New BOSS pedals!

[laurie]

I don't regret selling my old VB-2. Too much money sitting around in something i never used.

I have, however, been thinking of buying one of these - just to mess around with:
https://www.amazon.ca/Behringer-UV300-C ... B000RPUMII

[BearBoy]

I've got one of those Behringer clones. It feels pretty cheap and nasty compared to a Boss pedal but I think they're actually pretty rugged.

I don't have an actual VB-2/VB-2w to compare it to, so not sure how accurate a clone it is, but it was enough to convince me that it wasn't an effect I would use often enough to warrant paying what the vintage VB-2s were going for (this was pre-Waza days).

I keep almost buying a VB-2w. Probably will do eventually.

[zentropa]

Blimey, you have been on a spree

Picked up some crackers there.

Thanks.

A few years ago I had an original VB-2 that I was able to buy for a ridiculously low price. I had to give it away due to financial reasons (my wife was unemployed at that time). I really miss it. Do you think that the VB-2W comes very close to the sound of the VB-2?

Close but not quite identical. I didn't do an extensive shootout, but when I A/B'd them I found that the VB-2's effect is more prominent than the VB-2W... sort of like the the effect blend/mix is at 100% on the VB-2 and 85-90% on the VB-2W. The actual effect sounds very similar, there's just a bit more dry signal in the waza. This was what I found alternating between the two for 5-10 minutes while playing at low volume.

Nice additions to the collection.

I don't regret selling my old VB-2. Too much money sitting around in something i never used.

Thanks. Was that the VB-2 with box you bought from my local store?

I dial the VB-2 as a rotary speaker sound, which is a sound I enjoy, so I use it about as often as I would a chorus. I have sold many a pedal in the past due to feeling like it didn't get used enough to justify continuing to own the pedal at its value, but I was spending found/unexpected money and I feel like the SG-1, VB-2, and DM-2 are all relatively down compared to most other Boss pedals at this time, so I decided to pull the trigger. The other higher value items I was eyeing are all inflated right now.

[Pepe]

This RDD-20 Micro Rack unit arrived last week. I managed to purchase it for a very fair price. Basically this is the BOSS DD-2 in rack format, but with a few changes.



It really surprised me that the maximum delay time is 400ms and not 800ms as in the DD-2, although the micro rack and the compact pedal units have the very same long chip. Maybe Laurie can give us some information about that? I suppose that it was done to achieve a more hi-fi sound, could that be correct?

Another difference is the lack of the Hold function, but the RDD-20 (as well as the RDD-10, which is exactly the same model) has a few nice upgrades:

There is a Tone knob that I always missed in all the compact DD-pedals. I like that it can dampen the overall delay sound so that it sits very well in the mix. You can also increase the brilliance, but I think that it sounds too artificial if you go over the two o’ clock mark.

The modulation knobs can produce interesting flanger and chorus sounds in the shorter delay settings, which can be selected with a nine-position switch. In the maximum delay settings and with increased feedback the modulation creates crazy pitch shift effects that you might know from digital multi effects. My wife said that this sounded really funny when I experimented with the unit a few hours ago.

Overall this is a nice unit with cool options, but I prefer the compact pedal, mainly because of the 800ms delay time. So this won’t be a keeper. PM me if you are interested.

[laurie]

Nice score!!

I suspect that the lower delay time is to keep the bucket-brigade noise as low as possible in a studio device.

[Pepe]

Does a digital chip have bucket-brigade noise as well?

[fuzzbuzzfuzz]

It had been a while to pick up some new BOSS, but through some drawn out wheeler dealing I managed to acquire two unobtanium (previously to me) sought after items.

(1) BOSS SG-1 Slow Gear
(2) Solasound Boss TB-2 Tone Bender

Weirdly it hasn't sort of hit me yet that they are in my hands, perhaps because it wasn't a straight cash handover “shock” moment.
The SG-1 I've always hankered after, as I enjoy the type of effect itself, and the form factor/BOSS switch is very convenient live. I’ve yet to pop it side-by-side with similar units I own (The TC clone and the Malekko Attack Delay). The only “faults” I can pick out are the abrupt cut off as the note fades out and I’m not sure how good the bypass is tone wise. Ideally the effect should be placed pretty much first in line, yet that will hamper certain fuzzes and overdrives. Otherwise, I do like it a lot. No serial number, though thinking about it should it be an embossed or inked one, rather than a paper strip inside?

As for the TB-2, its basically mint in box, so I’m rather scared of devaluing it by simply touching it! I’ve tried it once so far. It sounded pretty good for a TB-2, but perhaps I’m passed the MkII Tone Bender stage? Very aggressive and the gain is high. I have others and offhand I think my BYOC clone I built years back is thicker. More experimentation and a careful trip to a studio might be in order though, since the controls are quite expansive (such as the voltage options).

If I can pick up a FZ-1W I’d have the full BOSS fuzz set bar FZ-5, both of those would prove quite practical as giggable alternatives I think.
(Sidenote – given the DM-1 reissue/expansion, I wonder if a compact version of the AF-100 Bee Baa might be on the cards? Now that would be perfect.)

[fuzzbuzzfuzz]

This RDD-20 Micro Rack unit arrived last week. I managed to purchase it for a very fair price. Basically this is the BOSS DD-2 in rack format, but with a few changes.



It really surprised me that the maximum delay time is 400ms and not 800ms as in the DD-2, although the micro rack and the compact pedal units have the very same long chip. Maybe Laurie can give us some information about that? I suppose that it was done to achieve a more hi-fi sound, could that be correct?

Another difference is the lack of the Hold function, but the RDD-20 (as well as the RDD-10, which is exactly the same model) has a few nice upgrades:

There is a Tone knob that I always missed in all the compact DD-pedals. I like that it can dampen the overall delay sound so that it sits very well in the mix. You can also increase the brilliance, but I think that it sounds too artificial if you go over the two o’ clock mark.

The modulation knobs can produce interesting flanger and chorus sounds in the shorter delay settings, which can be selected with a nine-position switch. In the maximum delay settings and with increased feedback the modulation creates crazy pitch shift effects that you might know from digital multi effects. My wife said that this sounded really funny when I experimented with the unit a few hours ago.

Overall this is a nice unit with cool options, but I prefer the compact pedal, mainly because of the 800ms delay time. So this won’t be a keeper. PM me if you are interested.

I wonder if the addition of modulation (itself based on a delay line) necessitated the reduction of overall delay time? Perhaps the capacity of the chip used is split half/half etc. Somewhwat layman's terms but that's my hunch.

[fuzzbuzzfuzz]

No, you shouldn't. BOSS could call it the "Noise Stacker".

unless your Nels Cline of Wilco

[Pepe]

(1) BOSS SG-1 Slow Gear
(2) Solasound Boss TB-2 Tone Bender

Pics, or it didn't happen!