of it?

Regards,
Michael

[mickey228]

Hi Charlie,

I've bought your HCSE unit and it arrived yesterday. It delivers on the vintage echo sound I've been looking for. It's an amazing unit. Congratulations on your development and thanks so much!

Regards,
Michael in New Zealand

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Michael,
Thanks for your enthusiastic review! I hope you have many years of enjoyment with it!
Regards,
Charlie

[mickey228]

Hi Charlies,
It really is "built like a tank" so it will probably outlast me. I had better find a family successor for this unit. I'm pleased to say there are no signs of the screen problem with my unit.
Regards,
Michael

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Michael,
I visited Keith recently. We found that I was able to replicate the black screen problem by rubbing my hand on his carpet back and forth a few times and then touching his guitar bridge when a static crack noise was always heard. Most of the times I did this it triggered the fault. The black squares only showed after doing that and not until changing to a different patch. The surprising thing to me was that the fault could be replicated no matter which cable was used from the guitar. Interestingly, Keith is using a 20 foot cable from the H & C unit to his amp. When we tried a 10 foot cable instead, the fault never showed up.
Regards,
Charlie

[glyderslead]

Hello Charlie,
This certainly seems to be a new phenomenon for guitarist, where we are dealing with small electrical signals. Glad you discovered the effect of static electricity in this instance though and wonder if certain clothing that is known to cause static should best be avoided too. I guess that means that if a wireless system is used from guitar to a H&CSE there should be no chance of a problem caused by static whatsoever.

The fact that a shorter cable did not cause a fault is interesting, it goes against what you might think would happen. Still, I don’t think we know all there is to know about electricity in its various forms yet and future discoveries will throw a bright light on these events.

Cheers

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Mick,
I hadn't thought about using a wireless system to interface between the guitar and H & C. It should help to eliminate the problem.
I think the shorter cable allowed the static a better path to discharge to earth.
Regards,
Charlie

[mickey228]

Hi Charlie,

It's a relief you found the cause of the screen problem Keith encountered. Derek said you couldn't replicate the problem but apparently you have. Excellent investigative work! This will give purchasers of the HCSE unit that were produced after the one Keith got piece-of-mind.
Thanks again,
Regards,

[mickey228]

Hi Charlie,

I was wondering if the intense tone and sustain of "Atlantis" could be reproduced by some settings on the HCSE unit or was it produced by the guitar and / or amp Hank used in the original recording?

Thanks,
Michael

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Michael,
It is generally agreed that Atlantis has a lot of compression and even Hank himself mentioned it to me. I don't think what you are mentioning has so much to do with the echo.
Regards,
Charlie

[shawbridge]

Hi
For me, Atlantis always sounded as though it was on the edge of the clean to dirty sound, as is known with Amp settings.
Pete.

[mickey228]

Thanks Charlie and Pete. It's a very distinctive sound. It will be worth experimenting. Any other contributors?
Regards,
Michael

[bazmusicman]

You have to turn the Bass and Treble fully up to get that 'nasal type' sound. And back the echo off a bit in the wet and dry mix.

[mickey228]

Thanks Baz,

I'll try this.

Regards,
Michael

[mickey228]

Hi Charlie,

It's been just over a year now since I bought the HCSE pedal and I'm please to say I'm very happy with it. I started playing The Shadows tunes through it but then experimented with playing Pink Floyd / David Gilmour tunes and others and it's brilliant. With different guitars the echo combinations are endless.

Thanks,
Michael

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Michael,
Great, I am very pleased to hear that you have discovered the wider range of sounds that the H & C can produce.
Regards,
Charlie