Boss FB-2 Feedbacker / Booster

DesVegas

So thanks to @stefb i received my new FB-2 yesterday.

I only had chance to play it at low volumes as the kiddie winks were in bed but i liked what i heard, a lot.

The only way i can think to describe the feedback feature is the pedal seems to open up the sound like two vertical metal plates which were previously held together are moved apart and all of the sound is allowed through.  It sounds like a microphone has been placed over the pickups because you can hear knocks against the guitar body when no note is played.

But once that note is played and the feedbacker is activated (hold down pedal for .5 of a second, wonderful things start to happen even at such low volume. A beautiful crisp feedback tone is produced and the resonance of it can be increased/decreased at the turn of a dial.

You do have to keep the pedal pressed down of course so maybe the Freeze may have been a better choice but i don't think that can be used as a boost like this one can.

I can't wait to get this sucker intertwined with my board and get some delay in there and some swirly feedbacky goodness.

ThePrettyDamned

These are really good, and it does actually sound like feedback. More realistic than the df-2 feedbacker, which is more like having a warbly and slightly out of tune synth tone (which is cool in its own way, if less useful for most).

The boost is quality on this too.

DesVegas

@theprettydamned i thought the feedback was more tweakable on the df-2 , from a bass tone up to a high tone through a nice sweep but i needed a boost rather than another distortion.

I am happy with my wash

not_the_dj

Great fun pedal these, I also tried the older DF-2 but much prefered the newer FB-2.

I've since sold them both on though...but I'd happily pick up another FB-2 again.

DesVegas

@not_the_dj you are very wise .. 

not_the_dj

DesVegas said:

@not_the_dj you are very wise .. 

Not really, I keep selling pedals then buying them back again!

smudge_lad

Great pedal, mine has been on my board for a while.

However, my only complaint is that, as I use mine for a mid boost, if I want to turn the pedal on to use it for it's feedback capability, I also have to deal with a bump in mids/volume rather than just adding some cool feedback.

I'm just too fussy...

DesVegas

@smudge_lad you can turn the dial down on the feedback knob, won't that help?

smudge_lad

@DesVegas - yeah, but not mid song....I use the mid-boost function for most songs

DesVegas

@smudge_lad good point, like i said i'm looking forward to blasting it out to see how it works with the rest of my rig.

vasselmeyer

I have one of these and it's a bloody great pedal. I've used it in two ways. Firstly, if you have enough space on your board, you can set it completely neutral in tone and level and keep it always on. Then you put it before any of your drives and just step on it for the feedback.

I've also used it as my solo/mid boost at the end of the chain but as @smudge_lad has pointed out, in this configuration you can't get the feedback without the tonal and volume change. Here's the review I wrote when he originally asked about them:

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/21685/boss-fb2-feedbacker-booster

Currently it's being used in the first way with a TC Spark Boost doing the honours as a solo/mid boost.

DesVegas

Good idea @vasselmeyer i'd not thought of use #1, i shall try that out too, and loving your review too!