The original Roland Space Echo was a thing of sonic beauty, used by everyone from Brian Setzer to Bob Marley and Radiohead. Universal Audio has ported that vibe into the UAFX Galaxy ’74 Tape Echo & Reverb.

The Galaxy is as simple or complex as you want. As a straight-up stompbox, there are intuitive controls like Echo Rate (time), Feedback, and Echo Vol (blend), like most delays. But there’s also a toggle that switches between virtual tape heads for different delay times (dotted 8th and 16th notes, quarter notes). The bottom controls include Input Volume and tools like Dwell (drive into the reverb) and Reverb Volume; another toggle accesses secondary functions like Tape Age, Bass, and Treble. The footwitches let you turn the echo/reverb on and off, as well as Tap tempo and Hold for gnarly, real-time effects.
Plugged in, the Galaxy adds everything from classic echo and rockabilly slapback to silky repeats that evoke otherworldly chime for shoegazers. The pedals sounds great in mono, but stereo outputs take it to another level, and there are further controls you can tweak via the UAFX smartphone app. It also has a USB-C port for firmware updates via the UA Connect app.

While on the pricey side, the Galaxy ’74 is eminently hip – and ready for deep sonic explorations.

This article originally appeared in VG’s October 2023 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.