Riding the Boss Renaissance

[zhivago]

Holy crap!!! BOSS-tastic!!!

[crazyzeke]

Wanna talk BOSS?

As far as I'm concerned, BOSS never went away - they've been the cornerstone of my electric playing for years now. So much so I barely even think about it, and skipped over this thread a dozen or so times before I went "oh yeah, I suppose I do use BOSS stuff".

I've been using BOSS gear literally since I started playing. My first ever pedal was a DOD Grind I think (I'd love to have one again but like anything 20+ years old gear wise that's known brand it's now selling for more than it's probably worth) quickly followed by a Zoom 505 multi-effects. then flipped to get a BOSS CH-1 SUPER Chorus and PH-2 SUPER Phaser. Based on my tastes now I wouldn't say either of those was particularly super, but it got me into modulation effects and their legendary build quality.

Early 2000s I got tired of pedal boarding it (mostly) and decided to go for a BOSS GT-3. Loved that thing; I've had several over the years, and still have a very very very gig worn one that's covered in what I assume are multiple droplets of beer amongst the dirt. It had been sat up for 3 years and powered on first time when I tried a few days ago. And the memory still saved the presets - come on, now that's reliable. I paid £35 for this one about 8-9 years ago and apparently they go for £120 or more on eBay now? Never thought old multi-effects would appreciate in value.

I've also had the GT-5 (great but the expression pedal is cheap plus it's too big), GT-6 (awful for some reason, especially the preamps) and GT-8. I still also have the GT-8 and it's awesome; literally my favourite GT unit they ever made, and I gig and rehearse with it all the time. Tried the GT-10, didn't like it, and the 1000 series where it's too computer driven doesn't interest me. If you can't fairly easily adjust it in-unit, I don't want it. Needs to be self-contained, autonomous. You can back up the old ones via MIDI though, which is hilarious - I expect even Garageband could do it. Handy if the battery inside ever dies.

What I love about the GT units is how easy it is to do stereo rigs with minimal thought and excellent results. Even the GT-3, showing it's age with the terrible tracking on the harmoniser effect (it wasn't great when I first got one 20+ years ago either but it looks worse by comparison now, yet the Whammy WH-1 style "Pedal Bend" on the GT-8 is decent enough), you can easily do stereo ping-pong delays with Tap, the chorus sounds nice, most of the stock phaser/flanger/tremolo/vibrato tones are decent sounding if you're not a boutique snob, the reverb is genuinely well-modelled for the time and I could gig with it today if I needed. I just put these things in MANUAL MODE, use about 1-4 different patches so it's like having a bunch of stomps, easiest way to do it. You can adjust any stereo effects chain stuff with no worrying which pedal is stereo and which isn't; it just works, Todd. No futzing with patch cables, just use the rotary dial.

Funny thing is I never got along with BOSS's compact stomp gain pedals - usually some kind of problem, two most common were "doesn't have enough volume output for a boost when you turn it on, it's actually quieter than my clean" or "all the bass or mid disappears depending on the pedal" however the GT versions are amazing and have insane almost Big Muff like levels of volume boost if you need, assuming your amp has the clean headroom (Fender or Fender style valve amps are best for this, I find - my Laney LC50-II has a Deluxe or Super Reverb clean channel clone, I forget which, and it works the same). I basically always pick the Blues setting as it's most dynamic and cleans up well with guitar volume, however the Oct FUZZ (no idea why it's called this as it's modelling an Ace Tone FM-2 Fuzzmaster circuit, pretty sure, so it should be Ace FUZZ right) is awesome fun especially with an intelligent Ring Mod to make it sound like an MXR Blue Box, except better as it tracks more reliably and has more bottom end.

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In terms of single stomps, I think one of the best ever was the DC-2 Dimension C when run in stereo, a pedal clone of the old Roland SDD-320 I've seen once in person, realised vaguely what it was, and didn't buy it even though it was cheap I remember the coloured buttons. Shame that either vintage or Waza it's a £200 product, but eh, best chorus/spatial expander ever arguably.

Even though it was a bit clean and clinical, I liked the DD-6 as well, mostly for the "weird" mode - Warp, Hold and Reverse. Super fun, and stuff that most delay pedals just don't do, so it's always nice when one of the biggest pedal companies are actually the most innovative.

Friend of mine had an original silver-screw OD-1 that he also got with an amazing Vox AC10 Twin, and like an idiot sold both. The OD-1 was overrated to be honest - sounds good but thin, not enough volume boost - but that AC10 Twin was incredible. Me and him are no longer friends for different reasons but he's same age as me, nearly 40, and still chop-changing gear like a teenager from what I hear.

DM-2 is gorgeous. Warm mushy pseudo-tape. Delay time is short, but quality over quantity eh.

CE-3 is underrated. Similar circuit to the CE-2, which itself had a similar circuit to the CE-1, difference being the CE-3 is stereo output.

VB-2 is legendary for a reason - Graham Coxon had one and really got a lot of use out of it across all the old Blur albums. I'd never own a standalone vibrato because it's not an effect I use much (I do use rotary for the B9 organ sim rig though) however this is one of the best ever.

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Okay I think I've written enough, more than anyone will read anyway

[mr bungle]

Sorry for the pic overload, but these pics are a thing of beauty. Someone finally offered enough to purchase this collection today.

Me, I've personally got 6 Boss pedals.

[Futuron]

I wish the boxes were still coloured

[sal paradise]

I saw that listing. Crazy someone actually bought it.

Considering I’ve spent probably £2k on 15 MIJ pedals recently, I should have considered it. At my rate the whole collection of 150 will cost something like £125k+ without the special editions etc.

No, I’m not planning on buying even more, especially not stuff like PSM-5 or LM-2 that have no practical use… that would be stupid

[ryland]

I saw that listing. Crazy someone actually bought it.

Considering I’ve spent probably £2k on 15 MIJ pedals recently, I should have considered it. At my rate the whole collection of 150 will cost something like £125k+ without the special editions etc.

No, I’m not planning on buying even more, especially not stuff like PSM-5 or LM-2 that have no practical use… that would be stupid

I *cough* have no idea what you're talking about. I've been staying out of this conversation, but I also have amassed a significant collection of Boss pedals and wanted to warn you of the LM-2...I had to buy a few to get one that actually works fully. The pots on them seem prone to breaking and replacements are not easy to come by. I still have at least one that I think I can repair...

[sal paradise]

I saw that listing. Crazy someone actually bought it.

Considering I’ve spent probably £2k on 15 MIJ pedals recently, I should have considered it. At my rate the whole collection of 150 will cost something like £125k+ without the special editions etc.

No, I’m not planning on buying even more, especially not stuff like PSM-5 or LM-2 that have no practical use… that would be stupid

I *cough* have no idea what you're talking about. I've been staying out of this conversation, but I also have amassed a significant collection of Boss pedals and wanted to warn you of the LM-2...I had to buy a few to get one that actually works fully. The pots on them seem prone to breaking and replacements are not easy to come by. I still have at least one that I think I can repair...

Thanks for the tip! I’ll be waiting for your full update here soon. I’m gonna do some kind rundown in a few weeks myself.

In the meantime, Boss timeline graphics!

[crazyzeke]

Sorry for the pic overload, but these pics are a thing of beauty. Someone finally offered enough to purchase this collection today.

Oh wow! I love seeing them all grouped together like that, all those wonderful rainbow colours. If they were colour themed in the same order as a rainbow rather than mostly date order I think, I'd probably flip out.

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Forever my favourite, though, of all the single stomps aka "compact pedals". Just strum a complex chord (say something nice like a Gmaj9) with it on, stereo outs, and enjoy the shimmer.

[JSett]

Oh wow! I love seeing them all grouped together like that, all those wonderful rainbow colours. If they were colour themed in the same order as a rainbow rather than mostly date order I think, I'd probably flip out.

About as close as you can get...

[sal paradise]

Oh wow! I love seeing them all grouped together like that, all those wonderful rainbow colours. If they were colour themed in the same order as a rainbow rather than mostly date order I think, I'd probably flip out.

About as close as you can get...

This is grouped by neither colour, type or even year. What were they thinking? Like they started with an idea & got bored halfway through

[hulakatt]

There's some cool ones in there but could you even part that collection out for $75k? It's certainly not worth a premium to come pre-collected.

Sorry for the pic overload, but these pics are a thing of beauty. Someone finally offered enough to purchase this collection today.

Me, I've personally got 6 Boss pedals.

[sal paradise]

There's some cool ones in there but could you even part that collection out for $75k? It's certainly not worth a premium to come pre-collected.

Good point! Even with the crazy rare pedals that would be impossible to shift, an average of $450 per pedal is about as far from good value as I could imagine.

Just realised I did a massive maths fail in my post earlier. I really need to learn how to multiply

[AwesomeWelles]

This is the most perfect collection of Boss pedals that I've ever seen. That must've taken years to compile!

My only gripe is that the OD-1 is not a silver screw one, but a later variant.

[sal paradise]

This is the most perfect collection of Boss pedals that I've ever seen. That must've taken years to compile!

My only gripe is that the OD-1 is not a silver screw one, but a later variant.

Even if it were screw, is it the 14 pin chip? I think there’s 4 versions of the OD-1 (five, if you count the 40th anniversary boxset model).

[GotA]

Here is my latest boss build. The first real clone of the truly underrated and overlooked HM-3 hyper metal. Also attached my demo of the pedal. Not sure how to link a YouTube video on this forum yet so sorry if there's a better way.



https://youtu.be/cq-MCCBkUnE?si=DKefY2X1n1jcVgFA