My first one was a WEM Watkins Copycat. I’d been waiting ages to get one (at a price I could afford back then). Imagine my excitement when I did manage to track one down. I couldn’t wait to try it out.
Shortly after buying it, we had a gig and I proudly set it up (hoping I would sound like Peter Green). The gig was going alright but then we noticed a strange smell, so I switched it off. It wasn’t your normal overheating smell, so we tried it again at the next gig. The same thing happened. I was really disappointed. We decided to take it apart and see if we could locate the problem. We located it alright… a dead mouse!! The guy I bought it off was the kind of guy that would have charged me extra if I’d brought it back! 
What a character. His garage was like Aladdin’s Cave. You never knew what you’d find in there… but you’d never leave empty-handed, that’s for sure.
The Binson was the Rolls Royce of echo units at that time. The showbands used them a lot (mostly with their P.A. system).
My plan was to upgrade to one when the time was right, and I had the money! Eventually I did get to try one out but I’d gotten so used to my Copycat by then that I decided to keep on using it. It was a great ol’ warrior and gave me lots of pleasure for all the years I used it.
Ah, the good ol’ days! 