Boss pedals appreciation thread

[Gearmond]

VB-2 is legendary, and they're still the tops for pitch shifting, generally

also i want both of these to do this

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYXJ3sYx6uQ[/youtube]

we're also FINALLY getting to the point where "not sounding like a guitar" is considered a GOOD thing (no, noise and fuzzed to shit doesn't count) so all these old boss things are excellent, imo

[devnulljp]

yeah, and the buffers can just KILL all other pedals

I've never really noticed honestly.

Put one in front of a fuzz face ...

[GardenoftheDead]

One more reason not to use a fuzz face?

j/k but seriously I hate every fuzz face I've ever tried.

[devnulljp]

One more reason not to use a fuzz face?
j/k but seriously I hate every fuzz face I've ever tried.

Maybe you need to try a good one some time

[GardenoftheDead]

Thing is I've tried a vintage one, the dunlop reissues, Fulltone's Catalyst fuzz, the Dream Crusher, etc. and overall it's not a fuzz circuit that's ever impressed me.

Edit: Also I still don't see the problem because I don't really put anything in front of fuzz except a boost on occasion.

[hbombgraphics]

Thing is I've tried a vintage one, the dunlop reissues, Fulltone's Catalyst fuzz, the Dream Crusher, etc. and overall it's not a fuzz circuit that's ever impressed me.

Edit: Also I still don't see the problem because I don't really put anything in front of fuzz except a boost on occasion.

I love a good fuzzface circuit. It really does depend on where you place it in the chain.

[Ghost Hip]

I usually put boss pedals in a TB loop... tends to fix any buffer issues one may or may not have. I know a lot of devi's circuits which are responsive to the input signals respond differently to buffered pedals around them... but hell sometimes you can use it to your advantage.

Anywho, I'll be the umpteenth person to say I loved the HM-2. Has a very unique and textural EQ section.

[univalve]

Eventually some band is going to come along and use the SL-20 to its full potential (or at least in a super awesome way). Then everyone will be like, "WOAH I NEED ONE ASAP OMG CUM EVERYWHERE DER CHOPPY TONEZ".

I want one super bad, I've just never had the scrilla.

I've been looking into these. I also want one.

Univalve, from here, has a band called Analog Pattern Robots I admire, and his use of the Slicer is pretty badass.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpG8PNNzo2M[/youtube]

Haha, Thanks for the Love! i forgot to mention it in my List
Slicer is One of the best effects ever by Boss

[Zander]

I used to be a full-on "Boss guy" dreaming of full pedal boards of only Boss. I figured that "just Boss" would keep everything neat and clean. I ended up coming to the conclusion fairly early on that too many Boss pedals in your chain (or just the CS-3 and something else) sounds like ASS. I'm old enough to be an original buyer of a few MIJ Boss pedals. I like some Boss pedals for what they can do, but a good number of Boss pedals I got in my early days were real stinkers.

I was an original buyer of a Boss HM-2. I loved it until I played it in a band situation. After trying to make it work a few times and failing, I decided it had to go. I probably shouldn't have gotten rid of it because in retrospect, I think it's cool for practicing, but I have never found another pedal that, in a band situation, made my playing so completely disappear with everyone else playing. It was as if clicking on the pedal was like this amazing mute button. How anyone can use that pedal today and "cut through" is beyond me. Given that weakness alone, I can't understand the current fanboyism surrounding it.

Here's what I had that I ended up getting rid of:
HM-2: Explained
CS-3: Too noisy
SD-1: Meh. Seemed nowhere as cool as an actual tube screamer.
OD-2: Turbo Overdrive. Not metal enough.
DS-2: Turbo Distortion. Not metal enough. Couldn't get a good sound out of it.
DD-3: MIJ. Gave it away to a friend.
HF-2: Hi-Band Flanger MIJ. Sales d00d @ Guitar Center said it flanged just like the BF-2. He lied. I think this pedal is just about worthless for guitar. Perhaps other instruments can make use of it, but I found it to be possibly the most uninspiring pedal I've ever used.
GE-7: The stupid rubber tips that would so easily fall off the sliders pissed me off. I thought it was too noisy as well.
PH-2: I thought this was about as lame a phaser sound as was possible.

Boss I currently have:
DD-3: MIJ. I somehow happened upon a situaton where I owned 2. I still own one.
DD-20: I think this is a good pedal
OC-2: Fun. Too bad it's not polyphonic.
RC-2: I like fooling myself into believing I'm "learning" how to use it, but it's not been out of its box in well over a year.
XT-2: Not for everyone, but I actually think it's one of their better "old" distortion pedals. I like that only 20,000 were made and IMHO, it does quite a good job at passable Sabbath tones.
DN-2: Dyna Drive. I got this for $40.00 on eBay last week. I am aware it employs that crap Boss COSM tech, but it also seems like it might be good for pushing the front of an amp. I've yet to try it.
BD-2: Thought it sounded pretty good. I think I got it for $55. Tone knob has to be rolled all the way off or it's ice-pick city. Pedal has been in pieces for over a year waiting for me to apply a Monte Allums BD-2 kit I bought to mod it.
CE-5: I don't know why I bought this. I don't particularly care for Chorus sounds. However, I did make a point of buying the older analog version to try out some "cut this capacitor and it will sound better" mod. I'd probably be better off just selling it back on eBay.

Boss I actually plan on acquiring:
PS-6 Harmonizer. Oh to be able to play BOTH guitar parts of "The Boys are Back In Town".
RE-20 Space Echo. Just 'cause
TU-3 Tuner. I have a Peterson StroboStomp 2 tuner, but I think I'd rather leave that at home for tuning and set-ups than to keep it on a pedalboard so someone else can steal it.

I also have some EHX and a few b00tEEk pedals (probably about 50 pedals total), but I've come to the conclusion that insofar as "big" pedalmakers are concerned, I'm mostly in the Dunlop/MXR camp. Despite all my griping about Boss distortion/overdrive, I actually think they tend do a better job on distortion than Dunlop/MXR. At the end of the day, I've found that I prefer boosts and amp distortion. I think Dunlop/MXR does a much better job of good modulation pedals than Boss. The MXR 117-R Flanger was exactly the sound I wanted.

[retinal orbita]

I've used an RC2, but didn't need it and it went to the craigslist graveyard of unrequited sorrow, I use a TU2 and I'd like to get a Super Phaser one of these days.... maybe one of those cute orange distortion pedals as well....

[CaptainWampum]

My RE-20 is the only pedal that is ALWAYS on my board. I love it to death, best delay in town.

[DarkAxel]

PH-2
TR-2

these do it for me because they're AWESOME

[OblivionJones]

I have quite a few BOSS pedals of my own. My favorites from them are the RV-3 and the DD-7. My clean tone is rarely without lots of reverb and delay and those two really help it out. I've heard people tell me that those pedals suck tone from the overall setup but I've not found it to be true in my own experience. I have an MT-2 that I was given as a gift and, while I would hardly call it the best distortion pedal in the world by any means, I've managed to pull some cool tones out of it. This is mostly in combination with the DD-7's capabilities to make a singing distortion tone that I like all right.
I also own a CE-5 and an OC-3 that were given to me recently as gifts. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with them added to my board.

[Adoom]

Not a worry Uni, the love is well deserved!

I actually might try out the OC-3 again. Or maybe the PS-5, whatever might work. I'm not super picky about polyphony. And yeah, I definitely want a Slicer.

[goroth]

Am I a bad person because I can't see the fun in the slicer?