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iamqman « NOT MUCH TO IT »
Published on 03/18/11 at 17:16This pedal has chance to be great but in its stock form it doesn't live up to a SD-1 or and OD-2. It carries the name for blues but it is not restricted to only blues tones. It is a pretty simple overdrive pedal with subtle gain and not much else going for it. It comes off sort of shrill sounding and very thin. It doesn't have a tone that says play me by any means. At best in its stock form it is used as a clean boost into a heavy gain amp. That is pretty much all your going to be able to use this in.
Like most Boss pedal it is not true bypass so that is something that you would probably want to have modded. It isn't a main OD so you will most likely use in in context unless you only have the one pedal. So I recommend getting the true bypass mod done to it.
The connection is simple as it takes a 9v plug. The great thing it has going for it is, Boss made it and it is pretty much built to last. Other than that your going to have to change out some parts. They claim it sounds like a vintage overdriven amp, but come on...it sounds like a garbage cans in a pedal that shreaks and registers high ear piercing tone if you can call it tone.
UTILIZATION
It doesn't get much easier than a three knob pedal. Gain, Level, and Tone and there isn't much to figure out. Setting this thing up for a good sound can be very difficult since it won't sound good. However, it is easy to twist three controls in an attempt to get some usage out of it.
SOUND QUALITY
Hitting metal garbage cans against a dumpster would sound better than this pedal. I would rather record that on a guitar amp than stick my cable through this thing. I think this is Boss's attempt to capitalize on the blues market by offering an OD pedal that simply says "blues..." on it. They have had many people buy into it.
Let me say this though....if you get this thing modded by Keeley or Analogman then you will have a very usable pedal. I have heard a modded one and it actually did sound amazing. It felt warm and smooth much more natural like a real amp cranked up. It leveled out the highs and smoothed the midrange to compliment the lower end which made dialing in a solid creamy overdrive much more tastier.
I used a Strat with the pedal into a Vox Ac30 and also a Sovtek 50 head. The sound with the Sovtek was amazing! It was the first time I had heard this pedal and amp so I wasn't sure which one was the keeper. Found out the pedal was modified and the Sovtek was stock. It had a huge overdrive going into a fairly clean with just a hint of grit in the Sovtek. I went to check about getting one modded and it wasn't too much money to buy one new modified. They come in around $200.
OVERALL OPINION
Get this thing modified! I cannot stress this enough. You want to use a pedal that feels and sounds natural. It may cost a little bit extra but if you need a slight OD pedal that is silky smooth and reacts naturally to your guitar amp then send it to Keeley or Analogman.
By it self it come in around $90 but modded you are almost going to double that if you by new modified. I suggest you get one used and then send it out. But then I would suggest you just buy a TS9 or an OCD. If you need a good clean boost then this is a proper pedal for that, but if I personally had the choice I'd go for an SD-1.
I would recommend this pedal only if it had the mods. Otherwise it is pretty useless out of the box. It does sound fantastic once repaired. So if you had extra time and some extra cash try it out and if you don't like it I would go for the TS9 which would be a similar taste to this pedal.
Like most Boss pedal it is not true bypass so that is something that you would probably want to have modded. It isn't a main OD so you will most likely use in in context unless you only have the one pedal. So I recommend getting the true bypass mod done to it.
The connection is simple as it takes a 9v plug. The great thing it has going for it is, Boss made it and it is pretty much built to last. Other than that your going to have to change out some parts. They claim it sounds like a vintage overdriven amp, but come on...it sounds like a garbage cans in a pedal that shreaks and registers high ear piercing tone if you can call it tone.
UTILIZATION
It doesn't get much easier than a three knob pedal. Gain, Level, and Tone and there isn't much to figure out. Setting this thing up for a good sound can be very difficult since it won't sound good. However, it is easy to twist three controls in an attempt to get some usage out of it.
SOUND QUALITY
Hitting metal garbage cans against a dumpster would sound better than this pedal. I would rather record that on a guitar amp than stick my cable through this thing. I think this is Boss's attempt to capitalize on the blues market by offering an OD pedal that simply says "blues..." on it. They have had many people buy into it.
Let me say this though....if you get this thing modded by Keeley or Analogman then you will have a very usable pedal. I have heard a modded one and it actually did sound amazing. It felt warm and smooth much more natural like a real amp cranked up. It leveled out the highs and smoothed the midrange to compliment the lower end which made dialing in a solid creamy overdrive much more tastier.
I used a Strat with the pedal into a Vox Ac30 and also a Sovtek 50 head. The sound with the Sovtek was amazing! It was the first time I had heard this pedal and amp so I wasn't sure which one was the keeper. Found out the pedal was modified and the Sovtek was stock. It had a huge overdrive going into a fairly clean with just a hint of grit in the Sovtek. I went to check about getting one modded and it wasn't too much money to buy one new modified. They come in around $200.
OVERALL OPINION
Get this thing modified! I cannot stress this enough. You want to use a pedal that feels and sounds natural. It may cost a little bit extra but if you need a slight OD pedal that is silky smooth and reacts naturally to your guitar amp then send it to Keeley or Analogman.
By it self it come in around $90 but modded you are almost going to double that if you by new modified. I suggest you get one used and then send it out. But then I would suggest you just buy a TS9 or an OCD. If you need a good clean boost then this is a proper pedal for that, but if I personally had the choice I'd go for an SD-1.
I would recommend this pedal only if it had the mods. Otherwise it is pretty useless out of the box. It does sound fantastic once repaired. So if you had extra time and some extra cash try it out and if you don't like it I would go for the TS9 which would be a similar taste to this pedal.