I’m totally in awe of the technical prowess presented on this killer dual analog amps in a pedal format.
It’s actually a very compact device at just 125 x 105 x 65 mms, and carries so many advanced functions here almost entirely in the analog domain. There’s not a single sub-menu here - this is surely WYSIWYG perfection - while it does use every available surface to cram in all the technology that is needed to support all those features.
At first encounter this all seem wholly intuitive...
This is truly quite a feat of engineering, and it’s all so beautifully executed too. That said Boss’s Katana : Go had a useful tiny screen, and Bluetooth connectivity to its app - which this devices could really have benefitted from. I’ve long grown tired of having to USB-cable-connect my pedals to a laptop app for updates - it should all really just be bluetooth to an iOS or Android mobile phone app by now.
In any case, the operation of this device could not be easier - you first of course...
Most of you will be familiar with the $399 / €399 / £339 Boss Waza-Air Wireless Guitar Headphone Amp - which delivers the Katana Amp ecosystem within a wireless Bluetooth Headphone Set. The Amps and Effects selection is controlled by a Bluetooth connected Mobile App - and since all the processing is done inline within the Headphones you don’t suffer any wireless lag. That proposition though is rather dear for many, and very much limits the choice and style of headphone you have at your disposal...
Contrary to what I originally thought - this is not a replacement for the original chrome-handled Boss Katana Air - that I featured all the way back in January of 2018, but a more grown-up higher quality sibling. It has much the same functions, control topology and operational parameters as its slightly smaller more plastic forebear - where the Boss engineers have really concentrated on the finishing details and quality of output for the Air EX model. The newer one has a few more ports / ...
Boss re-tools its Waza-Air Wireless Headset to deliver the ’Waza-Air-Bass’ - a dedicated version for Bass Players that is re-calibrated to work better with those lower frequencies.
The same sort of Bluetooth Wireless Headset plus WL-T Transmitter and Mobile App make up this package, while the dynamics have obviously been enhanced to cope with the expanded low-end range. ...
This was actually suggested by a follower - Alex on Instagram. I really love my SY-1 and use that a lot - and it would be even better with a few more flavours, and more importantly - Presets onboard!
So I’ve mocked-up my final Boss Month speculative entry - certainly for the 200-Series format. My version is largely just the SY-1 with a few extra bells and whistles. I think it looks really good in that format!
I’ve taken all the Sounds / Types from the SY-1 and just added a few more to ...
Where once there were around 12 Boss 20-Series Double Pedals (per second visual below) - now if you scan through Boss.Info - you will find only a couple still on the books as it were. And I feel that the days of the RE-20 Space Echo and VE-20 Voice Performer are likely numbered too - which is why I’ve done a suggested mockup of what the RE-20 in particular might look like in 200-Series format.
As a long-term Boss and Roland flagship effect - I feel we will certainly see it being revived in ...
The amount of different versions of Helix is now almost getting to pandemic levels - with Line 6 offering up yet another variant - in the guise of the HX Stomp XL.
The stats for this really could not be any simpler - as what you are getting is essentially the exact same HX Stomp Unit - with largely all the same functionality and screen - but with 5 more footswitches - for more Stompbox mode switches, and the ability to select up to 4 different Snapshots.
All the ports on this ...
This is one of those articles that’s been a long-time coming, and where I needed to spend a rather large chunk of time getting fully under the skin of the pedal in question - the really quite superb, but also somewhat slightly flawed Boss GT-1000 CORE Guitar Effects Processor.
I must start by stating that I came into this project with somewhat lofty expectations, and there was some degree of naivety to my beliefs as to what was contained within this pedal, and more importantly ...
Boss’s Tube Logic Series of Nextone Amps somewhat failed to garner the same plaudits and support as the lower cost Katana Range - while the Artist edition Nextone contained some particularly clever circuitry - yet those amps did not resonate as well with their intended audiences as was predicted / expected. Meaning that the Boss engineers have expended some very significant effort in the interim towards getting the new Special Amp up to the level it truly deserves to be at.
The Nextone ...