WEM WATKINS CUSTOM COPICAT

WEM Custom Copicat tape echo for sale.

WEM Custom Copicat dating from the mid-late sixties in superb cosmetic condition and excellent working order for a 45 year-old valve Copicat. The case has the usual scuffs, dings and scratches but overall is in excellent order (see detailed photos); it’s been cleaned and polished and looks very good indeed. The faceplate is in superb condition. It has the original footswitch. 

Compared to the later IC Copicats the valve units don’t usually produce such clear echoes, even when in good order. Custom Copicats sound lovely both as a pre-amp and as an echo unit with good strong repeats that break up in an evocative fashion, and run into self-oscillation when the ‘reverb’ knob is turned up for authentic dub effects – great valve saturation. The echoes have a good tone for an old valve Copicat and degrade with a dark crunchy quality; they cannot be described as accurate repeats – this is not a digital delay – but they have a sound and vibe that is most pleasing and create a unique effect that sounds ‘right’. 

These valve Copicats make great preamps, and are increasingly sought-after to add character and warmth to modern digital recordings (the Arctic Monkeys used a Custom Copicat when recording their ‘Suck It And See’ album – see Sound On Sound magazine July 2011), as a result they are becoming harder to find, especially in good working order. 

It’s fitted with a new tape – these are easy to bulk buy online, but if the winning bidder wants some spares, please message us for prices/quantities. For best performance tape loops should be changed regularly.

It is switchable between 240-110v so can be used without a transformer.

We’re tape and disc echo specialists and always have a good selection of vintage echo machines. Check out our other listings for fully-serviced Binsons, Copicats, Echoplexes and Roland Space/Chorus Echoes. We also have several early Watkins valve amps coming up for sale.

As business sellers, we’ve sold many tape echoes in the past ten years; we understand how they should sound and function. 

We guarantee that this machine will not disappoint.