Boss Pedals guts question...

[Canucker]

ok so this really applies to most modern day stuff but specifically I've opened up more boss pedals to look inside then anything else....but why is there so much stuff in there? I cun understand it for delay,flanger, phaser and so on...but theres just as much junk in they're fuzz,distoriton overdrives and in my opinion most of those don't sound so great. Ever played a hyper metal pedal? How did that ever get past the idea stage? I also think they hyper fuzz is pretty bad. Not to say all they're stuff in the distortion family is bad but I'm really happy with the sound of 95% of pedals I've built and the parts count is never even a quart of what goes into a boss pedal.

[deadastronaut]

its probably crammed with the switching/buffered bypass stuff too......

the thing is with any commercial pedal its designed by ....erm......a designer...and maybe not so much a player.....

a scope will tell you whats right....but your ears will tell you whats good imo...just my 2p.

[Mark Hammer]

Rob is correct in that the electronic switching scheme imposes what can be 40% more parts for a simple distortion, given the discrete flip-flop, the buffers, the Jfets.

That said, Boss makes a point of producing pedals tht work well no matter how you set the controls, and sometimes that takes a little more...stuff.

[Paul Marossy]

theres just as much junk in they're fuzz,distoriton overdrives and in my opinion most of those don't sound so great. Ever played a hyper metal pedal? How did that ever get past the idea stage? I also think they hyper fuzz is pretty bad. Not to say all they're stuff in the distortion family is bad but I'm really happy with the sound of 95% of pedals I've built and the parts count is never even a quart of what goes into a boss pedal.

What you think sounds good and what someone else thinks sounds good will differ vastly.

[chromesphere]

Not to say all they're stuff in the distortion family is bad but I'm really happy with the sound of 95% of pedals I've built and the parts count is never even a quart of what goes into a boss pedal.

I think with effects, often not always, but often simple is better.  Also, it helps if the person behind the effect knows how to use their gear.  I can get a pretty heavy sound out of a dist+.  With distortion / fuzz i find its all in how you eq the pedal + amp together.

[Canucker]

Rob is correct in that the electronic switching scheme imposes what can be 40% more parts for a simple distortion, given the discrete flip-flop, the buffers, the Jfets.

That said, Boss makes a point of producing pedals tht work well no matter how you set the controls, and sometimes that takes a little more...stuff.

hmmm I find myself spending more time twisting boss knobs for good sound... a DS1 doesn't sound good until it reaches the point where it feeds back so you have to switch it off the moment  you stop playing, The MetalZone takes a day to twiddle before its worth listening to. The two boss pedals I find to be awesome with knobs in almost any position are the CE-2 and Distortion Feedbacker...why they both got discontinued is beyond me.....well ok sales of course but it just doesn't seem right.

[Canucker]

Not to say all they're stuff in the distortion family is bad but I'm really happy with the sound of 95% of pedals I've built and the parts count is never even a quart of what goes into a boss pedal.

I think with effects, often not always, but often simple is better.  Also, it helps if the person behind the effect knows how to use their gear.  I can get a pretty heavy sound out of a dist+.  With distortion / fuzz i find its all in how you eq the pedal + amp together.

My Dist+ sounds like a monster too. The amp I run it with is powered by EL34's...how about yours?

[HOTTUBES]

I like the basic premise of the Boss stuff , tough as nails well built pedals ...
Just think if they spent a few more dollars on the components  , they would really have a great pedal then !!!

[chromesphere]

My Dist+ sounds like a monster too. The amp I run it with is powered by EL34's...how about yours?

Not sure lol.  Its a bad cat hot cat 30r.  I have a video of the dist+.  One of "earlier" videos, before i knew how to talk infront of a camera i bet i could get something even beefer these days...Highly dependant on the amp its going through as well.

(skip to 1:40 approx to hear it)

[Canucker]

My Dist+ sounds like a monster too. The amp I run it with is powered by EL34's...how about yours?

Not sure lol.  Its a bad cat hot cat 30r.  I have a video of the dist+.  One of "earlier" videos, before i knew how to talk infront of a camera i bet i could get something even beefer these days...Highly dependant on the amp its going through as well.

(skip to 1:40 approx to hear it)

No speakers on the comp I'm currently on but I did look up the amp and yes it does run on EL34 power tubes! A dist+ clone? Does it have any mods from the original?

[chromesphere]

No mods, tonepad layout.  I did use a Si and a Ge diode though, instead of 2 Ge's.
Paul

[Canucker]

Oh ok you built it...thats cool. Cus I was gonna say its a still available pedal and its not to expensive so if someone was doing a pricey clone it wouldn't make to much sense....I have an original (an oldie too 1978) but I wanted to build one too! They don't seem all that complex so it could be a fun build...unless I screw something up 

[chromesphere]

Not complicated at all, good first / beginner build. Or you could build the DOD 250 overdrive or whatever its called.  Its the same layout with different component values.

[Canucker]

I've been known to screw up simple stuff and pull off complex stuff...I pulled off a Dual Voicing Filter and did it point to point (6 pots) and then screwed up two booster pedals (LPB and another one)....its no wonder teachers always gave me weird looks.