There are always lots of Boss effects pedals for sale at yahoo auctions and it is really easy to find great pedals like this Boss CE-3 chorus effects pedal:
This pedal is currently selling for 3800 yen. Which is about $45US. Not too bad… depends how far up the bidding goes. It is a made in Taiwan effects pedal, not too bad, but you get what you pay for! You can follow the auction here: Boss CE-3 chorus effects pedal auction.
If you have bought from us in the past, you will know that we pride ourselves on stocking and selling rocking and rare Japanese effects pedals and stomp boxes.
Of course buying things like these vintage effects pedals on line can be a bit daunting as you don’t really know who you are dealing with and you can only judge the pedals from a couple of photos.
Pretty daunting really considering effects pedals and musical instruments are made to be played, and made to make sound!
If you are in the Tokyo / Kanto region then one shop were you can go in and judge the real thing with your own eyes is Shibuya Gakki. Like many music gear shops in Japan their business combines recording studios, practice rooms, equipment repair and modification services with sales of both new and used gear. They also do PA rentals.
They have a wide range of guitars and basses for sale, but I thought here I would list some of the vintage effects pedals they have on sale at the moment:
Pedals they have sold recently include:
They get stock in pretty regularly so you can check the pedals they have listed here: Shibuya Gakki Effects Pedal listings. You can buy stomp boxes online from them, it doesn’t look very English friendly though - but I am sure they will do their best to help you if you send them an email.
Shibuya Gakki is located near Oimachi Station on the JR Line from Shinagawa. There is a map here - it is only in Japanese but I am sure if you ask at your local station they will be more than happy to help you get on your way.
So you wanna get revenge on your neighbors for playing their Lionel Ritchie records way too loud and at 45rpms at 8 in the morning? Wanna give grannie the fright of her life as you vibrate her false teeth the whole way across the mosh pit? Think you can achieve world peace as you bring down CNN with some ballistic six-string action?
Well the Sobbat DB-1 Drive Breaker effects pedal just might be the monster to make your dreams come true. This pedal rocks - especially for single coil pickups, and its’ four knobs make it as easy as something really easy to deal out a range of sounds as wide as Britney Spears. We really love the way this pedal splits out control of the bass and treble frequencies. It sounds better than my dogs dinner!
I wrote a bit about Sobbat in the last post. If you can’t be bothered reading that, Sobbat is a little company based in Kyoto, Japan who have been making spanking effects pedals since 1995. They rock. If you want to hear some sound samples of the Sobbat DB-1 Drive Breaker in action check out the DB-1 page at the Sobbat website. Or, I found this video of the DR-1 in action on youtube: Sobbat Drive Breaker DB-1 Test.
We have one up for sale on ebay if you are interested. The current price is US$129 and the page is here: Sobbat DB-1 Drive Breaker Stomp Box. Enjoy!
Sobbat is a small boutique style Japanese manufacturer of high quality stomp boxes and effects pedals. Founded in the former Japanese capital of Kyoto in 1995, Sobbat has built a reputation for making some really fine pedals that are being used by some of the big names in the guitar world today for both live performance and in the studio. Satisfied Sobbat shredders include Richie Kotzen, Steve Vai, John Jorgenson and if you listen to their live performances or their recorded music you should be able to discern their Sobbat sound.
The Sobbat website - www.sobbat.com is in both English and Japanese. It is pretty rough but has lots of sound samples that are well worth checking out. I guess it is a good thing they make effects pedals rather than websites!
Here are a couple of links to videos for your viewing pleasure from the Sobbat website:
Sobbat make the following pedals and the following links will take you to the pages for each effects pedal:
Drive Breaker 1
Drive Breaker 2
Drive Breaker 3
Drive Breaker 4
Drive Breaker Bass
Fuzz Breaker 1
Fuzz Breaker 2R
Fuzz Breaker 3
Fuzz Breaker 4
Phase Breaker 1
Phase Breaker 2
A/B Breaker 1
Glow-Vibe
Sobbat is well worth checking out if you are looking for professional sound quality at reasonable prices. Their web site has details on how to buy their effects pedals and prices range from around US$140 to US$210. Nice!
It aint made in Japan and it aint vintage but this Boss TR-2 stomp box is cheap. Standard 3 pot set-up with controls for rate, wave and depth this effects pedal is really easy to use, and being Boss will probably outlast the cockroaches in the unlikely event of a nuclear attack. It does dampen output a bit so some people recommend modding this pedal to remove the C4 capacitor. But if tremolo is your ‘thang’ then you can’t go to far wrong with the Boss Tremolo TR-2.
The Boss Tremolo TR-2 stomp box is still being manufactured by Boss. Their website has this to say about the TR-2 effector:
The BOSS TR-2 Tremolo is designed to provide guitarists with classic tremolo effects in an easy-to-use compact pedal. Dedicated “Wave,” “Rate,” and “Depth” knobs provide a multitude of effect possibilities.
- Provides guitarists with high-quality vintage tremolo effects in an easy-to-use compact pedal
- Dedicated “Wave,” “Rate” and “Depth” knobs allow for precise effect tailoring
- “Rate” control allows for higher speed adjustment than BOSS’ classic PN-2
- “Wave” control alters LFO waveform from triangle to square
- “Depth” control determines the strength of the effect
The Tremolo pictured is up for auction on Yahoo auction Japan. With 13 hours to go, the asking price is a mere 3000 yen. Factor in about $20 for shipping from Japan and that is an excellent price for a second hand effector like this. You can follow the auction here: Boss TR-2 Tremolo Effects Pedal auction.
We just got in some more effects pedals that we will be putting up for sale over the next week or so. Have to test them first - but here is a list:
Yamaha Graphic EQ GE10-M2
Yamaha Overdrive OD10-M2
Yamaha Multiband Distortion MBD-20M
Guyatone Digital-D 12 bit Delay
Guyatone Compression Sustainer
Guyatone Loop & Gate Double Effect
Boss Digital Pitch Shifter/PS-2 Delay (Taiwan model)
Maxon Digital Chorus DC-01
One of the really nice things about doing this business, is being able to play a wide range of effects pedals.
If you are interested in the above pedals, send us a message via the contact page and we will see what we can do for you.
Thanks for taking the time to pop into the Aqua Effector Blog. We are planning to use this blog to have a bit of fun. We want to post different videos of various artists and musicians here to showcase some of the many different sounds out there. Of course we will feature effects pedals, because effects pedals are what this site is all about. But we also want to include videos of bands and musicians that rock, that get us going.
Being based in Japan, and selling mostly made in Japan effects pedals, it is natural that we also want to show off some of the more interesting and totally flavorsome acts that spring from the Land of the Rising Sun. One of the Aqua Effector team is from New Zealand and he has been a fan of what is known as the Flying Nun sound for more years than he cares to admit so New Zealand music will also get its chance to shine. And then there are the rock classics that one cant live without.
We also want to showcase new bands from around the world. Especially our customers:) So if you have bought a pedal from us, send us some pics (or some video that would rock) and we will put it up. We will also post when and where you are playing. If you haven’t bought one of our effects pedals yet, then that doesn’t matter - if we like what you do, then we may just write about you as well.
Shouts,
The Aqua Effector Team
