Boss RT-2 Rotary Ensemble: A Leslie Speaker in a Compact Pedal?
With Three Rotary Modes
4,5 / 5,0 | 
The Boss RT-2 Rotary Ensemble pedal is the new compact format version of the much-loved (but huge) and discontinued RT-20 rotary pedal.
Boss RT-2 Rotary Ensemble
The new Boss RT-2 Rotary Ensemble is available in a more compact standard Boss pedal format; the previous RT-20 was a double-sized unit that took up significantly more space on a pedalboard.
Rotary Modes
This new version offers classic rotary speaker sounds, with three distinct modes: a vintage rotary sound and two modified tones with some added enhanced spatial effects. It is missing the Univibe mode of the original RT-20, which is a shame. The modes are accessible via the Mode Switch on the front of the pedal.
Rotor Display
You cannot miss the glowing Rotor Display in the center of the pedal, which offers visual feedback for the treble and bass rotor speeds. It’s a nice touch and carries over from the original RT-20, and I’m glad they did this, as it makes it a lot easier to see what is going on with the settings.
The main controls for the pedal are the Fast/Slow rotor speed control and a Drive knob used to add some vintage tube saturation to the signal. Both controls are the dual concentric type, so you have two controls per control knob: Level/Drive and Fast/Slow.
Switches
It also has a set of switches on the top of the pedal, and these assign functionality to the two main control knobs. There is a Drive/Balance switch for the Drive knob, and this toggles between the saturation amount and the volume balance between the treble and bass rotors.
Then the Rise/Fall Time switch controls the transition time between rotor speeds. This solution allows the pedal to be a lot smaller than its predecessor, but I feel it might be a little fiddly to quickly change settings without an external footswitch, etc.
Thankfully, Boss has given the pedal extra control for parameters via external footswitches or an expression pedal. These can be assigned to speed, brake, etc.
Mono/Stereo
The effect can be used in mono or stereo and has two stereo output modes: standard stereo, which is the default setting, or individual wet and dry outputs. This makes the pedal perfect for keyboards, as well as guitars, so perfect for adding some movement to your Hammond organ patches on your keyboard.
Price & Availability
There is a lot to love about this pedal, and it sounds great in the official demo video. I’ll miss the Univibe effect of the RT-20, but this one is a lot more compact, and so it has that going for it.
The price point is pretty good, and it does that Leslie rotary speaker sound well.
Priced at £237/$264/€269
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