Used by such musical luminaries as Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters and Peter Holmstrom from the Dandy Warhols, Boss’ DM-2 delay stomp box is a classic made in Japan early 80’s analog delay pedal.

With a pretty standard three knob set-up, the DM-2 is easy to use (once you get your settings sorted out) and offers a great range of delay effects that can really help build up the mood of your guitar work.

These pedals have become quite hard to find in recent years, and as a result have become more expensive. $100 US is a really great price, so if you can find one grab it!

There are a couple of Boss DM-2 effectors up for auction at Yahoo auction. The one pictured above is going for 15,000 yen (about US $150) while a second Boss DM-2 (in nicer condition) is going for a bit over $200.

You can check out the auctions here:

• Boss DM-2 delay stomp box auction 1
• Boss DM-2 delay stomp box auction 2

The Pearl Distortion Effects Pedal DS-06 is a very rare distortion pedal. Pearl are more famous for their drums but in this pedal they combined a strong distortion sound with a 6 mode Parametric EQ to make an intriguing and useful little number.

We had one of these for sale a while back, and it took a lot longer to sell than we expected. Was the price too high? Or is it because most people don’t know about these pedals? They have a really warm 80’s style distortion sound which is great for alternative rock. It is quite quiet, so it is best early in your chain, but the eq makes this pedal really stand out.

From the Pearl brochure about the DS-06 Distortion Pedal:

The Distortion creates heavy distorted sound. Pearl DS-06 has our original “Spectrum Control” which can create the heavy-metallic sounds and provides better sound projection by adding higher sound spectrum (over-tones) to fundamental distortion tones.

Controls:

Boss’s ME-50 is one of the most popular multi effects pedals for guitar under production at the present time. These come up for auction @ Yahoo.co.jp quite frequently. Here is a photo of a ME-50 currently available:

With 23 hours left to go on the auction, the current top bid is 15,500 yen (about US$150). This will rise a fair bit more before the auction closes! You can check out the auction here: Boss ME-50 Multi Effector Pedal.

For your information, here is what the Boss corp website has to say about the ME-50:

No Nonsense. Just Killer Tone.

The ME-50 Guitar Multiple Effects is a floor-based multi-effects processor built with the ruggedness and simplicity of a stompbox. Designed to work with your amplifier, the ME-50 focuses on killer multi-effects (like COSM® overdrive and distortion) rather than amp modeling. And dialing in your tone is easy, thanks to dedicated knobs for each effect section, three footswitches and a built-in expression pedal. So if you want great-sounding effects without all the menu surfing, the ME-50 is everything you need.

	Floor-based multi-effects processor with BOSS’ most intuitive interface ever
	30 Preset Patches including delay, modulation, reverb, compressor and more
	Killer COSM overdrive/distortion effects including
	Dedicated knobs for each effect section—no menus to navigate!
	Tone Modify function offers Preset EQ settings for quick tone editing
	3 footswitches for switching effects on and off with a single stomp
	Onboard expression pedal pre-routed to 6 modulation options or volume
	Rugged metal case with clear panel layout

There is a Pearl Double Analogue Delay Effects Pedal AD-33 up for sale on Yahoo auctions. We had one up for sale a little while ago, but before we sold it, we had a lot of fun playing around on it.

The Pearl Double Analogue Delay Effects Pedal AD-33 is a very rare distortion pedal with an hysterical, sweet tone which conjures up images of 70’s rock legends 10 Years After or The Grateful Dead.

It has a really useful separate delay setting selector allowing you to have 2 different delay setting at the same time.

This pedal is great for performing live.

Played through single pick ups it produces a wide, bright tone with low noise. But matched with humbacker pickups is where it really shines - producing really fat and strong sounds.

Made in Japan.

DC in 18V. 2 x 9v battery.

This one looks to be in pretty good condition. With 3 days to go bids are at 5000 yen (about US$50!) and there is a buy it now price of 16,000 yen. That is a great price for such a great guitar stomp box. You can check out the auction here: Pearl Double Analogue Delay Effects Pedal AD-33 auction.

A small update - we have moved most of the old posts from the former site of the blog over to the main site here at aqua effector. The old site- blog.aquaeffector.com should redirect you automatically here (just in case you were wondering why you were on this page).

Have a great day!

Wow! Now this is a strange effects pedal. The Boss XT-2 Xtortion pedal was manufactured between August 1996 and December 1998 and may go down in history is being the biggest marketing muck-up in the history of effects pedals. Originally marketed as the perfect distortion pedal for all those black jean wearing basketball booted types out there it is has since become better known as the effect pedal used for anything but that stereotype! Actually this pedal turns out to be something between distortion and fuzz.

These come up on ebay quite often. Here is one on Yahoo auction Japan: Boss XT-2 Xtortion auction. The price at the moment is 15,750 yen or about US$150, but it looks to be in pretty good nick, so maybe it justifies the price. Maybe.

Rereleased by Maxon as a result of demand from musicians, the Maxon CP101 Compressor is a really impressive compressor that offers a sound comparable a Dyna Comp at a much lower cost.

Maxon has this to say about the rereleased model:

The CP101 Compressor provides clean, smooth compression with ultra-low noise and incredible transparency. The CP101’s 4:1 compression ratio is so subtle that it’s easy to forget the unit is on ­ until you turn it off, that is. While it is on you will notice note-to-note levels that are smoother and more consistent, chords and arpeggios that are tighter and more focused, and when used with an overdriven amp, sustain that will last for days. Best of all, you’ll notice minimal coloration to your guitar signal and less of the note-attack alterations so common to other compressors.

At the heart of the CP101’s circuit sits an HTV #P873 CdS (Cadmium Sulfur) Photocoupler. This light-sensitive component varies resistance based on the input signal to control the amp gain, increasing gain as the input signal weakens. Most other current-production compressors accomplish this task using a VCA (voltage controlled amplifier), but the multiple transistors packed into a VCA inevitably lead to high noise levels, which means lots of “hiss” from your rig. The CP101’s optical circuit keeps the noise-floor low - so low that you can run the unit after a distortion and still retain near-silent operation.

With its ultra low-noise level, transparent operation and natural playing response the Maxon CP101 is the perfect compressor for players who hate using compressors.

Also worth checking out is Harmony Central’s collection of reviews of the CP-101.
This offering is an original 1970’s model - and is currently going for 24,800 yen (about US$250). Very nice! You can check out the auction here: Maxon CP101 Compressor Effects Pedal auction.

Here is a Boss DD-2 Digital Delay effects pedal. 21 hours left to go on the auction at Yahoo Japan and the current price is under 3000 yen (less than $30 US). How high will it go? This is a Japan manufactured Boss digital delay. Yahoo Japan is one of the best places to find stomp boxes like this - especially if you are looking for old made in Japan boss pedals.

You can check out the DD-2 auction by clicking on the following link: Boss DD-2 Digital Delay effects pedal @ Yahoo Japan auctions.

There is a nice Roland AF-60 Bee Gee fuzz stomp box up for auction at Yahoo Auctions Japan. The AF-60 is a really hard to find fuzz effects pedal that is no longer being manufactured.

It is very simple to use - with just tone and out-put level controls. As such the sound doesn’t offer much in way of versatility - so this is one of those effects pedals where one either really loves its specific sound or one hates it. The Roland AF-60 Bee Gee fuzz effector has a distinctive analogue lo-fi fuzz sound which to some ears sounds muddy.

This stomp box is up for sale and they are asking 30,000 yen for it. The auction has a couple more days to run. These pedals come up for auction not very often, if you miss this one it isn’t too big a problem - we see these once every 3 to 4 months. Not sure why the pedal is called Bee Gee - something to do with the band of the same name? Despite the name (or because of it) this is one really cool pedal!
You can check out the auction by following this link: Roland AF-60 Bee Gee fuzz stomp box up for auction at Yahoo Auctions Japan.

Arion is a Japanese effects pedal manufacturer who once upon a time had a reputation for making some really high quality stomp boxes that were also really cheap. Those models are made in Japan and have a grey label. The Arion Distortion effect pedal pictured above is not one of these, it is one of the current line of pedals Arion have made in Sri Lanka. I don’t want to sound bad because Sri Lanka is a lovely country, but these pedals are something of a conundrum.

In terms of sound, as a distortion pedal, they do the job but are nothing flash. Still at $30 US they are extremely cheap and if you are looking for something to experiment with, then at that price they have some merit.

You can check out an Arion SD-1 auction at Yahoo auction by clicking on the following link: Arion Distortion SDI-1 Effects Pedal.