Conference napalm::guitar

    I can't advise you on the overdrive pedals. It is all a matter of
    opinion. The nice thing about Boss is that they give you a big
    choice. I just listened to one last night called a Metal Digitizer.
    This one puts out the most radical Heavy Metal distortion I have
    ever heard. I personally do not play metal, but if I did, I think
    I would buy one of these. It also has Chorus, and slap echo built
    in. It was a bit pricey for a Boss Stomp box, though, about $250.
                                                             
    I just purchased a Compression/Sustainer, which I am very happy
    with. I am considering buying one of their Digital Reverb pedals.
    For $179 it has great reverb sound, gated reverb, and panning delay,
    which is basically delay echo, except that it pans from one amp
    to another if you use a stereo setup. I have panning delay on my
    Alesis MidiverbII, (I think it is program #91), and I love it for
    guitar. It is great for playing rock-a-billy rhythm type stuff, like
    Dire Strait's "Walk of life". I plan to use the Midiverb for my
    PA, though, and am planning to eventually get the Boss carry case,
    full of effects for playing guitar. It is such a neat way of carrying
    and setting up effects, that it is almost irresistable, especially
    since the power supply/master switch allows you to switch all effects
    in/out by stepping on 1 switch. 
    
    For playing guitar, I am pretty much hooked on Boss effects, especially
    for reverb, delay,chorus, flange, but not for distortion. I am planning
    on upgrading my old Twin Reverb, for a New Twin reverb. They have
    the best sounding distortion (in my humble opinion) of any amp on
    the market. They are pretty expensive, though, about $850, or more.
    
    I thought about it, and was thinking, that if I am gonna buy five
    effects, the carry case, and power supply, I should just buy a GP8,
    but the GP8 requires a huge initial investment (about $899 not incl.
    the floor controller, or expression pedal). By the time you add
    these options you're up over $1000. It still doesn't contain digital
    reverb, either, so you would have to get a separate unit if you
    wanted digi reverb.
    
    I can see myself in a couple of months becoming a Boss-aholic.
    
    Mark Jacques
    

    How much does the Boss pedal case w/pwr supply go for.... should
    would keep the pedals in order (on the floor)?   it also would be
    nice not to have be buying 9V batteries all the time!
    
    I take it the pedal case wouldn't move around much either....
    
    oh yeah, would this setup be compatible with a wireless system?
    
    /paul
    

    The carry case and power supply are sold separately, and to be
    honest the case is way overpriced. EU Wurly wants $110.oo for the
    case alone. As for "the" power supply, Boss makes more than one
    supply. I am not up on model numbers, but I can tell you what
    features they offer. They have a bare bones power supply, which
    can drive upto 5 effects at a time. Then they have the power supply/
    master switch, which allows you to kick all the effects in or out
    by stepping on one stomp switch. They just came out with another
    version which includes the power supply (for 5 effects), the master
    switch, and also has a noise suppressor (noise gate ?). To me, this
    unit is the one to get, since it saves you a slot in the case for
    an extra effect, rather than using up one space for a noise gate.
                                                       
    I believe that Boss effects are the highest quality stomp effects
    available, and the price on most models is reasonable (maybe slightly
    higher than other comparable units, but not ridiculously priced),
    however I must admit that they are trying to soak you for the carry
    case. I would like to eventually get the whole rig, with carry case,
    and power supply, but for sure, I will be shopping around for a good
    price on the case. 
    
    	I find that a lot of stores offer good prices on many items, but
    they always have a few items in stock that they want top dollar for. 
    For instance some stores offer good prices on big items that cost 
    hundreds of dollars, but have high prices on strings, and other small 
    items. Other stores offer good prices on small stuff, and high prices 
    on big stuff. Usually the high priced items are either very popular 
    selling items, or they are new and considered "a hot item". I believe
    that this is the case with the Boss Carry Box. While it is not a
    new item, it is still a very "hot" item, and they know it. Boss
    is pushing a new add campaign, which boast the fact that they have
    sold over 5,000,000 effects. This gives them a great deal of clout,
    and allows them to raise the price above the competition.
    
    On another note, I demoed the Boss Digital Reverb last night at
    EU Wurly. I was very pleased with the reverb. I was not too impressed
    with the panning delay (which they threw in for an added selling
    point), however, for the money (list price = $199, EUW is asking
    $179) this is a very good reverb unit, especially for guitar/keyboards.
    The sound is very clean and quiet. The reverb is very flexible,
    with controls for time, mode, effect level (does not effect volume,
    only effect/dry mix), and pre EQ. I must admit, the Pre EQ doesn't
    seem to do much. Nonetheless, this is a very good sounding, flexible
    reverb unit just the same. Needless to say, I have added it to my
    shopping list. One disadvantage of this unit, (unlike other Boss
    Stomp effects) is that is cannot run on batteries. It does run on
    9v, however, it apparently draws too much current to run effectively
    on batteries. This wouldn't matter if the effect is going to be
    integrated into the carry box, with power supply, but wouldn't help
    if you wanted to use it with a Rockman, Pignose, or other battery
    powered amp. The selling price includes a power supply, so at least
    they don't soak you extra money for the power supply.
    
    	Does anyone know if their other digital effects (Digital delay,
    Delay/sampler, etc.) run off batteries or not. Just curious. I have
    a Pignose, and was kinda hoping I could use the effects with the
    Pignose in a fully portable rig.
    
    
    	Hope this answers your questions. 
    
    	Mark Jacques
    
                
    

    	If you plan on doing a portable act using digital
    delays/reverbs and all there permutations you can plan on
    having an extra stock of 9 v batteries as I remember the
    life of an alkaline in a Boss dd-2,3 is 45 minutes according
    to what Boss say's in there owners manual.
    	I own a DDRV10 Digital Reverb/Delay and found it to be fine
    to use with my recording setup in an effects loop,but found it 
    unacceptable for live use and I'd reccomend you look at some other
    brands. I felt it was too noisy in the wrong places. The Digitech
    Dsp 128 maybe twice the money,but potentially a bigger bang for
    the buck and true stereo..  Matter of fact the only micro rack Boss
    effect I was impressed with was there Harmonizer Delay(Pitch shifter
    Delay) Shop around!!!!

    whoops we're gettin a bit off track here... back to the original
     subject matter Boss OverDrives:
    
     the SuperOverdrive vs. the Turbo Overdrive 
    
     opinions?....
    
     thanx...

    As I mentioned in .1, when comparing one distortion pedal to another,
    opinion generally determines preference. If I said that one was
    better, there would undoubtedly be 100 people that beg to differ.
    As far as features go, the Super Overdrive has level,drive, and
    tone controls. The Turbo Overdrive has level, tone, drive, and 
    turbo On/Off. They claim the turbo sounds a little like a turbo-
    powered car (whatever that means), but I haven't heard one. I did
    compare the super overdrive to a "Realtube" and it sounded comparable.
    Obviously, the "Realtube" has a 12AX7 vacuum tube, while the Boss 
    Super overdrive is transistorized. They did a good job simulating 
    the tube sound. My suggestion is to go to a store that has both units
    in stock and compare them. Wurlitzers has the best selection of Boss
    effects in the central Mass area. Their prices aren't too bad, either.
           
    Re. .2 I looked in the catalogue last night. The power supply/master
    switch is called a PSM5, and can power upto 7 effects.
    
    Re. .0 If you don't mind, I'd like to use this note as a generic Boss
    Effect note. If not, maybe we could start a new note to talk about
    Boss effects. I'd like some opinions on the Dimension C, the High
    band Flanger, the Digital Delay, Octave, and some of the other Boss 
    effects.
    
    

    well i bit the bullet and went for the Turbo Overdrive!  this is
    the nicest distortion pedal i've owned.  quiet and versatile and'll
    work nicely with both the 335 and the Strat!  Got for a mere $91
    at Acton Music.  they were asking 105, but I told him what P U
    Wurlitzer would give me - so they met it.  remarkable...
    
    pc
    

    
    Hi Paul!
    
    So what *does* the Turbo do???
    
            

    With the TURBO 'on' you get a much more distorted signal (not louder),
    which is nice - it's almost like having 2 presets to choose from.
    Turbo is good for single coils, Turbo off is good for humbuckers.
    Of course, you can use it either way, but I usually find a big differ
    -ence of what I can use with the Strat vs. what I can use with the
    ES335.  But this does it best for both!         
    It also pretty clean - not wicked ratty like the Heavy Metal, Big
    Muff, etc.
    
    It's quietest distortion I've ever plugged into!
    /pc
    

    As this note seems to be a general Boss effects note:

    Has anyone tried the ROD-10 distortion ? This is one of the
    Boss MicroRack series and is, according to reviews, the most
    versatile distortion box on the market. I don't have a detailed
    spec to hand, but I believe that the controls are:

    Mode - Overdrive I, II and III
           Distortion
           Fuzz

    Drive

    Lo cut/boost

    Mid frequency
    Mid cut/boost

    Hi cut/boost

    Output level

    The box is *not* a stomp box, being the same size as the other
    Micro-rack stuff. I believe that an on/off switch is available as
    an option, so it could be used live. The unit can be powered by
    batteries, but I don't know how long they'd last.

    List price in the U.K. is about 130 pounds (list price of a
    Heavy Metal HM-2 is about 80 pounds). One of my local shops
    is selling these at 70 pounds, but I haven't had a chance to
    hear one yet.


    All opinions gratefully received,


    Derek.   
    

    How much rack space do these MicroRack units take up?  I.e. 1/2
    or 1/3 of one rack slot?
    
    Sounds like an interesting unit.  I'd like to hear a review from
    someone that's tried it out.
    
    Greg
    

    
    The MicroRack stuff is 9.5" in width...ie two = 19" (std rackmount
    size)
    
    wjb

    So you could put one of these into a std rack with, say, an Alesis
    MicroVerb?
    
    gh

    Im only catching up on this note today so excuse me if this is out
    of date. 
    
    I hAVE owned a Turbo Distortion for over a year, It's the best
    distortion pedal I've ever used...but still not perfect :
    1) I almost never use the Turbo(on) (I have a Washburn G8-V)
    2) Sometimes when using a fairly distorted amp (marshall 50W combo,
    valve,jubilee series) sound, kicking in the Distortion makes no
    appreciable difference.
    
    it is especially good when playing through an amp(someone elses)
    for the first time : Select a clean sound connect the pedal and
    presto! a reasonable sound.
    
    Re. the cost of the boss pedal board (Incidently the price of boss
    effects in Ireland is usually the same number of IRPounds as dollars
    current rate IRL1 = 1.55 dollars) it costs 110 pounds over here.
    My solution was to make my own pedal board !! It is customised to
    my liking holds 6 pedals (all Boss) + the footpedal to my amp, a Boss
    tuner, power supply. I plug in my guitar from either side, and
    a separate ac supply + amp footpedal lead completes the wiring.
    total cost ~ $30 And took about 20 Hours to complete. If you are
    prepared to be painstaking about details I guarantee the finished
    board will look better than the bought one. (I added a small BOSS
    sticker to the inside which really completes the effect (pun
    intended)).
    
    I can supply details if anyone is interested.
    
    Brian.
     
    
    
    

    I had a Digital Metalizer for a week but sent it back because it sucked
    up battery energy in 3 minutes so I took it back and the guy said that
    was just the way it was so I traded it in for a used boss chorus and a
    used ibenez super tube
    
    

    
                           -< welcome to the metal zone>-
    
    
    
          I just picked up a Boss Mt-2(along with a new IbanezRG-560)
    and it rules. The dual gain distortion gives it sounds from ultra
    thrash to standard rock. It has a built in 4-band eq, and with
    my stomp eq goes from thrashy rythem to screamin' lead in about
    a second. If any of you thrashers out there are in the market
    for a new distortion, I suggest plugin' into one.
    
         Jeffy
                             

    
    
          O.k. maybe not a second, but you get the point. I really is a
    killer pedal though. It's one of the most versitile I'v ever had.
    Can't touch rack sound(IMHO) but it will do. 
    
    
             Jeffy

    <----  MRP in training here...  :-)