Boss Pedals vs. Fulltone

steveguitar12xx · 05-31-2011, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.B.Nichols

.....if it isn't sexy looking enough for you, you could always do something ridiculous like I did.

Haha i like that

it somewhat reminds me of Jack White's or EVH's Pedals (pointed he painted his in abstract red and white styles to the like). Wish Boss could do some custom graphics like that right out of the factory to make their pedals stand out a little more.

EQ pedals can be a great tool when conquered correctly. They can enhance or destroy your tone, raise and decrease volume and work as a solid boost. They offer so many qeustions. I'm always hearing about the war between the Boss GE-7 and the MXR 10-band EQ. Some people say that they are both just EQ pedals but many more people disagree and say that the Boss and MXR are totally different beasts which can handle different operations. How true is this? I'm not sure, I'm sure the Boss is the more affordable unit of the two tho, I'm sure both would do the job. That being said, I have not had the privledge to try a GE-7 thus far, it's likely a great pedal tho, given it's friendly reputable status

NOTE TO EVERYONE: As for S.BNichols' theory on True Bypass enabled pedals, I agree & Visual Sound has issued a video on Youtube called Myth Busters on True Bypass, I think y'all should take a gander

YouTube - ‪Visual Sound: Myth Buster #1: True Bypass‬‏

S.B.Nichols · 05-31-2011, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveguitar12xx

correctly. They can enhance or destroy your tone, raise and decrease volume and work as a solid boost. They offer so many qeustions. I'm always hearing about the war between the Boss GE-7 and the MXR 10-band EQ. Some people say that they are both just EQ pedals but many more people disagree and say that the Boss and MXR are totally different beasts which can handle different operations. How true is this? I'm not sure, I'm sure the Boss is the more affordable unit of the two tho, I'm sure both would do the job. That being said, I have not had the privledge to try a GE-7 thus far, it's likely a great pedal tho, given it's friendly reputable status

The MXR is a more usable pedal out of the box. GE7 suffers from a high noise floor....I felt like after swapping out the opamps it was studio quiet with more headroom....pretty nice.

steveguitar12xx · 05-31-2011, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaetano Paul

Check out Geek Screamers British Ball Breaker, Also the Cool Cat Drive v2 maybe. How bout the BJFE Blue Sky drive? All just some good guesses.

Thanks!!!!

I also saw a pedal by Menatone called the "Blue Collar" Over-Drive, Does anyone know if this is similar to a Boss BD-2? Looks somewhat similar in concept to a Modded Boss BD-2 but i am un-sure. Jeff Owen (Tenth Avenue North) uses a Menatone Blue Collar Over-Drive as well as a Keely BD-2 so i'm just wondering

metropolis4 · 06-01-2011, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveguitar12xx

I also saw a pedal by Menatone called the "Blue Collar" Over-Drive, Does anyone know if this is similar to a Boss BD-2? Looks somewhat similar in concept to a Modded Boss BD-2 but i am un-sure. Jeff Owen (Tenth Avenue North) uses a Menatone Blue Collar Over-Drive as well as a Keely BD-2 so i'm just wondering

The Blue Collar is an older pedal that's based off a Tubescreamer

steveguitar12xx · 06-01-2011, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metropolis4

The Blue Collar is an older pedal that's based off a Tubescreamer

Oh, I was hoping it wasn't lol Thanks!!!

metropolis4 · 06-01-2011, 10:17 AM

You know, you can re-house Boss pedals in a new enclosure if that's what you're looking for. It wouldn't be too hard to take your Keeley BD-2 and put it in a new enclosure of your choice. In fact, I know a guy who can do it for you if you didn't want to do it yourself

steveguitar12xx · 06-01-2011, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metropolis4

You know, you can re-house Boss pedals in a new enclosure if that's what you're looking for. It wouldn't be too hard to take your Keeley BD-2 and put it in a new enclosure of your choice. In fact, I know a guy who can do it for you if you didn't want to do it yourself

Hey Metro,
That is a great idea, I will start looking up some compatible cases...Actually to be honest I hadn't ever thought about that before, Thanks!!!

S.B.Nichols · 06-01-2011, 04:56 PM

Here's why you won't find a boutique version...
http://gaussmarkov.net/layouts/bd2/bd2-schem.png

That thing looks nuts. It's not so complicated that it couldn't be perfed out, but it would be a large pedal.

**thesteve** · 06-01-2011, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.B.Nichols

Here's why you won't find a boutique version...
http://gaussmarkov.net/layouts/bd2/bd2-schem.png

That thing looks nuts. It's not so complicated that it couldn't be perfed out, but it would be a large pedal.

Wow...I did a quick and dirty count (diodes, resistors, capacitors and transistors) and got up over 60 pretty easily.

steveguitar12xx · 06-01-2011, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.B.Nichols

Here's why you won't find a boutique version... That thing looks nuts. It's not so complicated that it couldn't be perfed out, but it would be a large pedal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

Wow...I did a quick and dirty count (diodes, resistors, capacitors and transistors) and got up over 60 pretty easily.

Thanks for the cool in-depth schematic! explains ALOT

Indeed, The Boss BD-2's circuitry does look overly complicated, no wonder why it has such a unique and great tone (even stock in my oppinion). Alot of people have problems using the Stock version of the pedal they say it's too harsh...i just keep the tone knob down at 8:00ish, i know that's very low but my amp settings are very bright to where all the notes you hit come through so at this setting. I find at this the BD-2 is so transparent that when the pedal is engaged i can strum it lightly and it will sound as if the pedal wasn't even there (Litterally) and when i dig in the Over-Drive can get nasty while keeping the tone intact. It's very dynamic and responsibly clear. I don't think that there is any other newer current Boss pedal on the market that matches it's responsiveness, even the OD-3 which i like. Very cool to see a pedal under the hood!

I don't think i'll ever get rid of the BD-2, Awesome powerful pedal if one knows just how to control it, Congrats to Boss for inginuity!

Gaetano Paul · 06-01-2011, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.B.Nichols

As for the rest -high end components, truebypass, whatever- all overrated. If you've got a Keeley modded one it's going to be as good as anything you'd find by a boutique builder.

As for Fulltone vs Boss....I say blah to both. I guess I'd be more likely to buy boss because of the price point. but that doesn't mean I actually would.

This means so much coming from a great pedal builder like yourself

WideAwake · 08-10-2011, 07:21 AM

I vote Fulltone over Boss, but a good player will sound good with either, I guess.

To my ears, there are a ton of pedals that sound better than Boss stuff, outside of the chorus and delays anyhow. The Boss stuff is built like a tank and really dependable, but a lot of them just don't have that spark, imho.

It all comes down to using whatever works for you, don't play a boutique just because it's cool, and don't not play a Boss because it's not. Play what sounds good to you.