Jennings Electronic Industries tape echo unit
1974 - 1975
Thanks to Tony, info on and pictures of an extremely rare Jennings tape echo unit. These were produced for only a short time in 1974 and 1975, probably after Tom had left the company in the summer of '74 to join Reg Clark at Dallas.
One of the examples pictured below is serial number 145, the sequence doubtless beginning at 100. Only one other has been seen in the wild in recent years - serial number 148. Number 145 is thought to have been made for / purchased by Marc Bolan.
Further details on the workings of the unit to come in due course, safe to say for the time being that it is far simpler than the Vox tape echos of the 1960s. In terms of construction, the order of the day (from the summer of 1973) was thin pressed steel for chassis, the outer wooden case relied upon for rigidity.
In December 1974 the JEI Echo was priced at £83.70, remaining so through to July 1975.
Detail from an overview of JEI prices, December 1974.
A page on the equally scarce Jennings Reverb can be found here.
Serial number 145
>Serial number 147
Mains transformer and motor at left; tensioning arm at right.
The solder points of the integrated circuit chip.
The circuit board is designated "pc 176 i.c.", "i.c." standing for integrated circuit. Component date codes, insofar as any can be seen on the tightly packed PCB, are of 1973.
A schema of the front
Four channels in, each with its own volume, echo on/off controllable via a footswitch, a single output to the amplifier.