#1936128 - 05/02/08 04:49 PM
Stratergy- & anyone else with a Boss RT-20...
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Caevan O'Shite
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Stratergy- & anyone else who's tried or has a Boss RT-20...
...how do you like it?
Let's compare notes...
_________________________
~Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite~
_ _ ___ _ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _
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#1936356 - 05/03/08 07:42 AM
Re: Stratergy- & anyone else with a Boss RT-20...
[Re: Caevan O'Shite]
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Strategery
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Registered: 02/24/07
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Hey man...Strategery here. 
So far, I love it!
I've always been a chorus and flange fan, albeit at tasteful levels, but the RT-20 really is a different animal.
It's the main reason I'm getting ready to buy 2 amps so that I can run in stereo.
In stereo, not only do you hear it...you can see it and feel it!
The RT-20 is very LUSH and when I bought it, I thought about buying the real time control pedal ($65), to go with it.
But now, the up and down time button seems to be doing the job quite well.
It's not an expensive pedal..but you damn sure get your money's worth and then some.
Uhhh...concerning the gain side....I use it when I have it hooked up to my keyboard.
For guitar, I don't really see the use in it.
I'm a tube amp guy and I love the tube sound so much, that I don't use gain pedals at all.
Bottom line: it's a great pedal and I'll be keeping it.
OK, what's your scoop on it?
Randy 
Edited by Strategery (05/03/08 01:58 PM)
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"I like them franch fried puh-taters...Uhm-Hmm."
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#1936390 - 05/03/08 09:03 AM
Re: Stratergy- & anyone else with a Boss RT-20...
[Re: Strategery]
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Caevan O'Shite
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Cool, thanks!
In short- overall, it sounds much more like a real, two-part Leslie than most other emulators.
(Of what I've experienced first-hand) I think a close second might go to an Alesis Midiverb or Quadroverb when used in stereo, live...
I like the complex sound of its Leslie/rotary impersonation; it really does a nice job of translating the impression of there being a rotating low-baffle and a separate rotating horn-tweeter on a turn-table. That's what I was looking- listening- for.
I also like the tweakability of a number of parameters, so that I can kinda tweaze it into sounding a little more like a somewhat older, worn-out Leslie, with a slightly slower top-speed and a laggier time to speed up from the low-speed setting; and the way I can vary the perceived balance between the virtual low-rotary baffle and the virtual high-rotating-horn (I usually set it for a very slight lean towards the horn).
I really like the full stereo ins and outs; fed with the stereo outs of a T.C. Electronics Chorus, it really leaps into three-dimensional liveliness.
I kinda like its Univibe cop (Mode #4), as well- a little touch of Hendrix 'n' Trower in there... sounds cool enough on its own, especially if you don't stray too far from its basic default settings- good enough to make me want to get a real, live authentic ANALOG Univebe-type pedal someday...
Unfortuneately, it's digital, which doesn't get along as well with some amps and applications as others- it sounds a little sterilizing and brittle through some that don't play as well with pedals in general as others might-
-an all-analog Option 5 Destination-Rotation Single pedal sounds warmer and, of course, infinitely more analog, and has a beautiful, toneful, lush modulation -BUT- it doesn't cop the complex baffle/horn Leslie sound, it sounds much more like, say, a Fender Vibratone (no horn or tweeter involved, a rotating baffle surrounding a fixed speaker within the cab) or Mesa-Boogie Revolver, which is the type of rotary-cab it was designed to emulate, anyways, so that's no surprise.
But, if and when an ALL-ANALOG Option 5 Destination-Rotation "Double" or "Dual" Leslie-emulation pedal comes out, especially if it has stereo outs and even moreso if stereo ins, as well, I will be intensely interested! THAT could very likely serve my live/real-tube-amp-rig wants and needs very nicely, thank-you! 
Back to the Boss RT-20: it sounds GREAT with either of my digital-modelers for headphone use and/or looping/recording. I don't like any of my digital-modeling gear for live/amp use AT ALL anymore, with the possible ocasional exception of the RT-20, if I feed it a nice tube-derived disortion for a sort of monster organ/John Lord (of Deep Purple) kinda sound. Or, for very clean, fast rippling warbling modulations...
I have little or no use for Mode #3, the "Marshall & Leslie" modeling; and in any of its four modes, I wish that the distortion control had a much more gradual taper in the beginning of its travel, as I cannot seem to dial-in a usable subtle and dynamically-responsive break-up reminiscent of the tubes and speakers in a real Leslie cab- it's either clean, or brittle digital-modeling of brittle SS-based distorting, very harsh and strident and fizzy-spitty.
I do like Mode #1 and especially the more volume/amplidude-modulated Mode #2 (more drastic, emphasized drop in volume as the virtual baffle and horn are furthest away), adding a slight touch of tremolo to the mix and pushing the perceived 3-D implication of rotary-movement even more. The high-speed sounds nice 'n' organ/Leslie-like, and the low-speed is a nice alternative to the usual phaser/chorus/flanger modulation.
But, much like a real Leslie cab in use, its best sounds live in-between them and come out when you switch back and forth between the two speeds with the footswitch, particularly when you don't always give it the chance to come up to full-speed or slow down all the way; it sounds so cool when it's switching directions (speeds) back-and-forth again and again at somewhat random, not too incrementally timed intervals, a little swervy... probably the more complex relationships between the separate virtual baffle 'n' horn as they individually change speeds, I think. 
Don't bother with getting that treadle-pedal expression-controller for sweeping back and forth, just stomp on that button again and again!
_________________________
~Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite~
_ _ ___ _ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _
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#1936537 - 05/03/08 03:56 PM
Re: Stratergy- & anyone else with a Boss RT-20...
[Re: Strategery]
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Caevan O'Shite
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I haven't tried the H&K one; but I don't regret buying the RT-20 one bit, it just has its ups and downs for various applications.
I really, really like the tone and feel of the Option 5 D-R/Single, but, again, I really wanted that more complex spatial/rotary rub of the lower cab against the upper horn like a classic Leslie, which the Boss does very, very well overal.
_________________________
~Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite~
_ _ ___ _ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _
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#1936649 - 05/03/08 11:04 PM
Re: Stratergy- & anyone else with a Boss RT-20...
[Re: Caevan O'Shite]
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TheGrooveking
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Registered: 04/18/08
Posts: 24
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I'll throw my two pesos in here. I have the BOSS RT-20, the Korg G4 and the Digitech RPM-1 Rotary Speaker Emulator. OF the three the Digitech is what I have found the best, but that is because it has left horn, rotor and right horn outputs, plus it's a very tweakable piece, but it is rack mount.
The RT-20 to me is a much more solid unit than the Korg G4, the G4 is in a plastic housing, which is fine for home/studio use IMHO, but for gigging the RT-20 will take the abuse. The overdrive in the RT-20 is not great by any means, but they at least included it, where as the others didn't.
One thing I find is people confuse Rotary Speaker emulators with Vibe pedals and that is like apples and oranges. Although vibe pedals or the UniVibe to be more specific was designed to emulate a leslie, it's more of a 3D sounding phaser.
Personally I think there is a place in rig for both a vibe pedal and a rotary speaker emulator. As to vibes, I own most of the ones on the market and they all are different in some way. Of note even though the H&K Rotosphere is marketed as a rotary speaker pedal, it's more of a vibe, but it does get closer to the leslie tone than many vibes pedals. But playing a Rotosphere next to a UniVibe you'll hear how drastically different they are, even though the Rotosphere is a good sounding pedal.
TheGrooveking
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#1937155 - 05/05/08 07:41 AM
Re: Stratergy- & anyone else with a Boss RT-20...
[Re: TheGrooveking]
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Caevan O'Shite
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"I have...the Digitech RPM-1 Rotary Speaker Emulator. ...the Digitech is what I have found the best, but that is because it has left horn, rotor and right horn outputs, plus it's a very tweakable piece, but it is rack mount."
I've long wanted to try one of those, but haven't yet run across one...
I imagine that the RPM-1's preamp-tubes (it IS the one with the tubes in it, isn't it?) are responsible in part for its reputed good tones... waddya think?
"One thing I find is people confuse Rotary Speaker emulators with Vibe pedals and that is like apples and oranges.
Although vibe pedals or the UniVibe to be more specific was designed to emulate a leslie, it's more of a 3D sounding phaser.
Personally I think there is a place in rig for both a vibe pedal and a rotary speaker emulator."
Agreed on all three points!
Thanks for your input!
_________________________
~Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite~
_ _ ___ _ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _
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