Links to other cool sites

RonSound – The place for effects repair and vintage effect repros!! Recommended by EHX for vintage EH repairs.

THE BIG MUFF π PAGE – Kitrae’s ultra-comprehensive Big Muff pages. Covers every model and every variation, from vintage US models, to Sovtek, to US Reissue and all related EH pedals.

Electric Mistress History – More info than you ever thought you needed about the Electric Mistress flanger and it’s many variations.

Lost Art Vintage – My friend, Al Pepiak’s website. Bought a lot of EH stuff from Al over the years and, EH-related or not, he’s always got something way cool or unusual.

Eleca is a line of music instruments and accessories made in China. Included is a line of guitar effects, a couple of which look suspiciously like Sovtek/EH pedals. These are the EBB-1 “Bass Distortion” and the ESD-1 “Distortion Pedal”. The entire Eleca pedal line can be found here.

Who would’ve thought we’d see a copy of the EH Bassballs, let alone the Sovtek version? It even has the “TWIN DYNAMIC FILTER” caption written on top. What does EBB stand for? Maybe it’s Electro-harmonix Bass Balls? Actually, all 3 of the Eleca pedals shown on the box have an “E” prefix so it may be Eleca Bass Balls.

The Bass Balls all the way down to the 2 trimpots for adjusting the filters.

The ESD-1 is a pretty close copy of the Sovtek Big Muff. The controls are the same, the layout’s the same, and it even says “Distortion/Sustainer” on the top. Looking inside, I found that it’s the same circuit as well. It is a little smaller than your standard Big Muff, as you can see from the photos. Notice the US flag on the box. Are they trying to fool us into thinking it’s US-made?

An Interview with Howard Davis

Saturday, 29 September 2007 15:32

The following is an interview conducted with EH designer Howard Davis via email in 1998. Howard is still active in the effects community today, working with EH on reissues as well as offering effects repair. You can contact him HERE.

Tell me about your early work prior to EH

I was a scientific prodigy, fixing TVs and building working electric motors from bell wire and metal cut from food cans when I was 10 years old. My family was poor, and I had neither the financial resources nor the encouragement I needed. Finally, after years of frustrating technician jobs which didn’t allow the expression of my creative talents, I got into Cooper Union, and earned my EE degree Summa Cum Laude. About a month after graduation in 1976 I started with Electro-Harmonix, and loved almost every minute of my 5 years with the company.

How did you come to work at EH?

It was the right place for me. I was a non-conforming, countercultural type of person with total disdain for the usual repressive corporate environment. I had loved Rock n’ Roll since I was 14 (1958), and became aware that the audio technology then in use was primitive compared to what it could be. Long before delay chips existed, I fabricated an acoustic delay using a hose-like tube with a speaker at one end and a mike at the other. Sounded weird due to the resonances, but it did produce what we now call a “slap echo.” EH was a technological and musical playground for me, and being paid well to have productive, creative FUN is my kind of gig!

What years did you work at EH?

1976 to 1981.

What was a typical day at the EH company like?

There was occasional stress, but the work was challenging and satisfying. There was plenty of freedom to be yourself; Mike knew that what counts is that a person is productive, not that he or she dresses conservatively and cuts their hair short. Productivity at EH was rewarded, not taken for granted. And we had real fun – during breaks we would go to the soundroom and jam. Mike did his best to treat his staff well, unlike typical work environments where people are just cogs in the heart-attack machine.

What’s the best product you came up with?

I’d say the most popular is the Memory Man. I didn’t design the first delay stompbox with this name, but in 1977 I re-engineered it with such a substantial improvment in performance that it just took off – it was hard for the company to keep up with the demand. I’m also proud of my Deluxe Octave Multiplexer. The hardest part of that design was the fundamental extractor – the circuitry that locks in on the fundamental, or basic pitch, of the note being played. Before my work the existing products of this type had a tendency to “yodel,” to jump up an octave then back again. I came up with what may still be the best analog fundamental extractor circuitry ever used in a stompbox. Once you have a good fundamental extractor, synthesizing the suboctaves is easy. I also like my Ambitron, but that was designed for the audiophile market, not really in EH’s primary area of interest.

Did you specifically design the Ambitron for converting mono jazz records to stereo?

At the time I invented the Ambitron some records in my collection, which is mostly Rock, were monaural. I even had some old 78s. Some stereo recordings of that time were not realistically mixed; there was often a “hole-in-the-middle,” with instruments on the right and left without much in or near the center except perhaps the vocals and bass. I wanted a way of generating realistic pseudo-stereo from the mono sources, and to enhance the stereo effect by synthesizing more ambient acoustics without actually changing the room or speakers. Thus was born the Ambitron.

What incident at the company sticks in your mind the most?

One day for some reason our power got cut off. My lab didn’t have any windows, and of course without power not much would work. I did though. I got a few candles, put them on my desk, and did what paperwork I could.

What are some of the best moments you can remember at EH?

One day Jack Bruce walked into my lab room, asking to hear some new effects. I think I showed him the latest Memory Man and the Talking Pedal.

I remember reading about this. The Talking Pedal would be an excellent candidate for reissue. The weird pot would be the only problem.

It would indeed. Mike shies away from using expensive or custom-made parts or parts without backup sources. I designed the Talking Pedal using data on human speech I got from my brother, a professor of audiology at SUNY Plattsburgh. The tapers of the dual pot sections were based on that data and the characteristics of the filters they controlled.

What finally made you leave?

As I remember, the company had been put under siege by an unscrupulous labor union seeking to organize the factory workers. Towards the end of 1980 the business had declined for this and other reasons. As my responsibilities were technical and I didn’t care very much for politics or corporate culture, I tried to stay away from the management woes, but they affected everyone. I left in early 1981.

What did you do after leaving EH?

I became a free-lance writer. I always loved writing, and have published many articles in technical and hobby publications, sometimes with a free subscription my only remuneration. I had the time, so I wrote a book. I had some experience designing and installing alarm systems, so I wrote “PREVENT BURGLARY – An Aggressive Approach to Total Home Security.” Published by Prentice-Hall, it got good reviews, and I expected to make a mint. I was interviewed on dozens of radio talk shows to promote it. Prentice-Hall was bought out by Simon & Shyster just as the book was to be marketed, and they botched the marketing royally, with almost no books in the stores just when demand was hot. I made a little on it though, and even wrote two more books, but I was discouraged by the low pay to work ratio for writing in general. Recently I self-published a book of poetry. Nice hobby, but without a relative in publishing, chances of doing well financially are poor no matter how good you are.

What are you doing today?

Living! If you haven’t found the key to happiness by my age, you never will. I’ve been into several self-betterment practices such as Avatar, and I’ve done wonders with what I’ve experienced and learned. I create my own life, and feel about as free and happy as one can within the constraints of this crazy world. I would never work full-time for someone else again, not because there are no good people to work for, but because of the unacceptable restrictions on personal freedom such employment imposes. I now do engineering as a self-employed consultant, and custom mod and repair work.

What would you consider your “crowning achievement”?

That’s a hard question to answer. A happy life is a succession of achievements, and for the best, the satisfaction you feel within is greater than any financial reward. I’d say designing electronics as an independent consultant is my current crowning achievement. I’ve greatly upgraded my lab and information resources, and welcome every creative opportunity that comes my way.

If you could do it over again, what would you do different?

I wish I had become more knowledgable in law and management; if I had, I might have helped to prevent the company’s 1981 downfall. Management just isn’t my thing – too many wheely-dealy problems and not enough creativity involved. But you can’t keep good people down; EH is back, and I’m glad to be part of that.

DISCLAIMER: Howard Davis does not work for The EH Man, nor is he in any way associated with The EH Man or RonSound except as a fellow admirer of Electro-Harmonix products. Contact Howard at the website URL given at the beginning of this article.

Julia Truchsess: Electronic Drum Pioneer of EH

Tuesday, 27 October 2009 20:04

Recently I’ve had the pleasure of corresponding with Julia Truchsess, who worked at EH in the late 70’s to the early 80’s. She has been very gracious in providing an extensive biography and a list of products she designed for EH. Without further ado, here’s her story:

I moved to New York City from Wisconsin in the Fall of 1976 at the age of twenty, with a band called The Invisible Man in which I played bass guitar, to seek fame and fortune as a rock star. We rented a top-floor 2,500 square-foot loft on West 25th St, with skylights and panoramic views of the Empire State Building, for $400 a month – those were the days! The Patty Smith Band rehearsed two floors below us. Eventually I needed a job, and our drummer had left the New York Times help wanted classifieds open to the page for auto parts, in which he had experience. Immediately preceding that section was an ad for “Audio Technician”. Having been an electronics hobbyist since I was about eight years old, with a particular interest in audio and music, the ad caught my eye – plus the address was only three blocks away!

The employer was of course E-H, and although I had no professional experience to speak of, Mike took a chance on me and I was put to work as Irwin Kornfeld’s assistant, tuning the rather finicky analog delay devices in Memory Mans as they came off the assembly line. After a few weeks of that drudgery I’d proven my abilities to the extent that Mike let me pursue a rather ambitious project of my own designing a guitar synthesizer. I was given an office and the result, about a year later, was the EH-8000, the most complex product the company had at the time ever produced. I’m very proud of that device to this day, some thirty+ years later. Its tracking was faster than any guitar synth on the market and many that have followed. It was used by Steve Howe of Yes and Colin White of Metro and Holly and the Italians. It was entirely analog and used a boatload of op-amps that unfortunately required occasional tweaking of trimpots to stay in tune. A huge contribution to the development of the guitar synthesizer came from David Cockerell: an amazing yet simple circuit that could extract an almost pure sine wave from the extremely complex waveforms produced by a guitar. It’s one of the cleverest circuits I’ve ever encountered in my career. An unfortunate manufacturing disaster occurred with the EH-8000 either before or after soldering, the boards were dunked in a degreaser or flux remover or something that removed the protective anti-corrosion material on the contacts of all 20-plus slide switches on the product’s front panel. The switches became dodgy as a result, and returns were frequent.

About this time The Invisible Man were becoming discouraged with our lack of success in the New York club scene. Punk and New Wave were happening but we were a bombastic prog-rock trio in the vein of King Crimson and Cream, with songs running 10 – 20 minutes. We decided that the UK might provide more receptive audiences and in mid-1978 I told Mike I was leaving the company to move to London. His response was “Don’t quit, go over and open a distribution and service center for me.” Which I did. I secured office and warehouse space, and hired a repair technician and manager. I left my New York loft in the hands of the late George Kaufman, another E-H employee and close friend who’d recently returned from setting up a distribution and repair center in Toronto.

While in England I continued to design new products. While effects are fun, I’ve always loved creating new instruments, particularly electronic percussion devices. The song “Ring My Bell” and its use of the Synare electronic drum had blown open a whole new market and I looked for a way for E-H to get into it. Mike had always been reluctant to invest in new tooling for products, so one design constraint was that anything I came up with had to go into the traditional E-H sheet-metal boxes. And of course, it had to be inexpensive. I ended up using a crystal microphone glued to the underside of the sheet metal, with a piece of leather glued onto the top as a playing surface. Add a simple swept oscillator circuit and the Space Drum was born. The device became a platform for a number of follow-on products: the Super Space Drum and the Rolling Thunder, designed by Howard Davis, and the Crashpad and Sequencer Drum designed by myself. I really loved the Crashpad: it used a ridiculously inexpensive filter circuit made up only of discrete transistors and diodes that was capable of producing some really rich and “dirty” sounds when the Q was cranked up. You could put white noise into it or if you turned the Q up high enough it would turn into an oscillator. It had an external audio input and a flexible sweep controller and was a really versatile device.

In 1980 I came back from England, but I found myself morally unable to displace George Kaufman from the loft, and I didn’t want to share it with him and his brother David, who rehearsed there with their band The Nails. Mike and I had become good friends outside of work and he often invited me to join him on fishing trips on his boat in Montauk. While I’d been in England he’d purchased the former headquarters and manufacturing facility of the Otis Elevator Company on Manhattan’s west side, a mammoth building that took up a full city block north-south. Mike had grand plans for his top designers there and since I had nowhere to live on my return from the UK, I was given the keys to the building and one of the Otis VP’s hardwood-paneled offices as a bedroom. Cockerell had the President’s office I think 🙂 I have only dim memories of that brief period but it was very special and magical, with a distinctly unreal feel to it.

Shortly thereafter E-H became overextended financially and Mike had to sell the Otis building. Japanese and domestic competitors were eating away at his market with much more reliable products. I found a loft on 20th street in what is now the trendy “Flatiron District”, around the corner from the church that became the famous Limelight disco, and a few blocks from the factory on 23rd St. I lived and worked there; Mike paid the rent.

Now that we had a line of percussion sound generators, I figured we needed a controller to hook them all up to. E-H was having a good run with the DRM-16 drum machine but I wanted something a bit more open-ended and creative. I came up with the Clockworks “rhythm synthesizer”. It fit into the standard sheet-metal box, and used analog circuitry that acted “quasi-digitally” in that it could divide the frequency of a master beat clock to produce half notes, quarter notes, etc., but since it was analog you could also get it right on the borderline between divisors so that it would sometimes divide by three, and sometimes four, for example. This produced some amazing polyrhythmic patterns, to say the least. The Clockworks didn’t have any sound generation internally: you used it to trigger CrashPads and Sequencer Drums. You could daisy-chain or cross-trigger any number of them, you could sum any of their outputs with simple junction boxes or Y-cords, and with two or three Clockworks, a few Crashpads and a couple of Sequencer Drums you could produce some absolutely astounding stuff. I own a Sequencer Drum but have been unable to locate either a Clockworks or Crashpad and would love to do so someday.

Mike had opened the 48th St, E-H Hall of Science next to Manny’s Music, and was very big into LED art and jewelry at the time. Bob Bednarz had come up with the Domino Theory, an objet d’art consisting of a grid of LEDs that responded to sound in a translucent red tube. I expanded on the concept (and packaging) with the Random Element, a gizmo that would “talk back” to you in electronic beeps and boops whenever you triggered it with sound. I also contributed what became the name for the entire line of blinky products: “Art Lumo” (or was it “Art Lumeau”?). (ed. note: Art Lumo is correct)

E-H’s fortunes continued to decline and in 1981 Mike told me he couldn’t pay the rent on my 20th St. studio any longer, but that I could take over the lease on his loft on 31st St. where Bednarz had been living and working. I moved there and after a week or so of cleaning out the unbelievable amount of junk Bob had accumulated, fixed it up into a nice living and working space. I continued to work on more electronic art concepts but Mike wanted me to come to the factory and do production work, which didn’t appeal to me much. We parted on good terms and I found work the next day with a company around the corner that developed toys and consumer electronics, which became my field for the next 23 years.

Mike and I continued to see each other often socially. In 1985 I moved to City Island in the Bronx, where I got my own boat and could take him fishing for a change. In 1986 I invented and patented a wah-wah controlled by a light sensor held between one’s teeth: the amount of light hitting the sensor depended on how open your lips were, so you could actually make your instrument go “wah” by making the shape of a “wah” sound with your mouth. Mike loved it and dubbed it the “Soul Kiss”. I produced them in my bedroom office/lab and Mike marketed them under the New Sensor brand. I think it may have been New Sensor’s first product. Unfortunately the product was not understood by the trade and didn’t receive any promotion or push by the stores, and as a result it didn’t sell. The AIDS epidemic didn’t help either, even though we provided disposable covers for the mouthpiece…

In addition to being a very dear friend, Mike has been mentor, confidant, father figure, inspiration, and patron saint to me. He probably doesn’t remember giving me a photo of himself in his twenties, holding a mahi-mahi he’d caught, but I long ago framed that black-and-white photocopy and it’s been displayed in a place of honor in every office I’ve had since.

Product Designs

EH-8000 Guitar Synthesizer ’77-78
Space Drum – ’79
Crashpad – ’80
Sequencer Drum – ’80
Clockworks – ’80
Random Element – ’80?(ed. note: likely an unreleased product)
Super Space Drum II -’81 (I’m not sure this was ever produced)
Soul Kiss

Links

Julia’s Homepage

Pragmatic Designs

The Original Big Muff vs the American Reissue

Saturday, 29 September 2007 16:09

Electro-Harmonix has been big into reissues for a while now, capitalizing on the demand for their vintage units. Unfortunately, their choice of copying the exteriors exactly has led to many people selling what are claimed to be, whether accidental or intentional, vintage units that are actually well-used reissues. This is the first in a series of articles to help prospective sellers and buyers identify whether their unit is vintage or reissue.

The Big Muff was the first reissue for the EH company, being originally built in Russia. Eventually an American-made version was reissued. Logical choice as it was one of their original pedals and pretty much built the company. The American-made reissue borrows heavily from the original 3rd generation Big Muff with it’s red and black graphics. There are a few differences, though, that immediately make it recognizable as a reissue. Take a look at the pics below. On the top, a 2002 reissue. Below it, an original 1981 EH Big Muff, Model EH-3034. How many differences can you find?

Let’s start with the obvious, the reissue has an LED on the left, below and between the VOLUME and TONE controls. True, it could be added to a vintage model by an enterprising modifier, but there’s more. Look at these pics of the rear of the pedals.

Notice that on the back of the reissue, there’s only the INPUT and AMPLIFIER jacks, as well as the AC adapter jack, whereas on the original there’s also a slide switch plainly labeled on the top panel as TONE-BYPASS. On some original models, it may just be labeled as ON-OFF because it was a power switch, a holdover from the 2nd version models. At any rate, on vintage models there should be a rectangular hole w/ 2 screw holes for the switch.

Inside the reissue the wiring’s fairly neat, with a 3PDT footswitch already installed (note: early reissues used black SPDT switches, not the blue 3PDTswitches). Notice the circuit board of the original has 3 large solder pads on the right, just below where the VOLUME control is soldered (follow the arrow). These pads were used when this circuit board was used in the Little Big Muff Pi. The Little Big Muff Pi had it’s VOLUME control soldered to these pads and the SUSTAIN and TONE pads had resistors soldered across them to preset the levels. Other Big Muffs of this vintage may have different circuit boards, such as the infamous op-amp Big Muff. Also, you may notice that the reissue has pots with solid backs on them whereas the original had open back pots. In the center hole of the original, you can see the interior moving part of the pot (the wiper). There’s also a slot on the wiper that allows turning with a screwdriver.

Knobs on both these units are what I refer to as “cylindrical” knobs but both vintage units and early reissues had the black pointer knobs as well.

To sum it up, the easiest and quickest way to determine if the unit is vintage or reissue is to look at the back for a slide switch. If it’s not there, it’s a reissue. If it is there, look at the position of the AC adapter jack. On the vintage units it sits a bit closer to the amplifier jack. You might check this to make sure a slide switch wasn’t added to a reissue as a mod or to purposely deceive the buyer. Of course, if it’s original there should also be labeling on the top for the switch.

Stones, Clones, and Muffs – The Electro-Harmonix Story

Thursday, 29 January 2009 20:33

Stones, Clones, and MuffsThe Electro-Harmonix Story

By Ronald C. Neely II
continuously updated

The Electro-Harmonix Company was founded in 1968 by Mike Matthews. Until its demise in 1985, it was one of the biggest manufacturers of effect units for guitar. It was recently ressurected by Mike Matthews and is once again creating its own special niche in the music world.

Introduction

The Electro-Harmonix (EH) company was one of America’s most innovative musical accessories manufacturers. Founded in 1968 by Mike Matthews with $1,000 cash and a $5,000 bank loan, the company grossed annual sales of 5 million dollars by 1978. EH survived opposition from labor unions and others, but finally succumbed in 1985, only to re-emerge in the 1990’s under the New Sensor/Sovtek name. The EH name has since reappeared on a line of reissued effects while the original models have become collectors items.

The Founding

Mike Matthews, the founder of Electro-Harmonix, had a rich and varied history. A native of Brooklyn, he attended Cornell University and graduated with an MBA and a BSEE. Ten years later he received notice that his five year BSEE had been commuted to a Master’s. While at Cornell, he promoted rock ‘n’ roll shows and also sat in on keyboards with the Isley Brothers; at one point he was asked to join the band full-time, but he declined in order to finish school. Upon graduation he worked three years as a computer salesman for IBM.

Mike had tried marketing an Alpha Neon Resonator which relaxed the brain and promoted creativity by use of small flickering bulbs, but the product sold poorly. Later on, he built Foxey Lady fuzztones, which bore more resemblance to his later Big Muff Pi distortion in both appearance and construction, for the Guild guitar company. Now he was ready to start his own company.

In October of 1968, Mike Matthews started the EH company and introduced his first product, the Axis fuzz. Essentially the same unit as the Foxey Lady pedal he sold to Guild, the Axis gave Mike a good start and paved the way for his next product: the LPB-1 Linear Power Booster. No other company at that time was selling a comparable product and this became the first in a long line of completety original products. Along with the LPB-1 and its companion, the LPB-2, was a line of filters that included the Screaming Bird Treble Booster and the Mole Bass Booster.

With the new company came the famous EH logo, which has been variously described as a “ram’s head” or “lamb’s head.” According to Mike, the logo was designed by a female artist and “I liked it so I just used it as a logo, something to attract attention to the ad. It didn’t have any special meaning other than I thought it was distinctive.” (Neely)

Lesser known products from EH were the ones designed for the stereo enthusiast: the Linear Stereo Boosters LSB-1 and LSB-2, the Stereo Tone Expander, and the Stereo Pulse Modulator – which, according to sales literature, was designed to “literally get you stoned electronically.” In the late 70’s the Ambitron, which converted a mono signal to stereo and was capable of being used on guitar as well, was introduced but quickly disappeared.

While displaying his LPB-1 at the NAMM (National Association of Music Manufacturers) show in 1968, Mike unwittingly changed the design of amplifiers by demonstrating to everyone that pre-amps could be placed in series to create distortion. One of the first to realize that this effect could be built into an amplifier was Hartley Peavey of the Peavey Electronics Corporation, who was also at the show and purchased an LPB-1 to learn its secret (Howse 15). Not long afterward, many manufacturers were building the cascading pre-amp design into their amplifiers.

The 1970’s

In the early ’70’s, Electro-Harmonix released what has become its trademark product, the Big Muff Pi distortion. The Big Muff Pi became popular with guitarists for several reasons. First, it was cheaper than other distortions available at the time. Second, it allowed guitarists to play single notes or chords with the same clarity of sound. Though it was originally offered at the price of $39.95, or in kit form at $26.95, early examples are now selling for upwards of $200.00. The Big Muff Pi has been used by such musicians as Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Carlos Santana, and others. Before the company’s demise, the Big Muff Pi passed through several incarnations and the family was expanded to include other versions such as the Muff Fuzz, Little Muff Pi, Little Big Muff Pi, Deluxe Big Muff Pi, and the Crying Muff fuzz-wah. In the ’90’s, it was manufactured in Russia and re-released under the Sovtek name.

The ’70’s were the peak years for the EH company. It released many products including its best-seller, the Small Stone phase shifter. According to Mike, the factory couldn’t build them fast enough to keep up with sales of nearly 7,000 units a month. Almost as popular as the Small Stone was the Memory Man series of analog delay units, the first low cost echo unit available at the time. The EH company wasn’t content to just produce effects, though; it also created a line of amplifiers for guitar, bass, and p.a. that were available in the consumer’s choice of AC, AC/DC, or DC power. Another sideline was its line of drum machines like the DRM-15, 16, and 32 and electronic drum effects including the Rolling Thunder, the Space Drum, and the Crash Pad.

Mike had never been content to confine his work to the United States; in 1973 or ’74, the EH company was the first American business contingent to China. Then in 1979, Electro-Harmonix became one of two American companies displaying products at the Consumer Goods and Fashions Exhibition in Moscow. The EH exhibit proved very popular with the Russian people and large crowds gathered around listening to the Electro-Harmonix Work Band, which was composed mainly of EH factory employees demonstrating the products that made EH famous. New products were also demonstrated at the show, including the Mini-Synthesizers and the Guitar Synthesizer. Mike distributed copies of the Electro-Harmonix Work Band album, 50,000 EH stickers, and 20,000 copies of articles about the EH company. The high point of the trip was an invitation to a July 4 party at the home of the US Ambassador to Russia (Levine, Life).

Union Racketeering

In 1978, Mike Matthews had been named New York State Small Business Person of the Year. While Mike was honored to be chosen for this award, it proved to be a turning point for the company. Officials of the Plastic, Moulders’ and Novelty Worker’s Union, Local 132 of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union called Mike and told him they wanted to install a union shop for workers. Mike turned them down, but organizers from the union set up outside the factory and attempted to persuade the employees to join the union. The employees refused and eventually the organizers left. They returned three years later and accused Mike of abusing and exploiting minorities. Once more, they tried to get employee support for a union, but again they were rejected. The workers remained loyal to Mike.

Despite the allegations of the union, Mike was a very fair employer. He followed a philosophy of promotion by merit instead of seniority in the workplace, and showed it by hiring unskilled workers at minimum wage and allowing them to advance to high paying positions. All employees had insurance, paid vacations, and received on-the-job training as they advanced in the company. They were on a first-name basis with Mike and often joked with him. He reciprocated by shutting the factory down on several occasions and taking all the employees to Long Island for a picnic, hardly examples of employee exploitation.

Monday, August 10, 1981. As Mike Matthews attempted to enter the EH factory, he was attacked by five union toughs. Employees were offered money for lunch and asked to sign union cards. Those who refused were threatened with bodily harm and, even with the police setting up barricades, few were able to get through the union blockade and enter the building. The racketeers ambushed employees leaving work and on Wednessday, August 19, Mike closed the factory down to protect his workers. That night, TV news reports showed footage taken by hidden cameras of union racketeers threatening workers and Mike was asked to give his side of the story on the Live at 5 show.

On Thursday, August 20, Mike and about 60 workers marched to the factory in defiance of the union and got back to work. Though the picketers eventually left and Mike, along with about 40 employees, struggled to keep the company afloat, the death knell was sounding. According to Randy Fitzgerald (1982), for five months “Matthews and about 40 employees hung on valiantly in an effort to save the company and their jobs” (pg. 113). Finally, in January of 1982, just a week after the National Labor Relations Board issued a “cease and desist” order to the union, Mike closed the doors of the Electro-Harmonix company and filed for bankruptcy. The company was without power and phones, and the employees, like Mike, were broke. Mike’s financial backer was certain that EH would not survive and had pulled out earlier; other financial backing could not be found.

The Resurrections

Mike immediately set about raising the capital to buy back his company and in March 1982, he purchased most of his assets back off the auction block. Within weeks, he was back at work and letting everyone know that EH was not one to go down so easily. The EH company was baqck on its feet.

Finally, in 1984, the EH company met its demise. Ironically, it had survived union terrorism but went under due to Japanese competition. The EH company had placed orders for chips from a supplier to complete millions of dollars in product orders, but the supplier backed out and diverted all chips to Japanese manufacturers. The EH company was sold to another businessman who sold the EH products through the Broadway Computer Corporation. By 1986, the Broadway Computer Corp. was out of business and Mike regained ownership of the EH trademark, but he didn’t release any more products at the time.

His earlier experiences in Russia encouraged Mike to start a new company, the New Sensor Corporation. Although its primary business was as a supplier of vacuum tubes, it did release at least one product: the Soul Kiss, a derivative of the popular talk box effect for guitar. In 1990, he started the Sovtek company and released a Big Muff Pi II which was made in Russia. Currently the Sovtek/Electro-Harmonix line also includes a reissue of the Small Stone phase shifter and a reissue Deluxe Electric Mistress flanger with the Memory Man slated to make a reappearance in the near future. A line of Russian-made tube guitar amplifiers continues to be popular among guitarists everywhere. .

Though the EH company has come and gone (several times, in fact), its products remain dear to the hearts and guitars of many people. In this age of digital clarity and sophisticated manufacturing, the EH company’s analog products are selling as well as ever and have reached the collectible stage. With over one hundred products to its name (THE EH LIST) and millions of units sold, Electro-Harmonix will be with us for a long time.

The EH Product List

Last Updated 23 Feb. 2010

For your pleasure and interest, I’ve compiled a list of EH Model #s and products. It’s by no means complete so please contact me with any new details you can add.

Electro-Harmonix Products

Model# Description

EH-0225 Slave Amp 200w rackmount

EH-0250 Stereo Micro-Amp

EH-0300 Vocoder rackmount

EH-0400 Mini-Synthesizer

EH-0410 Mini-Synthesizer w/echo and glide bar

EH-0500 Dual Analog Delay rackmount

EH-0909 Power Patrol 6100 voltage surge suppressor

(Broadway Computer Corp.)

EH-1001 LPB-2 power booster

EH-1003 Hog’s Foot bass booster

EH-1005 Screaming Tree treble booster

EH-1008 Little Muff Pi

EH-1009 Little Big Muff Pi

EH-1010 Switchblade channel selector

EH-1222 Queen Wah (circa 1976-77)

EH-1300 RTG random tone generator

EH-1307 Deluxe Memory Man echo/delay (4 knobs)

EH-1309 Memory Man solid state echo/analog delay line

EH-1311 Echoflanger

EH-1313 Mike Matthews Dirt Road Special amplifier w/phase shifter

EH-1314 Talking Pedal speech synthesizer

EH-1315 Slapback Echo

EH-1316 Soul Preacher compressor/sustainer

EH-1317 Clone Theory

EH-1318 Deluxe Electric Mistress flanger (circa 1978)

EH-1322 Little Big Muff Pi

EH-1322 Big Muff Pi

EH-1325 Deluxe Octave Multiplexer (4 knobs)

EH-1330 Deluxe Big Muff distortion/compressor (Blend switch)

EH-1334 Electronic Metronome

EH-1334 Mini-Mixer

EH-1335 Hot Tubes overdrive simulator (circa 1978)

EH-1336 10 Band Graphic Equalizer

EH-1338 Memory Man echo/chorus (boost input)

EH-1341 Freedom Brothers amp (mahogany

EH-1342 Bass Balls (circa 1978)

EH-1347 Pet Lite (circa 1980?)

EH-1349 Full Double Tracking Effect

EH-1700 Silencer (circa 1978)

EH-1976 (?) Giant 1976 Bicentennial calendar

EH-1977 Giant 1977 calendar (circa 1977, of course)

EH-1977 Electro-Harmonix Work Band album “State of the Art Electronic Devices”

EH-2001 LPB-1 power booster (plugs into amp)

EH-2002 LPB-1 power booster (plugs into instrument)

EH-2003 Mole bass booster

EH-2005 Screaming Bird treble booster (plugs into amp)

EH-2006 Screaming Bird treble booster (plugs into instrument)

EH-2007 Ego microphone booster

EH-2008 Muff Fuzz (plugs into amp)

EH-2008 Muff Fuzz (inline w/double plug)

EH-2009 Muff Fuzz (plugs into instrument)

EH-2010 5X Junction Mixer

EH-2244 Electronic Metronome

EH-2300 Headphone Amplifier

EH-3000 Clone Theory chorus /vibrato

EH-3001 Clone Theory chorus /vibrato

EH-3002 Low Frequency Compressor

EH-3003 Big Muff Pi (early 70’s model and circa ’80)

EH-3004 Hare-Lip microphone echo

EH-3004 Attack Equalizer

EH-3004 Knockout Attack Equalizer

EH-3005 Black Finger sustainer

EH-3006 Crying Tone (circa 1977)

EH-3006 Fuzz Wah

EH-3007 Fuzz Wah pedal

EH-3007 Freedom Pre-Amp

EH-3009 Queen Wah w/ Triggered Filter (circa 1976)

EH-3034 Little Big Muff Pi (circa 1981)

EH-3034 Big Muff Pi (later model)

EH-3053 Deluxe Big Muff distortion/compressor (Series/Parallel switch)

EH-3054 Deluxe Big Muff distortion/compressor (Series/Parallel switch)

EH-3060 Graphic Fuzz

EH-3075 Hot Tubes overdrive simulator

EH-3106 Crying Muff fuzz wah pedal

EH-3200 Talking Pedal speech synthesizer

EH-3300 Pan Pedal

EH-3800 Volume Pedal

EH-4002 Linear Stereo Booster 2

EH-4003 Stereo Tone Expander

EH-4100 Doctor Q envelope follower

EH-4200 Zipper envelope follower

EH-4250 Bassballs envelope follower

EH-4300 Silencer line noise eliminator

EH-4500 Soul Preacher sustainer/compressor

EH-4501 Soul Preacher sustainer/compressor (circa 1980)

EH-4600 Small Clone chorus

EH-4700 Slapback Echo

EH-4750 Stereo Slapback Echo

EH-4790 Full Double Tracking Effect

EH-4800 Small Stone phase shifter

EH-4900 Y-Triggered filter

EH-4909 AC/DC 9 volt battery eliminator

EH-4918 AC/DC 18 volt battery eliminator

EH-4999 AC/DC 9 volt battery eliminator

EH-5000 Frequency Analyzer

EH-5010 Rhythm 12

EH-5100 Electric Mistress flanger

EH-5101 Electric Mistress flanger

EH-5150 Deluxe Electric Mistress flanger

EH-5200 Attack Decay tape reverse simulator

EH-5300 Space Drum

EH-5310 Panic Button

EH-5320 Sonic Boomer

EH-5330 Rolling Thunder

EH-5350 Super Space Drum

EH-5360 Crash Pad

EH-5370 Clap Track

EH-5380 Sequencer Drum

EH-5385 Clockworks Controller

EH-5390 Instant Replay

EH-5500 Solid State Reverb

EH-5600 Big Muff Pi Crying Tone (circa 1974)

EH-5701 Queen Wah w/triggered filter

EH-5800 Bad Stone phase shifter (2 knobs)

EH-5800 Bad Stone phase shifter (3 knobs)

EH-5801 Bad Stone phase shifter pedal

EH-5900 Octave Multiplexer

EH-5901 Octave Multiplexer

EH-5901 Octave Multiplexer pedal

EH-5950 Deluxe Octave Multiplexer (3 knobs)

EH-5950 Deluxe Octave Multiplexer (4 knobs)

EH-5950 Deluxe Octave Multiplexer (5 knobs)

EH-6000 Hot Foot universal pedal

EH-6001 Hot Foot universal pan pedal

EH-6001 Mike Matthews Freedom guitar amp (DC)

EH-6002 Mike Matthews Freedom guitar amp (AC/DC)

EH-6003 Mike Matthews Freedom guitar amp (AC)

EH-6022 Super Twin amplifier (AC/DC)

EH-6023 Super Twin amplifier (AC)

EH-6043 Quad amp

EH-6475 Military/Computer Phone Cable 3/4″

EH-6502 Military/Computer Phone Cable 2′

EH-6503 Military/Computer Phone Cable 3′

EH-6506 Military/Computer Phone Cable 6′

EH-6510 Military/Computer Phone Cable 10′

EH-6520 Military/Computer Phone Cable 20′

EH-6530 Military/Computer Phone Cable 30′

EH-6550 Military/Computer Phone Cable 50′

EH-6600 Military/Computer Phone Cable 100′

EH-6725 Super Heavy 25′ coiled cable

EH-6920 Japanese coiled cable 20′

EH-7002 Freedom Brothers amp (Silver)

EH-7003 Freedom Brothers amp (Mahogany)

EH-7006 Freedom Brothers amp (Black)

EH-7010 EH acoustic guitar (mahogany back and sides)

EH-7020 EH acoustic guitar (D-28 copy, rosewood back and sides)

EH-7030 EH acoustic guitar (D-41 copy, rosewood back and sides, pearloid binding and inlay, 3 piece back)

EH-7050 Mike Matthews Dirt Road Special amp w/phase shifter

EH-7100 Polyphase phase shifter/envelope follower

EH-7200 Golden Throat talk box

EH-7250 Deluxe Golden Throat talk box

EH-7300 Golden Throat II talk box

EH-7450 DRM-16 drum machine

EH-7451 DRM-15 drum machine

EH-7460 DRM-32 drum machine

EH-7470 Bass Machine

EH-7500 Memory Man solid state echo/analog delay line

EH-7550 Memory Man Deluxe echo/analog delay line (4 knobs)

EH-7600 10 band Graphic EQ

EH-7660 Mini-Mixer

EH-7700 Echoflanger

EH-7700 Polyflanger flange/chorus/slapback echo/filter matrix

EH-7700 Polychorus flange/chorus/slapback echo/filter matrix

EH-7810 Memory Man echo/chorus

EH-7811 Memory Man stereo echo/chorus

EH-7850 Deluxe Memory Man echo/chorus/vibrato (5 knobs)

EH-7860 Echo 600

EH-7870 2 Second Digital Delay

EH-7875 16 Second Digital Delay

EH-7900 Micro-Synthesizer

EH-7959 Bass Micro-Synthesizer

EH-8000 Guitar Synthesizer rackmount

EH-8001 1-10″ speaker cabinet

EH-8002 1-12″ speaker cabinet

EH-8003 1-15″ speaker cabinet

EH-8012 Celestion G12M 12″ heavy duty speaker

EH-8021 2-10″ speaker cabinet

EH-8022 2-12″ speaker cabinet

EH-8041 4-10″ speaker cabinet

EH-8042 4-12″ speaker cabinet

EH-8043 4-10″ column speaker cabinet

EH-8044 4-12″ column speaker cabinet

EH-8101 10″ speaker, 55 watts, 8 ohms

EH-8101 Carling SPDT footswitch

EH-8102 12″ speaker, 60 watts, 8 ohms

EH-8102 Military brass plugs

EH-8103 15″ speaker, 65 watts, 8 ohms

EH-8103 9 volt batteries (box of 10)

EH-8103 9 volt batteries (box of 12)

EH-8104 Double-ended male plugs

EH-8310 Instant Replay

EH-8320 Super Replay 4 second digital sampler

EH-8601 Control potentiometers, 100K audio taper, 3/4 watt (pkg of 12)

EH-8602 DPDT toggle switch, 3 amps @ 125v, 1 amp @ 250v

EH-8603 9 volt batteries (pkg of 10)

EH-8604 Knobs (pkg of 50)

EH-8605 Extension cords, 6 ft w/molded ends

EH-8606 SPDT footswitches

EH-8607 Chassis (Big Muff style)

EH-9100 9 volt adapter

EH-9203 Domino Theory sound sensitive light tube

EH-9390 3 Phase Liner electronic necklace

EH-9550 Corona Concert

EH-9620 Stereo Ambitron

EH-9650 Stereo Ambitron plus reverb

EH-9650 Ambitron mono to stereo exciter

EH-9875 6 function foot controller

EH-9900 64 Second Digital Looping Delay

EH-18100 18 volt battery eliminator (supplied w/Rhythm 12)

The following items do not have model numbers yet. If you can provide them, please contact me.

EH/Brody acoustic guitar

EH 12-string electric/acoustic guitar

Electro-Harmonix Guitar Radio

Linear Stereo Booster 1

Mike Matthews Freedom Bass amp (AC, AC/DC, DC)

Mike Matthews Freedom PA amp (AC, AC/DC, DC)

Pulse Modulator

Stereo Pulse Modulator

Super Twin reverb amp

Tape Reverse Simulator

UMI Wireless Wizard (distributed by EH)

In addition, you may have noticed some items listed more than once. That’s because EH often changed the model numbers as new products appeared or new versions were released. Check your EH pedals for numbers not appearing here.

Meet My Mistresses

Saturday, 29 September 2007 15:16

This month, we’re going to take a look at EH’s third most popular product (after the Big Muff and Small Stone): The Electric Mistress.

The Electric Mistress……there’s a name that invokes some erotic imagery to the uninformed. Sounds like something you could order out of the back of a “men’s magazine” .To the guitarist, it invokes the image of one of the best flangers ever made.

Flanging is a term that was first used to describe the process of putting a finger on a tape reel to slightly change its speed during mixdown. According to the original EH ad, the effect was also produced using “multiple tape machines or digital relay systems”. Later, as electronics grew more sophisticated, comb filters were used to simulate the process. Probably one of the best known examples of this effect is Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ About Love” (although I believe he used the MXR Flanger).

The Mistress first made its appearance around 1976 with a model that was slightly different from those commonly seen today. Housed in a Big Muff-style chassis, the Mistress had 3 controls: Rate, Range, and Color. These earlier models had one significant difference from the later models. In place of the familiar Filter Matrix switch, the earlier models had an On/Off switch. That, and different lettering on the top, distinguishes these earlier models from their later versions. It would seem that EH only made this version for a very short time before changing over to the now all too familiar version with the Filter Matrix switch.

The controls were somewhat self-explanatory. Rate, of course, set the speed of the flange. Range set the width of the flange from very narrow to wide. Color was used to adjust how pronounced the effect was, basically it was a Feedback control. On the later models, the Filter Matrix switch was used to stop the sweep of the flange, but not the effect itself. Using the Range and Color controls, the flange could then be set and kept in any part of the sweep. This allows for some really interesting tones to be obtained. Both units operated from two 9 volt batteries placed in series to create 18 volts so be sure to use an 18 volt adapter when using the Mistress’ AC adapter jack!!

Not content to stop there, EH released the Deluxe Electric Mistress around 1978 (Fig. 3). The Deluxe was powered by AC and featured improved noise and distortion specifications as well as greater reliability. It was designed by Howard Davis, who was interviewed here . In the early 80’s, Howard also redesigned the standard Electric Mistress to operate from one 9 volt battery.

Check out these 2 Deluxe Electric Mistresses. The green one is a later model, but internally they’re exactly the same thing. They even have the same boards inside. Some people think there’s a difference and charge more for the green models, but we know differently, don’t we?

Regarding the reliability issue, earlier versions of the Electric Mistress were prone to trouble in the voltage regulation section so EH released a sheet explaining how to change a few parts to improve reliability. I’ve done this mod before on many Misresses and found it to be very worthwhile. Seems the main problem I’ve seen is the voltage regulation circuit going bad so I just rebuild it while I’m in there.

Electro-HArmonix reissued the Electric Mistress in the late 90’s, using a different delay IC. They also made several prototypes of a Sovtek version of the Electric Mistress, which you can see here.

EH ads stated “Electro-Harmonix President Keeps Two Mistresses!”. Don’t tell my wife, but I’ve got 3!

Coming soon: the H&H “Clockwork Concubine”. A british-built Electric Mistress copy!!

Thanks to: unknown individual for later Electric Mistress, Fred Mangan for the earlier model, and Brian Wolcott for the Deluxe.

Do You Feel? and Rocky Mountain Way

Saturday, 29 September 2007 15:22

If you’re “in the know”, you know the common link for those two songs is the use of the talk box effect. Heck, those songs made the talk box a household word (assuming, of course, that you live in a musician household)! For those of you who don’t know, a talk box works by taking the speaker output of your amp and running it into a midrange driver. The sound then travels from the speaker, through a plastic tube, and into your mouth. Still with me? The end of the tube is held in your teeth while you move your mouth to shape the sound coming out. In order to be heard in a live situation, you MUST stand behind a microphone so the sound can go through the P.A. system. On this trip, we’ll take a look at Electro-Harmonix’ versions of the talk box, the Golden Throat series.

EH-7200, The Golden Throat (not to be confused with the Velvet Fog a.k.a. Mel Torme), debuted around ’76-’77. It was housed in a box slightly smaller than the Big Muff (6 3/4 x 5 x 3) and is easily recognized by its rectangular shape with no slope in the top. The earlier models had “Golden” written down one side of the top with “Throat” down the other while later editions had the name written at an angle just above the tube connector. These early models also featured a classy gold plastic tube.

The Golden Throat didn’t have any controls, but why would you need them? Basically, you run a speaker cord from your amp to the jack marked “Amplifier” and another speaker cord from your speaker to the jack marked, what else? “speaker”. Hitting the footswitch allows you to change from your straight amp mode to the talk box mode. A red “Overload” light tells you when you’re driving the box too hard. The ad copy states that “wah, fuzz, tremolo, phasing, and many other effects are possible.” The Golden Throat contained no electronic circuitry at all. Open it up, and all you’ll find is a 100 watt driver, two 1/4″ jacks, a footswitch to switch between your amp’s speaker and the GT, and a lamp holder with a #1073 lamp. No batteries to worry about. All you needed to make music was the included 6′ plastic tube that attached to it. Two other models were added later to the Golden Throat line, the first being the Golden Throat II, which was designated EH-7300. This was essentially the same thing, but was advertised as an economy model. I’ve heard that the only difference is that the II has a 50 watt driver. My GT II is actually taller than the GT, measuring at 4 1/8″ deep as opposed to the GT’s 3″.

The king of the family was EH-7250, the Golden Throat Deluxe. This was a talk box containing a small (in size) amplifier circuit. The inclusion of an amplifier allowed you to use a talk box without sacrificing the normal sound of your amp. The amp was rated at 25 watts RMS and 65 watts peak with volume and tone controls. Of course, you need a bigger box to put all this in so the box was increased in size. In addition to the aforementioned controls, it also featured 2 footswitches marked “EXT. AMP” and “MONITOR”. Hitting the EXT. AMP switch patched your input signal to the EXT. AMP jack which was then plugged into your amp. This allowed your signal to be run through your amp and the talk box at the same time. The MONITOR footswitch switched the output of the internal amp circuit from the driver to the MONITOR jack where you could plug in a speaker cabinet. By using the footswitches together, you could have the signal only from your amp or from the talk box tube. The inclusion of an amplifier required that you plug the Deluxe into the wall for power.

All these pedals qualify for the heavyweight category of effects. The Golden Throat weighed in at a hefty 5 lbs while the II model is about 3 lbs. The Deluxe is also at about 3 lbs. Don’t drop them on your foot!!

I recently took my newly acquired Deluxe to a party/jam where it became an immediate hit with the musicians. Everyone really got off on the distorted tone the Deluxe is capable of at full volume (careful you don’t rattle your teeth right out). Steve Woods immediately went into his rendition of Frampton’s “Do You Feel” which sounded very cool. Another plus of the Deluxe is you can unscrew the tube from it and use the unit as a small practice amp or as a head, patching the output to an external speaker cabinet.

The Golden Throat carried a price of $119.95 at the time of its introduction although a later (5/78) price list has it listed at $99.00. The II was priced at $79.00 and the Deluxe at $149.95. Prices today range from $100 to $175 for the I or II and up to $200+ for the Deluxe. Do yourself a favor: CLEAN THE TUBE WHEN YOU BUY ONE!!! Who knows where it’s been!

Thanks to my former neighbor for the Golden Throat, Guitarzan for the Golden Throat II, and Jeff & Al at Guitar-O-Rama for the Deluxe.

Harelip! Harelip!

Saturday, 29 September 2007 15:27

Aaah!!! If only Electro-Harmonix had made a Wood-eye pedal, we’d be able to complete that old joke. Since they didn’t, this month we’ll take a closer look at the one part they did make: the Hare-lip Microphone Echo, one of Electro-Harmonix’s more unusual pedals.

Before anybody gets offended, let me state up front that Mike Matthews didn’t use the name Hare-lip as a derogatory term. He originally intended the name as a “taboo breaker”, but it soon became another interesting name to add to the long list as well as an excuse for me to look offended when asked if I have one.

The Hare-lip, model # EH-3004, dates all the way back to the early 70’s. In fact, the earliest mention I can find of it is from an old EH price list that expired Jan. 20, 1973. An old ad offers a glimpse of the function of this most unusually monikered effect: “Gives the singer echo effect electronically, and at one-tenth the cost of the mechanical tape echo units.”

The Hare-lip Microphone Echo was housed in the very cool first edition Big Muff Pi style box with the hip triangle knob configuration. The controls are (clockwise from left): Volume, Speed, and Echo. The power switch is located conveniently just above the Volume control and the box is connected inline via the two 1/4″ jacks at the rear. No XLR connectors here, folks. This was a REAL MAN’S echo unit.

Plugging into the echo, the volume of the clean signal is set with the Volume control, while the Speed and Echo knobs set (what else?) the speed and volume of the echoed signal. A drawback is the click that is produced with each “Echo” but this may be less distinct on some examples and more pronounced on others. I have talked to at least one person who purchased one new and the click was so loud he feared for his speaker’s safety (Sound familiar, Bruce B.?).

Although the echo was designed for voice, it can be used for guitar as well. This month’s guest guitarist, Steve Woods of Roadworthy Guitar and Amp, tried the Hare-lip out and claimed to be less than enthusiastic about it. It seems that it doesn’t really produce an authentic echo effect since when you stop playing, so does the Hare-lip. With Volume at a minimum and the Speed and Echo knobs at full, it CAN function as a cool tremolo pedal if you don’t mind the click it produces. Steve was able to get a pseudo-echo effect while Travis-picking as well as an interesting effect using the pulses as a metronome. Mike Matthews describes the effect as a “hard pulse” as opposed to a tremolo’s “soft pulse”.

What hip vocalist would lug around a clumsy ol’ echo unit that used (GASP!) tape when he/she could take advantage of the wonders of solid-state electronics? Apparently quite a few went with the tape instead, presumably for its more realistic echo, and by about 1975 the Hare-lip had disappeared from the catalog.

This time we’ve got two Hare-lips to compare internally. Inside Hare-lip #1, we find a basic circuit with only 4 transistors to speak of: a 2N3563 in the middle of the board and a row at the bottom consisting of (l-r) an SPT87-103 and two 2N5133s. Hare-lip #2 has the same basic circuit, but with a 2N5133 in place of the SPT87-103 and a couple of different capacitors. The pots of both are date-coded 1966 and are probably from the same batch as used on the early Big Muffs. Power is supplied via the standard 9 volt battery.

Need an echo for your vocals? The Hare-lip was priced to sell at a cost of $39.95 for a factory wired one, or you could build it yourself from a kit for $26.95 (anybody out there ever built any EH item from a kit?). Since it had such a limited time of availability, the Hare-lip seems to be fairly scarce today. One word of advice: DON’T USE IT AS AN ECHO!!! Use it as a tremolo.

Thanks to Jay Pilzer of New Hope Guitar Traders for Hare-lip #1 and Rod and Hank’s Vintage Guitars for Hare-lip #2.