I’ve read a lot of forum comments and they all claim that pigtronix is interesting but doesn’t really comes close to the EHX attack decay pedal, just as a lot of volume/swell pedals. I think it’s a shame that EHX doesn’t built a reissue of such a great pedal. There are a lot of video’s on youtube that show the sound and versatility of these pedals, but none of them really hold up to their promise such as the Danelectro Back Talk, Boss Slow Gear or the tape reverse option on the Boss Digital Delay 7 which all sound ugly and are pretty useless. I have a Snarling Dog Foot pedal (built like a Wah pedal) which has an volume and tape reverse option. But it is not really suited to simulate tape reverse in a solo since you have to move the foot pedal all the way up and then all the way down to achieve the maximum point that gives the characteristic effect of the tape reverse effect. This will not work well since the phrasing of a solo consist of very long but very fast notes too and the latter ones are a problem having to move a foot pedal all the way up or down which takes just too long. Thus pretty useless as well. Volume pedals have different characteristics that don’t really sound like a tape reverse effect.
I remember having seen and hearing a Marshall Cream Machine effect top around 1986 that had a very impressive tape reverse effect but I haven’t found such a device on ebay or internet at all. Nobody seems to know about a Marshall Cream Machine.
Again; anything that comes close at the moment is the Prescription Electronics Experience.

Tape Reverse effect – Expression pedal

I bought a Memory man with Hazarai last year and an AttackDecay pedal a while later.
A realistic Tape Reverse effect still seems quite elusive to emulate. Not quite satisfied yet.
The greatest problem creating a realistic Tpe Reverse effect seem to be:
1 – Playing a solo it consists of longer and shorter notes. Thus geting the Swell and Decay function correctly.
2 – With many pedlas out there you cannot decouple the reverse function from the delay function (MemorymanHazarai, Line6 Pod, Danelectro BackTalk etc.)

The Memory Man has a nice cutoff at the end of the tone, just like the real thing when the pedal control knobs are at their most extreme position. But the downaide of this pedal is that even at its most extreme setting the signal cannot be totally dislocated from the delay function i.e repeats. Another downside is that it takes a while for the signal to get started in this setting after picking the note.

Now the Attack Decay pedal does not suffer from these repeats since it is not coupled to a(digital/anaologue)delay.
But a real Tape reverse effect swells slowly and then is suddenly cut off at its apex.
With the Attack Decay the signal fades away slowly at the end. This can be altered of course with the Decay-knob but then you get these staccato like repeats. Now it sounds more like the Japanese Banjo from the EHX instruction video(when trying to shorten the cutoff by turning back the decay knob counter-clockwise) which is not at all what you’re looking for when trying to do a Tape Reverse effect. Consequently you have to turn down the Attack-knob now too but that doen’t do the trick.

Furtermore: When playing a solo it consists of long and shorter notes. This is a problem for the Attack-knob on the AttackDecay pedal.
Try playing the “Castles made of Sand”-solo correctly with this pedal. You’ll have a hard time.

The manual states that an EHX Expression foot Pedal can be hooked up to the Attack Decay an give you direct control over each control-knob on the Attack Decay.

My question now is:
1- does anyone have some experience with an Expression pedal on the AttackDecay (decay/attack-knob),
2- and more specific in creating a more realistic cutoff at the end of the guitar note like on the Memory Man Tape Reverse effect.
3- Or could this cutoff (like the MemoryManHazarai)be achieved by other technical means?