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boss freak
Gold Member
USA
663 Posts |
 Posted - 06/10/2005 : 01:05:49
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| Anyone have any experience with the "half rackspace" units such as the overdrive/distortion or chorus units? I'm curious about how they stack up in tone compared to the pedals. |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 11:16:56
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Never tried one but they're dead cheap so I think it's worth picking one up off Ebay just to test it. I might just do that myself  |
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boss freak
Gold Member
USA
663 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2005 : 12:13:44
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| If you do, please report back on your findings. I've been reluctant to grab one of the ROD10s for quite a long time now. I realize I could always sell it if I wasn't satisfied, but the grim reality is that I never want to let go of anything, even if I'm not getting any use out of it. If it's equivalent to having an OD1, SD1 and DS1 in a half-rackspace, I'll grab one for sure though. |
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Tonemnster
Copper Member
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2005 : 02:03:37
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I own just about the entire series of micro racks, with the exception of the parametric eq. They're great. If you like the pedals, then these are essentially the pedals in a 1/2 space rack with more parameters to tailor your sound with. I'm a huge fan of the RRV-10 reverb (as well as full rack-space RV-70). I own the ROD-10 distortion/overdrive, but have yet to plug it in. I basically just started collecting the units on Ebay some years ago & haven't even tried them all out yet, although I'm building a 8-space rack based on using all micro-rack components. I like the RCE-10 chorus & RPH-10 phaser so much I have 2 of the former & 4 of the latter. You know how you have that very PHAT sound at the top of the phaser sweep? Well, you can freeze your guitar tone in that spot using the reverse/invert polarity button on the back, turning the first knob all the way up, the rest all the way down. No phaser sweep, just a cool filtered sound, almost a little like a cocked wah sound. The RBF-10 flanger can be set up similarly. The eq is adequate, but I wish that it hit the freq's that the BOSS GE-B7 pedal (brown) hit, because those effect the guitar the way I like for my sound. The only micro-rack I'm not too fond of is the RCL-10 compressor, but I'm not a big compressor fan to begin with. Just for the record, though, it handles compression/limiting/expanding, which is fairly versatile for such a compact unit.
I also have the BOSS GL-100 guitar driver, which is a pre-amp like the ROD-10. Basically, I'm not a fan of multi-effects, but love rack systems with knobs, a button or two, & just one specialty that they do well. Micro-rack matches that criteria. |
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boss freak
Gold Member
USA
663 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2005 : 05:24:41
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| Thanks for your insights. Dang, now I'm going to have to start checking those out! |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2005 : 09:52:57
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Thanks Tonemnster, some great info there.
I'm not even sure which units exist in the 1/2 size rack series.
Let's list what we got so far.
RRV-10 Reverb
ROD-10 Distortion/Overdrive
RCE-10 Chorus
RPH-10 Phaser
RBF-10 Flanger
RCL-10 Compressor
I've also seen
RPS-10 Pitch Shifter
RPW-7 Power Supply
You mentioned the parametric Eq. What's it called? Is there a graphic eq too? |
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Tonemnster
Copper Member
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2005 : 21:27:41
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You've named just about all of them. Missing are the RGE-10 graphic eq, the RPQ-10 parametric eq, the RDD-10 digital delay, & the RDD-20 digital delay (longer delay times, I believe). I own everything in the series except for the RPQ & the RDD-20 (I don't need that long a delay).
I discovered I also have 2 RRV-10 reverbs & 2 RCL-10 compressors. Apparently I really like the micro series. I also have 2 books (Micro Series Vol. 1 & 2) that Boss released with the micro series that are full of stats, as well as tips & tricks; another Ebay find. Because I use a very percussive tone, I've been a HUGE fan of the RRV-10's gated reverb. I may also grab the RV-2 pedal, which I owned once upon a time & sold (Ebay again!), but have fallen in love with reverb gates & would like one in a pedal. If not, then the RV-5 is not out of the question. I also want to try the Roland SRV-1000. I love ANYTHING Boss or Roland.
Among other little oddities, the RPS-10 pitchshifter allows for backwards guitar in real-time a l� Adrian Belew (Hendrix fans would love as well), & I find WAY more fun to play with than the PS-series pedals. Also, the RDD-10 delay has modulation controls & you can get these almost chaotic little delays that rise & fall in glissandos. I'm trying to see if I can get them to JUST rise or JUST fall, but they seem to alternate, more or less. Some more twiddling the 2 knobs may render something I'm looking for, since the RDD is quite capable of a lot of weirdness, as well as chorus, manual flanging & phasing, reverbs, & whatever else you can coax out of it. The only thing I wish it had was an fx loop for gated delays, reverbed delays, etc. But it is tons of fun. Runaway feedback, helicopter, UFO, chainsaw; the sounds are in there for the noisemaker in you! |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2005 : 21:36:05
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Wow, tahnks for the info.
Now I seriously feel the urge to buy a couple of these. Pedal prices keeps rising while these 1/2 rack effects keep falling. There's some real bargains to be found on these. |
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Tonemnster
Copper Member
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2005 : 22:12:55
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Yeah, I use a pedalboard w/BOSS pedals, preferably "vintage," including OD-1, BF-2, CE-2, PH-1r, OC-2, & various others. I use these for all major changes in tone. I use the micro racks as more of the basic tone; they're generally always on, although you can use the standard Boss latch-switches to turn them on/off. I use the RBF flange & the RPH phasers as tonal filters, so they're not phasing or flanging, but being used sort of like a cocked wah. The RPH in an amp loop gives a major boost to the power tubes & makes the sound very PHAT.
Among other things, the units often feature a reverse polarity switch, which automatically doubles your tonal options. I think that pedals should have a polarity inversion option via 2-way switch, especially phaser, flanger, chorus, & delay. Most of the units feature an attenuator button, which is quite handy. Others a stereo link jack to interlock units. A cool feature is a modulation bus. The "New Scene Micro Studio Series" Vol.2 gives the "trick & shot" tip of using two RPH-10's to produce stereo phasing by connecting the 2 units via modulation bus, setting rate lower & depth higher on 1st, & opposite on the 2nd, giving a complex modulation effect. Another idea is to connect 2 & run one normal & the other inverted. You can see why I have 2 of several. Also, 2 different effects with modulation jacks can be connected for phased chorus or chorused phase, more or less; I think that it connects them in parallel in some fashion.
If you don't have a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power or the RPW-10 (I have both), the units feature an AC adaptor input, as well as an output so that, if you use a standard Boss PSA adaptor, you can chain several of the units together & feed off the wall wart powering the 1st in line. Nice feature. I use spares of the cables for the Pedal Power that I ordered seperately online.
Some units accept triggers from keyboards or drum machines to activate additional features, like the RSD sampling delay (short loop) & the RCL compressor (for music samples "scratch" effect!).
All in all, I'm addicted to the micro racks. :) As well as the older pedals, although I'm not biased against the newer pedals, since I may try that RV-5 for the reverb gate w/higher sampling rate. |
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boss freak
Gold Member
USA
663 Posts |
Posted - 06/14/2005 : 23:45:34
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Oh no. Now I'm going to become addicted to the Micro Rack series jsut like I have been for years with the compact pedals!  |
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Goran
Double Platinum Member
Sweden
2203 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2005 : 08:04:39
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Do like me, forget it.... It�s hard....
BUT they are cheap NOW if you find them, but in a year or two??????? |
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boss freak
Gold Member
USA
663 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2005 : 11:17:22
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Well, hopefully if we're buying them on eBay, we don't all bid against each other and drive the prices up again!  |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2005 : 13:19:27
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| One of the dangers with this forum is that our discussions may drive prices up. It may be time to go shopping now... |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2005 : 13:58:26
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I had a quick look through Ebay UK completed items over the last 14 days.
RDD-20 �46
RRV-10 �36
RCE-10 �35
RDD-20 �50
RPS-10 �53
RSD-10 �23
Standard price for most compact pedals are about �40 so I will definitely pick up some of these if more of them end around �25 |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2005 : 23:48:36
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I looked through the old Pocket Dictionaries and found out a little more about each of the micro rack units.
1985
RDD-10 Digital Delay (discontinued 1986)
RBF-10 Flanger (discontinued 1987)
RPH-10 Phaser (discontinued 1987)
RCL-10 Compressor Limiter (discontinued 1989)
RGE-10 Graphic Equalizer, 10 band (discontinued 1989)
BMR-5 1/2 size rack with space for 5 units
RAD-10 Mounting adapter for using two 1/2 space units side by side in a 19" rack.
1986
RPS-10 Digital Pitch Shifter/Delay (discontinued 1989)
RPQ-10 Preamp/Parametric Eq (discontinued 1989)
RSD-10 Digital Sampler/Delay (discontinued 1987)
BP-1 Pad Controller for the RSD-10
RPW-7 Power Supply (9V, 700mA)
1987
RRV-10 Digital Reverb (discontinued 1989)
RDD-20 Digital Delay (discontinued 1989)
RCE-10 Chorus Ensemble (discontinued 1989)
ROD-10 Overdrive/Distortion (discontinued 1989)
1988
RPD-10 Digital Panning Delay (discontinued 1989)
The micro rack series only had a lifespan of 4-5 years and were probably never a big success. |
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boss freak
Gold Member
USA
663 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2005 : 07:16:25
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Cool. Someone is doing their homework.  I'd love to get a few of those, but I have to contain myself and not go wild buying all of them! |
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Topic |
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Boss rackmount units
