NPD: Boss BP-1W

[sal paradise]

I’ve been curious for a while, I nearly bought one on Saturday, and then figured I ask opinions when I popped into Denmark st on Sunday. “Buy one” was the response. So I did.

It’s got loads of character, which is what I was after. Across the three voicing & vol/gain combinations there’s at least 6 usable boost sounds. Loving the RE as a boost with my Tele. The CE is brighter & goes really well with WRHBs. Pushing the gain past halfway isn’t pretty, but halfway is plenty of drive.

I remain confused about always on clean boosts in general. I’m using an attenuator to push my Princeton so it sounds better without using a compressor. It feels like it’s a compressor by a different name? By the time I’ve pushed amp so much, seems like it makes more sense to get another amp (or just increase volume for more gain).

Anyway. All in all, it’s pretty damn cool & I agree with the sentiment of the staff in the shop: “buy one”. It also looks cool. So there.

[GreenKnee]

Very nice, I've been tempted to buy one but can't justify another boost just yet.

In my experience, always on boosts are for amps with a bit more headroom - just for pushing everything that little bit more to push the preamp harder. In a Princeton, as you say, that's easily achieved with the volume knob. When I was using a Twin I found that using an always on boost just pushed the preamp tubes enough to bring the amp to life at reasonable volumes (still very loud though) . Now I'm using the Bassman and it drives at normal volume anyway I'm finding I don't need an always on boost.

I'd be interested to see how the different settings in this Boss boost interact with an already overdriving amp.

[sal paradise]

Very nice, I've been tempted to buy one but can't justify another boost just yet.

In my experience, always on boosts are for amps with a bit more headroom - just for pushing everything that little bit more to push the preamp harder. In a Princeton, as you say, that's easily achieved with the volume knob. When I was using a Twin I found that using an always on boost just pushed the preamp tubes enough to bring the amp to life at reasonable volumes (still very loud though) . Now I'm using the Bassman and it drives at normal volume anyway I'm finding I don't need an always on boost.

I'd be interested to see how the different settings in this Boss boost interact with an already overdriving amp.

The Princeton is gone as of Thursday. Speaker upgrade improved the breakup tone, but it’s just plain farty when I try to layer gain stages. So yes, now I actually understand why people want headroom - it’s not just about amps staying clean at loud volumes.

I’ll try it with the Victory Jack tomorrow & report back on how it performs on a more driven channel. I’ll compare it to the JHS Overdrive preamp, which is a lovely warm sound, and with the prince of tone to get an idea vs tubescreamer type boost.

[JSett]

Very nice, I've been tempted to buy one but can't justify another boost just yet.

In my experience, always on boosts are for amps with a bit more headroom - just for pushing everything that little bit more to push the preamp harder. In a Princeton, as you say, that's easily achieved with the volume knob. When I was using a Twin I found that using an always on boost just pushed the preamp tubes enough to bring the amp to life at reasonable volumes (still very loud though) . Now I'm using the Bassman and it drives at normal volume anyway I'm finding I don't need an always on boost.

I'd be interested to see how the different settings in this Boss boost interact with an already overdriving amp.

I've been doing this with my Champ the last week. Down at 2-3 on the volume it's struggling to sound good but my Micro Amp on about a 5dB makes it sparkle again. It's pretty addictive.

[GreenKnee]

Very cool, the ol' switcheroo really need to find myself a nice, really low wattage valve amp for home

[sal paradise]

Just had a play around with these three pedals across both channels of the V4 Jack. Preamp vol 1 (clean) bottom right, vol 2 (drive) is the control to the left.

The BP1 works equally well over a driven amp. I even prefer it to the prince of tone to tighten the Tele Deluxe with this amp

Clean channel with preamp on full is just at breakup. The JHS overdrive preamp is warm & subtle. The prince of tone is aggressive & trebly. At this setting the BP-1 is literally the best of both: it’s a clear boost with a warm tone & not too much drive. The RE sounds ace with this amp & WRHBs. CE was a bit boomy. The natural setting is totally able, a little less bite than a tubescreamer.

This is a great pedal. It seems to work with clean or driven sounds, where few pedals do both well.