Boss TR-2 Tremolo

Tremolo is one of my favorite effects. This Boss pedal is another one that I've had for longer now. Very simple to operate: it has rate and depth controls plus a smaller knob in the middle for adjusting the waveform (from a very gradual seesaw to an on-off helicopter effect). I usually have it set to a subtle, relatively fast throbbing to spice up clean chords. I really like Boss pedals for their sturdy construction and especially for their quiet switching. Although they're not true bypass, they won't eat at your tone. I was surprised to read that a common complaint against the TR-2 is that it drops the volume when turned on. I don't know if mine is a freak example but I hear a slight volume boost... Anyway, I have a lot of love for this box and use it pretty often.

Boss DS-1 (Keeley Ultra Mod)

This is one of the new additions to my pedalboard. I wasn't really looking for a distortion pedal but I stumbled upon a demo of the DS-1 Ultra on YouTube and was sold right away. I immediately began browsing for a distributor here in Europe and since the pound is pretty weak against the euro right now, I ended up ordering it from the UK. I received the package just in time for Christmas :). It was fun to see those 'little differences' between Boss' US and European packaging... Those damn Yankees get a 5 year warranty, not fair! ;) A warranty, which I guess is void now that Mr. Keeley and his trusted employees had their way with this brand new Boss DS-1 (Keeley provides a 2 year warranty on workmanship). As far as the sound goes, this modified version is nothing like the original. The distortion is rich, creamy, harmonic, very musical indeed. A red LED is added to the circuit (right where the 'o' used to be in 'tone' under the left side knob), which lights up as you pick a note. The brighter the LED, the more distorted your sound gets. The pedal cleans up beautifully as you roll back the volume on the guitar or lighten your picking attack. A switch is added to the left of the said LED, which allows you to choose between 'Seeing Eye' (up position) and 'Ultra' (down position) modes. The latter has less gain but a higher output and makes the pedal sound more like an overdrive. I've played around with both and haven't really made up my mind yet about which one I like better. The pedal has three knobs: tone, level and distortion ('dist'). Operating it is straight forward. The instructions provided by Keeley along with the pedal are very helpful, too. I found my sweet spot with the tone control at around 11:00. Things can get as harsh or as muddy as you like, the tone range is surprisingly wide. The 'dist' knob goes from a slight crunch to full blown shred heaven. Again, a good array of sounds to play with. I really enjoy cranking it, although I'm pretty sure I won't be doing that too much in practice. Radio Daze is no metal outfit... Optical changes include a super bright blue status LED (which verges on the annoying, IMHO) and cool new knobs (you do get the originals in the package, though, if you prefer those). I'm still yet to try the DS-1 Ultra with the band but have high hopes for it.

Looping It

Here's a little video I just recorded:


I'm playing around with my Boss loop pedal and my new Fender Champ (thanx Mom!). It's a bit long but I hope there's enough going on to keep your interest. :)

Pedalboard In Action

Since I recently posted about my pedalboard, it's only fair that I show you what it actually sounds like. This is an outtake from a 10 minute recording I made by mic'ing up my Park G10 practice amp (basically, a Korean made solid state Marshall). On this piece, you'll hear my Les Paul Double Cutaway guitar (check it out here) using the rythm (neck) pickup, playing through the Boss overdrive and delay units (set to a slight slapback). I'm kicking in the Phase 90 at about a third of the way through the track with an extreme, Leslie-speaker type setting, then roll it back for a slower phasing effect. Check out the crunch this latter setting adds to my tone, I just love it... Oh yeah, the backing track is played on the Boss RC-2 Loop Station (this loop came stock with the pedal). Enjoy!

Live Guitar 1.mp3