Question for Boss RE-2/RE-202 owners

[mynameisjonas]

I got an RE-2 the other day and just started exploring all the features, and noticed that there's an option to turn on a simulation of the original RE-201 preamp. But apparently you can only choose between having it on all the time (even in bypass) or off all the time. I tried searching on Youtube for examples of what the preamp simulation actually adds to the sound, but I couldn't find any good ones where they do A/B comparisons.

So my questions to you guys is: do you use the preamp simulation? And if so, how would you say it affects your overall sound, where do you place it in the signal chain, how does it work with amp overdrive etc.?

[Shadoweclipse13]

I haven't messed with that setting on mine, but admittedly, I've only played mine for 30 minutes - 1 hour so far. Having the pre-amp on while the pedal is on is fine, but having to choose between no pre-amp or on even when the pedal is off is really stupid.

If you want the pre-amp sound, but want to be able to turn it off, you could always get their new Waza boost pedal too

[mynameisjonas]

Oh, that one has the RE preamp? I hadn't realized. I'll have to check out some demos!

[fuzzjunkie]

I think the idea was that the Roland tape echoes aren’t true bypass, so the preamp is “always on.” I believe that’s true of the Echoplex as well and people seem to like having the Echoplex preamp as part of their sound.

It probably also reduces the tonal difference between having the effect on or off. At least if that’s all you’re using as an effect.

[mynameisjonas]

I took the pedal for a first spin last night (without turning on the preamp sim), and it certainly does a great job at the stock setting.
But I checked out some BP-1w demos, and I have to say I quite like the RE sound, it seems to fatten up the lower mids in a nice way. I'll have to give it a try at next rehearsal.

I think the idea was that the Roland tape echoes aren’t true bypass, so the preamp is “always on.” I believe that’s true of the Echoplex as well and people seem to like having the Echoplex preamp as part of their sound.

Yeah I totally get that, I just think it's a prominent enough feature of the RE-201 sound to have been given a dedicated external control, especially on the RE-202. I bet many people don't even read the manual, they just rock the pedal as-is, and never even realize the preamp sim is in there.

[Shadoweclipse13]

I think the idea was that the Roland tape echoes aren’t true bypass, so the preamp is “always on.” I believe that’s true of the Echoplex as well and people seem to like having the Echoplex preamp as part of their sound.

It probably also reduces the tonal difference between having the effect on or off. At least if that’s all you’re using as an effect.

I'm sure the there are some people who like that, and if you like the pre-amp sound, it's not a bad idea, but I wish they'd given us a 3-way switch, where you could have the pre-amp all on, all off, or on when the pedal is on/off when the pedal is off...

Concept-wise, it's a very guitarist thing to do: "the effect was always this way, so let's make it the same way", when honestly, having the pre-amp totally on or totally off on the original RE-201, feels like a limitation of the time, more than a conscious decision...

[Jaguar018]

Lame answer for me: I don't really think about it much on my RE-202. It sounds fine. I remember one time when I had an original RE-201 that I noticed the pre-amp sounded really awesome-- but that was one of those deals where the tubes were aligned that day and I didn't notice it again.

The thing that is bugging me is that the whole pedal automatically turns on whenever you fire up your pedalboard. I have tried to figure out how to turn it off-- like you can change the trails to stay or go-- but not this as far as I can tell.

[Futuron]

If you have something like an A/B or line selector you could toggle between having the pedal off with the preamp running, and having the pedal be fully bypassed. That wouldn't allow you to use the effect without the preamp, but gives you the other 3 of 4 options on the fly.

The thing that is bugging me is that the whole pedal automatically turns on whenever you fire up your pedalboard. I have tried to figure out how to turn it off-- like you can change the trails to stay or go-- but not this as far as I can tell.

A lot of my Boss pedals do this, but it seems they're all the ones I don't want always-on and vice versa.

[OffYourFace]

I've never had a great opinion of the Space Echo preamps. I have an RE-20 and you can't disable the preamp. It's fine but nothing special IMO.

Does anyone here have an opinion on the RE-20 vs the two new Boss Space Echo pedals?

[Jaguar018]

Does anyone here have an opinion on the RE-20 vs the two new Boss Space Echo pedals?

Well, my personal experience with the RE-20 was that it made this annoying swooshing noise from the LED light sweeping back and forth. I tried a few different power options and it didn’t go away. I realize this was more of an isolated case, but I got rid of it.

RE-202 doesn’t have that issue. It’s a cool pedal.

[OffYourFace]

Does anyone here have an opinion on the RE-20 vs the two new Boss Space Echo pedals?

Well, my personal experience with the RE-20 was that it made this annoying swooshing noise from the LED light sweeping back and forth. I tried a few different power options and it didn’t go away. I realize this was more of an isolated case, but I got rid of it.

weird. I wonder if it was a defective muting transistor or something. The RE-20 I have here sounds pretty good but it's not quite Line Level so it's easy to distort on the FX send of my mixer. I hate the preamp on it when used with guitar