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Hatsubai « Doesn't really sound like an acoustic »
Published on 10/25/11 at 16:14The Boss AC-2 is an attempt at trying to replicate that electrified acoustic sound with a guitar. To be honest, it doesn't really achieve that acoustic sound, but it does deliver an interesting clean tone if you're looking for something almost sitar-ish at points. The pedal is actually packed full of features. It has knobs for level, body, tone and has a four way rotary switch for different modes that you can choose from: standard, enhance, jumbo, and piezo.
UTILIZATION
Boss pedals are always built like tanks. I've seen these pedals go through hell and back, and they always seem to be able to survive. One cool thing about these pedals is that they're FET based, so if you are running a long chain of cable, this can help boost the signal. On the other hand, they kinda suck a little bit of tone, although some are worse than others. The manual for Boss pedals is always very clearly laid out, and they give different example tone settings that you can mess around with. I find that the pedals tend to be so easy to use that you don't even need to read the manual, but for those who want to know every little thing about the pedal, it's there for you.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound is where this kind of falls short. The pedal doesn't really turn the guitar into a convincing acoustic sound. About the only thing that'll truly make a guitar sound like an acoustic would be piezo equipped saddles, but those are pretty invasive if the guitar didn't already come installed with them. The pedal has four different modes you an choose from, and while they do sound a bit different from each other, I never found myself really caring which mode it was on. I normally just stuck it on the piezo mode and went from there. I was able to get a pretty cool sitar-like effect out of this, but it didn't have the sustain I was looking for.
OVERALL OPINION
The pedals are interesting, but if you're looking to turn your electric into an acoustic, look elsewhere. If you're looking to experiment with a different type of clean sound you normally wouldn't be able to get, this could be the pedal you're looking for. These go pretty cheap on the used market, so it's not a big deal to buy one just to mess with it.
UTILIZATION
Boss pedals are always built like tanks. I've seen these pedals go through hell and back, and they always seem to be able to survive. One cool thing about these pedals is that they're FET based, so if you are running a long chain of cable, this can help boost the signal. On the other hand, they kinda suck a little bit of tone, although some are worse than others. The manual for Boss pedals is always very clearly laid out, and they give different example tone settings that you can mess around with. I find that the pedals tend to be so easy to use that you don't even need to read the manual, but for those who want to know every little thing about the pedal, it's there for you.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound is where this kind of falls short. The pedal doesn't really turn the guitar into a convincing acoustic sound. About the only thing that'll truly make a guitar sound like an acoustic would be piezo equipped saddles, but those are pretty invasive if the guitar didn't already come installed with them. The pedal has four different modes you an choose from, and while they do sound a bit different from each other, I never found myself really caring which mode it was on. I normally just stuck it on the piezo mode and went from there. I was able to get a pretty cool sitar-like effect out of this, but it didn't have the sustain I was looking for.
OVERALL OPINION
The pedals are interesting, but if you're looking to turn your electric into an acoustic, look elsewhere. If you're looking to experiment with a different type of clean sound you normally wouldn't be able to get, this could be the pedal you're looking for. These go pretty cheap on the used market, so it's not a big deal to buy one just to mess with it.