Boss RC-2 Loop Station

It is easy for me but for the beginers, it may be tricky.

Is this an FX pedal?
I do not think so.

In general, Boss always dependable, right?
I think this one is kind of micro computer recorder.
So I can not tell it is dependable and I bought it for domestic use only

Never received the response or answer to my questions...
But I give some point because of the site.
I also have GR-30 and lost its manual. And I could download the manual by the net.
I think 5 is fair enough.

I bought it for my improvise practice only.
Just record some chords progressions and improvise over them until my fingers bleed... :)
It fullfills my goal... so I can not complain.
If you have some trouble for improvising training, you may need one.
There are plenty loop pedal out there. (Digitech Jamman or Boss RC series...) but this is a strip down version.
Just plug, record and play!

Tricky. I found it impossible to catch the end of a prerecorded loop. The problem is the type of switch in the footpedal; it's very difficult to know at which point it's going to actually switch. The AKAI Headrush has a far more positive switch action and is much better for this type of application. Boss have simply used their stomp box type switches here.

It is also quite a bit more complex than your average Boss pedal, but there's a lot happening in a small space.

Sound quality is good, but I don't get excited about true bypass and such. The 1Meg input impedance on Boss pedals shouldn't load a guitar pickup audibly, esp. if the average guitar volume pot is 250k.

Physically it's robust, but I cannot reliably get a loop except at home in my bedroom with the quantise to the time track. I want to use it live, too.

This pedal needs a different type of switch, one that has a positive click action at the point where it toggles.

??? How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
o You just cant get a bad sound unless you cant play!
??? How about Editing patches?
o As long as you have timing, it is easy as pie.
??? How is the manual for it (if there is one)?
o Very user friendly, might be a tad long for inpatient people.

This unit is very easy to use, just as long as you READ the manual.

??? Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?
o The drum loops are fantastic.
??? What amp are you using it with?
o Vox AC-15 or Sennheiser RC-120???s

I have not found one bad thing with the pedal.
Without a doubt, this is the BEST pedal I have ever purchased.
I also think this pedal is a MUST for beginners, or people who play alone. That???s not to say advanced to pro players won???t find it an excellent addition to their arsenal.

??? Can you depend on it?
o This pedal hasn???t been out long enough to give an accurate answer, but if it follows the high quality of ALL other Boss pedals it will be a little Tank.

??? If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
o I have NEVER had to take any of my Boss pedals back.
??? Ever get an upgrade, or try and get it repaired?
o Repaired for sure, unless the new model was something special.

??? What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
o All styles, but I tend to play more classic/instrumental or blues/rock guitar.
??? How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
o Been playing for the last 10 years, and I have owned everything from the old Zoom multi effects, single Boss stomp boxes, to the V-amp 2.
??? If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
o If I couldn???t hunt down and disarticulate the scumbag who stole it, I would defiantly replace it.
??? what do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
o There is nothing to hate, and everything to love about it!!!
??? Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
o I compared it to the RC-20, but at the end of the day this was just as good and more compact.
??? Anything you wish it had?
o A built in stripper that got naked to my music!!!
??? Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?
o It is the most INCREDIBLY helpful single stomp box around.
??? Anything else you'd like to share?
o For the price and the features, I couldn???t recommend this little monster more. If you don???t have one, do yourself the favour and go get one NOW!!!

i have had the possibility to try a BOSS DD-6 (no looper was available, and i thought it might be a delay that i was searching for). that was very cool - my first looping! ok, i definitly needed a looper. the RC-2 is not that easy to operate like the DD-6, but it gets easy after a while. the manual, i think, is much too long, repetative and there are some mistakes. the RC-2??s charm is its size, so a adequate manual would have been fine.

looping: i like the AUTO-MODE mostly. no stress starting the loop, and stopping is fine, too. i sometimes did not stop at the '1', but was in rhythm, so exciting things happened. the other way: one measure is played with or without drums before recording starts. this still is a bit tricky to me though it works well and i??ll figure it out with the second battery. storing, deleting, overdubbing, undo/redo, tap tempo, loop/one shot, guide adjustments: no problems, easy. once you know how to erase temporary memory (erasing overdub: push footswitch 2 seconds with the loop running. erasing the not saved loop: first stop, then push footswitch 2 seconds) it is really easy to operate. a mic input would be fine.

just fine. i think you??ll get out of it what you have putted in. another feature is changing the tempo of a running loop without changing pitch. this maybe is just for learning - or you use it as effect: the sound will be tremoloed (or is it vibrato?)! i fiddle around with guitar, theremin, harp, congas and percussion.. no problem to use a mic with the RC-2, but you??ll need a preamp. harp and mic gives a strong signal, this worked fine with a ZOOM 505II before the RC-2. i use a mic preamp for the other stuff. looping guitar is just amazing - even with the recording being engaged for some loop-times and playing nothing the sound??s quality won??t get affected. there will be a bit loss, which i do not recognize, so i give it a 10. most of the drums i won??t use (i do like the HH) not because of the sound-quality - hey: this time i am the looper! this is what i buyed it for.

it is well build and seems to be durable. the first battery now is empty, and it still is running!

i called them (rolandmusik hamburg) in order to ask when the RC-2 would be available again - very friendly. i do like the website??s design and structure. yamaha has listed nearly every product they made, i wish BOSS would do the same.

at this point of time i am fully satisfied with the RC-2. ok, by using it i sometimes thought: the RC-50! 3 tracks individually! i wanted a small and not too complicated one and spending not too much money. i love the RC-2s idea of smallness and design. it should loop in a comfortable way and be able to store some loops. i wanted a tool for experiment and experience: it is just the right one for my needs and i of course would by it again!

the rc-2 is not <i>immediately</i> easy to use at all. i don't even know that i would say it eventually becomes easier to use. i've had it for awhile, and i still forget what some of the commands are. double click to stop. hold to set tempo. hold to delete overdub...etc. it takes some concentration when playing live.

<p>but if space on your pedalboard is at a premium (as mine is), then this is really your only choice. it IS remarkable just how much boss managed to pack into a pedal this size. it does a great deal, and offers a lot of looping options for a tiny pedal, so some amount of complicated operation has to be expected.

<p>there is one major annoyance with the rc-2 that i'm surprised no one has mentioned, considering it's kind of a big one. one that i wish someone had mentioned to me before i bought it. THERE IS A MINIMUM LOOP LENGTH. and it's not short...approx 1.5 seconds. that averages out to almost a full measure of 4. so short, quick loops for fun little textures or abrasive little redundancies are out of the question. if you try to record a short loop, it will simply continue until it fills up it's minimum length. I HATE THIS. mostly because, there's simply no reason for it. the thing can handle 16 minutes!! why can't it loop 16 milliseconds??

the rc-2 sounds as pristinely clean as you would expect any modern, digital device to sound. there is nothing inherently "warm" about this loop pedal. it reproduces exactly the signal it receives. i'm not sure, but i suspect the bit depth is 16-bit. to an audiophile that would be garbage, but to the average audience member, i'm sure it's more than adequate. i do a great deal of layering & stacking with the overdub feature, and it maintains it's quality pretty well with each additional track.

<p>the drum sounds are nothing short of awful. they are so canned, as to be completely laughable. my "guide track" volume is permanently set to ZERO. i may even pull the knob off, so as to avoid inadvertently ever hearing a peep out of those drums. i almost wish they had the option to be deleted altogether. if you play with a drummer, don't insult him/her by letting them hear these "drums"

i'm sure the casing is as tough as any boss pedal. it's the insides i wonder about. there's a great deal going on in this pedal. i wonder if the non-analog components are destined for the longevity most people expect from boss pedals. once the flash memory becomes heavily fragmented, we'll see if this pedal doesn't start getting glitchy. for now, it operates without problems. so, we'll give it the benefit of the doubt with a 10.

hope to never find out!

for the size & price, this pedal is unrivalled. it has features once only found in much larger, more costly units. the total loop time is an unbelievable 16 minutes. Probably the most invaluable aspect of purchasing this unit is realizing how endless it's possiblities are. beyond the obvious use of looping a rhythm track for soloing over, you can create nearly infinite layers to build & build upon. if you put it towards the end of your signal chain, you can layer a flanged track over a tremoloed track, over a delayed track, over a chorused track, etc, etc.

<p>it's Frippertronics in a tiny, sparkly red pedal!

<p>BOSS! please get rid of the minimum loop length!!

Very straight forward if you have a general idea of what loop recorders do, and if you read the manual. I wasn't totally new to loop recorders, having had some past experience with the Lexicon JamMan, Boomerang and the Boss RC-20. Nevertheless, the idea of having all loop recorder functions squeezed into a compact pedal scared me at first. So I downloaded the owners manual off the Boss website, and read it a few times before deciding to buy this unit. So when I actually got it, it was very straight forward to use. I suggest you also take a peek at the manual before buying it. The manual is well written. My hats off to Boss for pulling off such an excellent and compact product at this price point. I'm knocking off a point here just because there are some things such as choosing a drum pattern that are not so straight forward - you have to scroll through a list of 30+ patterns to find what you are looking for - you can't skip straight to any particular pattern and there is no LED/LCD screen to give you a visual reference. But then the pedal is compact and priced below $200 - given that, I really can't think of how Boss could have designed it any better.

I've had it for a few days now and have only been using this as a practice tool at home. Setup is Epi Sheraton -> Digitech Bad Monkey (overdrive) -> Boss RC-2 -> Guitar amp (H&K Edition Blue 60). There's no noise from the unit. Drum patterns sound very good. Recorded phrases don't reveal any distortion or loss of quality. If I want to be picky, I would say there is some loss of treble when going through the RC-2, but this is minimal and can easily be compensated by turning up the tone control on your guitar. My typical use of this unit involves choosing a drum pattern, recording a chord progression, and then just jamming with it. I've never overdubbed to more than two layers, and so can't comment if you lose any audio quality with multiple overdubs.

Seems very well built like other Boss compact pedals. I have some other Boss pedals and they've all never given me any problems. The oldest of my Boss pedals is a GE-7 equalizer which I purchased new in 1992 - that has some scuff marks but still functions like new. As of now I don't plan to use the RC-2 live, but the unit is certainly well built and gig-worthy.

I've never had to contact them. I'm glad they have owners manuals and demo videos on their website - very helpful and even necessary when buying feature-packed gadgets such as the RC-2.

Love this unit for its features, compactness and ease of use. I chose this over the RC-20XL, Digitech JamMan, Boomerang and the RC-50 for the following reasons:

The RC-2 does everything that the RC-20XL does except that - RC-20XL has an additional mic input, RC-20XL has a second pedal built-in (useful to STOP and to set tempo), and the RC-20XL can handle any time signature from 1/4, ... 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, ....etc. On the RC-2, you can add additional pedals such as FS-5U or FS-6 to match the RC-20XL. The RC-2 limits you to using either 3/4 or 4/4 time signatures. But if you think of it, 95% of pop/rock/jazz/world music uses only 4/4 or 3/4. Additionally, the RC-2 offers 30+ drum patterns while the RC-20XL doesn't have any drum patterns - just some metronome-like beat counts. I didn't want the digitech JamMan since it does not seem to have loop-quantize as far as I can tell (from reading their manuals). To me quantize is the friendliest feature on a loop recorder and I got used to it when previously using a Boss RC-20. It really makes it easy to keep your loops clean and seamless.

The Boomerang was not for me since it is just too big, expensive(for what it does) and does not have any rhythm patterns. The Boss RC-50 seems great and worth the price, but it's probably more suitable for those looking to do solo acts with extensive looping on the fly.

If the RC-2 were lost or stolen, I would certainly buy it again (or step up to the RC-50). It is simply too much fun and a great learning tool. If I could ask for more features on it, that would be - 1) a few more rhythm patterns, especially in swing-jazz, latin, afro-cuban, rhumba and Indian styles (unit already has some excellent bossa, samba, latin clave and latin-rock patterns in addition to several 8-beat, shuffle, rock, blues and heavy metal patterns); 2) I would like to be able to keep the beat pattern going even when I undo a phrase I just recorded. Currently, the guide pattern stops when you undo the recorded phrase.

My background - been playing guitar for 20 years and bass for 4 years before that. I enjoy almost all styles of music except rap, hip-hop and death metal. My guitars and gear include - Epiphone Sheraton, Taylor 414 acoustic, Taylor T5, La Patrie Concert nylon, Johnson metal-body resonator and a Yamaha Pacifica (strat-clone), Roland AC-60 acoustic amp, Hughes & Kettner Edition Blue-60DFX guitar amp, and various effects pedals and recording gear. Mostly play at home. Used to gig when I played bass, but rarely play-out these days except for accompanying a prayer group on acoustic guitar about once/twice a month.

Follow-up to my review below.

GIGO means 'garbage-in, garbage-out'. Whatever your music signal comes into the unit, it comes out the same.

I meant to say using my described method, the unit would record 8 beats of music, NOT 7 (I must be on something when I wrote that).

If you plan to use effects while playing along with the guide, and want the guide sound clean, then your amp should not be set for effects. It should be basic and clean. Any effects you want should be set before the unit. Then the guide (drum) would always sound clean when you apply effects to your music signal.

The price I paid was 16,100 Yen and at $117/$1.00, it's about $138. Not bad ... eh?

Had it for about 2 weeks now and am very happy with it... DENITELY GET THE FOOTSWITCH FS-5U!

Good sound as in GIGO.
Easy to edit.
There is a manual.
N/A

See above.

If using other Boss units as standard/ guide, it will last.

N/A

RC-2 first impression:

I have RC-2 for a week now and would like to offer my first impression of the product so that it would help you to make decision.

RC-2 is designed for the instrumentalist/ guitarist for sure because no vocal/mic input is included as in the RC-20XL or RC-50.

DEFINTELY gets the optional power adapter and footswitch FS-5U. One FS-5U is enough because the second one or side A of the FS-6 is used to switch the phrase. The footswitch can stop the operation (during play) with one tap instead of two taps if you use the pedal switch. Also it is easy to set the tempo with the FS-5U than with the pedal switch. FS-5U sits close to the ground than the pedal so it is easier to operate and it can be located closer to your foot. I only use 9V battery as back-up for power outtage.

The output sound quality is as transparent as how it is recorded into the unit. There is no background noise that I can hear.

It takes some serious practice to time the start and stop correctly so that loop quantize can work properly. I have tried all methods suggeted in the manual but I ended up forgoing the tempo setting all together and use the AUTO function. With AUTO setting, the unit will start recording when it receives input signal (strong enough signal because light strumming will not start the unit). For 4/4 time signature, what works for me is to start the recording using AUTO and press the footswith to stop at the begining of the bar when I want the loop to end. So in a way, the recording starts AT beat one of the measure and stops ON beat one. For example, if you try to record/ loop 2 bars with 4/4 signature, using the above method the unit will record the music contains within that 7 beats and loop itself perfectly in tempo once you press the stop switch. I guess others would be successful using other options but I found myself more successful using the AUTO option.

The guide (drum samples) is good for practicing only and may not be pleasant using live. And it takes time to cycle through the 33 patches if your are playing patch #1 and your next choice is near the end. I wish that they offer the fade-out option as in the RC-20XL.

The manual could be better written but I think everyone will get a hang of the entire operations after you experiment with the units for a short while.

It is a very well thought-out compact unit and as such, certain functions found in RC-20XL are sacrified. Having said that, it could be very addictive and could be used live as one's rhythm player if one masters the loop recording (should not be a problem).

Good luck!

I got mine for less than $140 brand new because I live in Japan. Too bad I am too busy to make a living out of this using E-bay. I know I can sell it for more than $170 as it is in high demand at the moment.