Guitar / Music

Tel-Rey Variable Delay

TEL-RAY is a long-forgotten California electronics company that made "tape-less echo effects" in the 60's, before analog delay pedals existed.

The mastermind behind this space-age approach to delay effects Tel-Ray's head honcho, Ray Lubow. Instead of tape, "Adineko Memory System" used what looks like a tuna can filled with electrolytic oil. A tiny motor pulls a miniature rubber belt, spinning a flywheel armed with a pickup inside the can, acting like a recording head, sloshing it around in the oil to produce echo.

While some Adineko effects were designed to create delay and reverb, others produced a strange pitch-shifting effect, an uneven and somewhat schizophrenic warbling sound.