Your thoughts on BOSS effects pedals (For both bass and guitar).

[Jack Pepsi]

A fair few threads have addressed individual BOSS products, as well as BOSS generally as a brand - I am eager to find out each of your indiviual experiences and opinions on BOSS pedals.

More to the point, I currently use a ZOOM B2 - which is a cracking little multi effect, but when playing with the pedal live, you don't have much in the way of turning individual effects on and off quickly - plus; the on/off function is a little clumsy without seperate switch.

To this end, I want to start building up a pedal board and am looking at BOSS's range with misty eyes.

Their bass range looks great and I imagine that they function perfectly for what they are designed, but you can't help noticing that the guitar range is vast in comparison.

Has anyone experienced the guitar and bass pedals working with each other, ideally in the same loop for bass?

Maybe I'm being anal, but there seems to something attracting me to the fact that:

A) Going with the same brand is likely to have a practical advantage when looking at inter-pedal compatability
B) BOSS gear has a fairly uniform look and is just plain pretty when it's all lined up in a row.
C) I already own a BOSS BR-600 recording product, which is well made and has yet do disappoint me in any way whatsoever.

Specifically, I'm looking at:

BOSS Bass range:

CEB-3 Bass Chorus
GEB-7 Bass EQ
ODB-3: Bass OverDrive
I've never had any joy with octavers, but I'm keeping an open mind - so I'd be tempted by an OC-3: Super Octave

BOSS Guitar Range:

DD-7: Digital Delay (Just looks like an enhanced DD-3 to me)
FRV-1: Fender (Vintage version of the normal reverb pedals?) Reverb

Your thoughts?

[LowBC]

Boss makes good, reliable pedals. If you drop one, whatever it lands on will be more damaged than the pedal.

It's ok to intermingle brands of pedals, don't let other names scare you.

Someone is sure to bring up "it's gotta be true bypass or it'll suck yer tone". Don't worry about that; true bypass has it's own difficulties and in most situations buffered pedals work just fine. (oh please let's not have this fight here)

I've had good luck with the CEB-3 but haven't used much else for bass. The ODB-3 is a good bass OD at that price but I've had much better luck with Tech 21's gear. Delay and reverb strike me as effects that might sound good when you're playing alone but which might obscure your bass 'in the mix' when you're playing with a band....

good luck!

[Diddii]

i've had a few BOSS pedals over the years and i started just like you i wanted BOSS pedals, i knew few brands out there maybe becouse i don't live in the US and only the "big" brands are sold here in Iceland.

i've had ODB-3 (my first pedal), BOSS EQ-7, CEB-3 and LME-? (limiter enhancer..)

yeah the lineup looked pretty cool but sometimes that's just enough, you should not be afraid to look into other brands and combine them with boss pedals.

the CEB-3 is the only boss pedal i've kept i've found better drive pedals and compressors. Boss make good pedals but don't count on it that you'll like them.

You are looking for the right sound not the right look of your pedalboard

[alexa.]

Originally Posted by Diddii

You are looking for the right sound not the right look of your pedalboard

And that's all there is to it
Boss is ok (not excellent). They make some awesome stuff, but most of it is not really special.
It depends on your taste and the sound you want, so that should be your guiding line.

For instance, the CE-3 has that metallic tone, sterile and crisp. People don't really like it.
I'm getting one soon cuz I LOVE it

So it's all about flavors. Like ice-cream.

[Gomeztool]

You're on tour or you have a show tomorrow and your BOSS indispensable pedal gets stolen/breaks, you go to GC and get another one.

You're on tour and your Deviwhatever Superparticlecollider Catalinloaf indispensable pedal gets stolen/breaks...

That's the attraction of BOSS pedals to me. Plus they last forever.

[audiomitch]

I think almost all the other manufacturers have adopted Boss as a "standard". For instance, most times you will be able to use the same AC adapter or daisy chain cable with other pedals. Most times.

I use a BBE Opto Stomp for a pedal compressor that I liked much better than the Boss offerings. I have the GEB-7 EQ pedal, but don't really use it that much. Also, the TU-3 tuner that I think is great.

IMO, finding the right tool is better than how it looks or brand loyalty.

[Staccato]

GEB-7 for Bass and Strat, a very good choice for EQ.

[warwick.hoy]

Originally Posted by Jack Pepsi

A) Going with the same brand is likely to have a practical advantage when looking at inter-pedal compatability

I'm not sure what you are after here,...while some pedals "play nice" with other pedals and some don't,...what brand they are makes no difference.

Here's the deal,...you take a patch cable and plug one pedal into another,...if they don't sound good with both pedals on at the same time,...then don't turn em both on at the same time.

I'm not a boss detractor,...quite the opposite,...I love boss pedals but the Guitar/Bass range is a lot of marketing hype. There are no rules that say you can't use a "Bass" pedal on guitar or vice versa. They may act like the pedal was "specifically designed" for bass,...but that doesn't mean a guitar counterpart is any better or worse.

My suggestion is; don't overlook any of the other brands. Trust your ears and experiment,...you are likely to buy a few duds along the way. Try to go used as much as possible,...that way you can flip and only be out shipping or a couple of bucks if you decide you don't like it. If you come across something that piques your interest,...research before you buy,...that's why sites like TB exist.

Lastly,...OC-2 > OC-3 imho.

[sillyfabe]

Boss pedals are great but may not be ideal for every situation. I have tried quite a few (check my profile if need be!) And what may work for one may not work for someone else. The bass/guitar label means nothing if it works for you! My favs (the one's that I have kept are as follows):

Boss LS-2: It ties in effect loops, can bypass pedals with $*@#% bypass, can be used to blend some of your bass back into bass-unfriendly effects that "sound better if there was more bass in there", has 2 loops with individual volume controls...WIN! (can also daisy chain other pedals up to 200mA

Boss OC-2: I've tried the OC-3 and it was ...OK. This beast just sounds sound....AMAZING. I use the OCT-1 at full, direct at 50% for overtones and OCT-2 off. Run it into any fuzz and it instantly grows balls!

Boss TU-2: Its a tuner in stompbox form, theres better out there but you can't beat this one for the dependability and price! (can also daisy chain other pedals up to 200mA)

Boss PS-3: Its a digital delay (pretty much a DD-3), has a pitch shifter from -2 to +2 octaves, can dial semitones between -1 and +1 octave, can be used as a whammy with an expression pedal, has great sounding harmonies, also has reverse pitch-shifting which has to be heard!

Boss BF-2: its an analog flanger that can do chorus,phaser and jet-plane like sounds. It can even do a ring mod like sound. Primarily its an amazing flanger that sounds beautiful.

Honorable mentions: (either don't own them anymore or are just plain good overall on the bass)

Boss RV-3 Digital Reverb/Delay
Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble
Boss FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz

IMHO

[Crystalman85]

In my opinion, boss pedals are not too shabby. they may not be the best effects, but I do dig the effects that they made. the boss odb-3 has a pretty cool sound. not everyone likes this pedal, but some people do dig this pedal. I also dig how the boss mt-2 metal zone and the boss md-2 mega distortion sounded on bass. those pedals can provide some nice heavy sounds. also I dig how the boss fbm-1 sounded on bass. this pedal can provide warm overdriven sounds. their modulation pedal are pretty decent. also their multi-effects processors has some pretty cool sounds. my brother has a boss processor for his guitar and has created some nifty patches. not everyone is into boss effects, but in my opinion, boss makes decent effects for guitar and bass.

[kevteop]

Originally Posted by Jack Pepsi

I currently use a ZOOM B2 - which is a cracking little multi effect, but when playing with the pedal live, you don't have much in the way of turning individual effects on and off quickly - plus; the on/off function is a little clumsy without seperate switch.

The Boss footswitch isn't that reliable. Of most of the Boss pedals I've owned, the footswitch has been the weak link, often registering a double-press when you stomp and release it.

Originally Posted by Jack Pepsi

A) Going with the same brand is likely to have a practical advantage when looking at inter-pedal compatability

I wouldn't worry about that. Most stomp boxes run on a 9v centre negative power supply, just like Boss, and in audio terms if you're running one pedal into another there are rarely any problems. Sometimes you can get problems with phasing if you mix two signals together (using a Boss LS-2 for example) but other than that you shouldn't see any issues.

Originally Posted by Jack Pepsi

CEB-3 Bass Chorus

I've had one and it's a quality effect. I don't really use chorus any more but if you do, the CEB-3 is worth a look.

Originally Posted by Jack Pepsi

I've never had any joy with octavers, but I'm keeping an open mind - so I'd be tempted by an OC-3: Super Octave

The OC-2 is a bona-fide classic of bass effects and many of us swear by it. It's still my favourite effect on bass, and I've been through dozens of pedals. The OC-3 is a digital update of it, but the discontinued OC-2 sounds better if you can find one used.

[Chrisk-K]

I use the following Boss pedals: OC-3, GEB-7, LMB-3, CE-5 & DD-3. I love them. I use to have more expensive Boss counterparts but those Boss pedals work for me better without compromising tonal qualities. I'm getting an RC-3 soon.

Multiple Boss pedals do look pretty when arranged on a pedal board!