RC-5 Loop Station Compact Phrase Recorder Pedal Review

My new favorite pedal!

This thing is amazing and I know I'm only scratching the surface!! Will help with practice, songwriting and more!! Highly recommended!!

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Lots of fun

Works great and shipped quickly!

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This was the right one!

Here's the quick review: I love it. It's a really fun and functional looper that does everything I need – and most of what I want [I'll explain in a minute]. It's well-built, it sounds great, it's easy to use… The stereo input/output can also be used as a dual-mono in/out, which means you can plug in two different instruments (ex: guitar, bass) at the same time and then run… read more those two signals into two different amps (in my case, Champ 20 & Rumble 40, respectively). What's great about this is that my bass line – and rhythm guitar, if I'll plug and play through that channel – can run into a "clean" amplifier while my lead guitar runs into the modeling amp with its overdrive and such. Obviously, if you've got some other effects pedals, you can put those in front of the looper and have more flexibility, but this dual-mono feature – in and of itself – makes the Boss brand pedals (all of which are stereo) an undeniably better choice (at least for me) over some other popular brands. And as far as other Boss loopers are concerned… Anything fancier (like the RC-500) would be overkill; I just don't need all that. But, I did strongly consider the RC-1… Here's why I'm glad I splurged for the 5: I had initially thought the drum tracks on this model were something I could do without — after all, I can just use an auxiliary line-in with a drum track from my phone, right? – but having these built in is a huge plus; it's just infinitely more convenient having the drums synced and saved together with your loop rather than trying to sync up (and not be able to save) from an external source. And having the drums just makes it all sound so much better! For my purposes, and I would say for anyone who wants an all-in-one package, this is ideal. Treat yourself to the 5, if you can afford it. Also, the RC-5 has tons more control over how the loops function, how the display looks and functions, etc. It's surprisingly versatile and customizable. I've dug into some of the settings... Boss provides a QR code video link, but their tutorial barely scratches the surface. There are some YouTube videos that go into way more depth and have really helped me learn how to navigate the sub-menus more efficiently. But, don't get me wrong; it's pretty easy to master the basic functions within just a few minutes, if that's all you want to do. My two gripes: 1.) I kind of wish that you could not only undo the loop you just laid down but that you could somehow keep mashing the pedal to undo loops that are further back — because if you ever lay something down and accept it, then you move forward and do another layer but THEN you realize "oh, that previous loop was trash," you've just got to start over from scratch – which is a little annoying if you are like seven or eight layers in! I'm not doing anything except having fun and messing with it by myself at the house right now, so it doesn't really matter, but I think if you were performing in a coffeehouse or something you would really need to make sure you got a good loop before going on to the next layer. And, 2.) the drum tracks (which I do love) are WAY too loud until you go in and set them at like 10 or 20% volume. The default setting is basically like having an actual drummer right next to you (i.e., TOO LOUD), which is not some thing I need while I'm practicing at the house. Otherwise, I unequivocally recommend this product.

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I love this pedal

My RC-5 sits on top of my Yamaha MX88 keyboard and is activated with my cloned FS6 footswitch. I can't think of one negative thing to say about this looper. I love it.

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Fun and profitable

I love my RC-5. This is my first looper and it gets shared between my guitars and keyboard. The fact that this pedal accommodates a stereo keyboard was a selling point for me. This thing is a blast and between all the storage and loop lengths it has endless possibilities. I also find the RC-5 great for practice. Run a chord progression through it and play along to the loop. It's… read more like having another guitarist to practice with.

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