Roland/Boss RE-20 Space Echo

[glimmertwin]

I have one on order...we'll see how it goes.

Mine's backordered for another month or longer.  Looks I wont have one to try just yet...

Well since we are sharing...I had one on order and canceled my order after I found out it was going to be back ordered for a while.  As luck would have it, when I was in a local guitar center they had a few in stock so I went on ahead and grabbed one.  I was having a problem with my main analog delay that I use for slapback - it's a little intermittent and had a lot of signal loss on vs off which made certain songs difficult to pull off live-plus I like the sound of some of the options the expresion pedal offers sooooo...

..I get it home and start playing with it and I must confess I was a little underwhelmed.  Some of the features are cool, but it sounds a little harsh and the oscillator ramp feature isn't as useful as I would have thought.  Plus it's not as easy to get a good slapback as I was thinking.  I take it to practice and I'm just not sold on it...Hmmm...considering taking it back.  A new bass VI project is looking pretty good right about now...this could get me the cash to start a project like that...

So as a last ditch attempt, I sit down and start tweaking it a little more - playing with the reverb EQ, input gain, and the echo volume....now it's starting to make a little more sense.  I hook it up to an old SH-101 and things start to sound pretty nice...tweak it a little bit more and I'm starting to get the hang of it.  So at my next practice I take it along and try it out again with guitar - and this time I'm really impressed.  I get a decent slap back sound(thanks to the echo volume), it's tamed down a lot with the reverb EQ and the input gain settings tweaked.  I even find the oscillation "warp" a little charming after playing around with it.  I start to really like the "on the verge of oscillation" sound that gives instant atmosphere to naked guitar figures.  The reverb doesn't sound too hot cranked up, but in small doses it's okay....but my holy grail isn't going anywhere. 

...since then I have played with a few more times and I think I'm going to keep it around and make it my main delay for now.  It's not going to make anyone sell their vintage gear, but I think for portability, flexibility(still need to get the Roland expression pedal), and a decent sound, it's a worthy pedal for most.  I would almost go so far as to say everyone should own one if not for the rather steep price.  I'm not sure if it's necessarily worth $250, but it's a strong pedal and if you can afford it, I say go for it.  The tap tempo is a very useful feature - especially for songs that have a few tempos in them....or if your band mates have a tendency to push/pull the tempo a lot in one song(I have a relatively green drummer). 

[Sauerkraut]

I got one yesterday. I tried it in the shop and I was quite impressed, you have mess about with the knobs a bit first (to find out it's not a good idea to push the intensity past 3 o'clock, people ran out the shop fleeing from my insane feedback), but when you find out how it works it's very rewarding. I like it a lot more than my Akai Headrush so I'm selling that one.

[dryjoy]

I just got one of these, and I am very impressed. I have never owned a real space echo, but I have used one several times. No, it doesn't sound EXACTLY like the real thing, but it is pretty damn close IMHO. In the studio - if you had the choice between this and a real RE-201, you would of course go for the real RE-201, because the nuances of the genuine tape delay would come through. If you only had the RE-20 in the studio, it would still be VERY useable.
If you like the sound of the RE-201, then for live use, the RE-20 is the bomb. Reliable (hopefully, time and a few gigs will tell!), no maintenance required, and I would be surprised if anyone apart from RE-201 fanatics could really tell the difference in a blind test with a whole band playing. And your audience will just think your ear splitting, self oscillating feedback sounds awesome!
The only potential criticism is that in comparison with a lot of modern digital gear, the lack of presets but relatively (for a pedal) complex controls might be a downside. But to me, this is an UPSIDE. I don't want to sound the same each time, and any piece of gear with a character and sound that I love, but that is unpredictable is a boon to me, I thrive off of that unpredictable vibe. And I'm lucky to be in a band that all have the same outlook. We had a rehersal last night, and everyone was saying "I love that pedal, where did you find that?". Could be annoying coz people might want to borrow it for their studios!
The only thing is that I would urge anyone to try before they buy - I know that's always important, but especially with this. It's not everyones cup of tea, it does what it says on the tin very well, but it is relatively expensive and it doesn't do the same thing as the majority of other delays. If you want the RE-201 sound and have the cash, I'd say go for it!

[FireAarro]

...since then I have played with a few more times and I think I'm going to keep it around and make it my main delay for now.  It's not going to make anyone sell their vintage gear, but I think for portability, flexibility(still need to get the Roland expression pedal), and a decent sound, it's a worthy pedal for most.  I would almost go so far as to say everyone should own one if not for the rather steep price.  I'm not sure if it's necessarily worth $250, but it's a strong pedal and if you can afford it, I say go for it.  The tap tempo is a very useful feature - especially for songs that have a few tempos in them....or if your band mates have a tendency to push/pull the tempo a lot in one song(I have a relatively green drummer). 

I think the tap tempo would be a lot more useful if there was a tap/repeat ratio control.. It's really hard to tap accurately fast enough sometimes.

[glimmertwin]

I think the tap tempo would be a lot more useful if there was a tap/repeat ratio control.. It's really hard to tap accurately fast enough sometimes.

...I'm afraid I don't follow.  Do you mean if the built in tap rocker where set up kind of like an expression pedal that could be rocked similar to how you would twist the repeat rate knob?

[i love sharin foo]

I just got one of these, and I am very impressed. I have never owned a real space echo, but I have used one several times. No, it doesn't sound EXACTLY like the real thing, but it is pretty damn close IMHO. In the studio - if you had the choice between this and a real RE-201, you would of course go for the real RE-201, because the nuances of the genuine tape delay would come through. If you only had the RE-20 in the studio, it would still be VERY useable.
If you like the sound of the RE-201, then for live use, the RE-20 is the bomb. Reliable (hopefully, time and a few gigs will tell!), no maintenance required, and I would be surprised if anyone apart from RE-201 fanatics could really tell the difference in a blind test with a whole band playing. And your audience will just think your ear splitting, self oscillating feedback sounds awesome!
The only potential criticism is that in comparison with a lot of modern digital gear, the lack of presets but relatively (for a pedal) complex controls might be a downside. But to me, this is an UPSIDE. I don't want to sound the same each time, and any piece of gear with a character and sound that I love, but that is unpredictable is a boon to me, I thrive off of that unpredictable vibe. And I'm lucky to be in a band that all have the same outlook. We had a rehersal last night, and everyone was saying "I love that pedal, where did you find that?". Could be annoying coz people might want to borrow it for their studios!
The only thing is that I would urge anyone to try before they buy - I know that's always important, but especially with this. It's not everyones cup of tea, it does what it says on the tin very well, but it is relatively expensive and it doesn't do the same thing as the majority of other delays. If you want the RE-201 sound and have the cash, I'd say go for it!

Thanks for the review!

I keep reading about these and really wanting one. I have an actual RE-201 but I don't use it a whole lot. It totally takes over the dry tone even when bypassed. I guess it would be simple to use a truebypass boxwith it, but still..

I generally like more delay time also.

Justin

[glimmertwin]

....you can set it up to either have the delay time of the original or there is a mode that I believe doubles the delay time for all the settings.  I believe it's called "long" mode. 

...I have a childish sense of humor. 

[i love sharin foo]

....you can set it up to either have the delay time of the original or there is a mode that I believe doubles the delay time for all the settings.  I believe it's called "long" mode.   :-[

...I have a childish sense of humor. 

I am not sure I follow you... I said that the RE-201 doesn't have enough delay time, which is why the RE-20 would be cool to have around.

Justin

[glimmertwin]

....you can set it up to either have the delay time of the original or there is a mode that I believe doubles the delay time for all the settings.  I believe it's called "long" mode. 

...I have a childish sense of humor. 

I am not sure I follow you... I said that the RE-201 doesn't have enough delay time, which is why the RE-20 would be cool to have around.

Justin

...got ya - I misread your earlier post. 

[imperfectism]

as soon as my tax return gets here...

[the_devils_tool]

I've got one, I didn't like it at first - using it for slapback echo seems like overkill, but as I got to messing with it I warmed up to it.

Take your time tweaking all the settings, you'll probably find something that you like out of it.