Mile End Effects’ mthrfckr=rptr offers lo-fi, degraded tape delay

Montreal-based pedal company Mile End Effects has announced the mthrfckr=rptr, a combination of an old-school preamp and a modulated, lo-fi tape delay.

The preamp found here emulates the sound of an old tape recorder’s preamp, allowing for up to 24dB of boost into fuzzy saturation. Similarly, the tape delay emulates a slightly broken machine, with the pedal’s LFO depth and speed controls adjusting how the random, non-cyclical modulation works. This mimics the nature of degraded tape being pulled through write/read heads.

Other controls include a set of toggle switches (for wet/dry output, wave shape and turning the preamp on/off), as well as delay level, overall volume, delay time, delay repeated and preamp gain. The pedal features two footswitches – a bypass switch and a momentary switch for bursts of warping self-oscillation.

Mile End Effects describe the pedal as follows: “The mthrfckr=rptr evokes something that can’t help but make you feel as though suddenly you have caught a rare glimpse into the very intimate lives of complete strangers from the past. As if you have unearthed a box of family photographs or film reels labelled ‘Summer Vacation 1962’ in the back of an estate sale.”

The pedal’s name seems to derive from that of a Godspeed You! Black Emperor song: motherfucker=redeemer. Godspeed You! Black Emperor are a post-rock band who, like Mile End Effects, hail from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The mthrfckr=rptr can be purchased directly at mileendeffects.org for $320 Canadian dollars.

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