Handily combining reverb and delay, the Boss Digital Reverb / Delay RV-3 effects pedal is a great addition to one’s chain for a wide range of players. Whilst the delay isn’t quite at the level of the sound you can get with a decent analog tape reverb unit and the reverb of course wont take you to the heights a spring reverb will, this beast does provide a wide range of sounds and pro-quality audio output.

The Boss Digital Reverb /Delay RV-3 stomp box is used by a wide range of guitarists from Incubus’ Mike Einziger and Korn’s Munki all the way through to Tom Petty.

Guitargeek had this to say about the RV-3 pedal:

a great all around reverb and delay unit with a ton of options to suit most styles. 11 modes offer various modes of standard delay, delay plus reverb, and straight reverb. Up to 2 seconds of delay and four useful types of reverb (Room 1, Room 2, Hall, and Plate) are fully tweakable. Like most Boss delays, the repeats are crisp & pronounced with a dependable decay. All four reverbs bordered a little on the bright side and we constantly found ourselves rolling a bit of high-end off with the tone knob just to keep things warm. It’s not shrill in any sort of way, we just happen to like our reverb a little darker sounding. The Reverb/Delay combination modes knocked the delay time down to around 1 second but created a thick and washy spaciousness that should send most ambient types and space rockers into the stratosphere.

With so many options it can take a bit of playing around with to get just the right sound you are after and you might even want to take notes while doing so, but with a bit of sweat and shredding the RV-3 is a mighty fine piece of equipment.

We have one up for sale on ebay. It is in almost new condition, with just some sticker residue on the plastic parts and is working fine. US$129 $119, plus $20 dollars shipping world wide. We only have one, and these sell faster than Led Zeppelin tickets (well not really but pretty quick). The ebay page is here: Boss Digital Reverb / Delay @ ebay from Aquaeffector.

No posts for a while - sorry about that! There have been some changes here at Aqua Effector, Kojiro has moved to Saitama (nearer to Tokyo) and I have moved back into the center of Tokyo. It is a bit of a change from living in the country but great to be back in our old stomping grounds.

We are still sourcing and selling vintage and rare effects pedals and musical equipment from within Japan for customers around the world. Kojiro is handling sales as well at the moment. We have a couple of exciting projects we are working on for 2008 and will post more about that later on. In the meantime, keep on rocking!

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.

If you liked the Boss CS-1 Compression Sustainer we just blogged about then you are really going to love this beauty: an original Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble stop box in cracking nick. There is another one of these up for auction at ebay currently, if you are interested: I don’t know the seller, but he has great feedback and seems reliable.

Guitargeek have this to say about the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble:

The Holy Grail of all chorus pedals! Boss issued the CE-1 back in the late 70s and early 80s and nobody has come close to matching its captivating chorus sound since. It is a sexy grey box of sculpted metal with a choice of either chorus or true pitch shifting vibrato. Its’ warm analog circuitry really has to be heard to be appreciated. The CE-1’s chorus has a depth of character that truly fuses with your guitar sound instead off simply sitting on top of it like the annoying metallic shimmer of most modern units. As for the Vibrato section, it is absolutely stunning in capturing the wobbly magic of the Magnatone vibratos of the late 50s and early 60s. To top off the praise, the built-in power supply and lengthy AC cord are certainly a welcome addition in our current world of annoying wall warts.

This Boss CE-1 is up for auction at Yahoo auctions Japan. You can check out the auction here: Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble auction. The current price is 49,500 yen (not cheap) and the auction has another 12 hours to run

Ah, if only the missus hadn’t spend all our money on tickets to England to see Led Zeppelin reunited again!

Black label, silver screw and made in Japan. Everything you look for when you look for Boss effects pedals - and this Boss CS-1 Compression Sustainer pedal has all that and it comes with the original box and pedal manual (in Japanese of course) and it has barely a scratch on it. Wow, what a great pedal!

Opinions vary greatly on the Boss CS-1 Compression Sustainer: but if you read between the lines you can quickly see the guitarists who have been using an original Japanese model and those who have been forced at gunpoint to use a Taiwan model. Comparing the two is almost the same as comparing the acting abilities of Samuel L. Jackson with those of George W. Bush - they just aren’t even in the same ball park.

This pedal rocks for those on fairly distorted lead channels looking for a boost in their solos.

It is, like most of the pedals we feature here up for auction at Yahoo! Japan: Boss CS-1 Compression Sustainer auction. As I write there are 12 hours left on the auction, and the current price is 15,800 yen. Not bad for a CS-1 in this condition.

Never seen one of these before? I haven’t either…

I know National put out a fuzz wah a long time ago but this is the first time I have seen a volume pedal from National. This one looks like it has been kicking around for about 30 years. Still working fine according to the seller on Yahoo Auctions. Very very rare.

You can check out the auction here: National Volume Pedal. 8 hours to go and the asking price is 45,000 yen. Not cheap for a volume pedal - but for something as rare and vintage as this Japanese effects pedal curiosity well worth it.

This is a beautiful Vintage DOD Overdrive Preamp 250:

Only 10 hours left on the auction, and the price is currently at 80,000 yen - and that will only go up! For its’ age this DOD 250 is in excellent condition, and comes with the original warranty card, as well as a box which has been well taped up.

The DOD Overdrive Preamp 250 is one of the finest vintage pedals in its class and they are pretty hard to find. Very warm sound like Eric Clapton at the height of his career with Cream - this pedal rocks!

You can check out the Vintage DOD Overdrive Preamp 250 auction at Yahoo Auctions Japan.

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