The best selling Boss pedal ever, Waza-fied! The standard mode is a higher quality component version of the DS-1, while the custom is a louder, higher gain and ever so slightly more 'middy' take on the pedal.I own a few of these Waza pedals, and this is the one I keep skipping the switch in the middle; from S to C and back again the most. If I want to get a thick, unrestrained, so bad it's good, pure, gnarly, Nirvana-esque distortion, I use this on a clean channel of an amp and crank the gain in the Standard mode. If I want a great, single note / shreddy Vai/Satriani esque lead tone, I use the Custom mode but restrain the Distortion a little on a driven / dirty amp.You can find many sounds from this, and with only 3 knobs, it isn't going to be too hard to find one ... MoreThe best selling Boss pedal ever, Waza-fied! The standard mode is a higher quality component version of the DS-1, while the custom is a louder, higher gain and ever so slightly more 'middy' take on the pedal.I own a few of these Waza pedals, and this is the one I keep skipping the switch in the middle; from S to C and back again the most. If I want to get a thick, unrestrained, so bad it's good, pure, gnarly, Nirvana-esque distortion, I use this on a clean channel of an amp and crank the gain in the Standard mode. If I want a great, single note / shreddy Vai/Satriani esque lead tone, I use the Custom mode but restrain the Distortion a little on a driven / dirty amp.You can find many sounds from this, and with only 3 knobs, it isn't going to be too hard to find one that suits you - love it!

Best Distortion I have owned

I owned one of these back in the nineties but lent it out and never saw it again! But it was the best distortion pedal i ever used. I have not found a compatible replacement. This pedal has excellent tone and easy to use controls. I have several pedals from BOSS and they are very reliable. I am glad that I purchased this pedal again and I am looking forward to using it for a long time.

Bought on the strength of

Bought on the strength of good reviews about this Waza incarnation of a classic Boss pedal. I do not have any of the older models to compare it to, but can get some very Nirvana-ey sounds from it. Custom mode is pretty good with more midrange and more volume than the standard. My only gripe is that both modes sound quieter at max volume in comparison to my other pedals. Apart from that I love it

Complete P/A in a pedal!

Great all in one pedal! I have always been reluctant to use anything "All in one". I resisted this ever since it was rolled out. I have used passive speakers driven by powered heads, Mini passive mixers into powered speakers and Acoustic guitar amps. I tried them all. I am a professional singer/guitar player who has a solo acoustic act. I play A Martin M-36 and a Martin 000-18 both with K&K Pure mini passive Pickups, and I also play a Taylor 814ce. I had been using a Soundcraft UI-16 into a 10" QSC powered speaker for a few years and I bought this for a spare in case my Mixer ever went down. Just for kicks I decided to try it one night just to make sure it was back up and gig worthy. After dialing in the sound with the simple EQ settings I was up and running. The ... MoreGreat all in one pedal! I have always been reluctant to use anything "All in one". I resisted this ever since it was rolled out. I have used passive speakers driven by powered heads, Mini passive mixers into powered speakers and Acoustic guitar amps. I tried them all. I am a professional singer/guitar player who has a solo acoustic act. I play A Martin M-36 and a Martin 000-18 both with K&K Pure mini passive Pickups, and I also play a Taylor 814ce. I had been using a Soundcraft UI-16 into a 10" QSC powered speaker for a few years and I bought this for a spare in case my Mixer ever went down. Just for kicks I decided to try it one night just to make sure it was back up and gig worthy. After dialing in the sound with the simple EQ settings I was up and running. The sound is right on par with any mixer or amp I have ever used. The vocal harmonies were jut as good as my trusty Digitech Vocal 2 I've used for 20 years. I pretty much found a use for every knob on this pedal. Great sounding reverb for both vocal and guitar, The guitar chorus sounds great and the looper works good also with the addition of a Boss FS-5U switch to as an off switch for loops. The only button I never use is the pitch correction. Fast forward a few months and I sold all my PA mixers and use only this pedal for a PA. My live rig is now Mic/Guitar into this pedal *into a 10 inch powered speaker. That's it! * The only caveat is: With The K&K Pure mini passive, there is an impedance mis-match with this pedal (as well as many other powered speakers and amps) if you plug a K&K guitar directly into the guitar input.This is NOT the fault of this pedal. It's fine with my Taylor, but the sound will "cut-out" with hard strumming or heavy bass notes with the K&K unless....I put a boss pedal BEFORE the input of this pedal. You can use a Tuner or pretty much any pedal and it will correct the impedance going into this pedal. I use A Boss EQ and have no issues.

Finally, a multi effect to keep!

I have been buying and selling multi effects for many years. I loved them all, even the silly ones such as the RP50, 505, ME30..too many. I guess my favorites were the Korg AX3000G(which I thought was ahead of its time) and the Digitech RP500(awesome reverbs, mods and filters),and even some Pods for their amp sims too. Yes yes.. they all had their short comings in different avenues.. Boss reliability is were a part of Ny early playing days since the 80s..and to this day, I use Boss single pedals almost exclusively as my main rig. I just love the simplicity of their individual pedals and this unit is the only one that comes close in terms of the logic of its settings. I love KNOBS, and the ME80 has plenty to go around with. SIMPLICITY is the key . No more scrolling ... MoreI have been buying and selling multi effects for many years. I loved them all, even the silly ones such as the RP50, 505, ME30..too many. I guess my favorites were the Korg AX3000G(which I thought was ahead of its time) and the Digitech RP500(awesome reverbs, mods and filters),and even some Pods for their amp sims too. Yes yes.. they all had their short comings in different avenues.. Boss reliability is were a part of Ny early playing days since the 80s..and to this day, I use Boss single pedals almost exclusively as my main rig. I just love the simplicity of their individual pedals and this unit is the only one that comes close in terms of the logic of its settings. I love KNOBS, and the ME80 has plenty to go around with. SIMPLICITY is the key . No more scrolling up n down a screen on the floor which I can hardly see.Now is the ME80 the best sounding multi-effect out there? No sir! With all the current technologies which can produce units such as The Kemper, Fractals, Boss GT1000, and other high res IR capable units from Zoom and Line 6(including some very capable Chinese newcomers), the ME80 can be seen as kind of outdated to some, The ME80 is certainly not what the top guns use these days, especially when occupying an arena concert stages I'm sure(but I bet they still use one or two boss pedals in their rig lol)..Also, Let's not forget that the ME80 initial introduction day to the world was just about eight years ago.. shall we? But guess what, it's still alive and kicking! And that is exactly why you still see it here for sake in 2022 ar least until Boss comes out with some new monster that can handle the GT1000 chipsets and adding more KNOBS to its chassis. The ME80 is gorgeous, it sounds good, and it has a personality. It also has more to offer than its predecessors such as the ME50/70..I mean, the addition of a separate footswitch for reverb,EQ and a simple patch recall??I would recommend this unit for any small club or a tight rehearsal space for a quick setup and a speedy wrap-up after a show, when it's finally time to go home, no patch cables required.I AM KEEPING THIS ONE FOR MYSELF! Till I get to warm up for Bruno Mars(not happening soon lol),My main Boss rig is staying home, and that goes to my crybaby and the Budda volume pedal with all them patch cables entourage.

Fun and Unique Pedal

I've been wanting to try this pedal out for years. It's such a weird and fascinating device. Fair warning to bassists that like to play chords, most of the sound modes don't respond to chords and when playing more than one note at a time jumps around between the notes and octaves. It gives an interesting effect, though, so some could see this as an extra treat. I don't mind it personally because a lot of synths like the ones they model the sounds after have that single-note limitation, I don't remember what the technical term is if there is one.Anyway, this pedal has a lot of great synth sounds from square wave to saw, pulse modulation, etc. Some modes turn your bass's note spectrum a whole octave lower. The sound quality is pretty great and the range is pretty ... MoreI've been wanting to try this pedal out for years. It's such a weird and fascinating device. Fair warning to bassists that like to play chords, most of the sound modes don't respond to chords and when playing more than one note at a time jumps around between the notes and octaves. It gives an interesting effect, though, so some could see this as an extra treat. I don't mind it personally because a lot of synths like the ones they model the sounds after have that single-note limitation, I don't remember what the technical term is if there is one.Anyway, this pedal has a lot of great synth sounds from square wave to saw, pulse modulation, etc. Some modes turn your bass's note spectrum a whole octave lower. The sound quality is pretty great and the range is pretty wide. I've played it through a 15 watt Ibanez practice bass amp and it still sounds like a real bass synth without any significant loss in quality or intensity. It's the perfect pedal for someone like me who loves the sounds of synths, likes to add bass synths to their recordings, and isn't so great at keyboard. I'm mainly a guitarist with a lot of bass experience as well and so recording/writing music with guitar/bass makes more sense for my mind. Now I can write and play bass synth riffs without having to program midi whenever I run into a tricky melody.Also, I figured this pedal was going to be like a matte dark grey, but it's a very shiny and attracted silver. It's one of the coolest looking pedals on my rig now.

Review of Boss DS-1W Waza Craft Distortion Pedal

A fantastic job by Boss to re-issue the DS1 under their Waza range (a range I really like). The DS1 is a very love/hate pedal as it all depends on what kind of amplifier you use and how much drive you want to kick up with it.This isn't really a "amp in a box" style distortion, as there are plenty of other pedals that do that better. But used as a booster infront of a tube amp (already breaking up with plenty of mid-range), it really shines!Great response to picking dynamics with enough sustain for lead playing fluently ; I can see why the DS1 remains on so many pro player boards across the world (Satriani, Vai, etc.)!The custom mod is nice too as it adds more mid-range and headroom to produce a more ballsy distortion. I find myself toggling between the two ... MoreA fantastic job by Boss to re-issue the DS1 under their Waza range (a range I really like). The DS1 is a very love/hate pedal as it all depends on what kind of amplifier you use and how much drive you want to kick up with it.This isn't really a "amp in a box" style distortion, as there are plenty of other pedals that do that better. But used as a booster infront of a tube amp (already breaking up with plenty of mid-range), it really shines!Great response to picking dynamics with enough sustain for lead playing fluently ; I can see why the DS1 remains on so many pro player boards across the world (Satriani, Vai, etc.)!The custom mod is nice too as it adds more mid-range and headroom to produce a more ballsy distortion. I find myself toggling between the two modes as they both sound goooood!Overall, a very good pedal if used correctly!

The Classic Distortion Pedal

Although I'm well experienced in live rock guitar, a dedicated distortion pedal is completely new to me. I had 2 overdrives on my pedal board but missed the heavy distortion of my yesteryear days. (Think "fuzz box"). This filled that gap replacing one of my distortions. I noticed I didn't quite cut through the mix as well, but I think that's because I'm still learning how to best use it. I also didn't get as much volume boost as with the overdrives. I'm sure that's because of the different way the pedals work. I'm really looking forward to playing with it more. Great sound for me.

Things Have Changed

I have been an acoustic/electric guitar. harmonica, and vocals solo gig for a little over three decades. I have wanted to break into the solid body electric guitar scene for that long also because people say I play my acoustic/electrics (Gibson and Epiphone Jumbos) like they're Strats. I could never feel enough "strong backing" when I tried plugging my Strat into my amps. The Boss ME 80 changed that about three weeks ago.I used it with my Strat one weekend and with of all things, a Steinberger Spirit (headless) the next weekend.People were showing up from blocks away trying to find "the live band" and were surprised to find a single guitar doing all that. I have reached that point I've been trying to reach for all those years. And I just bought an SG a few minutes ... MoreI have been an acoustic/electric guitar. harmonica, and vocals solo gig for a little over three decades. I have wanted to break into the solid body electric guitar scene for that long also because people say I play my acoustic/electrics (Gibson and Epiphone Jumbos) like they're Strats. I could never feel enough "strong backing" when I tried plugging my Strat into my amps. The Boss ME 80 changed that about three weeks ago.I used it with my Strat one weekend and with of all things, a Steinberger Spirit (headless) the next weekend.People were showing up from blocks away trying to find "the live band" and were surprised to find a single guitar doing all that. I have reached that point I've been trying to reach for all those years. And I just bought an SG a few minutes ago from Musician's Friend to help celebrate!

Way more functions than I will ever use!!!

This system is way more than just some pedal effects!!! This system is completely programable or can be used totally manually. Pre-Amp, EQ, Distortion, Overdrive, Corus, Delay, looper, Expression pedal and so much more!!! The price to purchase all these pedals separately is far more than the cost of this system and here you have it all in one. No pedal board, 10 patch cables (each adding noise!) and separate power supplies or dead batteries. One note, it is battery driven or you can buy a PS separately. Because this is also programable, with the touch of one switch you can switch between any group of effects and settings and there are 36 preset programs and 36 completely customizable programs. There is also a looper with recording up to 38 seconds. This thing has so ... MoreThis system is way more than just some pedal effects!!! This system is completely programable or can be used totally manually. Pre-Amp, EQ, Distortion, Overdrive, Corus, Delay, looper, Expression pedal and so much more!!! The price to purchase all these pedals separately is far more than the cost of this system and here you have it all in one. No pedal board, 10 patch cables (each adding noise!) and separate power supplies or dead batteries. One note, it is battery driven or you can buy a PS separately. Because this is also programable, with the touch of one switch you can switch between any group of effects and settings and there are 36 preset programs and 36 completely customizable programs. There is also a looper with recording up to 38 seconds. This thing has so many settings!!! I just got it and am moving through each of the effects one at a time but the stored programs are great too!!! Do not go out and buy a pedal!!! Got a Strat and want a Les Paul? It even has a setting to make your single coils sound like Humbuckers! And the other way around!!! I think it will even make your french fries taste like onion rings!!! GET THEM ALL HERE!!! I just plugged my ES-335 in and WOW what a sound! Haven't even tried the USB on the PC to see what else I can do with it yet...