OK, we had a bit of fun at BOSS & Fender’s expense when they first announced their two new “classic tube-amps in a box” back in January, but to the duo’s credit, while it will certainly never take the place of a vintage Bassman amplifier, the ’59 Bassman pedal turned out to be a decent little tone machine.
Anyway, BOSS has now posted a video demo of the Bassman pedal’s brother––the ’65 Deluxe Reverb pedal––and like its sibling, this new stomp-box looks like a fairly worthy edition to your signal chain, particularly if you’ve been wanting to add a bit of tube-like reverb & vibrato mojo to an otherwise solid-state rig.
Controls appear to pretty much match those of a real Deluxe Reverb, including Level, Gain, Treble, Bass, Vibrato and Reverb, and the whole thing comes packed in BOSS’s usual solid-as-a-tank metal chassis.
Digital modeling has come a long way in the last few years, and while I don’t see myself trading in my Class-A tube amp anytime soon (read: when they pry my cold, dead hands off the tweed,) digital effects of this quality could go a long way towards bringing tube-like tone to the teeming masses.
Check it out (follow link, click the tab marked ‘Video’)… I’d be interested to hear what you think.
- See The BOSS/Fender ’59 Bassman Pedal In Action
- ’59 Fender Bassman In A Box… Am I The Only One Scared, Here?!
- BOSS Recreates Roland RE-201 Space Echo In A Digital Pedal
- Video Demonstration Of The New BOSS MICRO BR
- See & Hear The Line 6 Floor POD Plus In Action
- Finally, A Review Of The BOSS Micro-BR
- BOSS Releases MICRO-BR Portable Digital Recorder
- See & Hear The Fender VG Stratocaster In Action
May 12th, 2007 at 7:41 am
I watched the demo and thought the sounds were good, mainly because the demo featured a good guitar player. Plus, we never got to see what kind of amp was being used…either way I’ll stick with my Tube Screamer.
May 12th, 2007 at 10:10 am
I’ve never understood the market for non-multiple preset modeling pedals. If the controls only allow for the one tone to be switched on and off, it had better be your signature tone. For a little more than twice the price you can get a Line6 Podxt Live that does a great job at emulating many amps & effects….has a computer interface for edit tones & recording…and has configurable wah/volume + at least 4 presets available at the press of a pedal.
I met a guitar tech recently for a major touring act, and he told me that half way through a set the guitarist’s Fender amp tube blew…and in seconds the guitar tech replaced it with a Line6 Pod… the guy on stage never knew the difference (of course this was all through in-ear monitors, he wasn’t using the amp as his monitor).
May 12th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Not having tried it myself, I can’t tell for sure what it really sounds like, but the thought of it isn’t bad. May make a great booster pedal for a Fender set-up (a Strat with some kind of Fender tube amp) where you’re trying to retain the Fender-amp quality in your boost, which is sometimes hard to do. The guy did play his amp bypassing the pedal, and it did sound like the pedal brought a pretty convincing Deluxe tone. And the vibrato is a nice addition.
IG
May 13th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Sounded nice and athentic to me, at least as close as any Line 6 product can get.
What I’d like to see is a reliable clip or review of the an actual Fender amp – the new Champion 600, ‘cus I’m seriously considering buying one. I’ve seen the tiny clip going ’round from the NAMM show, but the guy spends more time discussing it and barely any time playing it.
May 13th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
That was supposed to say “authentic”. Bloody cheap-assed keyboard.