What are your views on Boss pedals - specifically the more "Vanilla" ones?

d8m

Love my DS-2!

mike_l

ICBM said:

mike_l said:

Yes, the Boss pedals I have all bleed a bit (SD-1, SD-2, DS-1)

The interesting thing is that the vary from one example to another. The last couple I had - a very early Taiwanese SD-1 with a MIJ board, and a true MIJ DS-1 - the SD-1 was better than most but still annoying, and the DS-1 was silent. I've had another SD-1 which was basically unusable in bypass though. I've never quite got to the bottom of what causes it.

A Noise gate after the offending pedal(s)  should eliminate the bleed though. Question is do you want/need to eliminate fully and take the space up?

Edit, based exclusively on the specific pedals I have

ICBM

mike_l said:

A Noise gate after the offending pedal(s)  should eliminate the bleed though.

No - because as soon as you play anything the gate will open and you will get the bleed on the clean sound. The simple way to fix it is to run another buffered pedal before it - the dirt gets into the bypass via the input buffer, so putting a low-impedance source before it stops it. A Boss TU-2 works fine even if you're not using a compressor or some other pedal you would normally put before an overdrive.

mike_l

I'll have a try this afternoon, I haven't used it for a while, but I'm sure my Smartgate removed the bleed without stopping anything else.

 

SquireJapan

Some amazing advice here - way more than I could have hoped. I'm going to end up putting a summary together ... bought a used DS1 for £25 from Denmark St the other day (they looked at me funny though ... )

Already had another £25 "bargain" Metal Zone. I can't believe how bad it is. A mate had one back in the 90s and I would have sworn down it was Metalica in a box ...

You live and learn!

The boss compressor seems to divide opinion doesn't it?

57Deluxe

Get an ME-5 and get a bunch of the classic models in one fell swoop!

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

That only works if you have a buffer (or buffered pedal) to put in front, though, surely? It's entirely possible that you might want the SD1 to be first in your chain (or at least that other pedals you might put in front, like tuners, might be true bypass), and having to put another pedal or buffer there ups the price on what is a reasonably-priced, great-sounding pedal.

That's why you would put it after the Boss compressor in this case .

It is a minor annoyance otherwise, I agree. That's why I stopped using mine and eventually sold it - I wanted it as a stand-alone boost pedal (or with a DS-1, but no more - and the SD-1 has to go first out of those two) and not need to have it on a board with something else in front.

Yeah that was kind of what I meant... if I had to I could get by with 2-3 pedals, and it's unlikely I'd have a buffer in front of the SD1 in that case. Even with more pedals, with the pedals I just happen to have, it's entirely possible I wouldn't have a buffer in front as lots (not all) of my pedals are true bypass. I actually have a CS3 but I don't really use compression enough to definitely have it on the board all the time. )

ICBM

SquireJapan said:

Already had another £25 "bargain" Metal Zone. I can't believe how bad it is. A mate had one back in the 90s and I would have sworn down it was Metalica in a box ...

The Metal Zone can be great, but it's *extremely* fussy to dial in, and it only really works well in to a very clean amp (possibly a big solid-state one) in my experience.

mike_l

Funnily from a "metal guy" I really hated the Metal Zone. IMO the Digitech Metal Master does the scooped high-gain thing better, and cheaper.

xSkarloey

UnclePsychosis;315659" said:

If you're looking for meat and potato pedals get yourself to Amazon and buy a digitech bad monkey for £20. Really decent tubescreamer.

I'm trying to resist the urge to buy one despite having absolutely no need for one. It's just too good a deal!

I'd just get one for that price. There are far worse ways of spending £20.

I was buying a Screamin Blues, and saw the Bad Monkey was less. I thought 'what the hell?' and got it. It's a really good pedal. Versatile as you like and a keeper for me.

PermanentWaves

For what it's worth, I've got a Boss GT-8 and a number of those pedals are supposedly simulated within the pedal.

It's a cheap way to get a lot of sounds.

Some of the sounds aren't great but some are very impressive.

I like the delay, chorus and compression on it but again, it's down to personal taste.

PermanentWaves

Skarloey said:

UnclePsychosis;315659" said:

If you're looking for meat and potato pedals get yourself to Amazon and buy a digitech bad monkey for £20. Really decent tubescreamer.

I'm trying to resist the urge to buy one despite having absolutely no need for one. It's just too good a deal!

I'd just get one for that price. There are far worse ways of spending £20.

I was buying a Screamin Blues, and saw the Bad Monkey was less. I thought 'what the hell?' and got it. It's a really good pedal. Versatile as you like and a keeper for me.

Do you use it with a clean channel or can does it work well as a boost for the dirty channel?

mike_l

Personally I like the Bad Monkey best as a boost into a dirty amp. I like the SD-1 too, but find they're different.

The Bad Monkey is (to my ear, and amp/settings) grittier, a little less smooth, a bit dirtier. Whereas the SD-1 is smoother, a little less gritty, a bit cleaner.

Both are good, depending on what you want.

I have used a BM into a clean amp, and whilst it's a useable set-up, for me the BM into a dirty amp is where the pedal is best.

xSkarloey

/\I've done both.

Some might not like the pedal as a standalone od, but I like lower gain pedals like that. One of my amps is a small Orange valve amp that's very loud. It won't break up unless you crank it so the BM at home is great. The bass control means the Orange sounds less boxy.

Also does the usual TS thing into a driven amp. I've got a MV Marshall that drives at low vols, but I use the BM to thicken things up when I play a Strat and a Tele.

I also recommend that Bret Kingman vid where he shows a BM at work alongside an original Klon.

Gassage

Generally

Boss dirt, save for the BD2, sucks.
Boss modulation rocks.
Old Boss delay is some of the best ever made.

Je repose ma valise.

monquixote

If you can get a ds1 for peanuts there are a number of people who could keeley mod it for you.

meltedbuzzbox

For me boss do a rock solid pedal for a reasonable price. 

I personally dont like most the pedals that you have listed (particularly the DS-1 and the CS-3)

but I know if they were on my board they would all work at any given time. 

The delays are always a good bench mark, personally I find all the modulation stuff a bit watered down.

The tera echo is good fun if you like that sort of thing. 

Ultimately we all like different things and we all use it differently. You cant go wrong with a boss generally, but you can do better at the same price as well. 

GavRichList

RV5 and PS3 are both brilliant pedals too. The RV5s modulated setting is an ever present in my set.

jeztone2

DD3 and SD-1 do me fine.remember the boutique thing is only a recent development. A lot of hit records in the late 70's & 80s were made using Boss pedals

joeyowen

mike_l said:

Personally I like the Bad Monkey best as a boost into a dirty amp. I like the SD-1 too, but find they're different.

The Bad Monkey is (to my ear, and amp/settings) grittier, a little less smooth, a bit dirtier. Whereas the SD-1 is smoother, a little less gritty, a bit cleaner.

Both are good, depending on what you want.

I found the BM to make everything sound kinda dull, the SD1 is defo more bright, but changes the tone a lot more than the BM

it is a fine like, the BM with the SD1 eq would be perfect for me