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iamqman « Great booster OD pedal!! »
Published on 03/16/11 at 15:49Could be the most commonly used OD pedal that Boss has ever made. The reason is because so many professionals have used this slamming the front of their Marshall JCM800's. Which is pretty much the reason I bought this pedal. I think there are definitely poor things about this pedal but keeley in my opinion has addressed. One being the volume loss and the overall tonal characteristics are enhanced from the Keeley mod. And man does this thing get LOUD!! This mod makes this pedal go from cool but sort of week volume to turn that thing down because its too loud!!
It is a simple layout as all Boss units are, and controls are as followed...
Level, Tone, and Drive
The Keeley mod adds a switch to the right side of the unit that changes the diode clipping style of the distortion.
UTILIZATION
Extremely easy to use and no need of a manual. However, Keeley does include a manual for his 5 start tone stack which what he calls his mod to this pedal. Plus this unit came with an additional chip inside that change the clipping and tone as well. Not sure the name for it...I think it was called the brown chip or something. I never really flipped in and out the chips but once to test...found the one I liked and used that exclusively.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality is fantastic if you are trying to slam the front of your overdriven amp. It will do that 80's tone in spades. So my use was normally just as a simple booster to get the amp sizzling even more. Made jamming really much more pleasurable. It was warm and somewhat smooth but I would call is a bit sleazy. This is a pedal you don't take home to mom....it is a pedal that you told tell your parents about but show off to your friends for high fives if that makes sense. It gives you that pissed off Marshall tone that you hear on so many records from the 80's hard rock glam metal genre.
I used it with my Les Paul and Strat style guitar in front of an 80's JCM 800 and Splawn QR. It was more fun to use in front of the 800 than the Splawn since the Splawn already does this sound naturally. If you can get a decent quality JCM 800 fro around $700 and this pedal you have that modded Marshall tone without spending $700 fro some dude to hack up your amp.
Beware though you will need a noise gate because this thing burns the front end of your amp so heavily that it creates a lot of noise. not a bad thing just the normality or operating in this setting. It gets really angry and actually very fun to play some old VH or Ratt riffs with this setup.
OVERALL OPINION
The thing I like most about it was that it gave me that modded Marshall tone for around $100 and you can keep your amp clean from holes or unwanted modding. It isn't perfect but it can achieve desired results for hard rock/ old metal tones. It is not suitable for really low drop tunings unless its pushing an already heavily overdriven amp. This application would probably make your amp tighter and more focused.
Would I get another one of these....probably if I get another unmolested Marshall JMP or JCM 800. I would recommend this mod too as it adds a cool transparency to your stomp box.
It is a simple layout as all Boss units are, and controls are as followed...
Level, Tone, and Drive
The Keeley mod adds a switch to the right side of the unit that changes the diode clipping style of the distortion.
UTILIZATION
Extremely easy to use and no need of a manual. However, Keeley does include a manual for his 5 start tone stack which what he calls his mod to this pedal. Plus this unit came with an additional chip inside that change the clipping and tone as well. Not sure the name for it...I think it was called the brown chip or something. I never really flipped in and out the chips but once to test...found the one I liked and used that exclusively.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality is fantastic if you are trying to slam the front of your overdriven amp. It will do that 80's tone in spades. So my use was normally just as a simple booster to get the amp sizzling even more. Made jamming really much more pleasurable. It was warm and somewhat smooth but I would call is a bit sleazy. This is a pedal you don't take home to mom....it is a pedal that you told tell your parents about but show off to your friends for high fives if that makes sense. It gives you that pissed off Marshall tone that you hear on so many records from the 80's hard rock glam metal genre.
I used it with my Les Paul and Strat style guitar in front of an 80's JCM 800 and Splawn QR. It was more fun to use in front of the 800 than the Splawn since the Splawn already does this sound naturally. If you can get a decent quality JCM 800 fro around $700 and this pedal you have that modded Marshall tone without spending $700 fro some dude to hack up your amp.
Beware though you will need a noise gate because this thing burns the front end of your amp so heavily that it creates a lot of noise. not a bad thing just the normality or operating in this setting. It gets really angry and actually very fun to play some old VH or Ratt riffs with this setup.
OVERALL OPINION
The thing I like most about it was that it gave me that modded Marshall tone for around $100 and you can keep your amp clean from holes or unwanted modding. It isn't perfect but it can achieve desired results for hard rock/ old metal tones. It is not suitable for really low drop tunings unless its pushing an already heavily overdriven amp. This application would probably make your amp tighter and more focused.
Would I get another one of these....probably if I get another unmolested Marshall JMP or JCM 800. I would recommend this mod too as it adds a cool transparency to your stomp box.