Boss RC-20 – Release Date: Jan 2001
This is the pedal that may have started it all (at least for Boss)! The original Boss RC-20 Loop Station (and it’s successor, the RC-20XL) sort of marked the beginning of Looping as it is known today. This was the first in a long line of Loop pedals from Boss, and it happened at the 25th year Anniversary of The Boss Corporation, in 2001.
With no real Looper pedal market to draw design or function ideas from, the Boss RC-20 pretty much became the first widely accepted pedal that would set many of the standards for nearly all successive Loop Pedals, Loop Stations and possibly even many Looping Apps that came after. (Although there were a few obscure incarnations of such a device many years earlier, like the Electro-Harmonix 2- Second Delay and the 16-second Delay/Looper, among others, which are acknowledged as the pioneering ground-breakers of the concept of pedal-based looping)
The RC-20 was introduced as one of a new series of guitar pedals from Boss: the ‘Twin Pedal’ series. Other introductory pedals were the GP-20 and the EQ-20. More pedals in this format followed.
The idea of Looping was still largely unexplored and undefined by musicians around the world, and so there were many things that needed to evolve, as the RC-20 proved. Firstly, there was only approx 5 & half minutes recording time to be divided into the 11 available storage locations, and an Undo function that would erase ALL the Overdub layers together, not just the last recorded layer.
What the RC-20 did manage to get right are:
- Record/Play/Overdub on the left pedal
- Stop/Clear on the right pedal
- Dual Inputs, for Mic & Instruments (both 1/4″)
- Separate Input Level knobs for Inputs
- Aux In
- Auto Record Mode
- Reverse Mode
- One-Shot capability
- Loop Level Control Knob
- Rhythm Guide
- Rhythm Level Control Knob
- Tap Tempo function
- Loop Quantize
- 11 Memory Locations (One is for a 1-Shot track)
- External Controller port (for Phrase select)
- Separate output jack for Reverse Tracks
- 16 Bit, 44.1Khz Recording
- Total Recording time of 5 minutes, 30 seconds
- Can use 6 x AA Batteries (approx 20-25 hrs)
- Came with 9vdc power adapter
All in all, for a first foray into the world of Looping, this pedal nearly nailed it. It was rather short lived on the market, as it was succeeded in 2004 by the RC-20XL pedal which expanded on and corrected some important shortcomings.
The original RC-20 Looper pedal was discontinued in 2007. You may stumble across a used one in a second-hand store, pawn shop or on the used equipment shelf of your favourite music store. If you find one and you are able to afford it, grab one just for nostalgia, collectability, or for your own purposes. It’ll probably be a good learning experience to fool around with …. but may be a necessity if you’re a collector!!
Check Reverb.com for Boss RC-20
