BOSS pedals revisited.

ICBM

sgosden said:

tbm said:

The PH3 is shite though. 

tried really hard with the PH3. I'm not a tone snob at all, but just really couldn't get on with the volume drop or how it affected the 'dry' aspect of the signal (I think that's what it was).

The PH-3, BF-3, OC-3 and AW-3 all digitise the dry signal as well as the effect. Most other Boss digitals - including all the delays right up to the 7 as far as I know - don't.

I'm not anti-digital at all - I use several, including two COSM ones - but there seems to be something in the A/D/A conversion in these ones that doesn't sound as good as the old analogue-dry-path pedals.

sgosden

ICBM said:

 

The PH-3, BF-3, OC-3 and AW-3 all digitise the dry signal as well as the effect. Most other Boss digitals - including all the delays right up to the 7 as far as I know - don't.

I'm not anti-digital at all - I use several, including two COSM ones - but there seems to be something in the A/D/A conversion in these ones that doesn't sound as good as the old analogue-dry-path pedals.

digital is fine. very happy in helix land.

I found I like the BF2 over the BF3 for similar reasons. And have been on the look out for a PH2 or PH1R to try out.

Musicman20

Definitely my favourite style of enclosure...I especially like the new Waza pedals. The VB-2W is such a fun pedal. 

ICBM

sgosden said:

digital is fine. very happy in helix land.

I found I like the BF2 over the BF3 for similar reasons. And have been on the look out for a PH2 or PH1R to try out.

Yes, I'm happy with my ME-50 and RE-20 as well - digital isn't the problem, it's the particular implementation of it in the new '3' series pedals.

The PH-2 and PH-1R are both much better, and quite different from each other.

gearaddict

Caffeine_Vampire said:

Not a problem with my EQ. Best and most versatile pedal I own. 

Yeah, this was the small one - GE7? It was very noisy. To be honest though, I never got rid of a boss pedal because of noise or buffer issues. I just didn't get what I wanted out of them. That said, my first 3 pedals were a Boss chorus (not the good one, the CE3 I think), overdive (again, not the good one...the OD2 turbo overdrive) and a delay (DD3 I think) and I was perfectly happy with them for years. My discontentment set in when I compared them to other pedals.

I find the DD3 very sterile sounding...much prefer the (cheaper) Marshall echohead. The OD2 sucked all the bass out of the tone...but I think that's what it is meant to do. And the CE3 was a bit too thick on any setting.

joetele

Currently got 7 Boss pedals on my board, and at the most I've had about 11 or 12. I went through a phase of being seduced by boutique pedals where the grass is always greener on the next pedal, and thankfully sold up and revisited Boss pedals. I don't love all of them, but most of them do the job nicely and there's a few that I love. 

I've got

• DSD2, a lovely long chip delay with a sample function 
• PH3, brilliant versatile phaser which keeps me happy. Step mode is glorious
• HF2, much preferable to the BF3 for me, with a nice subtle flange that doesn't get too extreme. And it's pink
• FZ5, the much-hated digital fuzz which doesn't really sound like the 3 pedals it's trying to emulate, but has its own sounds which are more than useable for me. I like it a lot
• PW3, a nice versatile wah which covers all the bases required at a kinder footprint
• FV50H, plasticky volume pedal that does the job but could be replaced at some point
• TR2, decent standard tremolo that does the job but I do love the look and features of the Caroline Parabola

Honourable mentions to pedals sold

• BD2, unmodded and loved for years as a boost and dirt pedal, but has been replaced. Would consider buying another if money and space were no object. 
• DS1, faithful distortion pedal for years which did lovely transparent blues to full on rock and great with my old Telecaster
• CS3, first foray into compression and great for tightening sound and adding sustain, but I think there are better options out there
• RV5, a stunning reverb pedal which I'd have kept but I actually thought the newish Fender Marine Layer offered a much better sound with more depth for similar price, despite not having quite so many features (most of which I didn't use anyway)
• TE2 - I miss this pedal. I know I can get it on the Katana (when I get the software to work) but I like being able to tweak it fully in real time to go between neat little verby spiral delays, and ambient pads
• CE5, nice intro to chorus back in my younger years. Very versatile and useable for the gigging musician. I've since found other options but would happily use this again
• OC3, great octave and octave + gain pedal with lots of uses but I was getting most of what I needed from my trusty old Whammy 4
• PS2 - loved this for the glitchy octaves and delays. Shouldn't have sold it on really but again, I've got the bases covered by the Whammy and the DSD2
• MT2 - yes, I've also owned this. And no, I didn't get much use out of it but I was young and fickle. I'm sure I could get something useable from it now with a bit of effort
• DF2, I'd like to have this one back too - sold when I needed some money. Nice feedback generator but between the Ebow and maybe buying a Freqout I think I'm covered
• ME50 - definitely regret selling this for £50 less than I bought it for to a moron who spilled beer on it and killed it (he claims, I think it was probably still OK). Great effects models and ease of use. 

So in summary, I like Boss pedals a lot and have owned a lot more than I initially could remember, hence lots of editing  

I do fairly expansive, weird, ambient stuff and despite there being a huge range of boutique options out there for this kind of music, the Boss ones cover a lot of those bases too. And Imagine gigging every pedal I've mentioned on a nice big board! 

Caffeine_Vampire

@gearaddict Have to admit, I’ve never tried any of those although I am tempted to pick up a DD-20. 

Caffeine_Vampire

@joetele I’ve recently acquired a PW-3 with zero regrets. 

joetele

Caffeine_Vampire said:

@joetele I’ve recently acquired a PW-3 with zero regrets. 

I was using it to alter the sound of 'everything on' feedback at a practice last year, sounds INCREDIBLE on the recording. But also great for regular playing too. 

Caffeine_Vampire

joetele said:

Caffeine_Vampire said:

@joetele I’ve recently acquired a PW-3 with zero regrets. 

I was using it to alter the sound of 'everything on' feedback at a practice last year, sounds INCREDIBLE on the recording. But also great for regular playing too. 

Sweet. I leave it cocked for Lizzy goodness with an Ibanez Wah on top. 

StuartMac290

I just picked up an old HF2. Seriously underrated pedal, that

Caffeine_Vampire

Just an addition to my thread, who can recommend me someone in the U.K. for BOSS pedal upgrades?

joetele

StuartMac290 said:

I just picked up an old HF2. Seriously underrated pedal, that

Genuinely great pedal. Only picked it up last year but wish I'd discovered it a lot sooner. Nice simple flanger with a lovely range of tone shaping options. 

Tadragh1

I am picking up an HF-2 today. Thanks for additional motivation

ICBM

A great thing to do is use a HF-2 on guitar at the same time as the bass player uses a BF-2. With roughly similar settings you get a sound a bit like a dual-rotor Leslie cab .

Snags

This thread needs a pic of @Modellista 's Boss mini-board that did sterling duty at Huddersfield recently ...

Tadragh1

Loving the HF-2. Does all kinds of subtle. Low noise. Pink.

ICBM

Tadragh1 said:

Loving the HF-2. Does all kinds of subtle. Low noise. Pink.

I put a pink LED in mine .

Tadragh1

ICBM said:

Tadragh1 said:

Loving the HF-2. Does all kinds of subtle. Low noise. Pink.

I put a pink LED in mine .

You win 

ICBM

Tadragh1 said:

ICBM said:

Tadragh1 said:

Loving the HF-2. Does all kinds of subtle. Low noise. Pink.

I put a pink LED in mine .

You win 

I actually put 'appropriate' coloured LEDs in all my pedals when I had a big pedalboard. Aside from being geeky, it did serve a useful purpose - on a dark stage, it was easy to tell at a very quick glance what was on.

On the ME-50 I use now, all the LEDs are red, and when quite a few of them are on at the same time it's quite hard to tell instantly what is on and what isn't without looking more closely, which for those of us over 50...