BOSS

BOSS is a division of renowned Japanese musical equipment manufacturer, the Roland Corporation. Effects pedals, multi-effect pedals, electronic tuners and pedal boards formed the basis of their output for many years and today they have expanded their product line to include digital studios, rhythm machines and other electronic musical equipment.

Their first products emerged in the mid 1970’s. The B-100 came with a clip-on pre-amp and pickup to amplify acoustic guitars, then the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, which was a stand-alone unit of the chorus/vibrato circuit found in the Roland JC-120 amplifier. Their line of compact pedals began in ’77 with the release of the OD-1 (overdrive), the PH-1 (phaser) and a parametric equaliser called the Spectrum (SP-1). Every year after they would go on to release pedals and units that became staples from practice rooms to legendary albums on shelves around the world today.

Their DD-2 Digital Delay, was the first mass-produced digital delay in a compact pedal format, later versions featured on the pedal boards of the likes of Prince and Thom Yorke and Slash. In ’92 they released 9 new pedals, including the Turbo-Distortion (DS-2) (used by Kurt Cobain and Steve Vai) and the Heavy Metal (HM-2) distortion pedal which would go on to shape the sound of much heavy metal music since.

Their range today includes their best-selling single guitar and bass pedals, multi-effects units, guitar synthesizers, digital recorders, loop stations, acoustic pedals, vocal efx units, amplifiers, tuners and metronomes.

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Effects

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BOSS ODB-3 Bass OverDrive

The BOSS ODB-3 is an aggressive, new-age style pedal, which although called an overdrive, in reality is much more! It's a compact effect pedal, straight forward and easy to use. We do not see it as a pure overdrive, as it can roar and scream as a distortion too once the gain knob crosses the 12 O'Clock mark. But a great thing about the ODB-3 is, that even at maximum gain, it retains its clarity and focus, thus, cuts right through the mix!If you play Punk, Hard Rock, Trash, Metal and anything really that requires an "in your face" gain sound, be sure to check the BOSS ODB-3 out.

BOSS CEB-3 Bass Chorus

The BOSS CEB-3 Bass Chorus is a pedal that was created with the bass player in mind. Often bass pedals either kill or mud up the lows of the bass guitar, and us bass players love our lows, right?? right! That is why the CEB-3 is such a great bass chorus - it keeps the low end of your bass as you like it, while colouring the high frequencies with a rich and organic chorus effect. To gain this low end clarity use the low filter control knob. In combination of it with the Depth and Rate control knobs which let you set the chorus to be just as you want it, you're pretty much set to go.As we wrote earlier, the BOSS CEB-3 is simply a great bass chorus pedal, point.

BOSS BC-1X Bass Comp

BOSS BC-1X, a multiband compressor for the discerning bass player! Making a good compressor is a tough thing. Getting the extremes (light compressing / hard compressing) is the easy part and most compressors have no problem there, the middle does the difference. Keeping an organic, natural sound, yet compressed is where it gets tricky and there the BOSS BC-1X excels. big time!Playing the BOSS BC-1X actually made us feel "naked" once we bypassed it. Through the pedal, the clear sound of our bass was not deteriorated or lost, it was simply enhanced, had more balance and overall thickness which is exactly what a good compressor should do. The BC-1X is extremely dynamic, it feels as if it "listens" to you playing. While it is indeed a clean compressor, if you want to, you can push it to saturate slightly. Here is how you do it: set it to maximum ratio /minimum threshold /minimum release and play hard and you're all set. Check out the dynamics demo to hear this setting.As all BOSS pedals, the BC-1X is built like a tank and user friendly.

BOSS BB-1X Bass Driver

Much more than a typical bass overdrive pedal. It is punchy, extremely dynamic and it is called the BOSS BB-1X Bass Driver. Unlike the infamous BOSS ODB-3 which was designed to deliver 24/7 pumped up distortion, the BB-1X works as a preamp which reacts to your playing. It can be used to thicken the dry bass tone, revive it and of course get you to distortion haven. We found the BB-1X to be pretty natural sounding. As always with BOSS, there is no fear in taking the BB-1X on the road, it is build like a tank.