Dunlop EP101 Echoplex Preamp Pedal Reviews

This pedal is just what I was looking for. It gives a little added boost or volume without changing my tone.

I'm sure there are many like this pedal, but for me it's simple and reliable and just adds a little more mojo to your tone. No fuss, no none sense so you can focus on expressing what you want. Perfect service from Sweetwater as always!

I mainly play clean a clean Ibanez AS53 and and Yamaha LL6. While I obsess over good tone I don't always want a pristine sound. Sometimes, most of the time I want just a touch of grit. I have tried Timmy, Soul Food, Cinders, Belle and watched countless reviews just not found what I was chasing in my head and ears. I picked this up this week - actually tried to cancel the order because I was still unsure. Too late, already on its way. Not a problem. Plugged it into my intentionally limited board (5 pedals) and played my Ibanez and Yamaha through it. On and off A / B comparisons. It's staying on my board! I watched a lot of videos on YT demoing this and other EP3 style preamps. The videos don't do a great job of capturing what this does, in my opinion. It just sounds thin without it and adds just an ever so slight bit of frayed edge to the sound. Exactly what I wanted.

A shout out to Josh Dillon for his patience, professionalism and fast responses.

Everything they have been saying is true. It adds something special to your tone. In between a compressor and a mild boost I think ... I use it along with a BBE Sonic Stomp and am very happy with the results.
By the way Sweetwater I like the addition of root beer in the candy.

I got this EP-101 to go with the EP-103 I've been using for about 2 yrs (Vry nice delay pedal btw).
I've used it for about a week for many hrs and in the end I don't know exactly what it does or doesn't do. But it makes everything on my board sound "Better" and that's all I can say I know that could sound Hookie but it adds some kind of "Richness" to my Guitars and pedals. I'll recommend this.

I was using a Maxon OD808 forever and liked my tone...Until I tried this Echoplex. It gives all the boost and bite and makes the drive channel super juicy, but I can also leave it on dimed for clean tone and it drastically improves BOTH channels. Try it out Jean!

Does not add a super significant amount of gain to the cleans if thats a worry, just rolled back the gain a touch on the amp and increased the volume.

I will not be letting this little guy go anytime soon!

Fernandes Bari Drop G#_PRS MT15_2x12 w/ Cream 75 and Redback

I bought this pedal thinking it would bring a cool crunch tone at most, what I got was a pedal that brings the guitar signal and every pedal on my board up a level without adding any noticeable gain or harsh tone. It makes playing everything more enjoyable (especially clean).

For the past 5 years I have had a MXR script phase 90 that was basically unusable in the chain because it muddied up the guitar tone (even when bypassed). After adding this pedal, I decided to gave it another chance and it no longer mucks up the tone.

I'm amazed by how much life this pedal adds to my guitar sound. It's perfect for solos that need just a touch more gain or heavy rhythm sections that need a thunderous booming sound. The only thing it affects is volume and gain, yet it seems like it does so many other things to help the tone and feel of the music. I plan to buy its brother, the Echoplex Delay, as well to get the classic Jimmy Page tone combo. I know I can always trust Dunlop with high-quality pedals!

sounds great in many places on my board pushes the front of all amps very well also works well in front of echoplex delay pedal.

I added this pedal to my board and I am completely blown away by the difference it makes.

I added t to a board that runs a DynaComp compressor, Boss FBM-1 Fender '59 Bassman, Voodoo Labs Tremolo and HOF reverb the EP101 is first in the chain.

The FBM-1 input uses the "bright" in and the level is unity, gain just a push and the presence boosted - and what a difference adding the EP101 makes - the EP101 adds just a little extra that makes the mids and highs really sparkle overall.

Truly hard to describe, but the tone just shines with the EP101.

I bought this pedal because I have been reading a lot about the Echoplex lately and don't have a grand laying around to check out an original. My current rig is an Epi 60's Tribute Plus through an Orange CR60. Some days I love my tone, some days not so much. I think your mood has a bigger effect on your tone then most people realize. The addition of the Echoplex has added more punch, definition,and clarity to my set-up. Running it around 7 seems to be the sweet spot for me. It also plays real nice with my chorus and delay. I would definitely recommend giving it a try if you are looking to add a little shape to your sound.

I am really amazed how well this makes my Blackstar HT-5RH sound. I am running a Big Muff into a Cry Baby and then the EP101 into the HT-5RH to a 2x12 birch cab with greenbacks. The switch is silent and so is the operation. You can also put the Big Muff between the wah and the EP101 and it really tames the nasty sounds when using the wah and lets the all the good harmonics rig through. I had a Boss CS-3 before buying the EP101 and also tried a Keeley 2 knob compressor. The EP101 is much better than either, although I know that my Keeley would like work better on high end amps especially Fenders. Truly a great pedal to have on your pedal board.

I added this to my board and it is almost always on - even with my acoustic (I dial it back for that). It really does add texture and punch in a great way. Love it and do not see it going anywhere. I've bought and sold too many pedals. This is one of a handful of "not going anywhere!" I took off half a star because the knob was loose right out of the box and then fell off altogether. I just put it back on and tightened the set screw. No other issues.

Leave it on. Always. Just turn the knob to taste.

The EP101 Preamp really helps your Tone liven up.
It really went well with the Echoplex Delay pedal I recently purchased. Not a huge increase in Gain however, the sound out of the amp is beautiful, clear and has a intangible quality that I can only explain as a "Vibe" that really makes a guitarist want to play for hours and hours. It will remain in the always "On" on my pedalboard. My salesman Anthony Logano and the entire Sweetwater Team were incredible as usual.

Nice addition to the Echoplex Delay. It gives you a little more in your sound toolbox. Add the MXR Tap and the possibilities are amazing. Great tape delay sound!!

To put it as plainly as I can this unit ads a beautiful sparkle to my sound.

I love the way this adds slight girth, accentuates upper mids, & slight bit of Grit...all without overwhelming your base tone.

Highly recommended

I love this pedal. I did a fair amount of reading before buying it, since there are a handful of other options that attempt to replicate the Echoplex preamp magic. I chose the Dunlop EP101 because Dunlop owns the Echoplex product rights, and this pedal is an exact reproduction of the Echoplex preamp.

So what does it do, really? It sweetens my tone by injecting an unique mid-boost that works really well with my playing style and just gives it a nice extra "juiciness" that I like a lot. It is the very 1st pedal in my signal chain (as recommended!). To my ears, it is subtle but significant, and depends on how I set it. I keep the EP101 gain knob at about 2 o'clock, and the pedal is always on. For me, it's a set-and-forget pedal for tone-sweetening.

I'm also a fan of the BOSS FB-2 for its tone-shaping ("contour" knob) capability, and put it as my 2nd pedal in my signal path immediately after the EP101. The FB2 is also aways on. Similar to how I use the EP101, I have the FB2 dialed in to a subtle but noticeable slight mid-boost, to add a little more "juiciness" to my overall sound. EP101 -> FB2 -> everything else. Excellent combo for me.

If you're a tone monkey like me, and you've been searching for something to make your signal shine a little sweeter, I recommend this pedal. It does exactly what I expected, and it does deliver. I can understand why other now-famous guitarists like how the Echoplex preamp livens their sound, because it does the trick for me!

Takes my tone from good to great. I almost always leave it on. Most noticeable when used with distortion. Best I can describe is it adds just enough treble to make it easier to hear, and makes the individual notes sound "thicker" without sounding too much more distorted

I'm using it as a boost. Not for volume ; just to give me that "little bit more" for certain songs and solos.
Works perfectly , sounds sweet!

To be fair I bought this on a whim- I liked the idea of having one of these on my pedal board but to be honest, I couldn't find a need for it. I used this in conjunction with an 808 and a Fulltone '70 fuzz and to be quite honest it didn't add much of anything to either or.I messed around for about two weeks placing it in different spots on my board. No joy. I'll probably be sending this one back. No fault of Sweetwater's, just not digging it,