Guitar
I've been pretty busy performing solo recently. I really enjoy the challenge of arranging tunes for one guitar and voice, and have developed my finger-style chops to that end over the past several years. Lately though, I have been interested in integrating some looping into the show, to enable some different playing approaches and provide some added variety. So yesterday I headed off to my local Long and McQuade (Canada's premier musical instrument retailer) to acquire a looper of my own.
I'd researched the available devices pretty carefully over the past few days and had pretty much decided to go with the loop-enabled TC Electronic FlashbackX4 delay, but the salesguy convinced me to go with the Boss RC30 Loop Station Dual Track Looper. I still have one day to return it without penalty, and I must admit I'm not entirely convinced it's the unit for me.
Housed in Boss' proprietary double-pedal housing featuring two multipurpose foot switches, the RC30 is armed with five onboard effects, notable for their crumminess/gimmickiness and offering exactly zero adjustable parameters - these are Bend Down (a radical and unmusical pitch shift), Step Phaser (I like phasers a lot, but this doesn't do it for me at all), Sweep Filter (flanger-esque), Tempo Delay (kinda' okay), and Lo-Fi (which could be useful for a second or two here and there). Most of the effects are synced to the Rhythm tempo, so freely set loops often sound wrong with the effects on. Controls for the Loop FX are Type and On/Off. Hmmm. Notably absent from this machine is a Reverse mode, which, if internet chatter is to be trusted, royally pissed off a great many customers. Other than this limited effects section, there really is no way to manipulate loops once they're recorded, other than adjusting the volume faders, switching from track one to two, or using Undo/Redo to turn the last overdub on the selected track on and off.
The RC30 has two tracks available for looping with individual faders to manage loop volume. There are Select buttons under the faders to choose which track is armed, or you can hold down the right pedal for two seconds to switch tracks. Active loops are indicated by a green LED. If the looper is stopped the LEDs flash to indicate tracks which contain information. The RC30 records in 44.1 kHz, 16 bit WAV files, and I noticed no degradation to my signal when patched through the unit.
In the centre of the front panel is the RC30's memory section. The Boss can store up to thirty hours of loops and features ninety-nine loop slots which can be accessed with the Memory Select button, or by attaching an external foot switch - if you want to do loops of different lengths, go get the foot switch; the loops in tracks one and two must be of the same length, so if you want to switch to an eight-bar bridge in a sixteen bar song, you'll need to scroll through loop slots; this can be done from the front panel Memory arrow buttons, but a foot switch is a necessity if you're working hands free.
The Rhythm section (ha!) of the device features buttons to select Type of drum accompaniment, a Tap-Tempo button (you can also set the tempo with the right pedal), an On/Off switch and a knob to adjust the rhythm's volume. The unit can be set to count in one measure with the metronome and auto-start the recording, or to auto-record as soon as you start playing (careful of making errant noises that can trigger the recording function), or you can start and stop recording with the left-pedal.
The RC30 features stereo ins and outs, an aux in jack for connecting audio players (loopable) and a XLR input on the back panel - the RC30 supports phantom power, so any kind of mic can be used to create loops with acoustic sound sources. A foot switch jack, a USB connector and a DC in jack complete the rear panel.
Getting started with the Boss is pretty simple. Simply depress the left pedal to start recording, and press it again to close the loop - the factory default mode puts you directly into overdub mode after the loop is closed, but you can reconfigure the order from record/overdub/playback to record/playback/overdub, which I did almost immediately. Undo/redo is accomplished by holding the left pedal down for two seconds. To switch tracks, hold the right-hand pedal down for two seconds. To stop playback or recording, depress the right-hand pedal. To clear the tracks press and hold the right and left pedals.
To operate the metronome/rhythm accompaniment, stop record/playback and press the rhythm On/Off switch. You can then set your tempo via the tap-tempo button, or by pressing the right-hand pedal twice at the desired tempo. Most of the drum accompaniments are pretty cheesy; you'll want these for reference or practice only. I don't mind using the metronome a bit, but there's no way to shut it off hands-free unless you're graceful enough to operate the rhythm volume knob with your toe, so mostly I'm relying on my own internal clock (which, unfortunately, isn't honed to as fine a point as say, George Michael Bluth's).
I'm really of two minds about this machine. On the one hand, it's fairly easy and intuitive to use, and it offers enough internal memory to store 99 loops/thirty hours - ideal if you want to create backing tracks for solo gigs or practicing. On the other hand, it offers almost no way to manipulate loops outside of it's anemic Loop FX section, the contents of which are pretty much totally useless to me. It also makes recording loops of differing lengths in the same song really difficult without an accessory foot switch.
So basically, this device is not maximized for live-on-the-fly recording and manipulation so much as creating backing tracks and practicing in private. Also somewhat galling are the less-than-comprehensive user manual, and the fact that the unit ships with six cheap AA batteries and sans the pretty-darn-necessary power supply. Is the RC30 going back to the store? I dunno' - I'm a bit disappointed in it, but I have been playing with it for hours at a time, so it can't be that bad. I'm gonna' sleep on it...the TC Electronic Flashback X4's powerful delay engine is pretty appealing and I think I prefer the TC's four-button looping interface to the Boss' two-pedal/multi-function layout, although I haven't yet tried it out. It's important to note that the Flashback X4 is a delay machine with a looping function, as opposed to a purpose-built looping device. So far there is little on-line information on the TC's looping capabilities, as most reviews focus on its deep delay engine. There is much chatter about the first-gen firmware causing great frustration amongst early adoptees, but upgrading the firmware seems to solve that particular bit of bugginess.
Experienced loopers will no doubt giggle at my lowly and artless demo; I've got a lot to learn in this brave new world. Also, it's my first on-camera demo, so please forgive my mumbling and general homeliness...
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Guitar
The Boss RC30 Loop Station - a noob's review
 |
| The Boss RC30 Loop Station Dual Track Looper. |
I'd researched the available devices pretty carefully over the past few days and had pretty much decided to go with the loop-enabled TC Electronic FlashbackX4 delay, but the salesguy convinced me to go with the Boss RC30 Loop Station Dual Track Looper. I still have one day to return it without penalty, and I must admit I'm not entirely convinced it's the unit for me.
Housed in Boss' proprietary double-pedal housing featuring two multipurpose foot switches, the RC30 is armed with five onboard effects, notable for their crumminess/gimmickiness and offering exactly zero adjustable parameters - these are Bend Down (a radical and unmusical pitch shift), Step Phaser (I like phasers a lot, but this doesn't do it for me at all), Sweep Filter (flanger-esque), Tempo Delay (kinda' okay), and Lo-Fi (which could be useful for a second or two here and there). Most of the effects are synced to the Rhythm tempo, so freely set loops often sound wrong with the effects on. Controls for the Loop FX are Type and On/Off. Hmmm. Notably absent from this machine is a Reverse mode, which, if internet chatter is to be trusted, royally pissed off a great many customers. Other than this limited effects section, there really is no way to manipulate loops once they're recorded, other than adjusting the volume faders, switching from track one to two, or using Undo/Redo to turn the last overdub on the selected track on and off.
 |
| A view of the Boss RC30's simple control set: intuitive and easy to learn, but limiting - many functions are impossible to execute hands-free without adding a separate foot switch, or preferably, two |
The RC30 has two tracks available for looping with individual faders to manage loop volume. There are Select buttons under the faders to choose which track is armed, or you can hold down the right pedal for two seconds to switch tracks. Active loops are indicated by a green LED. If the looper is stopped the LEDs flash to indicate tracks which contain information. The RC30 records in 44.1 kHz, 16 bit WAV files, and I noticed no degradation to my signal when patched through the unit.
In the centre of the front panel is the RC30's memory section. The Boss can store up to thirty hours of loops and features ninety-nine loop slots which can be accessed with the Memory Select button, or by attaching an external foot switch - if you want to do loops of different lengths, go get the foot switch; the loops in tracks one and two must be of the same length, so if you want to switch to an eight-bar bridge in a sixteen bar song, you'll need to scroll through loop slots; this can be done from the front panel Memory arrow buttons, but a foot switch is a necessity if you're working hands free.
The Rhythm section (ha!) of the device features buttons to select Type of drum accompaniment, a Tap-Tempo button (you can also set the tempo with the right pedal), an On/Off switch and a knob to adjust the rhythm's volume. The unit can be set to count in one measure with the metronome and auto-start the recording, or to auto-record as soon as you start playing (careful of making errant noises that can trigger the recording function), or you can start and stop recording with the left-pedal.
 |
| Rear panel connectivity: the RC30 offers stereo ins/outs, and XLR jack with optional phantom power, a USB jack for importing/exporting WAV files, an Aux in for creating loops from an audio player, and finally, a DC in jack (no power supply included, but don't you dare use a third party manufacturer's wall-wart...). |
The RC30 features stereo ins and outs, an aux in jack for connecting audio players (loopable) and a XLR input on the back panel - the RC30 supports phantom power, so any kind of mic can be used to create loops with acoustic sound sources. A foot switch jack, a USB connector and a DC in jack complete the rear panel.
Getting started with the Boss is pretty simple. Simply depress the left pedal to start recording, and press it again to close the loop - the factory default mode puts you directly into overdub mode after the loop is closed, but you can reconfigure the order from record/overdub/playback to record/playback/overdub, which I did almost immediately. Undo/redo is accomplished by holding the left pedal down for two seconds. To switch tracks, hold the right-hand pedal down for two seconds. To stop playback or recording, depress the right-hand pedal. To clear the tracks press and hold the right and left pedals.
To operate the metronome/rhythm accompaniment, stop record/playback and press the rhythm On/Off switch. You can then set your tempo via the tap-tempo button, or by pressing the right-hand pedal twice at the desired tempo. Most of the drum accompaniments are pretty cheesy; you'll want these for reference or practice only. I don't mind using the metronome a bit, but there's no way to shut it off hands-free unless you're graceful enough to operate the rhythm volume knob with your toe, so mostly I'm relying on my own internal clock (which, unfortunately, isn't honed to as fine a point as say, George Michael Bluth's).
I'm really of two minds about this machine. On the one hand, it's fairly easy and intuitive to use, and it offers enough internal memory to store 99 loops/thirty hours - ideal if you want to create backing tracks for solo gigs or practicing. On the other hand, it offers almost no way to manipulate loops outside of it's anemic Loop FX section, the contents of which are pretty much totally useless to me. It also makes recording loops of differing lengths in the same song really difficult without an accessory foot switch.
 |
| With thirty hours recording time and ninety-nine loop slots, the Boss RC30 is optimized for recording backing tracks to store for later use, be it in performance or in private practice. It would be a great tool for guitar teachers/students. |
So basically, this device is not maximized for live-on-the-fly recording and manipulation so much as creating backing tracks and practicing in private. Also somewhat galling are the less-than-comprehensive user manual, and the fact that the unit ships with six cheap AA batteries and sans the pretty-darn-necessary power supply. Is the RC30 going back to the store? I dunno' - I'm a bit disappointed in it, but I have been playing with it for hours at a time, so it can't be that bad. I'm gonna' sleep on it...the TC Electronic Flashback X4's powerful delay engine is pretty appealing and I think I prefer the TC's four-button looping interface to the Boss' two-pedal/multi-function layout, although I haven't yet tried it out. It's important to note that the Flashback X4 is a delay machine with a looping function, as opposed to a purpose-built looping device. So far there is little on-line information on the TC's looping capabilities, as most reviews focus on its deep delay engine. There is much chatter about the first-gen firmware causing great frustration amongst early adoptees, but upgrading the firmware seems to solve that particular bit of bugginess.
Experienced loopers will no doubt giggle at my lowly and artless demo; I've got a lot to learn in this brave new world. Also, it's my first on-camera demo, so please forgive my mumbling and general homeliness...
- Pedal Board And Canned Peaches
This is another version of the pedal board I use for one of my current projects - with just guitar and voice. I'm quite happy with the strange synth sounds I get by combining the auto-wah and the reverse delay (as you can hear in the video down...
- Pedals For Sale
I have to sell a few pedals to fund my new project (I first considered selling a guitar - it would have been quicker - but I just can't do it, one day I'll probably die of starvation hugging my guitars). They are all in very good state...
- Huge Lot Of Hand Wired Custom Guitar Pedals In Oshkosh Wi Area - At Good $
This seller has been building some nice pedals and he is offering them for a pretty good price. Note that he doesn't do any screening on the pedals so the knobs are not marked and there are no logos - still he's got some cool DIY pedals...
- Boneshaker Pedals Pt. 2: The Review.
Rat-inspired and bass-optimized rock'n'roll machine. When I first started playing in bands back in '89, it seemed that every rock'n'roll guitar player either used a Marshall 800 series amp or a RAT distortion box, or both. The...
- The Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Jh-2 Fuzz
The much maligned JH-2 fuzz Here's one for the fuzz-heads and guitar-geeks! I offer for your edification, the Dunlop JH-2 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz, considered by many to be the steaming doggie coil of the fuzziverse. I purchased this stunning...