Roland RE-301 Chorus Echo

The Roland RE-301 Chorus Echo (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a "Space Echo") is an iconic tape delay/echo unit with chorus and reverb features. All three members of The Police had owned one.

Stewart Copeland's Roland RE-301 Chorus Echo
The Roland RE-301 was best known to be the device with which Stewart used to great effect to create polyrhythms during the course of the late 1970s.

Typically, Stewart used to operate the Chorus Echo via a footswitch, so he could turn it on during a verse, turn off in the chorus etc. The snare had two microphones, and one of them was plugged into the Chorus Echo. The delay signal originally went into an amplifier behind Stewart, which was a Fender Twin - later replaced with a Roland JC-60 Jazz Chorus, which sat towards the right of him during concerts in late 1979. Eventually, by the time drum tech Jeff Seitz joined The Police's road crew, the delay signals were sent direct to the PA without the need of an amplifier.

It is often thought Stewart got the echo in October 1979, but that was more likely as early as March 1979. See here for more information. Originally he bought it for guitar, but he eventually decided to try the Echo on the drums during a soundcheck, and continued to refine his echo technique from there.

Stewart's diary entries go as far as mentioning the Chorus Echo as being purchased on 1 October 1979, but this was most likely a backup Chorus Echo. Two Chorus Echo's were pictured in his setup on The Police's Japanese tour in early 1980.

Sting's Roland Chorus Echo
Sting had this device for recording demos of his songs during the early 1980s.

Andy Summers' Roland RE-301 Chorus Echo
Andy Summers had a Chorus Echo, which he used live early on during the Zenyatta Mondatta tour in Summer 1980 for processing sounds from his Pete Cornish custom FX board. However, in terms of delay effects, he preferred the Echoplex tape delay.