Tips & Tricks

October 22, 2020

How To Amplify Your Acoustic To Play Live

Eric Holden Artists, Product News, Tips & Tricks Acoustic guitar, Acoustic Singer Amp, BOSS effects, Effects Pedals, guitar, recording, vocals

So you’ve honed your acoustic guitar chops, and you want to take your playing to the stage!

Acoustic guitars sound great, but by their very definition they’re, well, acoustic – so if you want your audience in the club, café or bar to hear what you’re playing on your acoustic guitar, you have to amplify it.

If you’re looking to take your live playing to the next level, here are a few different ways to amplify your pickup-equipped acoustic guitar for live performance, and the pros and cons depending on what your needs are. With a bit of research you can determine what works best for you, your sound and your intended audience. Let’s go!

Contributed by Peter Hodgson for the Roland Blog

March 28, 2018

Small and Mighty: The GT-1B Bass Effects Processor

Jim Bybee Tips & Tricks acoustic bass, auto-wah, Bass, bass amp, bass compressor, bass distortion, bass overdrive, bass preamp, Chorus, compressor, Delay, distortion, echo, electric bass, five-string bass, fretless, funk, multieffects, OverDrive, preamp, recording, six-string bass, slap, touch wah, upright bass

The Ultimate Mobile Tone Companion for Bass Players

BOSS GT-1B Bass Effects Processor.

If you’re a gigging bass player, you know how beneficial it is to travel as light as possible. With BOSS’s GT-1B, you have all the tone-shaping tools you need in an ultra-portable device that fits easily in your instrument or gear bag. This compact powerhouse is loaded with pro-quality preamps and effects specially tuned for bass, and it even runs on batteries for the ultimate mobile convenience. Read on to learn more about the deep features this streamlined bass machine has to offer.

November 22, 2017

Katana Version 2 Update Now Available

Jim Bybee Product News, Tips & Tricks acoustic amp, BD-2, Blues Driver, brown sound, Chorus, DD-500, DD-7, Delay, distortion, effects, firmware, GA-FC, guitar, octave, OD-1, OverDrive, phaser, pitch, recording, reverb, SD-1, Stompbox, Van Halen, Waza

More Tone Settings, Expanded Effects, Enhanced DI Options, and Other New Features for the Katana Guitar Amp Series

The recently released Katana Version 2 update takes BOSS’s popular guitar amp series to new levels of performance and versatility. Free for owners of compatible Katana amps, the system software update adds many user-requested features, including new effects types, doubled onboard effects capacity, twice the number of Tone Settings, enhanced direct output options, and more.

Read on to find out more about this powerful new update.

November 6, 2017

DD-500 Version 2 Software Update Released

Jim Bybee Product News, Tips & Tricks analog delay, Bass, Binson Echorec, DD-2, DD-20, DD-3, DD-7, Delay, Digital Delay, dm-2, DM-2W, DM-3, echoplex, feedback, guitar, Loop, Looper, MD-500, recording, RV-500, SDE-2000, sde-3000, shimmer, Slow Gear, tape echo, Tera Echo, Vintage, vocals

Feature-Packed Update for BOSS’s Flagship Digital Delay Pedal

BOSS DD-500 Digital Delay.

Offering exceptional 32-bit/96 kHz sound quality, 12 delay modes, deep editing, versatile real-time controls, and more, the DD-500 is the most advanced digital delay pedal ever created. Now, with the new Version 2 update, this delay juggernaut has just been infused with even more creative power. Filled with updated algorithms, enhanced features, and all-new functionality, Version 2 software is a must-have for all DD-500 owners. Read on to learn more about this free user-installable update.

September 13, 2017

BOSS 500 Series: Extraordinary Sounds, Massive Creative Power

Jim Bybee Product News, Tips & Tricks analog delay, CE-1, CE-2, Chorus, compact pedal, DD-20, DD-500, DD-7, Delay, dm-2, echo, effects, ES-5, ES-8, Flanger, leslie, MD-500, MDP, Multi Overtone, overtone, pedalboard, phaser, reverb, ring modulator, rotary, RV-500, shimmer reverb, Slicer, Space Echo, Stompbox, Tremolo, Uni-Vibe, VB-2, vibe, vibrato

Supercharge Your Pedalboard with the RV-500 Reverb, MD-500 Modulation, and DD-500 Digital Delay

Meet the BOSS 500 Series: RV-500 Reverb, MD-500 Modulation, and DD-500 Digital Delay.

BOSS’s powerhouse trio of 500-series stompboxes bring a huge amount of creative power to any musician’s stage or studio rig. Since its debut in 2015, the DD-500 Digital Delay has been praised everywhere for its outstanding sound quality, deep editing capabilities, intuitive interface, and expressive real-time control. The recently released RV-500 Reverb and MD-500 Modulation carry on the benchmark set by the DD-500, delivering BOSS’s advanced effects processing technologies in the same pedalboard-friendly design.

All pedals in the BOSS 500 series feature class-leading 32-bit AD/DA and 32-bit/96 kHz audio quality, a wide selection of highly musical effects algorithms, and much more. Read on to learn about the many benefits that these amazing pedals can bring to your setup.

March 30, 2017

BOSS Katana Amp Workshop Tour

Jim Bybee Industry, Tips & Tricks brown sound, Chorus, compact pedal, Delay, distortion, guitar, Guitar Amp, OverDrive, recording, reverb, Stompbox, tube, Tube Logic, Waza Amp, Waza Craft

Coming to Your Local Guitar Center in April and May—RSVP Today

Ever since the BOSS Katana amps were released last fall, the international guitar community has been buzzing about the lineup’s outstanding mix of sound quality, feel, versatility, and value. If you want to find out more about this groundbreaking amp series in person, now’s a great time. BOSS is presenting the Katana amp workshop tour, which will be visiting Guitar Center locations across the U.S throughout April and May 2017.

At each workshop, BOSS experts will demonstrate the Katana amps and share the inside story behind the innovative technologies that make them such powerful products. You’ll also be able to ask questions and try out the amps for yourself. Read on to find out more about the schedule and how to reserve a spot when a Katana amp workshop comes to your area.

December 29, 2016

BOSS Tone Studio Editor for the Katana Guitar Amplifier Series

Jim Bybee Tips & Tricks Chorus, compact amp, Delay, distortion, echo, editor, eight-string, Flanger, guitar, librarian, OverDrive, phaser, practice amp, recording, seven-string, software, stage amp, tube amp, Tube Logic, valve amp, wah

Unlock the Full Potential of Your Katana Amp

BOSS Tone Studio allows you to access many additional functions inside a Katana amp.

With its ultra-responsive feel, gig-ready tones, and versatile onboard effects, the affordable BOSS Katana series is taking the guitar amplifier world by storm. By design, all Katana amps feature an instantly familiar interface that makes it easy to dial in and save great sounds on the fly. But there’s even more power under the hood, and it’s all accessible via the free BOSS Tone Studio editor. Read on as we check out all the cool things you can do with this powerful editor for the Katana amp series.

December 28, 2016

Sef from Your Favorite Enemies with the ES-8 Effects Switcher and DD-500 Delay

Jim Bybee Tips & Tricks Bass, compact pedal, Delay, effect pedal, effects, effects order, guitar, loop switcher, MIDI, programmable, recording, Sef, Stompbox, sync, tap tempo, vocals, Your Favorite Enemies

An Effects Power User Dives Deep with Advanced BOSS Gear

BOSS ES-8 effects switcher

Sef, the lead guitarist for the Canadian alternative band Your Favorite Enemies, is a pedal fanatic. His board is loaded with a massive selection of stompboxes, which he blends together in highly creative ways to craft his diverse guitar textures. Sef recently replaced a simpler effects switcher with the BOSS ES-8, and he’s blown away by all the amazing things he can do with it. In a four-part video series, the guitarist takes an in-depth walkthrough of how he uses the ES-8, complete with step-by-step parameter settings and real-world playing examples. Along the way, he also talks about the advanced capabilities of another new fave, the BOSS DD-500 Digital Delay.

Read on to check out the video series and learn about all the cool things you can do with this advanced BOSS gear.

October 28, 2016

KT Tunstall and the VE-8 Acoustic Singer

Jim Bybee Artists, Tips & Tricks Acoustic guitar, auto-harmony, Bass, Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, effects, guitar, Harmonist, harmony, Loop, Loop Station, Looper, looping, pedal, recording, Singer, songwriter, Stompbox, vocals

Live Looping Performance and Interview

KT Tunstall

Award-winning artist KT Tunstall is well known for her dynamic solo performances that incorporate multi-layered looping with guitar, percussion, and harmonized vocals. Not long ago, she took the new VE-8 Acoustic Singer for a spin and was impressed with having so many useful tools in one package. “It’s just fantastic having your loop, vocal effects, and any guitar effects you want in one little box,” KT said. “And you also have a tuner in there, so you don’t need a separate tuner. It just makes it very quick and easy and simple.”

Read on to check out KT performing her song “Suddenly I See” with the VE-8 and a number of other BOSS effects pedals. After that, KT discusses her musical background and talks about the VE-8.

October 27, 2016

Video Demo: BOSS VO-1 Vocoder Pedal

Jim Bybee Tips & Tricks Bass, choir, compact pedal, guitar, Guitar Synth, recording, robot voice, Stompbox, stompbox vocoder, Synth, Synthesizer, talk box, vocoder, Vocoder Plus, VP-330

Use Your Voice to Enhance the Sound of Guitar, Bass, and Other Instruments

Add a world of fresh new sounds to your arsenal with the BOSS VO-1 Vocoder.

Released earlier this year at the 2016 Winter NAMM Show, the VO-1 Vocoder pedal is one of the most cool and innovative stompboxes to come along in a while. Powered by BOSS’s guitar synth technology, the VO-1 lets you plug in a mic and use your voice to bring tons of new expressive tones to your music. It works great with electric guitars and basses, and is fantastic with keyboards, pickup-equipped acoustics, and other instruments as well. Read on to check out a great demo video that shows off just some of the unique sounds you can achieve with the easy-to-use VO-1.

1 2 3 4 5