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BOSS "Tech-WAZA CRAFT-"

BOSS "Tech-WAZA CRAFT-"

The sound of BOSS's "WAZA" (“technique”) is the ultimate sound. The BOSS "WAZA -WAZA CRAFT-" series squeezes!

A new series "WAZA-WAZA CRAFT-" will be released in the BOSS compact effector lineup, which boasts a long history since its first unit "OD-1" in 1976. I think there were surprises and shocks, when BOSS made the announcement, amongst musicians who love BOSS compact effectors. The shocking announcement of "We will destroy and recreate BOSS" written on the BOSS website was striking. It can be viewed as a challenge to the so-called boutique effectors that have become a staple today, and to musicians who have been using BOSS effectors for a long time.
We, the Sound House Guitar Team, also participated in the pre-release show organized by BOSS, listening to the passion of the BOSS staff, experiencing the shocking sound, and quickly getting the facts, and conveying the details to everyone.

BD-2W Blues Driver

The BD-2 blues driver has become a standard effector in pedal boards around the world with a vintage feel and swaying crunch distortion, and is customized into a model that can create more flexibly and a greater range. Standard mode reproduces the bluesy crunch sound unique to the blues driver with the newly designed discrete circuit, and the custom mode creates a fat, exquisite sound that responds to delicate picking nuances.

DM-2W Delay

They completely revamped the DM-2 which was the world’s first analog delay in the BOSS compact series. The mode switch can be used to switch between the sticky and moist old-fashioned sound, and the clear delay sound that retains warmth unique to the analog, enabling a wide range of usage according to the tune. The biggest point this time is that you can control the delay time with your foot using the expression pedal. You can easily make tricky plays by changing the sound you oscillate with your foot.

SD-1W Super OverDrive

A special edition that customizes the long-selling SD-1 overdrive fully analog system. It responds quickly to picking dynamics and guitar volume control, and provides a smooth, expressive drive sound. Standard mode reproduces the original tone with a newly designed discrete circuit, and custom mode creates a wide range sound that is powerful and faithfully reflects picking nuances.

Kai Band guitarist, Tanaka Ichiro BD-2W trial report!

BOSS BD-2W Report

I remember that it was about 1995 when I first used the BD-2.
Until then, I had used OD-1, SD-1, while others used MAXON, MXR, RAT, etc. The expensive ones that cost more than 50,000 yen are different, and I’m always a little anxious when I try distortion products. However, I bought the BD-2 without hesitation. It was very natural. When I tried it, I was surprised at the natural distortion, the clean sound when I lowered the volume of the guitar, and the minimal noise. After I bought it, I still used other distortion systems during the following 20 years, but my main overdrive for live performances was always the BD-2.
A special project called "WAZA" was delivered to such a BD-2 user.

※ Customized with completely discrete analog circuit.
★Wow! Certainly the original one, except for the buffer part, was also discrete .... They also changed the op amp in the buffer section.

※ Standard mode which reproduced tone of original BD-2 with the new circuit.
★ That's right! There is no point in losing the goodness of the original no matter how much the name is changed to WAZA.

※ A custom mode with a fat sound that responds to delicate picking nuances.
★ Well, we’ve have silently watched other shops customizing and selling BOSS designs.

So I tried it out.
Good! Well, I'm happy because I liked it originally. In the meantime, it does not seem to be dramatically different. But when I play carefully, I feel that Standard mode is also thick. And in custom mode, there’s a feeling that the sound comes up from the bottom and it's like it's concentrated in the middle without getting distracted. What is it? Seemingly, even a small difference in one sound may be the difference between what’s missing between the band and the sound through PA.

A long time ago, The Doobie Brothers PA team, at a time when the standard echo machines were BINSON and Echoplex, started using the Japanese Roland SPACE ECHO to deliver a better sound. When the standard of distortion was MXR's Distortion +, Jeff Beck came to Japan and used the BOSS OD-1. Then the BOSS whirlwind grew. It is important to try out the equipment used by your favorite artist and to be interested in products with a reputation. However, I always tell myself not to forget the basics of choosing according to my own sensibility.
From now on, it will continue my relationship with the BD-2W again for several decades.

Digression #1
I realized as soon as I opened the back cover of the BD-2, that the width of the part through which the signal of the base passes is considerably wider than the predecessor. I had thought this was to reduce the signal transmission loss as much as possible from point to point.

Digression #2
I learned about the Blues Cube just before running into the BD-2. I felt the greatness of the sound immediately. And just when I thought wouldn’t it be nice if such an effector came out, I met the BD-2, and I was a little jealous of the functions such as clean, crunch, and drive. Since then, I have recommended BD-2 to many musicians. Next time, I might recommend the Blues Cube.

Tanaka Ichiro

Session guitarist representing Japan, Takuichi Korenaga's
SD-1W trial report!

BOSS SD-1W Report

First of all, from normal mode, it feels like the resolution has risen overwhelmingly unlike the high drop with the SD-1 sound, which has a narrower range towards the mids. From the clean sound at close to zero to full out drive, it is distorted neatly with transparency and warmth.

Next is the custom mode. Here, the range which was good but there was not enough range. However, it spreads out perfectly (especially the low center of gravity) and feels like a modern boutique. It is quite excellent when it is combined with a crunch amplifier, and not only can you feel the distortion, but also the sound is aggressive and upfront. The point I particularly like is the beautiful addition of the comfortable harmonics in the high mids, which was the original strength of BOSS's 80's analog effector. Personally I liked this very much.

My previous SD-1 has long been used for solo boost for many years during the REBECCA era, and the difference is still obvious. After that, I moved to BD-2 and I am looking forward to it