Boss BOX-40

roberty

Presumably now that they've made 1,500 of them it'll be easy for them to make more?

Musicman20

If it's a collector thing you are after, surely a decent Swiss watch would be a better investment.

UnclePsychosis

Musicman20 said:

If it's a collector thing you are after, surely a decent Swiss watch would be a better investment.

-only if you're into watches. 

Collectors collect things that don't make sense from any practical perspective. People spend thousands on beanie babies, others spend tens of thousands on 15 different Sunburst Les Pauls, some people own a hundred different watches. 

I suspect that there are probably enough guitar collectors with more money than sense that might be into this. It's more interesting than adding your 152nd strat to a collection in my opinion! 

Flanging_Fred

People have been whining on for years on certain internet music forums that Boss should re-issue classic old stuff.  Boss can now say "there you go, cough up or shut the fck up. Let us get on with what we're good at - creating innovative, forward thinking, solid tools for musicians".

Well played Boss I say. But I won't be buying one.

stickyfiddle

These are really obviously for the same guys that have 9 CS Collector's whatnot Les Paul in varying shades of sunburst even though they can barely play House of the Rising Sun. Don't sweat it.

Cabicular

stickyfiddle said:

These are really obviously for the same guys that have 9 CS Collector's whatnot Les Paul in varying shades of sunburst even though they can barely play House of the Rising Sun. Don't sweat it.

It's in A right?

Musicman20

Don't get me wrong, I want this set, but I can't justify that price in my life right now. I'd rather buy the MD-500 and RV-500 and have spare cash from those two!

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

there is a reason the Spectrum is so rare (and hence now valuable).

Ditto the BOSS AG-5 Funny Cat pedal.

I once managed to accidentally recreate the exact sound of the Funny Cat using a BOSS ME-50B in manual mode.

JezWynd

ICBM said:

StefB said:

£759 at GuitarGuitar…

For that you could probably buy a set of mini-condition boxed originals, including a Spectrum.

I doubt it actually. A near mint, boxed Spectrum turned up on eBay a while back for around 475, it sold inside a week. The original 14 pin OD-1's go for 300 +. The only reasonably priced one is the PH-1 and somewhat ironically, it sounds the best.

That said, the 759 that GAK are asking is mad. I've been looking for a set of originals in good condition but so far the only one I've been able to find for reasonable price is the PH-1 - it's one of the nicest sounding phasers I've used and I've been through a few, it has an almost chorus like vibe to it.

Sassafras

It's not like Boss had to put development money into these pedals. The only R&D money went into the nice box.

ICBM

JezWynd said:

I doubt it actually. A near mint, boxed Spectrum turned up on eBay a while back for around 475, it sold inside a week. The original 14 pin OD-1's go for 300 +. The only reasonably priced one is the PH-1 and somewhat ironically, it sounds the best.

That said, the 759 that GAK are asking is mad. I've been looking for a set of originals in good condition but so far the only one I've been able to find for reasonable price is the PH-1 - it's one of the nicest sounding phasers I've used and I've been through a few, it has an almost chorus like vibe to it.

I like them too, but prefer the PH-1R which I'm almost certain is the same circuit but with a resonance control. The PH-1R is my favourite phaser ever, in fact.

JezWynd

ICBM said:

JezWynd said:

I doubt it actually. A near mint, boxed Spectrum turned up on eBay a while back for around 475, it sold inside a week. The original 14 pin OD-1's go for 300 +. The only reasonably priced one is the PH-1 and somewhat ironically, it sounds the best.

That said, the 759 that GAK are asking is mad. I've been looking for a set of originals in good condition but so far the only one I've been able to find for reasonable price is the PH-1 - it's one of the nicest sounding phasers I've used and I've been through a few, it has an almost chorus like vibe to it.

I like them too, but prefer the PH-1R which I'm almost certain is the same circuit but with a resonance control. The PH-1R is my favourite phaser ever, in fact.

I've had a couple of PH-1R's in the past but not at the same time as the PH-1 unfortunately, so no chance to A/B them. I suppose there's always the possibility of component drift with 30+ year old kit, but I found the PH-1 to have a more complex sound than the 1R, a hint of chorus style modulation in the sound. That said, like you I've always understood they were the same pedal with the addition of a resonance control.

Perhaps a pedal builder with access to the circuit layouts can give a definitive answer.

ICBM

JezWynd said:

I've had a couple of PH-1R's in the past but not at the same time as the PH-1 unfortunately, so no chance to A/B them. I suppose there's always the possibility of component drift with 30+ year old kit, but I found the PH-1 to have a more complex sound than the 1R, a hint of chorus style modulation in the sound. That said, like you I've always understood they were the same pedal with the addition of a resonance control.

Perhaps a pedal builder with access to the circuit layouts can give a definitive answer.

This thread - http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=63657.0 - seems to indicate it's close, but that the R has an extra buffer stage and a mixing stage for the regen, and may have a 'cleaner' sound - if the PH-1 is slightly dirty, that may explain the more complex sound. Unfortunately the schematics are now missing thanks to PhotoFuckit.

english_bob

Sassafras said:

It's not like Boss had to put development money into these pedals. The only R&D money went into the nice box.

I guess that depends on whether the same components they used back then are still available.

A very cursory Google seach turns up several mentions of a 14-pin IC that was used in the original designs of the OD-1 and the Spectrum that I don't think is still in production (RC3403adb). If they aren't using those there may have been tweaks to the circuits to accommodate whatever else they've put in its place.

ICBM

They have certainly been tweaked at least slightly, since they now take a PSA adaptor.

JezWynd

Let's not forget the "heartfelt message from BOSS President Yoshihiro Ikegami". Priceless.

thermionic

The 14-pin chip in the original OD-1 was just a quad opamp rather than a dual opamp like the 4558. I'd guess only the two were used and they bought in the parts because they were cheapest at the time. Unless of course they ran two opamps in parallel, like some of the "stacked" mods do now.

Another tweak of course is the LED stays on while the pedal is on.

thermionic

JezWynd said:

Let's not forget the "heartfelt message from BOSS President Yoshihiro Ikegami". Priceless.

If you bought my original OD-1 for £759, I'd send you a heartfelt message as well.

TonyR

Just got the email about this today, you'd have thought they could have released it with a special edition BCB-30 pedal board!

I won't be purchasing one, I'm looking forward to the release of the MD500

Musicman20

Whilst I don't want to dump all that money, I do really want these!