WEM Watkins Copicat MK4 (1975 "Black Button") Solid State Tape Delay

A short demo of a Watkins Copicat MK4 solid state tape delay machine. No talking, no added effects, just the Copicat doing it’s magic 🌀
Signal path:
Fender Jaguar (V-Mod Jag pickups + 250k pots) - ‘75 Copicat MK4 - ‘77 Fender Bassman 70 head - 1x12 closed back cab + ‘12 Eminence Texas Heat 4ohm speaker - Sennheiser e609 - GarageBand (no added effects)
#WEM #watkins #copicat #watkinscopicat #tapedelay #bassman70 #fenderjaguar

[@marclouis-boyard]

Back when I was hunting for a Dynacord Super 76 tape echo, the WEM Copycat caught my eye. I did a lot of research and was really excited about the possibility of owning one, but every seller I contacted said it was too fragile to ship. It was such a letdown because I was eager to test it out and see how it compared to other tape echoes. Even though I missed out on the Copycat, I’m still very interested in trying it someday. I love reviewing vintage gear, and this one is definitely on my list of must-tries!

[@DeadKoby]

I'm in the process of fixing up one of these... wish me luck.

[@TheTinMan123]

Such an incredible sound from real tape echo, great demo

[@LTEopeththeater]

Thanks man, glad you liked the demo! They are such wonderful machines indeed 😁

[@JR_Taylor]

Picked up one today, after hearing this im excited to plug her in now

[@TheRhino2719]

I just found one of these for 250 pounds. Had to see what it sounds like. It sounds incredible.

[@carolramsey6287]

I had the earlier Powercat which was thermionic valve not solid-state circuitry.

[@wehappyfewmusic]

This sounds amazing! Can you do fine adjustments the repeat rate on this unit?

[@LTEopeththeater]

Thank you!! I beleve it doesn’t have a control for speed adjustments or fine tuning, it just spins the tape one fixed speed along the three pick-up tape heads for three fixed delay timings. I think there are some mods on the internet to add a speed control.

[@wehappyfewmusic]

@@LTEopeththeater oh cool, I’ll have a look for the details of that mod.

[@laddiemusic]

how is that different than a feedback loop on a single head?

[@spazkong]

Thanks for posting your fine demonstration. Mine has a lot more hum than I'd like. Sometimes this is good although, I wonder is there a way of removing the hum without the use of a noise gate or software frequency removal tool? Do you know of any good modification or an electronics/electrical engineers who could correct this? I do know from looking at the specs, it has an AC motor which is crazy in this day and age!

[@LTEopeththeater]

Thank you James, glad you liked the demo! I know an adress in the UK called Amp-Fix which is specialized in WEM gear. I think they might know a solution regarding the noise. They also sell Copicat parts to keep these old machines running.

[@Danielallanz]

Replace the electro cap on the power rail..this will do a lot to filter noise out..electro cap start to fail after 30 years and their abilly to filter out hum decreses

[@spazkong]

@@Danielallanz Thanks for the advice. I shall get this looked at