But in 2007, Boss (a division of Roland) starting offering the RE-20, a guitar pedal box implementing a digital recreation, thus keeping the Space Echo effectively available for many more years.Īrtists and groups incorporating the Space Echo sound are pretty much the ones a lot of you would have expected. As you’d assume, over time the scarcity increased, as did the price. Fortunately, the RE-201 did hold up well, and previously-owned units could be found. Roland ceased manufacturing the RE-201 in 1990, after which those wishing for the Space Delay sound had to track down a used unit. This allowed the tape to cycle through the play path with less stress, which also contributed to increased longevity. The tape was freely spooled, as can be seen in the cover-off image to the right. A much longer tape loop meant that there was less wear and tear on the tape, so replacing it was needed less frequently. It also had another advantage over what came before: the length of the tape loop. The RE-201 was solidly constructed and did not require the TLC that most tape delay units needed to reliably function. But Roland’s offering supplied something the competition lacked up to that point: it was a robustly-built piece of gear that could withstand the rigors of the road. Tape delays had been around for a while by 1974.