Boss RC-20 Loop Station

I bought this pedal to help me with writing my own compositions. It's a very good tool to have when writing music bacause you can layer your riffs and simulate a whole band. If you play in a band and don't have a rythum guitar player then this can be used to simulat one. It holds 11 patches with 16 minutes of recording time. You can also plug your ipod or other mp3 player into it and jam with your favorite band. The pedal it's self is complicated to use but the manual that comes with it walks you through step by step.

It's not noisy at all. It records in mono but sounds very good.

If you've ever owned a boss pedal then you know that there built like tanks and this one is no exeption.

never dealt with them.

I play heavy metal music and I like to write alot of my own compositions so i use this pedal to help me play leads behind my rythm parts. I've been playing for 12 years. I would buy this pedal again if something happened to it. The only thing that I don't like about this pedal is that you can't delete your riffs without reaching down and turning the knob to delete.

I got mine a few years ago. All was well until recently. When it worked, I never had any issues, trouble, difficulty etc... Very easy to operate if you're used to tweaking pedals, gear etc...

Sound quality was very good...I never had complaint.

Worked flawlessyly for a few years. Recently, it went belly up. When you power it up, it blinks through all the various lights like it's intitializing or something and finally stops. Then, it has power but nothing functions. I had my local GC guy call Boss. They're rep cut him off and said bluntly "it's broke". When he asked him if it was a common problem, he said "yes."

I've sent it off (almost two weeks ago) to Boss and have yet to hear anything back.

Worked well while it lasted. I've heard of two others locally that had the same problem and while I was actually in GC, a girl came in with a dead one.

all you need to undersand the basics of this pedal is litterally whats written on each stomp pad. the manual goes more in depth, its helpfull, but anyway, really easy to use. well thought out and arranged.

sounds..just like youre instrument..through a looper. only thing to watch out for is the "instrument" or "mic" level, if its too high youll have some nasty distortion going on (..duh..) but if thats set correctly youre good to go.

...boss. need i say more? its been dropped, kicked, submerged in puddles, litterally dropped down a flight of stairs, and has so few scratches to proove it. A+

never dealt...its boss.

i play..well..music. doesent matter what im into, this thing works. in many situations. i've used it to loop a bassline and play a second over it (think, lou reed's walk on the wild side..two basslines..easy as pie to do live (with one bassist) with this beautifull machine!) ive used it to loop something for solo slots at concerts, ive also used it to record numberous full songs! it can save up to 16 minutes of recorded..stuff. i set the metronome to any disired tempo, put down a bassline (or rhythm guitar..or even piano) then put drums to it, and it goes from there. you cant record any full songs longer than 7.5 minutes..but hey, it works! you can also combine tracks when recording full songs with it to be able to put on more tracks. you have to press the save button then turn the 1-11 track knob (if you have it youll know what i mean) to a differnt number and save it on a differnt slot. then delete the old one for more space, and youve combined the tracks, and can add more. very fun, not protools, but i'm really enjoying recording my CD with it. A+ to boss for a great machine. only flaw is that $250 is a lot of money, but yes, this is WELL worth it!

Pretty straight forward to use. Like any looping pedal it has its quirks with catching the end or begining of a phrase correctly. Editing is brutal - you CAN NOT change the tempo of a loop on the fly - you must first write the loop to memory.

Manual is ok.

Does suck some tone - decent controls for in/out levels. Using it with a Parker Fly Deluxe through a variety of pedals into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. It's at the end of the chain and I had to remove it due to the tone sucking properties and its uselessness in a live situation.

Built like all Boss pedals, like a tank. I wouldn't use it on a gig in the first place - read below.

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I play everything from jazz to rock to classical. I was trying this pedal out with a improv fusion trio to add some texture - I definately chose the WRONG looper for this situation. I've been playing for over 15yrs and have too much gear to list here, if this unit were stolen I would thank the thief - after writing this I am listing it on eBay. The worst part about this unit is that it claims you can change tempo on the fly - this is only partly true. Here is the reality: Let's say you record a loop on the fly, ok so far so good - now you overdub another layer or texture on it - good, ok - it starts to slip a little out of time with the drummer or the DJ or whoever - so you want to use the tap tempo to get it back in sync - whoa, wait a second - you can't! You have to bend down and hit the 'write' button with your hand which stops the loop playing completely - only after you write the loop to memory can you adjust the tempo on the fly. This unit might be ok for home use or for practicing on the road but with home computers able to operate as a recording studio or what a portable hard disk multitrack recorder can do I don't see any justification for this unit for home or live use.

Fantastic.

Not perfect, but personally I like the muddy effect that happens after many many loops.

Sadly, my RC-20 XL stopped working in December -- don't know what happened, but the whole thing just seemed to short out. Wasn't getting any sound. Lost all the loops I had saved. I love this pedal and call Boss immediately to as them what I should do. They told me I could either send it into them for repair or bring it to an authorized dealer. Since I since in Manhattan, there was a dealer here in the city, so I brought it in. That was 9 MONTHS ago!!! Please continue reading below...

...NINE MONTHS LATER... I am still waiting for my looper. I have called the repair man several times, and he tells me a part's on order from Japan. I called boss's inventory department to see if this were true, and they confirmed that a part was on order. So, at least the repair guy's not lying to me. So I asked Boss if they would provide a loaner for me and they said sorry that's not what we do. I was very dissapointed by this, especially since I've been using Boss pedals for about 15 years and have developed quite a loyalty towards their product. Of course, the common knowlege is that Boss products are built to last, and they usually do, but in the rare instance when their product fail, they must provide better customer support and should be more willing to provide a complete replacement for their product if it dies. I was seriously disappointed by this lack of customer support and appreciation.

A great pedal. I made beautiful music with it, and I can't wait to get it back, but as stated above, I was very disappointed by Boss's lack of customer support... So that's the story, maybe I'll write an update for you all when I get it back...whenever that will be...

This is ridiculously easy. It even has it's own 4/4 metronome.

The only reason I don't give it a 10 is because it's mono. Besides that, I am using this unit with a Rane TTM-56 Performance mixer (and what ever hard/soft synths I have on my mixer channel inputs).

I use this unit all the time. It's nice way to keep my own loops on it and it's for overdubbing (in case if I want to practice and hear my self or just perform).

No problems at the moment.

If it were lost or stolen, I would definately replace it (unless if I could find something similar that works in stereo). I wish it had more memory for dub control (keeping the audio in various channels instead of one).I also wish it had a 3/4 or other offset metronome tempos (I like play keyboard on a 3/4 beat). Aside from that, I am very pleased with this unit.

It only took 1 healthy session in the can with the "how to book" to fully understand how easy it is to use this thing.

The sound quality is just fine for my primary use. (hard drive)

I've been using this for just over 1 year, and I love it! In fact, I would recomend this unit to everyone. NO PROBLEMS AT ALL.

I havn't had to go there yet, so I dont know

I use this unit to dump sound files from a cd for dramitic show intros. I have my tech start this machine right after he tunes up and it seems to work well... The looping part is very cool. It takes a little practice, but once you get it its easy... it helps to have a good body clock though. Also, if you want to use it for a looper, it works best to change pick up settings or have some kind of different tonal options- so when you start stacking phrases it doesn't end up sounding like a bunch of mudd packed in a coffe can. (frequency competition).. seperate your records.. like first .. Use a base tone, then stack a lo-fiish brittle tone for a lead.... and grab your e-bow with a delay setting... and boom! you are a freak with a boatload of s&^t going on!.. Honesty this pedal is a ton of fun!

Recording, overdubbing and saving loops is very easy with this unit: Press the pedal to start and stop recording, press it again to overdub and press the write button twice to store the loop! However, you cannot select different phrases without bending down, or buying a momentary switch which will only allow you to move up through the phrases not down !!!

The unit has no noticable effect on the sound quality and there are independant volume controls for instrument in, mic in and loop out. Overdubbing multiple parts does not seem to add any noticable noise to the output.

It seems very sturdy but I would have reservations about using it at a gig without a momentary foorswitch because of the inability to switch between patches without bending over.

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I mainly play funk and rock on electric guitar and this unit allows me to make multi-layered loops very quickly on the fly. The loop quantise/click-track function is very useful if you want to record an accurately time loop. The unit is ideal for jamming/practising and a very useful composition tool. I think it also has potential as a gigging tool: A solo performer could loop on the fly, or use pre-recorded loops as a backing track and it could even be used for second guitar parts if your band are able to play in time to it! My only criticism would be that it is not possible to step backwards through the saved phrases without bending down ! However given that it gives you 5:30 of high quality recording time and you can save 10+ loops it is still exceptionally good value for money.

Very easy to use. NEver needed to use the manual.

I plug a midi synth into a laptop then plug the laptop into my loop pedal. great sound.

It worked great until I put it in my closet for a few months when i wasn't playing much music.

I took it out and now it doesn't even power up.

It has a 5 year warranty, but BOSS only honors the warranty if you have the receipt even if you registered the product with them.
Who keeps receipts for 5 years?
Needless to say the warranty is pretty useless and i'll need to pay to get this repaired.

A great product, but i wish it had been more than a year before the thing died on me.

Useless warranty, so i have to pay to get it repaired even though i believed it had a 5 year warranty.

I bought this on eBay without a manual. Figured out the basic functions pretty quickly, but I've had some experience with Boss gear. There is a copy of the manual on the Looper's Delight web site.
It's not very good, but you may need it.
This pedal is easy to use during performances, but not in a band situation. The most important features (Rec/Play/Overdub/Stop) can all be done standing up. The less useful ones (Reverse etc.) require fiddling with switches and/or additional pedals.

This is a live tool, and the sound quality is fine. This is not an effects pedal (except for the Reverse setting) - it's a recorder, and what you put in is the sound you get out of it.

It's well built. The pedals require a bit of leg strength, as is typical with Boss gear. I have a problem with the Reverse footswitch input on mine (and yes, I'm using the recommended FS-5U).

Their service is acceptable.

This is a very musical pedal which inspires new ideas & creativity.
The sound quality is good enough for playing live in any setting.
This is a pedal for solo playing more than anything else. I play a Chapman Stick, and it allows me to create instant backing tracks as I go. The important features are all easy to use. There is a lot of "stuff" on the pedal which I will rarely use, including Reverse, 10 of the 11 loop patches and the metronome drum sound.