I gave the Boss RE-202 Space Echo pedal an Editors’ Pick Award when I reviewed it. Put it on your pedalboard today and save 21% during Cyber Monday

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A favorite of Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and session great Pete Thorn, the RE-202 is the latest and greatest emulation of the famed Roland RE-201 Space Echo

A photo of the Boss RE-202 Space Echo pedal
(Image credit: Future)

The Boss RE-202 Space Echo effect pedal is an accurate emulation of the most celebrated tape echo in history: the Roland RE-201 Space Echo. And right now you can save 21% — $88 — on it at Sweetwater’s Cyber Week sales event, bringing the price down to just $329.99

Boss Boss RE-202 Space Echo Digital Delay Pedal
Save 21%
Boss Boss RE-202 Space Echo Digital Delay Pedal: was $417.99 now $329.99 at Sweetwater Sound

The Boss RE-202 revives the legendary sound and character of the Roland RE-201 Space Echo in a pedalboard-friendly format. This digital delay precisely delivers the RE-201's distinctive echoes and unique warmth with all 11 original echo combinations, plus a 12th courtesy of a fourth tape head. Classic controls for bass, treble and repeat rate are joined by dedicated Saturation and wow & flutter knobs for deep tone sculpting. Modern flexibility is here as well with four onboard presets, plus two unique Warp and Twist foot switch controls for added effects.

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I didn’t think Boss could significantly improve upon the RE-20, their earlier digital re-creation of the RE-201. But as my review made clear, the RE202 blew me away with new features and improved algorithms that make it a dead ringer for the original tape delay. That's just one reason I gave it an Editors' Pick award.

It also features a fourth head to the original’s three-head configuration, along with 12 modes and a great spring reverb emulation that's available on each mode. In addition to individual controls for echo and reverb volume, repeat rate, intensity, and wow and flutter, the RE-202 has a two-band bass/treble EQ, as well as a saturation control to add varying amounts of tape-like compression and preamp coloration.

And for verisimilitude, there’s even a switch to choose between new and aged tape conditions, with the latter sounding slightly darker and more lo-fi.

A photo of the Boss RE202 Space Echo pedal

(Image credit: Future)

And, importantly, it features a model of the RE-201’s preamp tone to deliver all the fatness and harmonic richness of the original tape units.

For connectivity, the RE-202 has true stereo inputs and outputs, plus an instrument/line switch that bumps up the headroom so you can use it with keyboards. There's also MIDI, tap tempo and effect carryover functions, and plenty of new features, like the Twist effect, which ramps up the pitch of the delay signal into a swirling maelstrom when you press down on the pedal, then ramps it down again when you release it.

Let’s be honest: A lot of us would love to own an original Space Echo, but the upkeep and cost make that unlikely. The RE-202 gets you there with none of the headaches that go with maintaining an original. And at this price, it’s the right time to make a deal.

For more great gear bargains, check out our Cyber Monday Deals Hub.

Christopher Scapelliti
GuitarPlayer.com editor-in-chief

Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of GuitarPlayer.com and the former editor of Guitar Player, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.