Why David Gilmour’s Binson Echorec Defined ‘Echoes’ Live – and Why He Eventually Dropped It

On the 1971 Meddle tour, David Gilmour’s Binson Echorec was the secret weapon behind the swimming, spaced-out guitar tones on “Echoes.” The Echorec used a rotating magnetic disc and multiple playback heads to create four distinct, closely spaced repeats that could be mixed independently. That gave Gilmour a shimmering, almost organ-like sustain – not a simple slapback, but a wash of sound that seemed to hang in the air. The famous “ping” at the start of the song came from hitting the strings and letting the Echorec’s self-oscillation bloom into a clean, bell-like tone that no digital unit has ever quite replicated.

By the mid‑1970s, however, Gilmour began phasing the Binson out. The Echorec was notoriously finicky: its discs wore down, the motor speed drifted, and the units were heavy and heat‑sensitive. Onstage, a single malfunction could kill the entire guitar sound mid‑song. He started using the MXR Digital Delay and later the TC Electronic 2290, which offered pristine repeats, programmable presets, and rock‑solid reliability. While those digital units gave him cleaner, more controllable echoes, Gilmour often said the Binson had a “warmth” and “organic feel” he missed. Some fans argue that the Echorec’s unpredictability was part of the magic – you never got the same delay twice.