Boss RV-5

RV-5 is just like all other Boss pedals: buffered, silent JFET bypass, tough construction, small package, clean sound with little noise. It's super easy. Mode selects reverb type, Time sets reverb decay length, Tone controls the brightness of the reverb sound, and Level controls the wet/dry mix. Stereo ins and outs, 9V power, etc. Nothing challenging here.

Overall the pedal sounds pretty good. I liked most of the modes, but the gate reverb is a useless novelty and the spring reverb is absolutely horrible and un-usable. I used this pedal in the FX loop of my Boogie Mark IVa combo (which has a beautiful spring reverb, but it's not footswitchable and I hate reaching behind the amp to adjust it). I got this pedal to expand my reverb options and to allow me to footswitch it on the fly. As for guitars I use both a Strat and a Les Paul. The RV-5 is a bit thin sounding. Lowering the tone control helps, but only slightly. I really like a great spring reverb, but Boss dropped the ball on this one... Big Time! The tone of the spring verb is close, but it has that aweful spring slapping sound like when you bump your amp with the verb turned up. That pretty cool and authentic sounding, but it is so sensitive that even a moderate pick attack causes it to bang away like crazy. It makes it completely useless. It's more like a novelty springy noise maker. I though that maybe my FX Loop's level was too hot, so I tried it in front of the amp... no change. Even with my Strat's single coils I couldn't pick even remotely hard without that horrible BOING!!!!! happening on every note. Accutronics?... I think they modeled this on a broken reverb tank! That said, the rest of the modes were pretty good, especially the Hall... very smooth. So if you don't care for spring reverb, give this pedal a try. However if you're looking for that sweet Fender tube reverb tone, this pedal is NOT for you. I ended up taking it back and getting a Line6 Verbzilla instead (which I liked much more BTW). I'll give it a 6 simply because the other reverb modes were still pretty good.

I've owened quite a few Boss pedals over the years and they have all proven to be very reliable. I have a Boss DD-20 on my pedal board too (great delay - check it out too). I don't see any reason why this one would be any different.

Never had to deal with them. Their website is quite good though with lots of samples, demos, manuals, etc.

This wasn't a bad pedal. It just wasn't for me. I was VERY disappointed in the Spring mode, but the rest were pretty good. Once again, if you're not a spring reverb cat, give this one a try. It might serve you well for more "studio" type reverbs. I did like the Hall reverb a lot. Just don't expect that sweet smokey Fender tube reverb tone to come from this box.

Well, the pedal is easy enough to use in terms of twisting knobs the way they're supposed to be twisted. It's not difficult to understand the instrument at all.

It IS difficult to get a satisfying reverb sound when using distortion, though.

CLEAN: The sound quality of the RV-5 on clean sounds great. I run the pedal from a Fender Stratocaster American Deluxe to a B-52 AT-100 Half Stack and I get enough warmth out of the pedal for my settings. I don't really seem to lose much of any tone on the clean setting, and there is little noise.

DISTORTION/OVERDRIVE: On these settings, the pedal sounds significantly noisier (which is pretty ridiculous, considering I have noiseless pickups) and has an unbearable tinny sound. I've tweaked with the sound and the knobs the best I could and couldn't remedy this. I think this is the greatest downfall of the pedal, and a big one at that.

It's also inconvenient that the reverb kicks in AFTER you've played your lick, not during.

EFFECTS: The effects sound nice enough, for what they are. The spring reverb has a nice authentic sound, but it's not really for me. The hall reverb is a little to strong for me, and the room doesn't seem to adjust much when modified by the knobs. The gate reverb doesn't sound pleasant, as it cuts out sometimes before you even have the chance to mute the strings.

The pedal is reliable, as long as you carry your AC adapter. The batteries run out quickly with it.

The frame is well-built and sturdy, so I can't imagine that it would break any time soon.

Considering that I play every style from Metal to Bluegrass to Jazz to Blues to Pop to Techno, this pedal has some useful applications here and there. The biggest downsides are that the reverb does not kick in until after the notes have been played (no immediate playback) and the distortion sound is too tinny, regardless of how much equalizing I try to do.

If this was stolen, I'd probably just be upset that I was out of the money, not the pedal. The pedal is easily replaced with a better pedal. I'm going to return this pedal as soon as I get to the music store.

Overall, I'd say it was a waste of money and that it destroyed my tone.

Very easy to use pedal. straightforward controls, no programs to surf through, easy.

I am confused by some of the reviews. i try to keep in mind that its all about preference, but some of the things people are saying are just flat out wrong.

anywho, it sounds great. the gate reverb is probably best used for precussion instruments.

heres my intial reactions:

b:Spring[/b]: very well done. warm and lush sounding, and i love that "boing" water drop sound at high volume or if you play hard. i will probably use this setting alot.

b:Plate[/b]: interesting sounding. sounded really spacious. im gonna play with it more.
b:
Hall[/b]: very nice. sounds like a huge church. this one will get used a lot as well.

b:Room[/b]: also really nice. sounds insane at long time settings.

b:Gate[/b]: what the hell is this. i am gonna play with this more, see what i can do with it.
b:
Modulate[/b]: my friend madison told me i should buy it for this setting alone. that kids knows a thing or two about cool sounding stuff. super lush, awesome modulation, and freaking dreamy as hell. im gonna use this alot, too.

all in all this thing sounds fantastic. ive used it in front of my friends fender roc pro 1000 combo and in the effects loop of my vox ac30cc. sounded great with both.

its boss.

never had to use it. good online support.

i got it for a great price, and its fantastic. people bash on it for sounding too metallic and tinny, but thats what the tone knob is for. its doesnt sound too digital either. the spring setting is warm an lush, and its for sure my favorite, followed closely by the plate setting.

i play energetic indie type stuff. if you are into newer brand new, manchester orchestra, death cab for cutie, and the like you would probably dig my band.

anyway, great pedal.

It Is Easy.

In my opinion spring rev. sounds just bad, absolutly unuseful because that kind of spring noise - making amplifier only if you kick it, but not when you play, but in case with that pedal spring noise follow your pick.Just rubbish.Yes it possible to adjust and almost get rid of that noise, but real spring rev. do not sound like it.
Another thing i do not like is By Pass- It is not true bypass and pedal changes real sound of the guitar when rever is not in use.

Modulate - another unuseful effect - what is? It is not chorus, it is like kind of lightly untuned guitar.

Hall reverrb is best in that pedal.

30 minutes of " jamming" with that pedal enough for me,tomorrow i will i ask for my money back from shop i bought it.

If you have enough mental stability to plug a cord in this thing and turn it on, you can get a great sound out of your guitar. I strongly disagree with some of the comments posted here. I say that because I came to this review forum hoping to find some helpful information, not hype or negative propaganda. Anyway, I had an RV-3 once upon a time and hated myself for selling it. I tried a real tube reverb unit which sounded more lush than anything I've ever heard, but it sucked out my mids bigtime and was too bulky. Then, a Dano that broke at some point when I stomped on it (I thought that's what stomp boxes were for). The case was pretty weak on the DE, but it sounded good. Then a Holy Grail, which was ok, and I gave up after that until I got this RV-5. A very familiar layout and the sound I missed was there again. I've used rack mounts and this box comes pretty close. A rack mount is hard to beat, but this box fits on my pedal board nicely and that pushes it over the edge for me. One guy who rated this at 1's straight across said that maybe he should "go back to playing golf". You know what? Go back to playing golf and leave playing guitar to real working musicians if you feel that way. I've been involved in show biz for going on 4 decades and this is a great pedal.

The pedal is pretty quiet, for a pedal, and it has several great reverb sounds. I agree with most reviewers that the spring reverb isn't that great. Ok, it sucks, but who says I have to use it? My amp sucks if I dial the treble, mids and bass down to one, so I don't do that. I don't use the spring reverb, but the Hall reverb is great. I've been playing around with a few other sounds, but the Hall seems to be the best overall sound for constant use. I normally use it with my delay for slower songs - gives a very eerie/romantic sound to the guitar. You can probably get better reverb devices, but for me this is the easiest way to fatten up my sound. Just plug and play with it for a few minutes and you'll find your sound. Simple.

Very reliable. Never had a Boss pedal fail me.

I play lots of rock, original and classic, blues, and lots of country style chicken pickin' depending on who I'm with and where I'm playing. I've been playing for about 45 years. I typically play my Les Paul Classic with pafs and my trusty stock Telecaster on gigs. I fiddle around with a jazz box and a few others at home, but I can't take all that stuff on the road. I compared this to other pedals such as I mentioned above, and for the money and portability, this one seems to do the best job. I haven't the time to try everything out there, but Boss always seems to be a safe bet. I own a few other pedals, such as an Ibanez TS9, an Ernie Ball volume, a Zvex SHO at the end of my chain, and an Ibanez delay. I'm currently in the process of reducing the number of pedals I have on my board, but this RV-5, the Ibanez delay, my Dunlop Crybaby, and the TS9 will stay aboard. If you are seriously thinking about getting one of these but have been turned off by a few of the reviews, keep this in mind: there are lots of wanna be's out there who feel that since they've noodled around with guitars for a few years they're somehow experts on tone and effects. Playing live is a different world (any professional musician can tell you that) and that's the best place to test your gear. That's where I've tested this pedal and it works for me. Take it with a grain of salt, but this ain't a bad pedal for the bucks. Maybe you'll like something you like better, but this really is a good pedal.

Very easy to use. I bought it used, without a manual and I didn't have any problem figuring it out. The one problem I had was figuring out how to get rid of the "boing" noise in the spring reverb setting and I doubt that was in the manual anyway

This is a great sounding pedal, except for the "boing" noise in the spring reverb setting. But with a little experimentation, I figured out how to get rid of the noise.

Actually, the "boing" noise sounds just like a real spring reverb does when you tap on it lightly, or when you give your reverb amp a little kick. I also noticed that the noise was controllable by how hard I picked a note - light picking gave no "boing" sound, heavy picking and the "boing" was there.

What I realized is that if I turned the volume down at the guitar, that would keep the noise from happening. I had to turn my amp up to make up the difference. You could also use whatever boost pedal you have after the RV-5. I also found I could actually put a little of the "boing" back into the sound to simulate the sound in some old surf songs by adjusting the volume on the guitar up or down a little.

Now that I figured that out, I really love this pedal.

It's normal Boss quality.

Never used it

Quiet, realistic sounds, good selection of sounds - what's not to like?

Its relatively easy to use. The knobs are self-explanatory. Just fiddle around a bit with the various types off reverbs this pedal has and you'll probably find the sound you want easily.
The manual you get with it is pretty clear, but a bit summarized, so no great details.

Most reverbs on this pedal are very good, you really get the feeling your in a large stadium. Only the spring reverb is pretty bad because you hear a weird klik when you hit your strings. It sounds a bit like drops off water falling in a pool in a large hall, it echoes. I don't really like that. But it has five other reverb modes, so I don't really mind. I wasn't a big fan off spring reverb anyway.
I use this with my Lakland 55-02 bass, or my fretless bass on an swr amp.
Its dead quiet, no hums or anything.

Its a tank!!!

never dealt with them

I use this pedal when I have solo's or when I'm playing crying ballads (usually with a fretless bass). When I play fretless I use it with a EBS Unichorus and they work great together.
If it were stolen I'd save up the money to buy it again.
What I love abouot it is the quality off the sounds and the reliability.
It sucks up a lot off power, so BUY AN ADAPTER!!!!!
I compared it to a digitech reerb and a line-6 reverb and this one sounded best and looked the most reliable and durable.
I can't imagine some off my songs without this thing anymore.
Again: Buy an adapter, batteries last only for a few hours, six I beleive maybe less. So three practice sessions and you need to repplace it again.

seemed somewhat easy to get the sounds I was looking for. I think the pedal came with instructions and settings but I didnt look to see if thats true or not. Easy enough I didnt need any

For a digital reverb I hink the pedal does just fine. I use the pedal in the effects loop of my boogie rectoverb and it seems to work just fine. I bought the rv5 because believe it or not,even with an amp called rectoVERB, the built in reverb of the amp is a bit weak.
I set out to purchase a reverb pedal but because I dont use it with all my playing I knew I didnt want to spend some ungodly amount of doe on one. I decided to go digital so I knew this pedal would never totally compare to a tube driven unit. For what I use the rv5 for it does very well. There are some nice sounds on it and some weak sounds also. I enjoy using the spring,hall and room reverb. The others like,modulation I cant see why they would even add that to a pedal. I guess someone may want it though? The unit does not create any noise with my setup. Ive enjoyed the pedal since I got it.
If you decide to buy this pedal you must not compare it to anolog/tube reverb. Its a digital,,it even says that on the pedal..compare it to a digitech or something

its a boss

never spoke to them

I play everything from blues to rock to metal. Like I said above,,when buying this I went in knowing that it was digital. I accepted the fact that it will never sound like a $400 unit. Therefore
comparing it to other digital reverbs I think its about the best Ive tried. I cant think of anything I really dislike about it. But it blows the built in reverb of my rectoverb away.

The pedal is easy to use, just play with the various modes and twist the settings so you understand what they do. Place it last in the chain...after your noise surpressor.

The sound is great. The qulaity is great...very adjustable.

I had a Digitech but found the sound to be dull and the adjustment knobs didnt seem to be linear enough...the effect level would jump.

New. No problems.

New. No problems.

Great pedal. I play rock, metal, alternative etc...

My settings are:
E level - 10%
Tone - 50%
Time - 50%
Mode - Hall

This pedal has a lot of great reverb options. Easy to use...

This reverb pedal sounds a lot better than the EH Holy Grail. I had that pedal but returned it because it made my amp REALLY noisy. This Boss pedal has alot of great sounds from the Spring to the Modulated reverb. Surf, shoegaze, chicken pickin'...this pedal covers it all. Some reviews said this pedal sounds thin. I'm running mine through a Fender Blues Jr. and it sounds nice and fat.

It's a Boss pedal...built like a tank.

Had to contact Boss once about a problem with another pedal. A little hassle but in the end they took care of it.

A good value for so many quality reverbs...