View other reviews for this product:
Hatsubai « COSM based modeling fuzz »
Published on 11/29/11 at 13:58For about 8 years, there wasn't a single fuzz in the Boss line up. Finally, they decided to make a fuzz, but they changed it up this time. Instead of the normal fuzz style components, they decided to make use of their famous COSM technology to help create an almost modeling style fuzz. It's a bit different, so it's not for everybody, but it's definitely something interesting. It has a knob for the level, knob for the amount of fuzz and a three way selector switch that allows you to select between three different fuzz types.
UTILIZATION
The manual that Boss provides is wonderful. It's easy to understand what everything does and how everything works. It also gives you some example sentences to help you get some good sounds right away. The knobs are easily accessible, and it's small enough to fit on nearly any pedalboard. The pedal is FET bypassed, so it can be used as a buffer to help boost/preserve your signal, but it doesn't sound quite as good as true bypass. The housing is awesome and will withstand even the most extreme abuse out there. It's withstood the test of time, and there's a reason why they keep using it.
SOUND QUALITY
The fuzz tones are pretty decent, and it's meant to model the Fuzzface, FZ-1A and Octavia. All three of these fuzzes are pretty iconic in the fuzz world, and they've helped create a majority of the old school 60s/70s tones that were famous back in the day. However, I can't help but think neither of them sound quite as close to the real thing. I mean, they get you in the ballpark, but they don't seem to be able to recreate the complexity and organic-ness that the originals have. The good news is, if you've never played those pedals, you'll probably really like this as it's a fairly versatile fuzz pedal that can create all kinds of different sounds.
OVERALL OPINION
If you need something for a decent price that can get a good amount of famous fuzz tones, this could be what you're looking for. I find that it's a solid pedal, but it can't match the real things. They just have something special going on that can't be recreated with today's modeling technology, but they might be able to in the future.
UTILIZATION
The manual that Boss provides is wonderful. It's easy to understand what everything does and how everything works. It also gives you some example sentences to help you get some good sounds right away. The knobs are easily accessible, and it's small enough to fit on nearly any pedalboard. The pedal is FET bypassed, so it can be used as a buffer to help boost/preserve your signal, but it doesn't sound quite as good as true bypass. The housing is awesome and will withstand even the most extreme abuse out there. It's withstood the test of time, and there's a reason why they keep using it.
SOUND QUALITY
The fuzz tones are pretty decent, and it's meant to model the Fuzzface, FZ-1A and Octavia. All three of these fuzzes are pretty iconic in the fuzz world, and they've helped create a majority of the old school 60s/70s tones that were famous back in the day. However, I can't help but think neither of them sound quite as close to the real thing. I mean, they get you in the ballpark, but they don't seem to be able to recreate the complexity and organic-ness that the originals have. The good news is, if you've never played those pedals, you'll probably really like this as it's a fairly versatile fuzz pedal that can create all kinds of different sounds.
OVERALL OPINION
If you need something for a decent price that can get a good amount of famous fuzz tones, this could be what you're looking for. I find that it's a solid pedal, but it can't match the real things. They just have something special going on that can't be recreated with today's modeling technology, but they might be able to in the future.