I'd be interested to hear what you think of the RT-20. I'm looking for a rotary speaker emulator of some kind. And that will be my last, last pedal, promise... :?

I'd be interested in hearing about the T-Rex and the Big Muff Pi. Would be cool to hear about the variation of sounds you can get out of the muff. ?

FUll reviews available here soon, but in short:

Riaan wrote: I'd be interested to hear what you think of the RT-20. I'm looking for a rotary speaker emulator of some kind.

Nice - and one of the coolest displays ever. Nice Rotovibe emulation too. The built in distortion sucks badly though and there's a few minor niggles. Also, my percussive playing makes it clip on the attack (that's probably just me, but it's a dealbreaker). Pity really, as there isn't much available for the Leslie fan (plenty of Rotovibes, but not Leslie sims). I got Bothners to pull that one in specially for me to try - they are very hard to find (someone sold the first one they found for me before I got a chance to try it). This seems to be the last one, so if you want to try it, PM me and we can make sure you get a crack at it.

makepeace wrote: I'd be interested in hearing about the T-Rex and the Big Muff Pi. Would be cool to hear about the variation of sounds you can get out of the muff. ?

The T-Rex is awesome - I don't think Marshall are getting that one back. Not an "effect" compressor like a CS-3 or Dyna Comp, but a transparent one like the Keeley or a studio comp.

The Wicker version of the Muff is also good - it's a Muff, so if you like the sound of them, you'll like it. The tone bypass and Wicker switches add a lot of variety and make it sound more like a boutique fuzz with more of everything - better dynamics at lower settings and a wider frequency response.

The built in distortion sucks badly

my understanding is that it's supposed to emulate the Leslie speaker's distortion, maybe that's why?

Riaan wrote:

The built in distortion sucks badly

my understanding is that it's supposed to emulate the Leslie speaker's distortion, maybe that's why?

The amps in the Leslies are valve and have a very sweet, dynamic drive sound, while Boss have added a very gritty, harsh distortion effect that goes from off to harsh immediately and just gets worse from there. I think it's more for the keyboardists who will use the pedal (it's switchable gain range - guitar or keyboard), they probably assume guitarists will have their own favourite drive pedals.

Sounds like my Butler Tube Driver is just the thing to use with this pedal....how much would the RT-20 go for locally? I saw some video clips of it and really liked it. No Floyd fan could be without a rotating Leslie sound!

Riaan wrote: how much would the RT-20 go for locally?

The box says R2 495, which is full retail, so you should be able to get it for under R1 900 street.

No Floyd fan could be without a rotating Leslie sound!

First thing I played through the Univibe sim was Brain Damage. Lol!

O nice. As an owner of the Digitech DL-8, I'm looking forward to your review.

Cool! Looks like I selected well. I'll add the the Comp-Nova and the RT-20 to the reviews this Friday and The Big Muff and DL-8 the week after.

No-one has asked about the Sparkle Drive, but that is awesome and would definitely be in the running if I were looking for a drive - kind of a Tube Screamer and/or clean boost with benefits. That's going in this month's Muse mag, so will only be added to the reviews here next month.

Guys looking for a good Leslie sim should have a gander at Line6. I've owned an MM-4, and just got my mits on an M9, and the 'Rotary Drum & Cab' sim is superb - warm, tonal, definitely musical. Plus you can dial in as much or as little of the distortion as you like. Think it's available in a single stomp as well from their 'tonecore' range...

Cheers

D.

Looking forward to reviews... just to add, my Fender Super Champ is valve and has a fairly good leslie effect built in...

That RT-20 looks sick 8)

Why are they so hard to get hold of BTW?

Others have said before me, but it's a pity that Amplitube models aren't available as pedals. Amplitube Fender has an even better mulation of the Fender reverb tank than the Boss pedal, and they've got a great rotary speaker sim too.

I also got the Digidesign Eleven Rack in yesterday, so my dance card is very full at the moment.

This month's muse has the Sparkle Drive review (very nice TS-like drive BTW...). The Boss RT-20 and T-Rex Comp-Nova are almost finished and will go up here tomorrow.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: I also got the Digidesign Eleven Rack in yesterday, so my dance card is very full at the moment.

I'm very keen to get your review on this Alan. When do you think you'll have it done by? I've been looking at these for a little while now.. They seem like they're a good little mix of studio/live gear! I'm keen to see what you come up with ?