Offer Details

Very good condition. Stores in smoke free environment.The RE‑202 has a cast‑metal chassis and a top panel that’s strongly reminiscent of the original RE‑201 tape delay. It has three footswitches (the RE‑2, discussed in a separate box, has only one) and adds programmability, variable saturation, new or old tape modes, preamp modelling and an extra replay head. It also doubles the maximum delay time of the RE‑201.To the left of the panel are five LEDs and a button that steps through them, to access four memory slots or switch to a manual mode that reflects the current control settings. Other buttons select between guitar and line‑level inputs and between new and aged tape condition. Both saturation and wow & flutter are continuously variable.In the centre of the panel are the mode selector and four LEDs that show which of the virtual tape heads are active. As there are four heads here, the Mode options are rather more extensive than for the original RE‑201, with modes 8‑12 including playback head four. Reverb is brought in with a press and hold of a footswitch and this effect has a separate level control. Although the original spring reverb of the RE‑202 is modelled here (but in stereo), the user can also opt to switch the reverb type to Hall, Plate, Room or Ambience. The original short spring of the RE‑201 had a noticeably metallic quality and that’s replicated here very authentically, but the alternatives make the reverb versatile, and are very welcome.On the right of the RE‑202’s top panel are the familiar bass, treble, reverb volume, repeat rate, intensity and echo volume controls. Note that the tonality changes with delay time, just as it did on the original, and when the Intensity is turned right up, you get authentic dub‑style runaway oscillation. Though it may have compromised the vintage look of the pedal, I would have found a bpm indicator useful, since that would allow very precise time setting when creating user memories.Each of the three footswitches has a normal mode and a press‑and‑hold mode. The switch to the left operates bypass, but when held down the delay feedback is increased to create an indefinite repeating effect until the switch is released again. The middle switch steps through the onboard memory settings, or you can press and hold to turn the reverb on or off. To the right there’s tap tempo, but if you press and hold, another self‑oscillation effect called Twist comes into play — this creates an upward pitch spiral with runaway feedback, putting me in mind of a spaceship with a faulty starter motor!