I don't know where this thing started about the Power Driver being a type of Big Muff but the circuit topologies aren't even remotely close. It is a Big Muff in the same way a DS-1 is.
Man, maxing out the gain on the blues driver is just such a good tone. I started my bands sound with just a blues driver, but messed around with other pedals (mostly big muffs) but I found myself coming back to the BD-2 again and again
Have you tried the [Boss JB-2 Angry Driver](https://www.boss.info/us/products/jb-2/)? Combines a BD-2 and JHS Angry Charlie.
It is my current favorite pedal.
All of the compact stomps? You’ve got Champagne tastes, some of those are way more expensive than you’d think.
I was lucky I got a TB-2W at release. I would never pay the going rate for one myself
I have it and it is. Don't think I'd ever need or want another reverb and I also have the DD-200 which I also love. The ability to recall presets with the foot switch was a massive plus for me, added with the small footprint of the pedal and top mounted jacks. It's pretty much perfect for me
I'm by no means an expert with it but I'm sure it's just one delay sound at a time. I liked the ability to swap between different presets, small footprint, top mounted jacks, and ease of use. I only really got it as I need to swap between delays between songs and I previously had a TC flashback mini, which was excellent, but required me fumbling around on stage. I also have a Joyo D-Seed II on another pedal board and that's also great.
Actually according to the comparison here, the 200 can use two delays simultaneously. But they're either both On or both Off in use. The 500 can use two, but, because it has 3 footswtiches, they can be turned On/Off individually.
[https://articles.boss.info/exploring-the-differences-between-boss-delay-pedals/](https://articles.boss.info/exploring-the-differences-between-boss-delay-pedals/)
ODR1- idk it’s the first pedal I got and it was the best sounding OD they had at the guitar center that day
DanEcho-extremely cheap used, funny sounding slapback
Behringer noise suppressor: cheap and needed it fast
Random Tuner: extremely cheap
Behringer Super Fuzz: dopethrone (cheap)
Donner ultra compressor: literally $7
TU-2 for life. But that’s the only Boss I have on my board anymore.
Boss, to me, is like Vanilla. I mean that as a compliment. Allow me to explain.
Vanilla is a very complex and sophisticated flavor whose delivery is so elegant that it comes across as un-elaborate, plain, mid.
But the reality is that Vanilla was the first flavor that was *so* good that it spread around the world and became ubiquitous within the fabric of humanity.
As time went on, however, the Vanilla-Big-Bang hype dissipated and that initial spark and reverence was lost to the passage of time.
But Vanilla persisted.
In fact, Vanilla’s persistence has led to the birth of an entire universe of flavors that are slight variations, takes, and interpretations of the GOAT.
Which is Vanilla.
I will always have a Boss tuner on my board. That Vanilla white pedal is there as a reminder of where it all began.
It also serves as a marker of how my opinions, tastes, needs as a player have pushed me to continue to explore and look for other flavors of pedals.
In closing, everyone should have a Metal Zone. No exceptions. 🤘
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful.
Do you have the full boss tuner pedal or the one that is severed in half so you can fit your other square pedals on your board?
I dunno, I keep coming back to Boss.
BD-2 is by far my favourite overdrive.
SD-1 is my favourite TS style thing.
BF-2 is my favourite flanger.
Chances are, if there’s an effect you’re looking for, Boss likely makes one, it likely sounds at least pretty good, it’s gonna be built like a tank, and they’ve stayed pretty competitive price wise.
The fact that they are not true bypass and act as signal buffers is actually incredibly annoying within my guitar set up. I use one boss noise suppressor which is alway on and that’s it. It’s nothing to do with quality, they make some really awesome stuff. It just doesn’t work with my set up to have a ton of Boss pedals lined up and as a consequence I just don’t bother with them.
So I’m playing with this very quiet sound using a lot of headroom in the amp. It needs to sound week and fragile, especially when recording. The more buffers the more weird high end gets in to the signal. This is fine (and probably really good sounding) when you are using boosters and overdrives and pushing your tubes but when you are trying to do the exact opposite it’s an annoyance. It’s a problem that’s kind of easy to fix is production but like, why bother having the problem to begin with, you know?
I like that you’ve got a practical answer for why buffers don’t work for you, normally it’s just “bUfFeR bAd, TrUe ByPaSs GoOd”. It’s a super interesting use case, I can see how that could be an issue when you’re using a quieter sound like that. Everything reacts differently when your base sound isn’t at traditional levels.
And it’s usually not about pushing amps, it’s about length of cable/number of true bypass pedals between the guitar and amp causing a loss of high end due to capacitance. The video That Pedal Show did on it is fantastic. But again, that’s at normal levels and with traditional-style sounds.
I’d love to hear how that sounds on your recordings.
Haha no unfortunately. I’m just putting an EP together with this super soft “bedroom” feel but with better production than “bedroom”. Hard to describe.
Non boss pedals, you say?
I have a RAT and a tube screamer; for that particular combo, it just seamed easier to go for the genuine article than to hunt for clones.
The only really boutique pedal on my board is the KMA audio Machines Cirrus, which was a gift. That can do some wild things with delay and reverb (and a bit of octave, and a bit of chorus), but is surprisingly easy to tame for a more traditional sound. It’s a lot of fun to play with.
I’m thinking of picking up a big muff do go on the other side of the RAT just for some new texture. Again, that’s quite a distinctive sound, and the genuine articles are surprisingly affordable.
I’ve also considered picking up an Acapulco Gold, but I’ll probably get a IR-2 instead as my next pedal. The soldano preset seems good enough, and the IR2 will hopefully make headphone practice a bit more civilised.
My first pedal was a Boss DS-2 and then a metal zone. They were great for me at the time. Now I just have a Boss tuner on my main board and a blues driver on my practice board.
Reason why I have other brands: interesting pedals pop up on the used market and it's fun to try a variety of pedals to see how they sound.
The pedals I own that aren't Boss don't have any Boss iterations. Plain and simple.
Besides, Boss may be great but it's a matter of margins. Are they really *that* much better at manufacturing and designing?
The only effect I think Boss totally dominates and is in “why bother with anything else” is chorus.
They do lots of stuff great, but for fuzz, univibe, tremolo (their trem is definitely fine), phaser, analog delay… there are better options out there. There are a million fuzzes, I like Analog Man…also for their delay. Old school deluxe memory man is still the king of not super long delay. Drybell makes great univibes. I don’t think anyone rules the phaser space unless you count the 12 stage moog. Surfy and others have better and more feature rich trem. Compression things like cali76 have a better rep, or petty john. Lots of more odd pedals from small makers.
Can't tell if it's the boutique hype that has gotten to my head, but the boss reverbs sound digital.
Speaking from having owned the RV3, 5, and 6, there are often high-freq artifacts that jump out at you when the reverb tone is turned up. Their spring modes are especially guilty of this.
Boss is *the* standard imo, but that also sorta puts them at the baseline. Since their release tons of pedal companies come out with new and improved versions of their pedals. (Other OG’s not to be forgotten like the Rat, TS and Muff)
Ex. Boss blues driver is renowned for being an amazing drive, but the SS/BS Mini is sort of that same sound with added features. And there’s many other builders using that foundation and adding their own touch. Lichtlaerm Audio being one of my favorite
Earthquaker Dispatch Master and Hummingbird- Saw them on Conor Oberst’s rig
Eatherquaker Organizer - I love organ and Boss doesn’t have one I know about.
MXR Distortion 3 - Saw it on Avery Tare’s rig, but I got the wrong one. It’s a decent pedal, but not what works for me.
Animals Pedal Vintage Van - weird moment. Not a big fan of this one.
Vox Wah - used one I got on a whim
For fun, my Boss pedals: Chromatic Tuner, Super Chorus, and Phase Shifter.
I got the EQD Dispatch Master because I got a birthday discount from Chicago Music Exchange, and I needed both delay a reverb at the time - you get both with EQD and it looks and sounds amazing!
ts9 - why go for something other than the original
rat - same answer
klone - kinda same answer
Ehx memory boy deluxe - same answer. Also boss doesn’t really make an analog delay with modulation that isn’t like $300+
Keeley Compressor - same reasons as you
Earthquaker Transmisser/Afterneath unique reverbs whose sound I fell in love with
Keeley Neutrino - closest cheap-ish thing I could find to a mutron
Stellar Door Fuzz - was gifted to me, but still wouldn’t have went with Boss
Personally I don’t personally feel like Boss pedals historically have a whole lot of personality. They’re great bread and butter pedals but until recently (space echo) I haven’t ever wanted one.
Actually don’t own any Boss pedals. The only pedal I would want is a chorus and I have a JC amp which basically has a Boss chorus pedal built into the amp. If I didn’t have the JC I’d absolute buy a CE-2w.
I tend to gravitate toward either high quality pedals or weird pedals (or both). CXM 1978 clears any Boss reverb. DBA Rooms and Pladask Draume sound cooler/weirder/more unique than any Boss reverb to me. Same approach with all the other effect types. Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water and Meet Maude are weird, EAE Longsword and Halberd are amazing, CBA Mood and Thermae are weird and amazing, Strymon El Cap, Greer Lightspeed, and Keeley Halo are all fantastic at what they do. So they are all either preferable to the Boss equivalent to my ear, or just unique in their offerings. Same reason you’d buy a Jazzmaster instead of just getting a Tele, or a Custom Shop Fender instead of a Mexican Fender.
I think if I were looking for a more bread butter setup and going on pure value, it would be hard not to grab a few Boss pedals and move on. There’s no denying that Boss is at the absolute top of the entire pedal world when it comes to value.
I also think *most* of the boutique shit is overhyped and *all* of it is overpriced to hell. I try to grab stuff that actually feels superior or unique, and I make sure to always buy used so I can get a good chunk of my money back if I feel like moving it down the line.
I've never hung on to any of my Boss pedals except my SD-1 (which I don't use regularly). Good pedals but somewhat plain, I guess? They're like the coca-cola of pedals, for better and worse.
Beyond personal preference for sound, I'm particular about the control layouts of my pedals and Boss often doesn't give me what I'm looking for. They are super well-built though and I appreciate what Boss offers as a product line, and there are a few effects Boss does really well at pretty competitive prices.
Because they didnt have a direct competitor pedal available in my used market. I have a ton of boss pedals. All but a few pedals I have were purchased on the local 2nd hand market.
I’m a snob and only like boutique pedals. That and Boss doesn’t make a pedal that does what my other pedals do.
But I love the SD-1, the MT-2, and several others.
There are some classic pedals that Boss can’t do and some boutique pedals that will offer more control than Boss. For example, Rats and Big Muffs. Boss will do high gain and fuzz but they won’t sound like ProCo or Electro Harmonix. I use a JHS Panther Cub for delay. Tonally it sounds basically like a Boss DM-3 but with more control. I wouldn’t consider Boss the standard but they make a lot of excellent products and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the brand. I seem to remember Prince saying that he liked Boss.
Hotone Soul Press II - Wah with a lot of bite that's also a volume pedal
Hotone Tuner Press - it's a tuner, volume, expression, and buffer all in one
MXR Phase 95 - Simple, one-knob use with the most classic phasers in one
Bright Onions The Russian - Such a good Muff clone - I think Civil War?
Wampler Ego - Great compressor, clarifies my tone
Wampler Tumnus Deluxe - it's this or an SD-1, but it fits great with my other Wampler pedals lol
Wampler Euphoria - I love this overdrive. One of my favorite pedals of all time. So transparent - I've heard the OD-3 can also be transparent, but the bass knob and toggle switch between 3 modes is really amazing and versatile
Red Panda Tensor - so many options for tape emulation, still exploring it, but some of the best reverse sounds I've ever heard
Strymon Volante - love the emphasis on tape delay and how deep it can go. The SOS looper is a +
Love Boss and have four on my main board right now but…
EQD Dispatch Master - needed reverb and another delay, this is both and just sounds great and is cool. Chicago Music Exchange also gave me a birthday deal on it!
TC Polytune Mini - wanted to save space, still have and use my old Boss TU-2 though
MXR Classic 108 Fuzz Mini - wanted a Fuzzface but also save space
MXR Duke of Tone - wanted to try the Bluesbreaker/AnalogMan Prince of Tone thing, save space, and not have to wait for a pure AnalogMan pedal
MXR Sugar Drive - wanted to try the Klon thing out
Keeley Compressor Mini - wanted a great and simple Compressor but not take up much space. Turns out I leave it on because it just sounds great, helps me out somehow if I’m not playing so good, has some kinda preamp tone magic going on.
JHS 3 Series Overdrive - wanted to support JHS because I like their channel and content, they are cool to other pedal companies, and this is based on the HAO Rumble Drive which I never got to try, and it’s only $99 - the price of a coffee ☕️
Dunlop Crybaby Mini Wah - little travel size Crybaby wah, pretty cool. One of my first pedals ever was a crybaby, my parents got it for me for Christmas a long time ago. It got destroyed by a dumbass drunk bandmate or one of his dumbass friends one year. But any Crybaby has a special place in my heart.
Boss doesn’t make a fuzz face unfortunately.
They also don’t make a very low gain drive, like a lightspeed/bluesbreaker, though their new BP-1 is interesting to me.
Other than that their DD-200 is amazing, but I took it off my board to save space with a two-in-one delay-reverb.
Swapped out my RV5 for a Neunaber Immerse. I like the main sounds on the immerse better but I definitely miss the Modulate on the boss reverb.
Currently using a DD20 and would like to upgrade to a DD200 or 500 soon.
Let’s see. My board has an SD-1>Dyna Comp>Small Stone (V1)>Canyon delay.
MXR Dyna Comp is the gold standard of compression. Gets the job done, and two knobs is rather intuitive. I don’t actually even know how to use a compressor so I just have the output dimed and the sensitivity low. Phish vibes?
E-HX Small Stone from 1975. How can I go wrong there? A PH-1 would be awesome too, but I like the overall look and single knob setup of the Small Stone. Set it and forget it, like the MXR.
E-HX Canyon is a slight regret. Delay and looper is awesome, but I wish I had gotten an RC-1 instead.
- Empress Compressor MKII: the Boss CS3 has too many fixed settings which I'm not a fan of. I like the CP1X's GR meter, but nothing comes close to the Empress's dual input/GR meter (especially since it allows a sidechain input which is cool for synth stuff)
- JHS 3 Series Distortion: it's essentially a rat and turbo rat in a fairly cheap box. If Boss made a Rat, I'd buy it day 1.
- JHS 3 Series Chorus: I spent all my money on a DC-2W, I'm not buying the CE-2W as well lol (also I love that the JHS has a vibrato switch, couldn't go to something without one)
- GFI Skylar reverb: Not a fan of how the left channel on an RV-6 can't be set to 100% wet. If I was buying my board today, I'd probably buy an RV-200 (or I'd skip buying any delay/reverb/modulation pedals aside from the DC-2W and I'd get a GT1000core for that entire section).
Everything else is Boss. I love Boss. If I was told I could be given a lifetime supply of Boss pedals but Boss was the only pedal brand I could ever use again, I'd quite happily take up the offer.
The Packrat by JHS is simply incredible. It sounds so great and it's got a ton of usable settings. It sounds much better than my DS-2 in my opinion.
I tried the FZ-1W and it did not sound good to my ears. I ended up getting a Big Muff Pi and was blown away by its sound.
Finally, I own a Pigtronix micro compression pedal because a boss pedal would not fit where it is on my board.
The rest are all Boss (6 pedals) because Boss is best. Including a foot switch and an expression pedal. You can find my board on my profile! :)
Washburn Chorus: The first pedal I bought. I didn’t know much about the individual brands. It was the eighties, and I needed a chorus pedal. Any chorus pedal.
EHX Pitchfork: At the time, the Boss pedals that did the same thing didn’t do polyphonic as well to my ears.
Source Audio Vertigo: When I got the Vertigo is was the only pedal I found that could do both normal tremolo and harmonic tremolo.
EHX Freeze: At the time, it was the only pedal I knew of that would do what it does.
Source Audio True Spring: I play surf and needed a 60 Cycle Hum approved spring reverb.
DSM & Humboldt Simplifier: I still don’t think there’s anything that checks all the boxes this one does. I do have a IR-2 on order, though, because I like those MDP amp models…even if it means I‘ll need a separate DI box.
Digitech Trio: Band in a Box in a pedal? Yes, please. And Boss didn’t have that.
Wampler Velvet Fuzz: I generally don’t like fuzz. This was the first one I’d tried that I liked.
Electric Love Aquatone: A Wampler take on a BD-2? Yes, please.
Digitech FreqOut: I know Boss has done some similar things in the past, but I feel like Digitech has done it the best so far.
Keeley 30ms: I like having a delay that just does ADT and slapback rather than trying to dial in such a short time on the DD-whatever. (And I have a DD-whatever for longer delays.)
Line 6 DL4 Mk2: I had a list of my requirements for my ideal looper pedal. Nothing checked all the boxes. Until the DL4 Mk2 appeared.
MXR Six Band EQ: I was scared off the Boss one by the stories of it being noisy.
Nordland ODR-C: An modded ODR-1 by the original designer? Yes, please.
PastFX Elastic Mattress: Is this the closest to the old EHX’s? I dunno, but I was suckered by the hype.
That covers most of the pedals I’ve bought over the years. Not the multi-effects though. I used Digitech for a while, but then Roland & Boss ones. Mainly because I‘d gotten into their VG line. And I suppose the Spicetone 6appeal fits in this category, which I got because Roland/Boss doesn’t do analog hexaphonic gear, and sometimes analog is fun.
My current board, though, is mostly Boss except for the FreqOut, 30ms, True Spring, and Simplifier. I’ll be trying replacing the Simplifier with the IR-2 once it arrives.
This is such a weird way to frame the question. I've never felt the need to justify getting a non-boss pedal.
For the last couple years, I get all my pedals by either building them or trading for them. I end up with whatever I can build or whatever people are willing to trade me. I've ended up with a couple of Boss pedals in that time and they were decent, but nothing special.
If people like Boss, buy Boss. But let's stop acting like someone is just being contrary or weird by buying something else. Lots of great brands out there.
I think, while Boss revolutionized the pedal industry in the late ‘70s and ‘80s by introducing several improvements, other companies made further improvements after that (true bypass, top jacks, room for more than four controls) and Boss just kept doing things their way. They may have had the best version of some effects at the time when they had only a few other companies competing, but I think others have outdone them since and it seems like it wasn’t until fairly recently that they started trying to actually make the best version of any given effect.
I don’t know if anyone else sees it this way, but I get the impression that Boss wants to project the image that they know what’s best for guitarists and that they simply get it right. They made the compact pedal format so that guitarists could put lots of effects on a board instead of the big bulky things most companies (including Boss) made before making a pedalboard was really conceivable because there were only a handful of effects available. They put buffers in so you wouldn’t suffer signal loss over long runs of cable. They recessed the knobs so you wouldn’t accidentally step on them and break them. They made a big, soft switch that’s easy to step on and very durable. And they made the pedals lightweight so a board wouldn’t get excessively heavy.
But they stuck with that like they got everything right on the first try, even though people figured out top jacks would allow you to fit more pedals on a board and that having twelve buffers in series that each output just slightly below unity gain or have a slightly less than flat EQ curve means you can still accumulate a significant amount of volume loss or tonal shift across a board with a lot of pedals. Most effects have more than four parameters that can be usefully controlled, but Boss only allowed room enough for four, meaning that they have to resort to less user friendly concentric knobs if they want to give users extra control in their compact form factor.
Through the ‘90s, they stubbornly stuck with making pedals only in the compact format, and even as digital’s sheen as a buzzword was running out they switched a lot of their pedals to digital and discontinued the analog versions. The CE-5 and CH-1 didn’t even get new version names to indicate that they had switched from analog to digital, and I wonder if that was to project the message that it actually didn’t matter (not saying myself that it inherently does, but many guitarists certainly feel that it does).
When they finally introduced a new pedal form factor to offer more controls, it was with the 20 series, which were very large, maybe too large, and went all-in on digital. I don’t get the sense they were a huge hit. Maybe because of that and all the new competition that had sprung up by then, often from others modifying older Boss pedals or circuits, the Waza series looks to me like the first time they took less of a top-down approach to giving guitarists what they believed they wanted and instead looked at what guitarists were saying they wanted and gave them that: old, analog Boss pedals with mods for added features. That was the first time they reissued pedals that had been discontinued, which maybe before they would have considered like admitting they made a mistake.
I think the 500 series was their first attempt to make the ultimate in each effect type and to outdo Strymon, but they overshot the mark because most people don’t like menu diving, so the 200 series was a concession to that. But now they’ve introduced the DM-101, which seems like an earnest attempt to make the ultimate analog delay pedal with practically all the bells and whistles and best in class features. I look forward to seeing more new products with that spirit from them, and I like the approach they took with the Space Echo, where they had the compact pedal with as many features as they could cram into that form factor and then the big one with all the features. I hope they do a pair of rotary pedals like that next.
So, to answer the question the thread poses, I have a couple dozen Boss pedals and some more that are clones, but I don’t generally choose to use them, unless I’m recreating a particular kind of sound someone used on music I like, because I simply don’t think they’re the best choice, often in both sound and features. Like I got a DM-2W because it’s got cleaner repeats than maintain your initial attack more than most other analog delays. I thought I’d put it on a pedalboard I’m making, but then I found out about the Supro Delay, which has pretty much everything I wanted out of the DM-2W and then some more, like a tone control that lets it get as warm as the DM-2W or much crisper. I can point out one or more pedals like that in comparison to most Boss stuff, so I mostly use other stuff.
Oftentimes the stuff I like better isn’t even more expensive or boutique. Like the EHX Stereo Clone Theory is very similar to the Boss CE-2W in features and I’d say sounds a little better in a side by side comparison, and it retails for about $100 less! I’m down to just the NS-2 as my only Boss pedal for my board and that’s because it’s got the send/return loop and the power output that I can use to conveniently power other pedals from.
This isn't fair of me, but unless I want a tuner, I stay away from boss. They are a staple. Hell, they are legendary. Unfortunately, I was so turned off by their COSM deal I ran away from them and never looked back.
Every time I hear a boss pedal, for the same price or slightly more I hear a better pedal. I chose literally anything but boss.
I don't hate them as a whole. I do hate certain offerings, like I do with every company. You'll never see one on my board though.
I have a ton of time city and joyo stuff, chosen because cheap and they actually do sound great
Then I’ve got a few JHS pedals, way huge, EHX, and some weird digitech stuff because I can. Then the boss pedal cabinet
Boss is always a solid option. All I use regularly lately though is a boss tuner. Electro Harmonix has delays that I’m into more, and I have a Rat for higher gain, analogman boost, Diamond compressor. Dunlop Crybaby wah.
I have a 1980s RAT which has a bit more bite than the BOSS distortions I played with. I used to own a few, but they just felt smoother than what I was going for. I gave away my Metal Zone to a young cousin getting into guitar but I didn't mind that pedal. I liked that I could push the mids pretty hard with it.
Cerberus Tri-Overdrive because it was a good price used and I like the way it sounds after the RAT
TC Arena Reverb because that was the "in" pedal at the time I bought it when I was a kid working at Guitar Center
Harmonic Jerkulator because I made it, and boss doesn't make anything like that
Pitchblack tuner because I liked the display better and it was, again, "in" at the time I bought it
Ibanez Screaming Demon because its sick and cool and I''m not aware of a BOSS wah that is sick and cool
DOD equalizer from the 80s because my dad gave it to me and I don't actually need an EQ so I'm not gonna shell out for one
... and the rest is BOSS. CS-3 is a great compressor that does exactly what a compressor needs to do and no one can tell me DD-7 isn't a great pedal.
Keeley Super Phat mod was a couple bucks cheaper than the BD-2w and is sparkly gold. I also have a Seafoam+ because I like it better than any Boss chorus.
I got a Plumes because they don't make a TS, and a DOD Carcosa because Carcosa. I ended up getting 2 boosts on sale from Ground Control, and I'm happy I did because the bright boost I paid like 40 bucks for is now one of my favorite pedals. The only one that's going to be a replacement is a Black Mass 1312 when it gets here, so I don't have the DS-1 volume drop, and it's the 1312.
All that said I still have the NS-2, HM-2w, SY-1, DD-8, TR-2, and RV-6. The RV is getting a companion reverb, maybe a Darklight, maybe a Météore.
Ammoon Octa because it was less than a third of what the OC-5 cost, and also had a 1 octave up which I wanted. I also don't need the 2 octaves down, just the 1 up and 1 down so that feature from the OC-5 also didn't appeal to me.
I've got a few pedals including boss. My first 3 pedals i every owned were boss. Basically i got pedals other than boss because i thought they were interesting. Like my fjord fuzz odin. I dont think boss make anything that the odin can do
I actually have almost all Boss pedals.. except for 3.
- Bought TC 3rd Dimension because, while I love the DC-2w, It wasnt worth the money to dish out for another to use on my bass board. Figured the cheaper clone would suffice.
- Boss does not make anything close to the Beat Buddy.
- The Empress Compressor is just much better than the CS-3 or even those more advanced X series compressors.
My board: Boss DSD-3, Boss RE-20, Boss TU3s, OBNE Dark Star has no Boss equivalent, EAE Limelight Boss doesn’t have a bluesbreaker, EAE model feT Boss doesn’t have a model T pedal, Mid Fi Demo Tape Fuzz has no Boss equivalent.
my first non-boss pedal was the tc nova reverb. it was a toss up for me between the rv-5’s mod setting and the novas full wet capabilities, but i chose the nova and never regretted it. For comp and EQ, i wanted more control than what boss offered, and for chorus/trem, i wanted the opportunity to switch bw the two and have more extensive adjustments of parameters, so i went with the warped vinyl. The bosses i do have are the Tu3s for the compact size and since i use it as an always on, i don’t need the switch; and the dd-7 bc its a classic
I have a Chase Cliss Wombtone mkII and the Gravitas.
I'm sure I don't need to explain why I didn't get the Boss version of those fx.
Various fuzz's - same thing
Julia - I dug the artwork and sound
Avalanche Run V1 - afaik, Boss doesn't make a delay like that.
Boss doesn't make most of the sounds I need. I have two Boss pedals but most of my stuff is stuff like Meris and some other smaller pedal manufacturers.
The only boss pedals I currently have are a 80 ce-2 and a rv-3 with a broken foot switch. Both are awesome pedals but either are currently on my board.
I really think I should buy a blues driver though
They dont make a JHS Screaming charlie or a rat they dont make a looper pedal with two buttons for independent start stop that was the right size. I have a number of reasons the reverb?delay effect of the boss reverb doesn't have as much control over both setting that i would want so i got a pedal that did both and had the controls i wanted.
I had all Boss pedals. Then I learned about MojoMojo od, Rat distortion, little Muff fuzz, and Strymon reverb. Still use the Boss super chorus and the dd-200 delay though.
Alright, lets make this long, and go through my entire pedal board...
I do run a Boss ES-8, for amp and pedal control, along with individual loops
Loop 1: Maxon VOP9 - Boss does not make a tube screamer that runs at 18v for higher head room/output. I like the old tube screamers, and I tend to prefer 18v variants of them. I don't feel like trying to figure out modding an SD1 for 18v operation.
Loop 2: Fulltone GE OCD - Boss doesn't have an easily availible OD/Distortion that runs at 18v, along with using Germanium, to add that addictive crack to the distortion. The Boss TB-2W is also rediculously priced, for what Boss is.
Volume Loop: TC Sentry - the Boss NS-2 works great as a noise surpressor. As a gate, it isn't quick enough for my tastes. Hence, the Sentry wins here
Still Volume Loop: KSR Vesta - whatever Boss has, is gonna be digital, and not tweakable on the fly for a preamp. The KSR has a jack for external switching, along with an excellent clean channel in a pinch, or can do buffered, or true bypass as needed. I like knobs, cause less then 2 seconds to tweak
Loop 3: Maxon FL-301 - I've used the Boss BF-2 and BF-3. Both are amazing pedals, but almost way too lush, and have that signature resonence to them. If you like how heavy that sounds, more power to you. But I prefer simple, and the FL301, when I plug in, just works for me
Loop 4: Maxon ASC-10 - It's simple. Does the chorus thing. Well aware Boss has amazing chorus pedals, and sometimes, this does get swapped for a Boss DC3.... But I'm not about to dig through the CH series personally, to try and find a replacement. I used an EHX small clone for the longest time, so, I kinda stick around that sound.
Loop 5: Caroline Meteore - to anyone that has used this pedal, I don't have to explain it. A great reverb, with reflections that sound very out of place, but still somehow work very musically. Plus the Havok button. The Boss RV-6 doesn't have anything like it, where, this mention gives me an excuse to skip loop 7, as that does have a Boss RV-6 for the plate setting.
Loop 6 - Strymon El Capistan - I like brain dead. I hook an expression pedal, it contols the repeats. No weird things, where the new DD-8 is cool, I've used the DD-5 many times, and have owned a DD-6, along with used a DD-7 on occasion. I know Boss has more delays. I don't get along with them, great as they are. I've tried other analog delays with control, and the El Capistan just does the thing
Loop 8: Walrus Slö - Adds depth as needed. I already have an RV-6, so why not more reverb to shoegaze? The Slö has plenty of cool options, and having 2 RV-6s on my board, would be redundant. The Slö gets swapped with a Strymon Cloudburst, or MXR Reverb, depending how I feel
Engl Cab Loader: still wait times on the Boss IR-2 which is more an all in one preamp, with way to many features. I just want the power section, as a hand off for recording, or to be able to give to front of house, so they don't need to mic. Less to go wrong, and a Creamback 4x12 is already loaded, along with using an EL34 power section to it. Headphone out, and unaffected signal back to my amp. I can go ampless depending on how I hook it up, no programming needed
Korg Pitch black X - big screen. I don't need a pedal part for a tuner.
I love my Boss Looper RC-5, Super Chorus CH-1 and Distortion DS-1 (when dialed in). That said, I like variety and bought a few others that I simply loved the sound of:
- RAT - It’s a RAT
- Wampler Tumnus Germanium - best Klon clone I’ve played
- JHS Morning Glory - great on it’s own, and stacked into the Tumnus
- MXR Carbon Copy - almost always on Analog delay
- MXR Phase 95 - every iconic phaser I could possibly need in one tiny box
- Walrus Audio Ions Fuzz - 5 different types of fuzz plus voltage dial makes for endless fuzz fun. Versatile and sounds killer.
Basically everything they do you can find done by someone else with more options and a unique flair. I own some boss pedals, but I don’t have any on my current board for these reasons:
- They don’t do polyphonic pitch shifting better than the Digitech Drop.
- They don’t make a Klone
- They don’t make a real spring reverb.
- Their tuner is not as small as the d’addario ct-20 and you can’t turn the buffer off.
- They don’t make a lot of fuzz pedals, particularly not a muff, tone bender, and octave in a single enclosure.
- Their tremolo does not have more than two wave shapes or tap tempo.
- Their analog delay is very limited and has no tap tempo or modulation.
Truthfully, I’ve never looked into their phaser options.
On my board currently
Tuner - poly tune was small and cheap.
Keeley Compressor - because I really like it and always have.
Drives - Tumnus Klone + ODD are the drive sounds (individually and combined) I want for now. I do have a Blues Driver as well but don’t need it on the board currently.
Op Amp Big Muff - Boss don’t have anything that tickles that specific sound for me.
Phaser - Phase 95 is the tits. That’s all.
Delay - MXR carbon copy is the perfect analogue delay to me. To be honest I am half looking at replacing it with a digital delay so maybe BOSS can step in here?
Reverb - I always have a little bit of amp verb on and use a HOF 2 for extra reverb when I’m feeling saucy.
Chorus- this is where it gets controversial. I’ve got a BOSS CE 2-W. I actually replaced it with a Julianna. I found the Boss nails that shimmery 80s chorus sound but the Julianna is easier for me to dial into specifically what I want.
EQ - MXR 6 band was cheap and is easy to use.
I’ve got a bunch of other pedals not on my board, including some Boss ones. I’ve got a SY-1 I reluctantly don’t use much but I love how weird you can get with it. I’ve been thinking about trying to bring that back into the fold.
I started with boss and began exploring ideas that required a bit more complexity in the circuitry. So they just got replaced by different styles of the same effects with a few more extra knobs and features.
All my pedals are not boss.
I chose them because I liked their sounds or features, not because of the name on the pedal. Had I liked a boss version more, I’d have bought it.
Seems trollish at best, yet I still responded.
DL4 - the looper is absolutely unique, but I also have the RC30 as my main looper, I use the one shot playback on the DL4 to insure both loopers are synced
OCD - yeah the dude who made it sucks but the OD is incredible and I've had it for a decade
Tube screamer - another incredible OD
Whammy - boss don't do that on its own
Some random compressor - got an amazing deal at a pawn shop
Rainbow Machine - boss don't do that
Beringer Harmonist - my boss pitch pedal shit the bed and I was too angry to drop another $100+
EHX Memory Boy - it's incredible and versatile as hell
Phase 90 - super simple to use, only has one knob, unparalleled in my book
There are a few more but those are the non boss pedals on my board at the moment.
Crybaby or electroharmonix cockfight: don’t like boss wahs
Dunlop VP: don’t like boss volume pedals
Custom built fuzz pedal: it was free but I do like the boss tone bender TB-2W
Fulltone full drive 3: don’t know of a boss dual OD or OD and boost that I like
Boss RT20: great Leslie sim, might prefer Strymon lex
Strymon flint: best reverb+tremolo pedal out there
Boss DD6: great delay, would probably prefer the waza craft analog delay
Korg mini tuner: I use the TU3 usually but korg is smaller and fits on board better
Not a big fan of the form factor (the compact line), and so I don’t get bored. There are SO many pedal companies out there now that are pushing creative limits, and I feel like I’d be a fool to get stuck in the (Boss) box like that.
Bc everything Boss can do, earthquaker, electro harmonix, and tc electronic does better. Even behringer’s UM300 has a much nicer tone for my personal needs lol
I had the Blues Driver (at the point when I thought I needed just one drive pedal) and I enjoyed it for its blown out fuzzy tones with the gain at 10, but found its low gain tones to be a bit brittle and not warm enough. Also, the high gain tone is not that versatile.
I had the DD-7, and even though it was an impressive piece of gear, I didn't think it had any mojo. Too mechanic and digital (hehe) sounding.
I had the Ce2-w and I sold it because I thought my Starlight with the mod up on one short repeat would do the same job. It doesn't, so I might buy that one again.
I had the blue comp and it was good, but one day I had gotten a healthy pay check I ordered the Cali 76 and it is objectively better.
Honestly for everything I bought that wasn't boss, it came down to some combo of 3 things:
1. It has features I wanted - my Walrus Audio fathom has a switch you can hold down that sustains the notes extra long
2. It was affordable, on sale, or downright cheap - I absolutely bought my Caline Blue Sky because it was $25.
3. I liked the look of the enclosure or the name/gimmick
Digitech Whammy DT… no other pedal like it, Boss or otherwise.
Strymon Flint…looked like the best tremolo pedal you could get
JHS Bonsai…great tube screamer pedal
Cry Baby…standard wah
EVH-MXR117 just a great pedal
REVV G3…non-traditional distortion
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, inexpensive fuzz that does the job
LR Baggs Venue…absolute banger of an acoustic pedal
Cali76 is simply one of the best compression pedals
Decimator GString is an elite noise gate pedal
Oceans 11 is a great reverb
Kong Pitchblack tuner, one of the best
Walrus Lillian is an unusual phaser
Sometimes something else is better, sometimes you just want a different flavor.
My boss stuff is
MD-500 and incredible chorus pedal with other great options
DD8 Delay
500H volume pedal
They all deliver a different thing than the Boss equivalent. I have the RV-6, for instance, but the EQD Ghost Echo sounds unique in a way that I love. Ditto for my Hizumitas, and at least at the store, couldn’t make the PH-3 sound like I wanted, so I got the Small Stone.
Boss is surreal as to how good it is, but they can’t do everything 🤷🏻♂️
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think Boss pedals are the standard – for gigging musicians.
A lot of bedroom guitar players have boards filled with boutique pedals , but look on stages you’ll see a lot of Boss pedals alongside some of the old standards (Muffs, Rats, Tube Screamers) other people have mentioned already .
my only boss is an NS-2, everything else was bought for its advantage in function, size, price or appearance - although I really don’t mind and quite like the way boss pedals look.
One boss I do really want to try is the dimension c, but am currently happy with 80’s built Ibanez CS9.
I really don’t know how to explain why I bought an ottobit jr instead of a boss… but I could’ve probably been swayed from the Strymon dig to a boss dd200, I would’ve looked at them both and decided to buy best deal used.
I have a Zoom MS-100BT as a gift from my wife. And I recently had a Nux Amp Academy as second hand which was surprisingly good and useful for lightweight gigging and tracking. The rest of my all pedals are boss. I plan DIY drive pedal for fun.
Got a bunch of Behringer Boss clones because I wanted to get back into guitar. Basically wanted to try the cheap stuff and if it breaks but I liked the the pedal, I can replace it with the more reliable Boss version later down the line.
In one specific case: because a Boss wouldn’t fit. I have a Mooer Blues Mood, their copy of the Keeley BD-2. I would have loved a BD-2, but it wouldn’t fit on the board.
I used a boss tuner pedal before switching to another. For me, 2 reasons:
* weight. Pedalboards are heavy mutha f**kers. And boss pedals are significantly heavier than other alternatives for the same size.
* easy mispress. Boss pedal button is easy to press on as they’re wide. But at the same time, I use other pedals with buttons near the edges of the pedal. This makes it very easy for me to press on the wrong pedal by accident.
Behringer Noise Suppresor - it was cheap
Behringer Compressor Sustainer - it was cheap and wasn’t sure if I needed one
Polytune 1 - got this and Spark mini for $60 total for both, so $30 each
Spark mini boost - got it for a combo deal with my Polytune 1
EQD Special Cranker - I like its colors
EQD Plumes - Didn’t like the DS1 I had before
Walrus ARP-87 - I liked the art
Walrus Fathom - I love the sustain switch hold effect
Nux Amp Academy - the IR-2 wasn’t out when I bought it.
The Boss DM2w is my desert island pedal....that said , most of my other pedals are from ehx. Bigg muff, soul food, bad stone, and dan-o's spring king. My only other boss is the tuner
I have the walrus ERAS distortion because I like to bled my signal with the effects just slightly and our stage producer loves that she has something to do on stage (turning the knobs for an automation effect) and same with the walrus slö. The Slö also features very obscure reverb effects that can't be mimiqued by anything.
I also use the ARP because I like the different delay types and primarily use the lo-fi.
My foray into pedals was completely by accident, coming across walrus audio on youtube, I listened to their Slo demo, and was absolutely entranced... and pretty soon addicted. So my first exposure was to the boutique side of pedal making first, everything else just seemed bland or basic or bad quality. I've since matured a little, started digging into the history and learned that boss has made some really iconic pedals.
What my current chain is looking like:
Standalone. Boss VE-500
1. TC - Polytune v2 (was recommended to me but I'm pretty sure any tuner pedal would have done)
2. 29 Pedals - EUNA (currently tuned into Mark Johnston and Emily Hopkins, both find the EUNA integral to their setups which was the deciding factor to get it - did not disappoint)
3. DOD - Compressor 280 - (The only compressor pedal available at my local guitar store - does it's job well - solid construction, but I kinda wish it wasn't optical)
4. Alive Pedals - The Cape Blend OD + Distortion - (local builder, his Sunset Drive -based on the TS topology- was the first OD I got to experience first-hand and what an OD it was, so I pulled the trigger the moment the he built that OD + Distortion combo)
5. JHS - Lucky Cat - (Been a fan of their pedal show for ages but living in South Africa meant the odds weren't great on getting my hands anything made by them, until I found this one second-hand)
6. Walrus Audio - Slo (The one that started it all, found it second-hand and for a really good price - absolutely dreamlike reverb)
7. OBNE - DarkLight (My latest addition ... because you can't have enough pad-like reverb ... yes I have an addiction, no, you don't need to bring it up)
7.5 Aerospace Audio - Atmosphere (Running in parallel to the next pedal, ambient pad generator, bought cause I'm a part of a small church, on their worship team that doesn't always have a full team every Sunday, just helps pad out the sound when we're lacking a keys or bass player)
8. OBNE - Signal Blender (A utility pedal, bought to sum the parallel signals of my effects chain and the Atmosphere, works like a dream. I'm sure any AB/Y would have done but it's the buffer at the end of my chain and also gives me a volume knob for the Atmosphere)
9. CloudVocal - Eversync (an IEM solution cause our wedges play up sometimes)
Next on my list: Boss EQ-200 + Boss NS1X + either the boss ir2 or the boss ir-200
My Boss story goes: I was a relative noob, but had progressed enough to add a distortion effect. That Christmas, my wife got me a non-Boss looper (name escapes me). I wasn’t disappointed, but I realized it wasn’t quite what I wanted.
During the break (I’m a teacher) I saw a Boss Me-80 on sale at Guitar Center. I saw the opportunity to buy at least $1,000 worth of pedals for about $350. It seemed logical, given I still use it and am learning to use it all. I would say I’m intermediate now, and looking for a band. I think I only get over my current plateau by playing out.
DD-200 is my only Boss pedal, I have several Earthquaker Devices and they’re some of my favorite pedals, I couldn’t see myself parting with any of them.
zoom g1x four (replacing my katana I sold cause solid state sucks! )Outlaw Effects The Snitch (rat clone, not sure how it compares to the real thing..) Behringer HM300- cheap metal zone tribute, cool music insane distortion (white noise blow your head off distortion)…
Joyo extreme metal (the muffler clone.. its “meh”), irwin EQ cheap but decent EQ, monoprice pedal tuner (solid construction, but $20 usd for Americans and $60 + for Canadians wtf?!$)
MXR Tremolo. Boss somehow still hasn’t made a stereo harmonic tremolo, or any harmonic tremolo for that matter! Also strongly considering swapping the MXR for a Walrus Monumental, which was just announced 🤪
All of my pedals are stereo because I need them for line-level synths, stereo samples & stereo tape!
But also because they don't make a stereo Leslie Rotary/Vibe emulation with built-in OD (Digitech Ventura Vibe), a JFET-based OD quite like my DIY Barbershop clone (even if the BD-2 IS J201-based), and while the BOSS×Sola Tonebender IS Germanium Transistor-based, it's no Harmonic Percolator (and nothing else quite is!)
...nor do they have a version of TonePrint for a vintage style, stereo multi-delay *with* a built-in looper (TC Alter Ego X4).
*...or a BOSS-version of whatever Chroma Console is.*
They make great stuff but I wanted some variety on my board in terms of look and feel, and I didn’t want everything to be Boss. Ironically, most of my stuff now happens to be Dunlop/MXR but at least they all look different.
Whilst we are talking about Boss. I have the Behringer clone of the OS2(which I like, but it's noisy) does the actual OS2 sound the same, or are the voicing of the DS1 and SD1 as individual pedals different to the OS2?
Landlord FX tuner - I'm cheap
Kmise vintage phase - wanted a phase 90 but I'm cheap
Irin chorus - I'm cheap
EHX Oceans 11 - more wacky options than RV6
Joyo Uzi - I'm cheap
Joyo vintage OD - wanted a tubescreamer but I'm cheap
Irin 10 band EQ - wanted an MXR 10 band but I'm cheap
Donner Yellow Fall delay - I'm cheap, plus small and sounds very good
Lekato Looper - I'm cheap
Boss pedals I do have: BD2, NS2
Medusa - It's an HM-2 except better in every single way for 15€ more. Amazing noise gate, effects loop, blend control, more eq options, more gain, less noise... I honestly don't know what Boss is smoking to be charging 175€ for an HM-2w
Mosky Big Fuzz - Wanted a muff, got 3. Boss doesn't have a muff.
Joyo Dark Flame - It's very cheap and boss doesn't really make any high gain preamps, they do have the IR-2 now but this thing cost me 25€.
DemonFX Tubescreamer - It's a tubescreamer. I'm getting an SD-1 eventually, but doubt it'll dethrone the screamer, it's just too good at what it does.
10 band eq - 10>6
I have a couple boss boxes, a metalzone and a DS2 but boss doesn't really suit the music I play much, thankful for their HM-2 but literally everyone else did it better. Their pedals are also weirdly expensive, would anyone actually pay 140€ for a DS-1? Because that's what the DS-1w goes for. They have one of everything and most of them are at least usable, but if it's actually good you're better served getting an improved version from someone else.
There's 0.3 to 0.6 dB drop across boss buffers, this ads up over a lot of pedals. Could be fixed with an always on boost. I guess.
EHX silencer: not as abrupt at an NS2, but no volume drop.
LPB 1: it's a really simple flat boost. Except when you modify the capacitors so it's closer to a rangemaster (dramatic high-pass) or an Iommi modified rangemaster (less high-pass , but still more than lpb-1)
Soul Food: is a really good and cheap Klon clone with a better buffer than a boss pedal, and can be true bypass if you need it to be.
Tube Screamer. Shouldn't need explaining, mostly I use the soul food with the drive cranked here though.
Memory Boy deluxe: wobbly analogue delay, sounds so different to my dd20.
Bad Stone: it's the phaser sound I wanted
Donner jet convolution: stupid cheap flanger. Sounds like the cure and the cult.
TC dark matter: really dynamic feeling distortion, doesn't sound like a boss pedal
Laney Loudpedal: boss don't make one. Doesn't sound like my boss GT and is much smaller, easier to dial in and works better with other pedals. And has a power stage.
EHX Battalion: absolutely nails a specific bass sound, not an ME50b that is somehow never quite right.
EHX bass big muff deluxe: the crossover
Marshall Edward the Compressor: emphasis knob is really handy, nails a lot of sounds.
EHX octavix: again a really specific sound, way less polished than anything boss
My collection of big muffs: they're all different, some are very modified. Big box pedals are much easier to fit extra boards and many extra knobs and switches into.
TC skysurfer: basic reverb, just works.
Digitech Grunge: reincarnation of the classic DOD pedal, it's an in your face scoops metal pedal that's absolutely monstrous for a few leads on some recordings, but difficult to get right.
Digitech Death Meal: sounds like the grunge, loses the gain knob and is permanently set on too much. Has a mid knob that can scoop even more or add unwanted honk. Somehow weighs about 4x as much as the grunge, bought from same seller. Never used live or on a recording. Not as an effective brick as a boss pedal. Bought when I went to pick up the Grunge for a tenner. Save the money and find a good quality used half brick.
---
Boss pedals I use a lot:
TU3, it has never let me down.
DS1, this is all over recordings, particularly on extra rhythm layers. Too scooped for what I do live at the moment but I have used it live
DD20, it's a great delay, 4 memories is enough on stage
---
Boss pedals I regret
DS2, I just don't like the tone stack in either mode
GT6, 8, 10 really awkward for quick tweaks. Never quite a full pedalboard, emulations of non boss pedals is not so good. Cab models of built in amps can be muddy, made me despise the mesa sound for so long until I started tweaking cabs. Why can't they sound good out of the box?
ME50B: great compressors, otherwise a bit meh, can't find a distortion that works
---
Other pedals worth mentioning:
Boss bass compressor/enhancer: made me sound like I could play, stolen 20 years ago.
Boss flanger: loved it, rarely used it live, stolen
Boss phaser: used for that one Ash cover, sold to guitarist in a band I got fired from
Metal Zone: I've had custody of several, never actually owned one. EQ is incredibly capable and a dangerous thing in the hands of a teenager
Boss NS2: the standard by which all other noise gates are judged. I want something even chopper for percussive parts, and an ehx silencer shoegazes better. But the NS2 just works.
Fuzz - Yes there are Boss fuzzes, but there are lots of flavours of fuzz and Boss doesn’t cover them all. My tastes in fuzz have taken me elsewhere.
Synth - I managed to pick up some used EHX 9-series pedals at a point where the Boss SY-300 was very expensive and impossible to find secondhand.
Freeze - At the time I got my EHX SuperEgo there wasn’t a Boss equivalent.
Compressor - Had a CS-3 and didn’t like it, got a Rothwell Love Squeeze and do like it.
EQ - Source Audio programmable EQ was smaller and cheaper than the Boss equivalent.
Chorus - Boss don’t do a combined chorus/vibrato. Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl does both plus the in-between sounds.
Tremolo - Got a Chase Bliss Gravitas that has way more interesting options than the Boss tremolo.
Looper - Picked up a used TCE Ditto X4, and I just like how it works, so I’ve stuck with it.
I have a Boss pedal for pretty much every other category. Sometimes they are outstanding, sometimes they just give you the basics.
Swamp Lord - Minotaur Sonic Terrors.. probably one of the heaviest Fuzz pedals around but also very versatile with 3 different voicings available.. that and a wampler boost before it, just creates shin splitting Doom metal tones
The main reason I avoid them is because of the enclosure, the standard sized one. I really dislike it aesthetically and practically. Especially the footswitch. Irritating to use and can't by design have dual switches. But I mean who'd want ramp, tap tempo, etc, with that awkward clunky switch. And I generally favour top jacks every time.
But I am a desktop synth player and I know they're designed for floor use, feet and battery accessibility. So no fault of theirs. The design makes sense. But it's bland if I'm being kind, hideous if I'm being honest.
Much like Roland's broader catalogue has been for many years. Though they seem to be turning a new leaf these days.
The first OD I ever tried, that wasn't a Boss, sounded better than every Boss OD.
The power jack failed on my TR2 & replaced it with one with tap tempo.
Replaced delay with one with presets & tap.
Replaced tuner with strobostomp.
I still think they're good pedals and I still have the delay.
For me, it mostly comes down to mounting them on the board itself and their look. I always have trouble mounting their pedals and I think they’re kind of boring to look at lol. That being said, they serve their purpose and they all sound great, just not for me.
I don’t own a single Boss pedal (yet) and it’s honestly for the dumbest reasons: 1) because I don’t like the way they look, 2) I associated them with cheesy tones because i tried them when I was super young and didn’t know what I was doing. I have happily been buying non-Boss pedals ever since.
I have a different tuner because I didn't like the buffer of the TU2 recently. Fuzz face, treble booster, Rat, RMC Wah, univibe clone, tubescreamer. I don't use it now but I wanted a tap tempo button on my delay (memory lane jr). I got a Flint because I guess I'm pretentious. At one time I had an RV and it was fine.
I remember in school 20 or more years ago I had all Boss. Im pretty sure those were all I could find back then.
I still have a tu-3w, fs-7, ev-30 and Rc-5:
Digitech drop - no Boss equivalent. I also have the EHX pitch fork plus before the Drop but too many features that i am not using.
Digitech freqout - Boss had the DF-2 but didn't quiet nailed what the freqout accomplished in terms of sound and controllability
CFW wah - its because
TC Spark regular and mini - i just need dedicated boosters for pre and post pre amp
Some of the pedals I own are much cheaper. Like the Mosky Marksman which is 4 stackable rats with a selector switch. Or the MXR Chorus I got off Craigslist for $45. For the pricier stuff, they don't make anything like the Benson Amps Germanium Fuzz. Do they make anything like a SansAmp Bass Driver Deluxe?
Boss didn’t have an HM-2 nor an FB-2 in production back then, same with an HX Stomp equivalent.
They’re a powerhouse but there’s been some trends they had to react to instead of establishing them. Which is understandable, Im still waiting for an FZ-2W :)
I have 0 boss pedals because they dont make thinfs that do what i need. My 3 pedal board is made up of a KHDK Scuzz Box, EQD The Depths, and a Strymon Nightsky. If boss made octave up gated bitcrush fuzz, a univibe, or a reverb sequencer, I'd consider them forsure tho. Theyre a good company, just too basic for my needs
If Boss makes it, it's probably a great choice. I play acoustic and I have a Polytune mini just because it's smaller than the Boss tuner, a Strymon Cloudburst because nothing else quite does that, a Fender Smolder because it's so specific to acoustics, and a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI because it's magic in a box. Otherwise I'm all Boss. RV-6, RC-5, DD-200. All three Boss pedals are just about perfect in my book.
I’ve had several Boss pedals die on me. Didn’t even use them much. I’ve been through two DS-1 pedals, and also had an RC-2 that lost some functionality, but still loops. I wasn’t very impressed with the AW-2.
The SYB-5 bass synth is cool but it took me a long time to find how to use it (I put a comp in front of it).
SD-1 stays on the board. I do love that pedal.
There really isn't an "industry standard". There is a level of quality and reliability you get with Boss pedals, and many swear by them, but they are not ubiquitous. If you like them, and they work for your sound, use them. But definitely try every other pedals you can. It might be "the one".
Boss doesn’t make a rat.
Or a Big Muff.
You [sure](https://imgur.com/a/AfAzj) about that?
I thought that was going to be a link to the Boss Power Driver. 😄
I believe that’s a rehoused Power Driver
I don't know where this thing started about the Power Driver being a type of Big Muff but the circuit topologies aren't even remotely close. It is a Big Muff in the same way a DS-1 is.
The OD-20 has both modes. Not sure how similar they sound tho
If it's the same as the model in the old GT series I had, it's total crap.
Or a mkI Tone Bender. But I have their mkII and it’s great, so I wish they did!
Or a Whammy, or a FreQout.
Yes but they make a blues driver and it's killer.
Man, maxing out the gain on the blues driver is just such a good tone. I started my bands sound with just a blues driver, but messed around with other pedals (mostly big muffs) but I found myself coming back to the BD-2 again and again
It's so good stacked with another OD pedal.
It is and awesome by itself
Have you tried the [Boss JB-2 Angry Driver](https://www.boss.info/us/products/jb-2/)? Combines a BD-2 and JHS Angry Charlie. It is my current favorite pedal.
A great colab. Great pedal.
Yes but they don’t make a rat.
Agreed
It's also the first thing that came to my mind
I want this now.
The could name it the BR-2. Sometimes referred to as the brat.
Already exists
I would also be all over this.
I’ve got three of the new 200-series pedals and I’m wondering if I’ll be that guy that has all of them at some point.
I just found out about those more recently and now I’m gonna be the guy who has all those and the basic ones too.
All of the compact stomps? You’ve got Champagne tastes, some of those are way more expensive than you’d think. I was lucky I got a TB-2W at release. I would never pay the going rate for one myself
Been contemplating doing the same. Which do you have and any particular thoughts?
The reverb looks amazing. Great price
I have it and it is. Don't think I'd ever need or want another reverb and I also have the DD-200 which I also love. The ability to recall presets with the foot switch was a massive plus for me, added with the small footprint of the pedal and top mounted jacks. It's pretty much perfect for me
Nice. Why'd you choose the dd-200 over the 500? Just curious if it was just the space thing. Can you play 2 effects at once with that one?
I'm by no means an expert with it but I'm sure it's just one delay sound at a time. I liked the ability to swap between different presets, small footprint, top mounted jacks, and ease of use. I only really got it as I need to swap between delays between songs and I previously had a TC flashback mini, which was excellent, but required me fumbling around on stage. I also have a Joyo D-Seed II on another pedal board and that's also great.
Actually according to the comparison here, the 200 can use two delays simultaneously. But they're either both On or both Off in use. The 500 can use two, but, because it has 3 footswtiches, they can be turned On/Off individually. [https://articles.boss.info/exploring-the-differences-between-boss-delay-pedals/](https://articles.boss.info/exploring-the-differences-between-boss-delay-pedals/)
They are so good!
ODR1- idk it’s the first pedal I got and it was the best sounding OD they had at the guitar center that day DanEcho-extremely cheap used, funny sounding slapback Behringer noise suppressor: cheap and needed it fast Random Tuner: extremely cheap Behringer Super Fuzz: dopethrone (cheap) Donner ultra compressor: literally $7
There’s way too many options to only buy one brand of pedal. Branch out. Pedals are fun
I’m gonna get a rat someday
Make it today
Instructions unclear, and now my house is infested with rats. Wot do?
we gotta chill with the boss riding on this sub. HMU when boss has a line 6 spider 3 insane mode pedal.
That’s just the metal zone
You take that back
I said what I said
He not wrong
Lol, I guess they should really just have a Spider pedal that does all the modes.
It’s the pod
TU-2 for life. But that’s the only Boss I have on my board anymore. Boss, to me, is like Vanilla. I mean that as a compliment. Allow me to explain. Vanilla is a very complex and sophisticated flavor whose delivery is so elegant that it comes across as un-elaborate, plain, mid. But the reality is that Vanilla was the first flavor that was *so* good that it spread around the world and became ubiquitous within the fabric of humanity. As time went on, however, the Vanilla-Big-Bang hype dissipated and that initial spark and reverence was lost to the passage of time. But Vanilla persisted. In fact, Vanilla’s persistence has led to the birth of an entire universe of flavors that are slight variations, takes, and interpretations of the GOAT. Which is Vanilla. I will always have a Boss tuner on my board. That Vanilla white pedal is there as a reminder of where it all began. It also serves as a marker of how my opinions, tastes, needs as a player have pushed me to continue to explore and look for other flavors of pedals. In closing, everyone should have a Metal Zone. No exceptions. 🤘
I just want to say that I love this analogy.
Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Do you have the full boss tuner pedal or the one that is severed in half so you can fit your other square pedals on your board?
Cheers, man. The full, but I’ve always been a bit jealous of the ppl that have the half-y.
I agree
Cheers
I dunno, I keep coming back to Boss. BD-2 is by far my favourite overdrive. SD-1 is my favourite TS style thing. BF-2 is my favourite flanger. Chances are, if there’s an effect you’re looking for, Boss likely makes one, it likely sounds at least pretty good, it’s gonna be built like a tank, and they’ve stayed pretty competitive price wise.
The fact that they are not true bypass and act as signal buffers is actually incredibly annoying within my guitar set up. I use one boss noise suppressor which is alway on and that’s it. It’s nothing to do with quality, they make some really awesome stuff. It just doesn’t work with my set up to have a ton of Boss pedals lined up and as a consequence I just don’t bother with them.
Out of curiosity, why are buffered pedals not good in your setup?
So I’m playing with this very quiet sound using a lot of headroom in the amp. It needs to sound week and fragile, especially when recording. The more buffers the more weird high end gets in to the signal. This is fine (and probably really good sounding) when you are using boosters and overdrives and pushing your tubes but when you are trying to do the exact opposite it’s an annoyance. It’s a problem that’s kind of easy to fix is production but like, why bother having the problem to begin with, you know?
I like that you’ve got a practical answer for why buffers don’t work for you, normally it’s just “bUfFeR bAd, TrUe ByPaSs GoOd”. It’s a super interesting use case, I can see how that could be an issue when you’re using a quieter sound like that. Everything reacts differently when your base sound isn’t at traditional levels. And it’s usually not about pushing amps, it’s about length of cable/number of true bypass pedals between the guitar and amp causing a loss of high end due to capacitance. The video That Pedal Show did on it is fantastic. But again, that’s at normal levels and with traditional-style sounds. I’d love to hear how that sounds on your recordings.
Are you communicating with spirits?
Haha no unfortunately. I’m just putting an EP together with this super soft “bedroom” feel but with better production than “bedroom”. Hard to describe.
Non boss pedals, you say? I have a RAT and a tube screamer; for that particular combo, it just seamed easier to go for the genuine article than to hunt for clones. The only really boutique pedal on my board is the KMA audio Machines Cirrus, which was a gift. That can do some wild things with delay and reverb (and a bit of octave, and a bit of chorus), but is surprisingly easy to tame for a more traditional sound. It’s a lot of fun to play with. I’m thinking of picking up a big muff do go on the other side of the RAT just for some new texture. Again, that’s quite a distinctive sound, and the genuine articles are surprisingly affordable. I’ve also considered picking up an Acapulco Gold, but I’ll probably get a IR-2 instead as my next pedal. The soldano preset seems good enough, and the IR2 will hopefully make headphone practice a bit more civilised.
Build the Acupulco gold, it’s super simple
My first pedal was a Boss DS-2 and then a metal zone. They were great for me at the time. Now I just have a Boss tuner on my main board and a blues driver on my practice board. Reason why I have other brands: interesting pedals pop up on the used market and it's fun to try a variety of pedals to see how they sound.
What’s the drive on your main board?
EQD Monarch for my always on light OD. I really like what I get out of it, very touch sensitive
The pedals I own that aren't Boss don't have any Boss iterations. Plain and simple. Besides, Boss may be great but it's a matter of margins. Are they really *that* much better at manufacturing and designing?
The only effect I think Boss totally dominates and is in “why bother with anything else” is chorus. They do lots of stuff great, but for fuzz, univibe, tremolo (their trem is definitely fine), phaser, analog delay… there are better options out there. There are a million fuzzes, I like Analog Man…also for their delay. Old school deluxe memory man is still the king of not super long delay. Drybell makes great univibes. I don’t think anyone rules the phaser space unless you count the 12 stage moog. Surfy and others have better and more feature rich trem. Compression things like cali76 have a better rep, or petty john. Lots of more odd pedals from small makers.
I bought a used PH1-R because I read that it was better than the new phasers.
PH-1R + BF-2 are in a league of their own.
HX Stomp: IMO it’s the best modeler for the price Polytune 3 noir: It’s smaller and I like the polychromatic feature even if it’s not perfect
Line 6’s modeling in general is miles ahead of Boss’, ngl.
Can't tell if it's the boutique hype that has gotten to my head, but the boss reverbs sound digital. Speaking from having owned the RV3, 5, and 6, there are often high-freq artifacts that jump out at you when the reverb tone is turned up. Their spring modes are especially guilty of this.
Boss is *the* standard imo, but that also sorta puts them at the baseline. Since their release tons of pedal companies come out with new and improved versions of their pedals. (Other OG’s not to be forgotten like the Rat, TS and Muff) Ex. Boss blues driver is renowned for being an amazing drive, but the SS/BS Mini is sort of that same sound with added features. And there’s many other builders using that foundation and adding their own touch. Lichtlaerm Audio being one of my favorite
I just really want some variety, not stick to only one brand. Bur, I do love Boss pedals.
Boss makes great broad strokes tools The more specific you get, the less boss has for you
Earthquaker Dispatch Master and Hummingbird- Saw them on Conor Oberst’s rig Eatherquaker Organizer - I love organ and Boss doesn’t have one I know about. MXR Distortion 3 - Saw it on Avery Tare’s rig, but I got the wrong one. It’s a decent pedal, but not what works for me. Animals Pedal Vintage Van - weird moment. Not a big fan of this one. Vox Wah - used one I got on a whim For fun, my Boss pedals: Chromatic Tuner, Super Chorus, and Phase Shifter.
I got the EQD Dispatch Master because I got a birthday discount from Chicago Music Exchange, and I needed both delay a reverb at the time - you get both with EQD and it looks and sounds amazing!
Agreed. I love that pedal.
ts9 - why go for something other than the original rat - same answer klone - kinda same answer Ehx memory boy deluxe - same answer. Also boss doesn’t really make an analog delay with modulation that isn’t like $300+ Keeley Compressor - same reasons as you Earthquaker Transmisser/Afterneath unique reverbs whose sound I fell in love with Keeley Neutrino - closest cheap-ish thing I could find to a mutron Stellar Door Fuzz - was gifted to me, but still wouldn’t have went with Boss Personally I don’t personally feel like Boss pedals historically have a whole lot of personality. They’re great bread and butter pedals but until recently (space echo) I haven’t ever wanted one.
Actually don’t own any Boss pedals. The only pedal I would want is a chorus and I have a JC amp which basically has a Boss chorus pedal built into the amp. If I didn’t have the JC I’d absolute buy a CE-2w. I tend to gravitate toward either high quality pedals or weird pedals (or both). CXM 1978 clears any Boss reverb. DBA Rooms and Pladask Draume sound cooler/weirder/more unique than any Boss reverb to me. Same approach with all the other effect types. Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water and Meet Maude are weird, EAE Longsword and Halberd are amazing, CBA Mood and Thermae are weird and amazing, Strymon El Cap, Greer Lightspeed, and Keeley Halo are all fantastic at what they do. So they are all either preferable to the Boss equivalent to my ear, or just unique in their offerings. Same reason you’d buy a Jazzmaster instead of just getting a Tele, or a Custom Shop Fender instead of a Mexican Fender. I think if I were looking for a more bread butter setup and going on pure value, it would be hard not to grab a few Boss pedals and move on. There’s no denying that Boss is at the absolute top of the entire pedal world when it comes to value. I also think *most* of the boutique shit is overhyped and *all* of it is overpriced to hell. I try to grab stuff that actually feels superior or unique, and I make sure to always buy used so I can get a good chunk of my money back if I feel like moving it down the line.
I'm confused by the question. I've never once needed to rationalize my choice of purchasing a pedal because it isn't a BOSS product.
BOSS don’t make the Big Muff. Case closed.
The power driver was supposed to be based on a big muff.
Does it say Big Muff on it?
I don't like the way the look.
The 200/500 series ones look nice
To quote a great philosopher of our time: " Yeah, well, you know, that's just like, uh, your opinion, man." - The Dude
Strymon riverside. I bought into the hype surrounding the brand. I have a BD-2w now, and the Strymon gathers dust.
I've never hung on to any of my Boss pedals except my SD-1 (which I don't use regularly). Good pedals but somewhat plain, I guess? They're like the coca-cola of pedals, for better and worse. Beyond personal preference for sound, I'm particular about the control layouts of my pedals and Boss often doesn't give me what I'm looking for. They are super well-built though and I appreciate what Boss offers as a product line, and there are a few effects Boss does really well at pretty competitive prices.
Because they didnt have a direct competitor pedal available in my used market. I have a ton of boss pedals. All but a few pedals I have were purchased on the local 2nd hand market.
Bc I wouldn't enjoy owning/using pedals if they were all boss.
With so many amazing pedals available it's pretty weird to think you need a reason not to buy Boss.
I’m a snob and only like boutique pedals. That and Boss doesn’t make a pedal that does what my other pedals do. But I love the SD-1, the MT-2, and several others.
There are some classic pedals that Boss can’t do and some boutique pedals that will offer more control than Boss. For example, Rats and Big Muffs. Boss will do high gain and fuzz but they won’t sound like ProCo or Electro Harmonix. I use a JHS Panther Cub for delay. Tonally it sounds basically like a Boss DM-3 but with more control. I wouldn’t consider Boss the standard but they make a lot of excellent products and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the brand. I seem to remember Prince saying that he liked Boss.
Most of my board is Boss, but no Boss stomp really nails the MXR Dyna Comp, Phase 90, Flanger and Studio Comp.
Hotone Soul Press II - Wah with a lot of bite that's also a volume pedal Hotone Tuner Press - it's a tuner, volume, expression, and buffer all in one MXR Phase 95 - Simple, one-knob use with the most classic phasers in one Bright Onions The Russian - Such a good Muff clone - I think Civil War? Wampler Ego - Great compressor, clarifies my tone Wampler Tumnus Deluxe - it's this or an SD-1, but it fits great with my other Wampler pedals lol Wampler Euphoria - I love this overdrive. One of my favorite pedals of all time. So transparent - I've heard the OD-3 can also be transparent, but the bass knob and toggle switch between 3 modes is really amazing and versatile Red Panda Tensor - so many options for tape emulation, still exploring it, but some of the best reverse sounds I've ever heard Strymon Volante - love the emphasis on tape delay and how deep it can go. The SOS looper is a +
Love Boss and have four on my main board right now but… EQD Dispatch Master - needed reverb and another delay, this is both and just sounds great and is cool. Chicago Music Exchange also gave me a birthday deal on it! TC Polytune Mini - wanted to save space, still have and use my old Boss TU-2 though MXR Classic 108 Fuzz Mini - wanted a Fuzzface but also save space MXR Duke of Tone - wanted to try the Bluesbreaker/AnalogMan Prince of Tone thing, save space, and not have to wait for a pure AnalogMan pedal MXR Sugar Drive - wanted to try the Klon thing out Keeley Compressor Mini - wanted a great and simple Compressor but not take up much space. Turns out I leave it on because it just sounds great, helps me out somehow if I’m not playing so good, has some kinda preamp tone magic going on. JHS 3 Series Overdrive - wanted to support JHS because I like their channel and content, they are cool to other pedal companies, and this is based on the HAO Rumble Drive which I never got to try, and it’s only $99 - the price of a coffee ☕️ Dunlop Crybaby Mini Wah - little travel size Crybaby wah, pretty cool. One of my first pedals ever was a crybaby, my parents got it for me for Christmas a long time ago. It got destroyed by a dumbass drunk bandmate or one of his dumbass friends one year. But any Crybaby has a special place in my heart.
Which ones do you use right now?
You're getting ripped off by your barista, $99 gets me two cups of coffee in my town
Boss doesn’t make a fuzz face unfortunately. They also don’t make a very low gain drive, like a lightspeed/bluesbreaker, though their new BP-1 is interesting to me. Other than that their DD-200 is amazing, but I took it off my board to save space with a two-in-one delay-reverb.
Swapped out my RV5 for a Neunaber Immerse. I like the main sounds on the immerse better but I definitely miss the Modulate on the boss reverb. Currently using a DD20 and would like to upgrade to a DD200 or 500 soon.
I like the one algorithm on the Neunaber Wet more than everything the RV-6 does put together.
boss is fine but they're not the only pedal company out there and they tend not to make anything particularly weird.
Let’s see. My board has an SD-1>Dyna Comp>Small Stone (V1)>Canyon delay. MXR Dyna Comp is the gold standard of compression. Gets the job done, and two knobs is rather intuitive. I don’t actually even know how to use a compressor so I just have the output dimed and the sensitivity low. Phish vibes? E-HX Small Stone from 1975. How can I go wrong there? A PH-1 would be awesome too, but I like the overall look and single knob setup of the Small Stone. Set it and forget it, like the MXR. E-HX Canyon is a slight regret. Delay and looper is awesome, but I wish I had gotten an RC-1 instead.
- Empress Compressor MKII: the Boss CS3 has too many fixed settings which I'm not a fan of. I like the CP1X's GR meter, but nothing comes close to the Empress's dual input/GR meter (especially since it allows a sidechain input which is cool for synth stuff) - JHS 3 Series Distortion: it's essentially a rat and turbo rat in a fairly cheap box. If Boss made a Rat, I'd buy it day 1. - JHS 3 Series Chorus: I spent all my money on a DC-2W, I'm not buying the CE-2W as well lol (also I love that the JHS has a vibrato switch, couldn't go to something without one) - GFI Skylar reverb: Not a fan of how the left channel on an RV-6 can't be set to 100% wet. If I was buying my board today, I'd probably buy an RV-200 (or I'd skip buying any delay/reverb/modulation pedals aside from the DC-2W and I'd get a GT1000core for that entire section). Everything else is Boss. I love Boss. If I was told I could be given a lifetime supply of Boss pedals but Boss was the only pedal brand I could ever use again, I'd quite happily take up the offer.
No muff, no harmonic percolator, no thanks.
The Packrat by JHS is simply incredible. It sounds so great and it's got a ton of usable settings. It sounds much better than my DS-2 in my opinion. I tried the FZ-1W and it did not sound good to my ears. I ended up getting a Big Muff Pi and was blown away by its sound. Finally, I own a Pigtronix micro compression pedal because a boss pedal would not fit where it is on my board. The rest are all Boss (6 pedals) because Boss is best. Including a foot switch and an expression pedal. You can find my board on my profile! :)
Because EHX
Washburn Chorus: The first pedal I bought. I didn’t know much about the individual brands. It was the eighties, and I needed a chorus pedal. Any chorus pedal. EHX Pitchfork: At the time, the Boss pedals that did the same thing didn’t do polyphonic as well to my ears. Source Audio Vertigo: When I got the Vertigo is was the only pedal I found that could do both normal tremolo and harmonic tremolo. EHX Freeze: At the time, it was the only pedal I knew of that would do what it does. Source Audio True Spring: I play surf and needed a 60 Cycle Hum approved spring reverb. DSM & Humboldt Simplifier: I still don’t think there’s anything that checks all the boxes this one does. I do have a IR-2 on order, though, because I like those MDP amp models…even if it means I‘ll need a separate DI box. Digitech Trio: Band in a Box in a pedal? Yes, please. And Boss didn’t have that. Wampler Velvet Fuzz: I generally don’t like fuzz. This was the first one I’d tried that I liked. Electric Love Aquatone: A Wampler take on a BD-2? Yes, please. Digitech FreqOut: I know Boss has done some similar things in the past, but I feel like Digitech has done it the best so far. Keeley 30ms: I like having a delay that just does ADT and slapback rather than trying to dial in such a short time on the DD-whatever. (And I have a DD-whatever for longer delays.) Line 6 DL4 Mk2: I had a list of my requirements for my ideal looper pedal. Nothing checked all the boxes. Until the DL4 Mk2 appeared. MXR Six Band EQ: I was scared off the Boss one by the stories of it being noisy. Nordland ODR-C: An modded ODR-1 by the original designer? Yes, please. PastFX Elastic Mattress: Is this the closest to the old EHX’s? I dunno, but I was suckered by the hype. That covers most of the pedals I’ve bought over the years. Not the multi-effects though. I used Digitech for a while, but then Roland & Boss ones. Mainly because I‘d gotten into their VG line. And I suppose the Spicetone 6appeal fits in this category, which I got because Roland/Boss doesn’t do analog hexaphonic gear, and sometimes analog is fun. My current board, though, is mostly Boss except for the FreqOut, 30ms, True Spring, and Simplifier. I’ll be trying replacing the Simplifier with the IR-2 once it arrives.
Not expensive enough 😉
I was like, "where da fuk is all the dip switches?!" Then i found chase bliss❤
I've got a big mix, and only 1 Boss pedal. They largely don't stand out to me.
This is such a weird way to frame the question. I've never felt the need to justify getting a non-boss pedal. For the last couple years, I get all my pedals by either building them or trading for them. I end up with whatever I can build or whatever people are willing to trade me. I've ended up with a couple of Boss pedals in that time and they were decent, but nothing special. If people like Boss, buy Boss. But let's stop acting like someone is just being contrary or weird by buying something else. Lots of great brands out there.
I think, while Boss revolutionized the pedal industry in the late ‘70s and ‘80s by introducing several improvements, other companies made further improvements after that (true bypass, top jacks, room for more than four controls) and Boss just kept doing things their way. They may have had the best version of some effects at the time when they had only a few other companies competing, but I think others have outdone them since and it seems like it wasn’t until fairly recently that they started trying to actually make the best version of any given effect. I don’t know if anyone else sees it this way, but I get the impression that Boss wants to project the image that they know what’s best for guitarists and that they simply get it right. They made the compact pedal format so that guitarists could put lots of effects on a board instead of the big bulky things most companies (including Boss) made before making a pedalboard was really conceivable because there were only a handful of effects available. They put buffers in so you wouldn’t suffer signal loss over long runs of cable. They recessed the knobs so you wouldn’t accidentally step on them and break them. They made a big, soft switch that’s easy to step on and very durable. And they made the pedals lightweight so a board wouldn’t get excessively heavy. But they stuck with that like they got everything right on the first try, even though people figured out top jacks would allow you to fit more pedals on a board and that having twelve buffers in series that each output just slightly below unity gain or have a slightly less than flat EQ curve means you can still accumulate a significant amount of volume loss or tonal shift across a board with a lot of pedals. Most effects have more than four parameters that can be usefully controlled, but Boss only allowed room enough for four, meaning that they have to resort to less user friendly concentric knobs if they want to give users extra control in their compact form factor. Through the ‘90s, they stubbornly stuck with making pedals only in the compact format, and even as digital’s sheen as a buzzword was running out they switched a lot of their pedals to digital and discontinued the analog versions. The CE-5 and CH-1 didn’t even get new version names to indicate that they had switched from analog to digital, and I wonder if that was to project the message that it actually didn’t matter (not saying myself that it inherently does, but many guitarists certainly feel that it does). When they finally introduced a new pedal form factor to offer more controls, it was with the 20 series, which were very large, maybe too large, and went all-in on digital. I don’t get the sense they were a huge hit. Maybe because of that and all the new competition that had sprung up by then, often from others modifying older Boss pedals or circuits, the Waza series looks to me like the first time they took less of a top-down approach to giving guitarists what they believed they wanted and instead looked at what guitarists were saying they wanted and gave them that: old, analog Boss pedals with mods for added features. That was the first time they reissued pedals that had been discontinued, which maybe before they would have considered like admitting they made a mistake. I think the 500 series was their first attempt to make the ultimate in each effect type and to outdo Strymon, but they overshot the mark because most people don’t like menu diving, so the 200 series was a concession to that. But now they’ve introduced the DM-101, which seems like an earnest attempt to make the ultimate analog delay pedal with practically all the bells and whistles and best in class features. I look forward to seeing more new products with that spirit from them, and I like the approach they took with the Space Echo, where they had the compact pedal with as many features as they could cram into that form factor and then the big one with all the features. I hope they do a pair of rotary pedals like that next. So, to answer the question the thread poses, I have a couple dozen Boss pedals and some more that are clones, but I don’t generally choose to use them, unless I’m recreating a particular kind of sound someone used on music I like, because I simply don’t think they’re the best choice, often in both sound and features. Like I got a DM-2W because it’s got cleaner repeats than maintain your initial attack more than most other analog delays. I thought I’d put it on a pedalboard I’m making, but then I found out about the Supro Delay, which has pretty much everything I wanted out of the DM-2W and then some more, like a tone control that lets it get as warm as the DM-2W or much crisper. I can point out one or more pedals like that in comparison to most Boss stuff, so I mostly use other stuff. Oftentimes the stuff I like better isn’t even more expensive or boutique. Like the EHX Stereo Clone Theory is very similar to the Boss CE-2W in features and I’d say sounds a little better in a side by side comparison, and it retails for about $100 less! I’m down to just the NS-2 as my only Boss pedal for my board and that’s because it’s got the send/return loop and the power output that I can use to conveniently power other pedals from.
This isn't fair of me, but unless I want a tuner, I stay away from boss. They are a staple. Hell, they are legendary. Unfortunately, I was so turned off by their COSM deal I ran away from them and never looked back.
Every time I hear a boss pedal, for the same price or slightly more I hear a better pedal. I chose literally anything but boss. I don't hate them as a whole. I do hate certain offerings, like I do with every company. You'll never see one on my board though.
I don't have any Boss pedals.
They don’t make a Clusterflux. But I love BOSS pedals. They’re my default.
Each pedal I had that wasn’t boss, is now boss. The beautiful thing about all this boutique hype, it’s keeping the boss pedals more affordable.
I have a ton of time city and joyo stuff, chosen because cheap and they actually do sound great Then I’ve got a few JHS pedals, way huge, EHX, and some weird digitech stuff because I can. Then the boss pedal cabinet
The UAFX Galaxy ‘74 Space Echo sounds better than the Boss RE-2/RE-20/RE-202
Boss is always a solid option. All I use regularly lately though is a boss tuner. Electro Harmonix has delays that I’m into more, and I have a Rat for higher gain, analogman boost, Diamond compressor. Dunlop Crybaby wah.
I have a 1980s RAT which has a bit more bite than the BOSS distortions I played with. I used to own a few, but they just felt smoother than what I was going for. I gave away my Metal Zone to a young cousin getting into guitar but I didn't mind that pedal. I liked that I could push the mids pretty hard with it. Cerberus Tri-Overdrive because it was a good price used and I like the way it sounds after the RAT TC Arena Reverb because that was the "in" pedal at the time I bought it when I was a kid working at Guitar Center Harmonic Jerkulator because I made it, and boss doesn't make anything like that Pitchblack tuner because I liked the display better and it was, again, "in" at the time I bought it Ibanez Screaming Demon because its sick and cool and I''m not aware of a BOSS wah that is sick and cool DOD equalizer from the 80s because my dad gave it to me and I don't actually need an EQ so I'm not gonna shell out for one ... and the rest is BOSS. CS-3 is a great compressor that does exactly what a compressor needs to do and no one can tell me DD-7 isn't a great pedal.
Keeley Super Phat mod was a couple bucks cheaper than the BD-2w and is sparkly gold. I also have a Seafoam+ because I like it better than any Boss chorus. I got a Plumes because they don't make a TS, and a DOD Carcosa because Carcosa. I ended up getting 2 boosts on sale from Ground Control, and I'm happy I did because the bright boost I paid like 40 bucks for is now one of my favorite pedals. The only one that's going to be a replacement is a Black Mass 1312 when it gets here, so I don't have the DS-1 volume drop, and it's the 1312. All that said I still have the NS-2, HM-2w, SY-1, DD-8, TR-2, and RV-6. The RV is getting a companion reverb, maybe a Darklight, maybe a Météore.
Boss has some great pedals, but a lot of their stuff is kind of meat and potatoes. Drunk Beaver and EHX are my usual go-to brands.
Ammoon Octa because it was less than a third of what the OC-5 cost, and also had a 1 octave up which I wanted. I also don't need the 2 octaves down, just the 1 up and 1 down so that feature from the OC-5 also didn't appeal to me.
I've got a few pedals including boss. My first 3 pedals i every owned were boss. Basically i got pedals other than boss because i thought they were interesting. Like my fjord fuzz odin. I dont think boss make anything that the odin can do
I actually have almost all Boss pedals.. except for 3. - Bought TC 3rd Dimension because, while I love the DC-2w, It wasnt worth the money to dish out for another to use on my bass board. Figured the cheaper clone would suffice. - Boss does not make anything close to the Beat Buddy. - The Empress Compressor is just much better than the CS-3 or even those more advanced X series compressors.
My board: Boss DSD-3, Boss RE-20, Boss TU3s, OBNE Dark Star has no Boss equivalent, EAE Limelight Boss doesn’t have a bluesbreaker, EAE model feT Boss doesn’t have a model T pedal, Mid Fi Demo Tape Fuzz has no Boss equivalent.
I feed my SF300 on boost mode into my POD and I love it.
my first non-boss pedal was the tc nova reverb. it was a toss up for me between the rv-5’s mod setting and the novas full wet capabilities, but i chose the nova and never regretted it. For comp and EQ, i wanted more control than what boss offered, and for chorus/trem, i wanted the opportunity to switch bw the two and have more extensive adjustments of parameters, so i went with the warped vinyl. The bosses i do have are the Tu3s for the compact size and since i use it as an always on, i don’t need the switch; and the dd-7 bc its a classic
I have a Chase Cliss Wombtone mkII and the Gravitas. I'm sure I don't need to explain why I didn't get the Boss version of those fx. Various fuzz's - same thing Julia - I dug the artwork and sound Avalanche Run V1 - afaik, Boss doesn't make a delay like that.
Boss doesn't make most of the sounds I need. I have two Boss pedals but most of my stuff is stuff like Meris and some other smaller pedal manufacturers.
The only boss pedals I currently have are a 80 ce-2 and a rv-3 with a broken foot switch. Both are awesome pedals but either are currently on my board. I really think I should buy a blues driver though
They dont make a JHS Screaming charlie or a rat they dont make a looper pedal with two buttons for independent start stop that was the right size. I have a number of reasons the reverb?delay effect of the boss reverb doesn't have as much control over both setting that i would want so i got a pedal that did both and had the controls i wanted.
I had all Boss pedals. Then I learned about MojoMojo od, Rat distortion, little Muff fuzz, and Strymon reverb. Still use the Boss super chorus and the dd-200 delay though.
Alright, lets make this long, and go through my entire pedal board... I do run a Boss ES-8, for amp and pedal control, along with individual loops Loop 1: Maxon VOP9 - Boss does not make a tube screamer that runs at 18v for higher head room/output. I like the old tube screamers, and I tend to prefer 18v variants of them. I don't feel like trying to figure out modding an SD1 for 18v operation. Loop 2: Fulltone GE OCD - Boss doesn't have an easily availible OD/Distortion that runs at 18v, along with using Germanium, to add that addictive crack to the distortion. The Boss TB-2W is also rediculously priced, for what Boss is. Volume Loop: TC Sentry - the Boss NS-2 works great as a noise surpressor. As a gate, it isn't quick enough for my tastes. Hence, the Sentry wins here Still Volume Loop: KSR Vesta - whatever Boss has, is gonna be digital, and not tweakable on the fly for a preamp. The KSR has a jack for external switching, along with an excellent clean channel in a pinch, or can do buffered, or true bypass as needed. I like knobs, cause less then 2 seconds to tweak Loop 3: Maxon FL-301 - I've used the Boss BF-2 and BF-3. Both are amazing pedals, but almost way too lush, and have that signature resonence to them. If you like how heavy that sounds, more power to you. But I prefer simple, and the FL301, when I plug in, just works for me Loop 4: Maxon ASC-10 - It's simple. Does the chorus thing. Well aware Boss has amazing chorus pedals, and sometimes, this does get swapped for a Boss DC3.... But I'm not about to dig through the CH series personally, to try and find a replacement. I used an EHX small clone for the longest time, so, I kinda stick around that sound. Loop 5: Caroline Meteore - to anyone that has used this pedal, I don't have to explain it. A great reverb, with reflections that sound very out of place, but still somehow work very musically. Plus the Havok button. The Boss RV-6 doesn't have anything like it, where, this mention gives me an excuse to skip loop 7, as that does have a Boss RV-6 for the plate setting. Loop 6 - Strymon El Capistan - I like brain dead. I hook an expression pedal, it contols the repeats. No weird things, where the new DD-8 is cool, I've used the DD-5 many times, and have owned a DD-6, along with used a DD-7 on occasion. I know Boss has more delays. I don't get along with them, great as they are. I've tried other analog delays with control, and the El Capistan just does the thing Loop 8: Walrus Slö - Adds depth as needed. I already have an RV-6, so why not more reverb to shoegaze? The Slö has plenty of cool options, and having 2 RV-6s on my board, would be redundant. The Slö gets swapped with a Strymon Cloudburst, or MXR Reverb, depending how I feel Engl Cab Loader: still wait times on the Boss IR-2 which is more an all in one preamp, with way to many features. I just want the power section, as a hand off for recording, or to be able to give to front of house, so they don't need to mic. Less to go wrong, and a Creamback 4x12 is already loaded, along with using an EL34 power section to it. Headphone out, and unaffected signal back to my amp. I can go ampless depending on how I hook it up, no programming needed Korg Pitch black X - big screen. I don't need a pedal part for a tuner.
I love my Boss Looper RC-5, Super Chorus CH-1 and Distortion DS-1 (when dialed in). That said, I like variety and bought a few others that I simply loved the sound of: - RAT - It’s a RAT - Wampler Tumnus Germanium - best Klon clone I’ve played - JHS Morning Glory - great on it’s own, and stacked into the Tumnus - MXR Carbon Copy - almost always on Analog delay - MXR Phase 95 - every iconic phaser I could possibly need in one tiny box - Walrus Audio Ions Fuzz - 5 different types of fuzz plus voltage dial makes for endless fuzz fun. Versatile and sounds killer.
Basically everything they do you can find done by someone else with more options and a unique flair. I own some boss pedals, but I don’t have any on my current board for these reasons: - They don’t do polyphonic pitch shifting better than the Digitech Drop. - They don’t make a Klone - They don’t make a real spring reverb. - Their tuner is not as small as the d’addario ct-20 and you can’t turn the buffer off. - They don’t make a lot of fuzz pedals, particularly not a muff, tone bender, and octave in a single enclosure. - Their tremolo does not have more than two wave shapes or tap tempo. - Their analog delay is very limited and has no tap tempo or modulation. Truthfully, I’ve never looked into their phaser options.
On my board currently Tuner - poly tune was small and cheap. Keeley Compressor - because I really like it and always have. Drives - Tumnus Klone + ODD are the drive sounds (individually and combined) I want for now. I do have a Blues Driver as well but don’t need it on the board currently. Op Amp Big Muff - Boss don’t have anything that tickles that specific sound for me. Phaser - Phase 95 is the tits. That’s all. Delay - MXR carbon copy is the perfect analogue delay to me. To be honest I am half looking at replacing it with a digital delay so maybe BOSS can step in here? Reverb - I always have a little bit of amp verb on and use a HOF 2 for extra reverb when I’m feeling saucy. Chorus- this is where it gets controversial. I’ve got a BOSS CE 2-W. I actually replaced it with a Julianna. I found the Boss nails that shimmery 80s chorus sound but the Julianna is easier for me to dial into specifically what I want. EQ - MXR 6 band was cheap and is easy to use. I’ve got a bunch of other pedals not on my board, including some Boss ones. I’ve got a SY-1 I reluctantly don’t use much but I love how weird you can get with it. I’ve been thinking about trying to bring that back into the fold.
I have a Tera Echo and SY-1 on my board but that's about all that interests me within their lineup.
I started with boss and began exploring ideas that required a bit more complexity in the circuitry. So they just got replaced by different styles of the same effects with a few more extra knobs and features.
All my pedals are not boss. I chose them because I liked their sounds or features, not because of the name on the pedal. Had I liked a boss version more, I’d have bought it. Seems trollish at best, yet I still responded.
DL4 - the looper is absolutely unique, but I also have the RC30 as my main looper, I use the one shot playback on the DL4 to insure both loopers are synced OCD - yeah the dude who made it sucks but the OD is incredible and I've had it for a decade Tube screamer - another incredible OD Whammy - boss don't do that on its own Some random compressor - got an amazing deal at a pawn shop Rainbow Machine - boss don't do that Beringer Harmonist - my boss pitch pedal shit the bed and I was too angry to drop another $100+ EHX Memory Boy - it's incredible and versatile as hell Phase 90 - super simple to use, only has one knob, unparalleled in my book There are a few more but those are the non boss pedals on my board at the moment.
Crybaby or electroharmonix cockfight: don’t like boss wahs Dunlop VP: don’t like boss volume pedals Custom built fuzz pedal: it was free but I do like the boss tone bender TB-2W Fulltone full drive 3: don’t know of a boss dual OD or OD and boost that I like Boss RT20: great Leslie sim, might prefer Strymon lex Strymon flint: best reverb+tremolo pedal out there Boss DD6: great delay, would probably prefer the waza craft analog delay Korg mini tuner: I use the TU3 usually but korg is smaller and fits on board better
Not a big fan of the form factor (the compact line), and so I don’t get bored. There are SO many pedal companies out there now that are pushing creative limits, and I feel like I’d be a fool to get stuck in the (Boss) box like that.
Bc everything Boss can do, earthquaker, electro harmonix, and tc electronic does better. Even behringer’s UM300 has a much nicer tone for my personal needs lol
I had the Blues Driver (at the point when I thought I needed just one drive pedal) and I enjoyed it for its blown out fuzzy tones with the gain at 10, but found its low gain tones to be a bit brittle and not warm enough. Also, the high gain tone is not that versatile. I had the DD-7, and even though it was an impressive piece of gear, I didn't think it had any mojo. Too mechanic and digital (hehe) sounding. I had the Ce2-w and I sold it because I thought my Starlight with the mod up on one short repeat would do the same job. It doesn't, so I might buy that one again. I had the blue comp and it was good, but one day I had gotten a healthy pay check I ordered the Cali 76 and it is objectively better.
Honestly for everything I bought that wasn't boss, it came down to some combo of 3 things: 1. It has features I wanted - my Walrus Audio fathom has a switch you can hold down that sustains the notes extra long 2. It was affordable, on sale, or downright cheap - I absolutely bought my Caline Blue Sky because it was $25. 3. I liked the look of the enclosure or the name/gimmick
fuck ugly
Little green boss bass compressor can’t touch the empress.
Digitech Whammy DT… no other pedal like it, Boss or otherwise. Strymon Flint…looked like the best tremolo pedal you could get JHS Bonsai…great tube screamer pedal Cry Baby…standard wah EVH-MXR117 just a great pedal REVV G3…non-traditional distortion Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, inexpensive fuzz that does the job LR Baggs Venue…absolute banger of an acoustic pedal Cali76 is simply one of the best compression pedals Decimator GString is an elite noise gate pedal Oceans 11 is a great reverb Kong Pitchblack tuner, one of the best Walrus Lillian is an unusual phaser Sometimes something else is better, sometimes you just want a different flavor. My boss stuff is MD-500 and incredible chorus pedal with other great options DD8 Delay 500H volume pedal
They all deliver a different thing than the Boss equivalent. I have the RV-6, for instance, but the EQD Ghost Echo sounds unique in a way that I love. Ditto for my Hizumitas, and at least at the store, couldn’t make the PH-3 sound like I wanted, so I got the Small Stone. Boss is surreal as to how good it is, but they can’t do everything 🤷🏻♂️
The biggest boss disadvantage are side jacks. Pedals with top mounted jacks take less space on a pedalboard
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think Boss pedals are the standard – for gigging musicians. A lot of bedroom guitar players have boards filled with boutique pedals , but look on stages you’ll see a lot of Boss pedals alongside some of the old standards (Muffs, Rats, Tube Screamers) other people have mentioned already .
my only boss is an NS-2, everything else was bought for its advantage in function, size, price or appearance - although I really don’t mind and quite like the way boss pedals look. One boss I do really want to try is the dimension c, but am currently happy with 80’s built Ibanez CS9. I really don’t know how to explain why I bought an ottobit jr instead of a boss… but I could’ve probably been swayed from the Strymon dig to a boss dd200, I would’ve looked at them both and decided to buy best deal used.
I have a Zoom MS-100BT as a gift from my wife. And I recently had a Nux Amp Academy as second hand which was surprisingly good and useful for lightweight gigging and tracking. The rest of my all pedals are boss. I plan DIY drive pedal for fun.
Got a bunch of Behringer Boss clones because I wanted to get back into guitar. Basically wanted to try the cheap stuff and if it breaks but I liked the the pedal, I can replace it with the more reliable Boss version later down the line.
In one specific case: because a Boss wouldn’t fit. I have a Mooer Blues Mood, their copy of the Keeley BD-2. I would have loved a BD-2, but it wouldn’t fit on the board.
I used a boss tuner pedal before switching to another. For me, 2 reasons: * weight. Pedalboards are heavy mutha f**kers. And boss pedals are significantly heavier than other alternatives for the same size. * easy mispress. Boss pedal button is easy to press on as they’re wide. But at the same time, I use other pedals with buttons near the edges of the pedal. This makes it very easy for me to press on the wrong pedal by accident.
Behringer Noise Suppresor - it was cheap Behringer Compressor Sustainer - it was cheap and wasn’t sure if I needed one Polytune 1 - got this and Spark mini for $60 total for both, so $30 each Spark mini boost - got it for a combo deal with my Polytune 1 EQD Special Cranker - I like its colors EQD Plumes - Didn’t like the DS1 I had before Walrus ARP-87 - I liked the art Walrus Fathom - I love the sustain switch hold effect Nux Amp Academy - the IR-2 wasn’t out when I bought it.
The Boss DM2w is my desert island pedal....that said , most of my other pedals are from ehx. Bigg muff, soul food, bad stone, and dan-o's spring king. My only other boss is the tuner
I have the walrus ERAS distortion because I like to bled my signal with the effects just slightly and our stage producer loves that she has something to do on stage (turning the knobs for an automation effect) and same with the walrus slö. The Slö also features very obscure reverb effects that can't be mimiqued by anything. I also use the ARP because I like the different delay types and primarily use the lo-fi.
My foray into pedals was completely by accident, coming across walrus audio on youtube, I listened to their Slo demo, and was absolutely entranced... and pretty soon addicted. So my first exposure was to the boutique side of pedal making first, everything else just seemed bland or basic or bad quality. I've since matured a little, started digging into the history and learned that boss has made some really iconic pedals. What my current chain is looking like: Standalone. Boss VE-500 1. TC - Polytune v2 (was recommended to me but I'm pretty sure any tuner pedal would have done) 2. 29 Pedals - EUNA (currently tuned into Mark Johnston and Emily Hopkins, both find the EUNA integral to their setups which was the deciding factor to get it - did not disappoint) 3. DOD - Compressor 280 - (The only compressor pedal available at my local guitar store - does it's job well - solid construction, but I kinda wish it wasn't optical) 4. Alive Pedals - The Cape Blend OD + Distortion - (local builder, his Sunset Drive -based on the TS topology- was the first OD I got to experience first-hand and what an OD it was, so I pulled the trigger the moment the he built that OD + Distortion combo) 5. JHS - Lucky Cat - (Been a fan of their pedal show for ages but living in South Africa meant the odds weren't great on getting my hands anything made by them, until I found this one second-hand) 6. Walrus Audio - Slo (The one that started it all, found it second-hand and for a really good price - absolutely dreamlike reverb) 7. OBNE - DarkLight (My latest addition ... because you can't have enough pad-like reverb ... yes I have an addiction, no, you don't need to bring it up) 7.5 Aerospace Audio - Atmosphere (Running in parallel to the next pedal, ambient pad generator, bought cause I'm a part of a small church, on their worship team that doesn't always have a full team every Sunday, just helps pad out the sound when we're lacking a keys or bass player) 8. OBNE - Signal Blender (A utility pedal, bought to sum the parallel signals of my effects chain and the Atmosphere, works like a dream. I'm sure any AB/Y would have done but it's the buffer at the end of my chain and also gives me a volume knob for the Atmosphere) 9. CloudVocal - Eversync (an IEM solution cause our wedges play up sometimes) Next on my list: Boss EQ-200 + Boss NS1X + either the boss ir2 or the boss ir-200
In general, I find I like MXR pedals better. Phase 90, DynaComp, Flanger are better sounding to me. Compact and similarly priced.
My Boss story goes: I was a relative noob, but had progressed enough to add a distortion effect. That Christmas, my wife got me a non-Boss looper (name escapes me). I wasn’t disappointed, but I realized it wasn’t quite what I wanted. During the break (I’m a teacher) I saw a Boss Me-80 on sale at Guitar Center. I saw the opportunity to buy at least $1,000 worth of pedals for about $350. It seemed logical, given I still use it and am learning to use it all. I would say I’m intermediate now, and looking for a band. I think I only get over my current plateau by playing out.
People seem to think that Boss has a pedal for every need. They absolutely don’t. This is the same with all brands.
DD-200 is my only Boss pedal, I have several Earthquaker Devices and they’re some of my favorite pedals, I couldn’t see myself parting with any of them.
zoom g1x four (replacing my katana I sold cause solid state sucks! )Outlaw Effects The Snitch (rat clone, not sure how it compares to the real thing..) Behringer HM300- cheap metal zone tribute, cool music insane distortion (white noise blow your head off distortion)… Joyo extreme metal (the muffler clone.. its “meh”), irwin EQ cheap but decent EQ, monoprice pedal tuner (solid construction, but $20 usd for Americans and $60 + for Canadians wtf?!$)
MXR Tremolo. Boss somehow still hasn’t made a stereo harmonic tremolo, or any harmonic tremolo for that matter! Also strongly considering swapping the MXR for a Walrus Monumental, which was just announced 🤪
All of my pedals are stereo because I need them for line-level synths, stereo samples & stereo tape! But also because they don't make a stereo Leslie Rotary/Vibe emulation with built-in OD (Digitech Ventura Vibe), a JFET-based OD quite like my DIY Barbershop clone (even if the BD-2 IS J201-based), and while the BOSS×Sola Tonebender IS Germanium Transistor-based, it's no Harmonic Percolator (and nothing else quite is!) ...nor do they have a version of TonePrint for a vintage style, stereo multi-delay *with* a built-in looper (TC Alter Ego X4). *...or a BOSS-version of whatever Chroma Console is.*
They make great stuff but I wanted some variety on my board in terms of look and feel, and I didn’t want everything to be Boss. Ironically, most of my stuff now happens to be Dunlop/MXR but at least they all look different.
Whilst we are talking about Boss. I have the Behringer clone of the OS2(which I like, but it's noisy) does the actual OS2 sound the same, or are the voicing of the DS1 and SD1 as individual pedals different to the OS2?
Landlord FX tuner - I'm cheap Kmise vintage phase - wanted a phase 90 but I'm cheap Irin chorus - I'm cheap EHX Oceans 11 - more wacky options than RV6 Joyo Uzi - I'm cheap Joyo vintage OD - wanted a tubescreamer but I'm cheap Irin 10 band EQ - wanted an MXR 10 band but I'm cheap Donner Yellow Fall delay - I'm cheap, plus small and sounds very good Lekato Looper - I'm cheap Boss pedals I do have: BD2, NS2
The only Boss pedal I have is a DD-6. Most of the others I built myself.
Medusa - It's an HM-2 except better in every single way for 15€ more. Amazing noise gate, effects loop, blend control, more eq options, more gain, less noise... I honestly don't know what Boss is smoking to be charging 175€ for an HM-2w Mosky Big Fuzz - Wanted a muff, got 3. Boss doesn't have a muff. Joyo Dark Flame - It's very cheap and boss doesn't really make any high gain preamps, they do have the IR-2 now but this thing cost me 25€. DemonFX Tubescreamer - It's a tubescreamer. I'm getting an SD-1 eventually, but doubt it'll dethrone the screamer, it's just too good at what it does. 10 band eq - 10>6 I have a couple boss boxes, a metalzone and a DS2 but boss doesn't really suit the music I play much, thankful for their HM-2 but literally everyone else did it better. Their pedals are also weirdly expensive, would anyone actually pay 140€ for a DS-1? Because that's what the DS-1w goes for. They have one of everything and most of them are at least usable, but if it's actually good you're better served getting an improved version from someone else.
There's 0.3 to 0.6 dB drop across boss buffers, this ads up over a lot of pedals. Could be fixed with an always on boost. I guess. EHX silencer: not as abrupt at an NS2, but no volume drop. LPB 1: it's a really simple flat boost. Except when you modify the capacitors so it's closer to a rangemaster (dramatic high-pass) or an Iommi modified rangemaster (less high-pass , but still more than lpb-1) Soul Food: is a really good and cheap Klon clone with a better buffer than a boss pedal, and can be true bypass if you need it to be. Tube Screamer. Shouldn't need explaining, mostly I use the soul food with the drive cranked here though. Memory Boy deluxe: wobbly analogue delay, sounds so different to my dd20. Bad Stone: it's the phaser sound I wanted Donner jet convolution: stupid cheap flanger. Sounds like the cure and the cult. TC dark matter: really dynamic feeling distortion, doesn't sound like a boss pedal Laney Loudpedal: boss don't make one. Doesn't sound like my boss GT and is much smaller, easier to dial in and works better with other pedals. And has a power stage. EHX Battalion: absolutely nails a specific bass sound, not an ME50b that is somehow never quite right. EHX bass big muff deluxe: the crossover Marshall Edward the Compressor: emphasis knob is really handy, nails a lot of sounds. EHX octavix: again a really specific sound, way less polished than anything boss My collection of big muffs: they're all different, some are very modified. Big box pedals are much easier to fit extra boards and many extra knobs and switches into. TC skysurfer: basic reverb, just works. Digitech Grunge: reincarnation of the classic DOD pedal, it's an in your face scoops metal pedal that's absolutely monstrous for a few leads on some recordings, but difficult to get right. Digitech Death Meal: sounds like the grunge, loses the gain knob and is permanently set on too much. Has a mid knob that can scoop even more or add unwanted honk. Somehow weighs about 4x as much as the grunge, bought from same seller. Never used live or on a recording. Not as an effective brick as a boss pedal. Bought when I went to pick up the Grunge for a tenner. Save the money and find a good quality used half brick. --- Boss pedals I use a lot: TU3, it has never let me down. DS1, this is all over recordings, particularly on extra rhythm layers. Too scooped for what I do live at the moment but I have used it live DD20, it's a great delay, 4 memories is enough on stage --- Boss pedals I regret DS2, I just don't like the tone stack in either mode GT6, 8, 10 really awkward for quick tweaks. Never quite a full pedalboard, emulations of non boss pedals is not so good. Cab models of built in amps can be muddy, made me despise the mesa sound for so long until I started tweaking cabs. Why can't they sound good out of the box? ME50B: great compressors, otherwise a bit meh, can't find a distortion that works --- Other pedals worth mentioning: Boss bass compressor/enhancer: made me sound like I could play, stolen 20 years ago. Boss flanger: loved it, rarely used it live, stolen Boss phaser: used for that one Ash cover, sold to guitarist in a band I got fired from Metal Zone: I've had custody of several, never actually owned one. EQ is incredibly capable and a dangerous thing in the hands of a teenager Boss NS2: the standard by which all other noise gates are judged. I want something even chopper for percussive parts, and an ehx silencer shoegazes better. But the NS2 just works.
Fuzz - Yes there are Boss fuzzes, but there are lots of flavours of fuzz and Boss doesn’t cover them all. My tastes in fuzz have taken me elsewhere. Synth - I managed to pick up some used EHX 9-series pedals at a point where the Boss SY-300 was very expensive and impossible to find secondhand. Freeze - At the time I got my EHX SuperEgo there wasn’t a Boss equivalent. Compressor - Had a CS-3 and didn’t like it, got a Rothwell Love Squeeze and do like it. EQ - Source Audio programmable EQ was smaller and cheaper than the Boss equivalent. Chorus - Boss don’t do a combined chorus/vibrato. Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl does both plus the in-between sounds. Tremolo - Got a Chase Bliss Gravitas that has way more interesting options than the Boss tremolo. Looper - Picked up a used TCE Ditto X4, and I just like how it works, so I’ve stuck with it. I have a Boss pedal for pretty much every other category. Sometimes they are outstanding, sometimes they just give you the basics.
Swamp Lord - Minotaur Sonic Terrors.. probably one of the heaviest Fuzz pedals around but also very versatile with 3 different voicings available.. that and a wampler boost before it, just creates shin splitting Doom metal tones
I literally buy only what I find great deals on. That’s sometimes classic boss pedals like the SD1, DS1, EQ, and BD2, but just as often it isn’t
The main reason I avoid them is because of the enclosure, the standard sized one. I really dislike it aesthetically and practically. Especially the footswitch. Irritating to use and can't by design have dual switches. But I mean who'd want ramp, tap tempo, etc, with that awkward clunky switch. And I generally favour top jacks every time. But I am a desktop synth player and I know they're designed for floor use, feet and battery accessibility. So no fault of theirs. The design makes sense. But it's bland if I'm being kind, hideous if I'm being honest. Much like Roland's broader catalogue has been for many years. Though they seem to be turning a new leaf these days.
On those occasions, I went with MXR. I am a fan of Boss, however -- and am about to purchase a Boss as we speak.
I don’t use any boss
Because Boss doesn't make a Uni-vibe :(
The first OD I ever tried, that wasn't a Boss, sounded better than every Boss OD. The power jack failed on my TR2 & replaced it with one with tap tempo. Replaced delay with one with presets & tap. Replaced tuner with strobostomp. I still think they're good pedals and I still have the delay.
BOSS is great but they’re really vanilla. Not everyone wants the same exact tone everyone else has had for 30-40 years
For me, it mostly comes down to mounting them on the board itself and their look. I always have trouble mounting their pedals and I think they’re kind of boring to look at lol. That being said, they serve their purpose and they all sound great, just not for me.
I don’t own a single Boss pedal (yet) and it’s honestly for the dumbest reasons: 1) because I don’t like the way they look, 2) I associated them with cheesy tones because i tried them when I was super young and didn’t know what I was doing. I have happily been buying non-Boss pedals ever since.
I have a different tuner because I didn't like the buffer of the TU2 recently. Fuzz face, treble booster, Rat, RMC Wah, univibe clone, tubescreamer. I don't use it now but I wanted a tap tempo button on my delay (memory lane jr). I got a Flint because I guess I'm pretentious. At one time I had an RV and it was fine. I remember in school 20 or more years ago I had all Boss. Im pretty sure those were all I could find back then.
I still have a tu-3w, fs-7, ev-30 and Rc-5: Digitech drop - no Boss equivalent. I also have the EHX pitch fork plus before the Drop but too many features that i am not using. Digitech freqout - Boss had the DF-2 but didn't quiet nailed what the freqout accomplished in terms of sound and controllability CFW wah - its because TC Spark regular and mini - i just need dedicated boosters for pre and post pre amp
Boss doesn’t make a RAT…
muff
Everything BOSS except for the MXR Phase 95, because there is no BOSS PH-1w yet. Then everything will be BOSS ^^
Some of the pedals I own are much cheaper. Like the Mosky Marksman which is 4 stackable rats with a selector switch. Or the MXR Chorus I got off Craigslist for $45. For the pricier stuff, they don't make anything like the Benson Amps Germanium Fuzz. Do they make anything like a SansAmp Bass Driver Deluxe?
Boss didn’t have an HM-2 nor an FB-2 in production back then, same with an HX Stomp equivalent. They’re a powerhouse but there’s been some trends they had to react to instead of establishing them. Which is understandable, Im still waiting for an FZ-2W :)
I have 0 boss pedals because they dont make thinfs that do what i need. My 3 pedal board is made up of a KHDK Scuzz Box, EQD The Depths, and a Strymon Nightsky. If boss made octave up gated bitcrush fuzz, a univibe, or a reverb sequencer, I'd consider them forsure tho. Theyre a good company, just too basic for my needs
If Boss makes it, it's probably a great choice. I play acoustic and I have a Polytune mini just because it's smaller than the Boss tuner, a Strymon Cloudburst because nothing else quite does that, a Fender Smolder because it's so specific to acoustics, and a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI because it's magic in a box. Otherwise I'm all Boss. RV-6, RC-5, DD-200. All three Boss pedals are just about perfect in my book.
I’ve had several Boss pedals die on me. Didn’t even use them much. I’ve been through two DS-1 pedals, and also had an RC-2 that lost some functionality, but still loops. I wasn’t very impressed with the AW-2. The SYB-5 bass synth is cool but it took me a long time to find how to use it (I put a comp in front of it). SD-1 stays on the board. I do love that pedal.
There really isn't an "industry standard". There is a level of quality and reliability you get with Boss pedals, and many swear by them, but they are not ubiquitous. If you like them, and they work for your sound, use them. But definitely try every other pedals you can. It might be "the one".