Music is about shared experiences. The feeling of connection you get when someone loves the same music as you do is one we all know. But some gear becomes so universal, so widely adopted and trusted by musicians, that it, too, becomes part of our shared musical experience. The effects pedals made by BOSS over the past 50 years can fairly lay claim to this rare accolade.
Few items of gear are as instantly recognisable as a DS-1, for example, and it’s no surprise because millions have been sold over the years. The genius of BOSS is that its products feel like they belong to everyone – from session pros to metallers, to kids thrashing out their first three-chord punk in the garage.
BOSS pedals are some of the most widely imitated and modded effects in the world, and they also appear on more hit records than you could easily list. Wherever you look in music, you’ll see and hear BOSS gear in action – from Loop Stations to overdrives, from synths to tech-enabled amplifiers.
To celebrate its 50th birthday, BOSS has launched a trio of collectible, limited-edition versions of their most popular and influential compact pedals – the DS-1 Distortion (DS-1-B50A), SD-1 Super Overdrive (SD-1-B50A), and BD-2 Blues Driver (BD-2-B50A) – with a host of unique commemorative features and just 7,000 units available worldwide.
BOSS DS-1-B50A Distortion
It is, quite simply, the best-selling BOSS compact pedal of all time – deployed in a thousand different genres since 1978, putting dynamite under the heels of everyone from Prince to Kurt Cobain.
Whether in the form of the revolutionary original unit or the new DS-1-B50A release with limited-edition finish, there’s more to that iconic orange stompbox than meets the eye.
With BOSS engineers hitting on the masterstroke of a two-stage circuit that incorporated both op-amp and transistor gain stages, the result is a unique, character-rich distortion with full-bodied bottom-end, far removed from the inferior drive pedals of the era.
For open-ended flexibility, the familiar line-up of Tone, Level and Distortion controls lets you dial up anything from subtle boost to room-shaking gain – all while allowing the flavour of your guitar, pickups and amp to shine through. A stone-cold classic, then and now.
BOSS SD-1-B50A Super OverDrive
Having invented the overdrive concept with the OD-1 in 1977, BOSS launched the SD-1 four years later to perfect it.
Crucially, where its big brother had offered two controls, Level and Overdrive, this latest arrival of 1981 raised the sonic options through the roof with an additional Tone dial, letting players cut or boost highs in real time, and all underpinned by a circuit designed to beautifully break up the tone while retaining the intrinsic character of the instrument and the subtleties of the fretwork.
Those revolutionary foundations remain fundamentally unchanged in the SD-1-B50A edition, which, like its stablemates here, has a silver thumbcrew, gold-capped knobs, commemorative anniversary emblem, plus a dedicated four-digit serial number and bespoke packaging.
Of course, it still supplies the glorious harmonic-rich roar that identifies the SD-1 from a single riff – alongside the open-ended tone-shaping that has drawn players as eclectic as Eddie Van Halen, Richie Sambora and Mark Knopfler. If you’ve never welcomed the legend to your pedalboard, now’s the time.
BOSS BD-2-B50A Blues Driver
Don’t be misled by the name: the BD-2 certainly excels at blues and blues-rock, but since 1995 this genre-crossing blue brick has been the drive unit of choice for any guitarist who wants to hear the soul in their fingers.
Channelling classic valve amp distortion, the Blues Driver complements every element of your rig while capturing the playing nuances that lesser filth pedals miss, from the shiver of vibrato to the plectrum attack.
With Level, Gain and Tone controls, the BD-2 is supremely flexible in operation – some players even use it as a simple boost – while finding the sonic sweet spot will reward you with a super-responsive serving of old-school grit.
With A-list exponents spanning from Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood to Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, choose the BD-2‑B50A Blues Driver and you’ll be in good company.
This month, Guitarist magazine includes a free supplement dedicated to 50 Years of BOSS. Click here to download it as a digital version or here for a 'digital page-turner' on Issu.
