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BOSS 40th anniversary hand wired pedals

2K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  zontar 
#1 ·
New old stuff from boss, PH-1, OD-1, and SP-1 all hand wired in Japan according to Reverb.com


I hope to see a
 
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#4 ·
I made myself a clone, and it's a nice pedal. It is essentially an SD-1, with a fixed treble rolloff and no variable tone control. It has the same weaknesses as the SD-1 and TS-9, namely not as much bass as some players would like, but that's easily fixed. I quite like the resulting sound from feeding a Phase 90 (clone) into an OD-1. Very Trower.
 
#11 ·
Is the exorbitant cost because the hand wiring skills of the Japanese are that much more elevated than the Americans?! Good grief. All the more reason to shop Canadian. Go and support Southampton Pedals, SolidGoldFX, Empress.... rant over :)
You mean all those Canadian companies that still list sales in US funds? Support whoever makes a pedal you want! It doesn't need to be based on borders.
 
#12 ·
At least with the Waza pedals, your dollars would purchase additional options and mods. With these, all your money really buys is work for somebody in Japan. I don't get the point of that. It's not like a hand-soldered joint will "sound better" than a wave-soldered joint, and it's not like the components are hand-selected or anything. I'm also unaware of anything that was included in those pedals that is not available anymore. Maybe a little harder to find (e.g., MC3403 quad op-amps, or 2SK30-GR FETs), but not any sort of unobtanium, and not hard to find in the quantities that that sort of price-point would anticipate.

When it comes to amps, "hand-wired" can make a difference, because the leads between tube sockets can be run in a manner that reduces hum and noise. But when it comes to pedals, all it really provides is labour costs.
 
#14 ·
Yep, I think it's all to do with the 'handwired' hype in amps - generated by internet one-upsmanship more than for any technical or sonic reasons. Personally, I wouldn't pay a penny extra for one of these v one of their assembly line pedals. No real advantage to this.

Most people seem motivated purely because the want to tell everyone they have a 'hand-wired' amp or pedal (or guitar cab LOL). Most refer to tag board amps as PTP because that's what they've heard is the coolest so that's what they want. They don't even understand the underlying tech or why one would be better than the other.

There are some advantages to hand-wired tag board amps, but there are some advantages to hand-wired PCB or machine-popped and wave-soldered PCB. There are no advantages to PTP construction - some are a complete nightmare to work on. And yet, it's what everyone thinks they want, because they've heard it's the coolest.

You mentioned reducing hum by running wires certain ways. That's easier to be consistent with PCB's than hand-wiring. The PCB's are designed with trace layout to minimize noise while with hand-wiring, you are relying on the person doing the labor to know where exactly to run the wires. And are they listening and tweaking after they run the wires to minimize the noise or is it just cookie-cutter stamping out amps.

Really, do you even know who built your amp? Are you sure some of these boutique guys are actually wiring their own amps? Some guys are having their 'handmade' amps made by a factory - one at least specializing in amps. How much are the namesakes involved in their amps anymore? Dave Friedman spends a couple days a week testing each amp made in that factory, so at least he still wants to take pride in each build. But what about some of the others?
 
#15 ·
The hand-wired amp thing is not hype, but it becomes hype when misapplied in other contexts. People still wax poetic about the layout in old Hi-Watt amps. The layout of components and wires are done in a manner to optimize sound and also facilitate servicing. That's also part of what enhances the perception of point-to-point as something special. And like I say, in the case of tube amps it IS something special, that is a joy to behold when not done haphazardly. In the case of PCBs for pedals, it is moot, for precisely the reasons you indicate: if the board is properly laid out, then every single copy of that pedal is laid out properly, and no one has a=to allocate special attention. If the amp is P-to-P, then someone has to pay attention to the fabrication and wiring of each and every amp because no robotic arm is going to do it..
 
#17 ·
The hand-wired amp thing is not hype, but it becomes hype when misapplied in other contexts. People still wax poetic about the layout in old Hi-Watt amps. The layout of components and wires are done in a manner to optimize sound and also facilitate servicing. That's also part of what enhances the perception of point-to-point as something special. And like I say, in the case of tube amps it IS something special, that is a joy to behold when not done haphazardly. In the case of PCBs for pedals, it is moot, for precisely the reasons you indicate: if the board is properly laid out, then every single copy of that pedal is laid out properly, and no one has a=to allocate special attention. If the amp is P-to-P, then someone has to pay attention to the fabrication and wiring of each and every amp because no robotic arm is going to do it..
It wasn't hype when that's how they just built stuff - the tech du jour as it was. Case in point, those old Hi Watt tag board amps (I've never seen a PTP Hi Watt). I'm sure you've seen the wiring. It was a work of art, and for no other reason than they took pride in doing nice, clean wiring. Wire lacing like that is a lost art. Old Tektronix stuff had some amazing wire lacing as well. But they didn't market that aspect of their equipment, everything was built using similar tech, some just had more attention to detail than others.

It now seems more about marketing than anything. There are ways of building things just as well, with just as much quality and just as good components, for less money and more consistently. With the exception of very small builders that don't build enough to justify PCB's, it is hype, IMO. No doubt, they can be easier to repair and modify for some, but a well laid out, high quality PCB of similar complexity is no harder to work on, IME. There's so much 'word of mouth' out there about how PCB's can't be repaired or mod'd, don't sound as good, etc. by people who don't have any experience in that end of things. That is my definition of hype.
 
#18 ·
I have a friend who used to have one of the Spectrum pedals--but he got rid of it because he didn't quite get the point of it.
Later on he regretted that & IF you could find one they wanted an arm & a leg for it.
So hearing they have re-issued it for the anniversary I thought he might be into that--even if it costs a bit more than a new Boss pedal.
Still probably cheaper than the rare used one.
But seeing those prices--he will most likely continue to be Spectrum-less

I do have a MIJ PH 1 though.
 
#20 ·
I've tried out some of the Behringer clones-and never been happy with any of them, poor tracking & noisy, etc.
But I have never tried the Spectrum clone.
 
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