Should I buy a Boss ES-5?

NorthernStomps

I kinda wanna mess around with signal paths, put some fuzz after Reverb etc. 

english_bob

It's one of very few units that can do that easily. Alternatives that don't cost considerably more are only the Decibel 11 Pedal Palette and the Musicomlab EFX LE.

I built a couple of order switching boxes myself on the cheap from a diagram on General Guitar Gadgets- obviously not programmable, but considerably cheaper.

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/effects-projects/boosters/effects-order-switcher/

WiresDreamDisasters

I love mine

Teetonetal

WiresDreamDisasters said:

I love mine

Yup, I love mine too. For switching up fx it's perfect.

TeleMaster

The Boss switchers are excellent.

I have an ES8 for sale I’d sell you for a good price if you want the full size one. It’s amazing but I’ve downsized to a Nano Plus so have no use for it. 

impmann

I had one.

I returned it under the 14 day thing. Unintelligible manual, over complicated menus and bloody Boss buffer ruining the sound.

Plenty like them but I’m not one - I used the funds to buy a s/h Gigrig G2. Far better for what I wanted.

hotpickups

impmann said:

I had one.

I returned it under the 14 day thing. Unintelligible manual, over complicated menus and bloody Boss buffer ruining the sound.

Plenty like them but I’m not one - I used the funds to buy a s/h Gigrig G2. Far better for what I wanted.

The manual is awful but there is a great Facebook user group that will happily answer any inane questions one might have. I know they did for me. Awesome buy of kit by the way and can't fault it. Cheaper than a G2 

TeleMaster

Literally plug and play and I found the menus self explanatory, didn’t even look at the manual. Not complicated to use at all. 

VJIves

If it's not for live use then isn't something like the Boredbrain more appropriate? The Boss seems a bit like overkill.

NorthernStomps

Boss manuals are a joke. The one for the DD500 was hilariously bad. 

The pedal was relatively easy to use though so not a dealbreaker 

impmann

hotpickups said:

impmann said:

I had one.

I returned it under the 14 day thing. Unintelligible manual, over complicated menus and bloody Boss buffer ruining the sound.

Plenty like them but I’m not one - I used the funds to buy a s/h Gigrig G2. Far better for what I wanted.

The manual is awful but there is a great Facebook user group that will happily answer any inane questions one might have. I know they did for me. Awesome buy of kit by the way and can't fault it. Cheaper than a G2 

My G2 cost the same s/h as the new price of the Boss.

But buy what you like - and like what you buy. :-)

WiresDreamDisasters

I had a dream about my pedalboard last night. Featuring the ES5. Or it might've been a nightmare, because I was trying to decide between a Polytune Mini and a Boss TU-3. And if I went with the mini it meant I could have another delay on my board!

Stupid dream. Eat less cheese, Drew!

NorthernStomps

Ha, wut?! Eat more cheese. Always more cheese

exocet

Not wishing to derail the thread, but when I first looked at the Boss ES range I couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't included a PSU for driving the pedals as part of the overall package, it would have  been a neat unit if all you needed to add were pedals and audio leads.

english_bob

exocet said:

Not wishing to derail the thread, but when I first looked at the Boss ES range I couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't included a PSU for driving the pedals as part of the overall package, it would have  been a neat unit if all you needed to add were pedals and audio leads.

I guess because it would be impossible to spec a power supply that would be suitable for all the potentially power hungry uses of the unit without being overkill for the lighter ones. However good a compromise you struck, most of your customers would be paying for a PSU that didn't do what they needed it to, or that did way more than they wanted, and any PSU would make your product more expensive than all your competitors. Plus, someone buying a switching system is likely to already have a decent PSU anyway, so you're asking them to spend money on something they don't need.

Alternatively, you overcomplicate your product range with different PSU specs alongside different numbers of loops etc- an ES-5 500mA, an ES-5 2000mA, an ES-8 500mA with AC power and 18v outlets, an ES-5 2000mA with AC, 18v and high current 9v outlets and so on. You only have to look at all the different PSUs on the market to see how many different options there are. 

TBH it would be far more trouble than it was worth. 

hotpickups

impmann said:

hotpickups said:

impmann said:

I had one.

I returned it under the 14 day thing. Unintelligible manual, over complicated menus and bloody Boss buffer ruining the sound.

Plenty like them but I’m not one - I used the funds to buy a s/h Gigrig G2. Far better for what I wanted.

The manual is awful but there is a great Facebook user group that will happily answer any inane questions one might have. I know they did for me. Awesome buy of kit by the way and can't fault it. Cheaper than a G2 

My G2 cost the same s/h as the new price of the Boss.

But buy what you like - and like what you buy. :-)

It's not particularly the G2 that costs but it's all the wiring and adapters one may need may make it an expensive option imo