Boss RE-20 Space Echo

If you like having effects on your should you probably want to have a tape delay unit. Real tape delay units are becoming very expensive. They require constant maintenence and replacement tape is getting hard to find. With technology now you are able to get a pedal that can simulate all the nuances of a real tape delay in a digital unit. With the RE-20 Boss has been able to replicate the classic Roland RE-201 SPace Echo in digital form. If you remember the old RE-201 it was a big monster of a unit full of delicate electronics and tape. The RE-20 is a twin pedal unit with 8 knobs on the front. The pedals control the on and off of the delay and the tap function. The 8 knobs are Bass, Treble, Reverb volume, Repeat Rate, Intensity and Echo volume. There is also a large 12 mode selector. The unit also had twin inputs and outputs. It also has a jack for an expression pedal

UTILIZATION

The win pedals are large but they are not labeled. All the knobs are large and labeled. The knobs are big enough to where you can adjust the settings on the fly. The peak level LED is nice so you can see how hard you are pushing the pedal. The tap tempo pedal does what it says. It allows you to tap out a tempo for the delay. If you hold down the tap pedal it also allows you to change the intensity of the delay. You can use batteries but I would not recommend it. A pedal this large will go through batteries very fast.

SOUND QUALITY

It has a normal mode and long mode. Normal mode gets you up to 3 seconds of delay while long mode gets you up to 6 seconds of delay. The 12 mode selector replicates the 12 modes the original tape delay had. The RE-201 had different modes that used the different tape heads to get different sounds from the delay. The RE-20 simulates this digitally. Some of these different modes are a bit noisy. This may also be on purpose replicating the extra noise you would get from a real tape delay unit. At subtle setting it can act like a reverb pedal and at extreme settings the sound is extreme. Turning up the reverb can get you some crazy sounds. You can even get some wah sounds with this.

OVERALL OPINION

If you want or had an old Roland RE-201 tape delay and are looking for something cheaper and more reliable this could be the unit for you. It has a ton of features more than anyone should need from just a delay pedal and with its modern design it should last you a long time.

The Boss RE-20 Space Echo is a digital take on the old tape echo units made by Roland. It has stereo ins and outs and an expression pedal input. It has a few different modes of delay, echo and reverb. You can control the levels of each effect. It's in a very durable twin pedal format. One footswitch turning the pedal on and off and the other being a tap tempo and a 'warping' function I'll cover later.

UTILIZATION

This is a very easy pedal to use. On/off switch and a tap tempo/warp switch. It has separate controls for the reverb and delay. The reverb knobs include: Bass, Treble and Reverb Volume. Volume being the level of reverb. The delay controls include: Repeat Rate, Intensity and Echo volume. The Repeat rate is the same as the 'delay time'. The intensity is the amount of repeats. The pedal also has an input level that is active and controls your level if the pedal is on or off as well as a peak level LED showing when you are overloading the unit. You can make this pedal go into self-oscillation very easily. That brings me to the 'warp' mode. When you hold the tap tempo down the echo will start to oscillate and sound like someone is destroying the tape inside of an old echo unit. The manual, like most Boss manuals, is very helpful in showing you every nook and cranny this pedal has to offer.

SOUND QUALITY

The RE-20 Space Echo is a great unit that does not kill tone and has stellar sounding repeats. There is so much to be said about this pedal. I've used it with a few different guitars and amps and it seems to handle them all. It's truly a fantastic sounding echo unit.

OVERALL OPINION

The thing I like most about this pedal is the ability to control both the reverb and the delay separately to create a sonically pleasing delay tone. There are literally a million good things I can say about this unit. I've been extremely happy with it. It's really nice for the price and sounds great with any rig. The warp mode is a nice little touch that is really fun to play with. I would recommend this to anyone looking for something a little different in a delay.

The Boss RE-20 Space Echo is a reverb and delay guitar effects pedal. It has 11 different modes for all different types of delays and reverbs and has ¼ inch inputs and outputs. It is powered by the power supply that comes with it and I believe there is no way to power it with a battery. This is not a rack mountable piece of gear as it is a stomp box.

UTILIZATION

It only takes a small amount of time to get used to the Boss RE-20 Space Echo and to learn how to use everything. The pedal has a variety of knobs including one to choose the mode, and then a whole slew of different parameters to control the tone including for bass, treble, reverb volume, repeat rate, intensity, echo volume, and input volume. It has two separate foot pedals and also has the ability to tap out the tempo which comes in very handy for the delay effects. The manual for the Boss RE-20 Space Echo is pretty informative but I wouldn’t worry about it if you don’t have one as it is easy enough to use on its own.

SOUND QUALITY

While the sound quality of the Boss RE-20 Space Echo doesn’t match that of the original classic Roland Space Echo, it still has an overall awesome sound to it. The different types of reverb and delay effects are pretty endless with this unit thanks to all of the different modes and parameters made available. I’ve used this pedal both for recording and live shows and it has proved to be a superior pedal for any application.

OVERALL OPINION

I’ve only been using Boss RE-20 Space Echo for about six months but in that time I’ve really grown to love this pedal. Not only is it extremely versatile, but pretty much all of the possibilities have a clean sound to them and all sound pretty professional. While there is no replacing the original Space Echo, the Boss RE-20 Space Echo does a nice job of emulating the classic unit and making it available to those of us who want that classic sound in the convenience of a digital pedal.