Behringer RV600 review + video

I’ve been really busy lately so I haven’t had time to review an album. So here’s a pedal review! WITH VIDEO UPDATE WOWZ

Looks like we have another winner from Behringer.

I’ve only used the Magicstomp (well known for kickass and tweakable reverbs), so take that into consideration.

After I opened the plastic bubble case carrying the RV600, I was pretty surprised at the robustness of the plastic enclosure. It feels as if it could easily survive a rough tumble down a flight of stairs and still perform perfectly. In fact, I’d say it could probably live as long as a Boss pedal with regular usage. The pots and jacks are also much more solid than I anticipated. I can easily see this pedal becoming a staple in my rig.

The reverbs themselves are honestly quite remarkable and each model is clearly distinct. The spring reverbs have plenty of lifelike sproing in them; the ‘63 in particular has a great Fendery bounce. The room, chamber and hall models are realistic and give an appropriate amount of space, depth and atmosphere, with enough control to tailor the sound to taste. The other models are pure fun but with practical uses; playing a discordant arpeggio and having it fade into a sea of rolling reflections in the ducking model is very inspiring. The space (octave) model is a little glitchy, but it tracks better with single notes and with a neck pickup, like most octave pedals. The cave setting lends itself to droning notes at higher mix and decay levels. And the echo model combines a short, fat delay with reverb for instant rockabilly goodness. There’s no reverse setting, but the amount of control (including 100% wet for you noise freaks) will make you dive in with no regrets.

One thing I’ve always hated about processor-intensive pedals (Echo Park, Liquaflange, Boss PS-5 in my experiences) is that you can hear a click through the amp as a model is selected when the pedal is off. No such phenomena exists with the RV600 when hooked up to my Godlyke Power-All. Switching is smooth without any noise and the bypassed signal is incredibly clear – as if I’m plugged directly in. I haven’t tried it in stereo yet and I’ve kept the trails off, so things may change, but it’s performing like a champ.

For my 30-minute demo, I used an Agile AL2800 DLX (Les Paul copy) > RV600 > Ceriatone JTM45. I’d record some clips but I live close to radio towers that interfere with my amp, so the quality would suck. I’ll try to figure something out.

All in all, this was $40 very well spent. I have had a UT100 (tremolo) as well and I’ll have to check out the vibrato at some point I love the vibrato. The trem + verb combo is just inspiring. A simple spring reverb with a gentle throb is bliss.

If you’re after a reverb, this is likely your best bet for well under $150. Regardless of whether you want a simple spring or plate reverb for recording or a huge wall of sound, the RV600 is a killer.

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Oh hai, here’s a video update. Simple stuff on the cave setting with a few other pedals added. Maybe I’ll add some other videos with actual guitar playing later on.

~ by switty on May 16, 2008.