BOSS SPACE ECHO RE-202

BOSS SPACE ECHO RE-202
102
GUITARIST JULY 2022
that certain sonic characteristics that you’d
have little or no control over in an original
machine can be zeroed in on here to get the
exact sound you want with consistency. For
example, you can set the RE-202 to sound
like a machine where the tape is pristine
or one where the tape is well used and
exhibits duller tone. The waywardness of
the sound is caused by small fluctuations in
tape speed due to the state of the transport
mechanism, and this can be adjusted with
the Wow & Flutter knob, which adds a
realistic characteristic swimminess, but it
can get further into pitch modulation like a
machine that’s out of kilter, or just for effect.
The preamp in an original machine
contributes to sonic character, particularly
when driven hard, adding compression
1. The Tape button and the
Saturation and Wow &
Flutter controls let you
dial in some distinct
vintage tape echo
characteristics, including
the sound of less-than-
pristine tape, pitch
waver and saturation
2. You can connect an
external expresson
pedal and assign it to
one or more parameters
for even greater
performance versatility
By contrast, the smaller RE-2 only has
three virtual heads and has 11 modes that
match the RE-201’s echo modes (with
reverb on only modes 5 to 11). In its default
Normal mode the RE-202 has the same
Repeat Rate (delay time) range as an RE-201
and a maximum value for the tap tempo of
one second, but there is a Long mode (with
a two second tap tempo), and the extended
delay time increases options beyond a
purely vintage experience.
Sounds
Part of the sonic profile of a tape echo is
obviously due to the idiosyncrasies of the
tape medium and its transport mechanism.
The RE-202 gives you access to a range
of parameters that mimic these, meaning
The RE-202 has a
range of parameters
that mimic the
idiosyncrasies of
the tape medium
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GIT486.rev_boss.indd 102GIT486.rev_boss.indd 102 12/05/2022 13:4412/05/2022 13:44