Boss FBM-1

What can I say? I mean, it's a stomp box. Stomp it on and dial up your tone. The controls cover bass, mid, and treb. You've also got a presence control, as well as level and gain. It has two inputs, normal and bright, so depending on which one you choose will alter your overall sound. The manual has some suggested settings which make great starting points to find the sound you're looking for, as well as suggested amp settings so the pedal sounds the way it was intended. The manual is definitely a great help to find the sound you need, but if you lose it or if you are buying it used, it's all good. Boss's website, http://bossus.com, lets you download all their manuals free.

I'm running this pedal with a US HWY1 (american) strat, and a Marshall MGHDFX100 solid state amp. I bought this pedal to give more life to my amp. Honestly, I wish I could morf it into the clean channel on my amp head, because I never turn it off. With the gain set properly, it really can sound like a tube amp on the threshold of being over-driven. Pick lightly and it's still clean, but play harder and it begins to distort. And it has a very warm tone. This pedal is not for everyone though. If you have active pups, humbuckers, or an amp that doesn't already have a halfway decent clean channel, beware - try one out first at a music store or something. I play with my neck pup and my strat's tone dialed down to about 3 to get a nice warm bluesy tone. Your amp and your guitar play a major factor in the potential of this pedal. But for me, this pedal compliments my gear like icing on cake, so I give it my highest rating.

"It's BOSS"

Never had to deal with the company... Their customer support is probably either a guy with a phone in a broom closet, or else the most leisure job in the world.

I play more of an alternative bluesy style... I've been playing for ten years or so. Like I said, I wish this pedal was part of my amp because it is always on. If it were stolen or lost I would probably sell some other gear, buy the FBM-1, then re-buy the other gear again - It's that crucial to my sound. I did compare this pedal to two other pedals - the Boss Blues Driver, and the Ibanez Tubescreamer. The reason the FBM-1 won out is that the Blues Driver actually sounds too harsh to me, and the Tubescreamer is meant to overdrive an actual tubeamp, and my Marshall is solidstate. So there ya go. I wouldn't change anything about it, except for the price maybe, because I don't have a thick wallet, but willing to save my pennies for good gear.

More complicated than many Boss pedals - Treble, bass, mid, presence, gain, level, and bright input (in addition to regular input). Gain and level are interactive in that there is no volume when gain is at zero. Diming out the gain with level at, say, 12:00 produces a different distortion tone than diming out the level with gain at 12:00. As a result of this interactivity, there is no way to achieve a completely clean tone, but that???s not what you want from this pedal in any case. The whole point is to get some of that juicy Bassman tone that was never completely clean in the actual amp. Even with all the knobs, it???s easy to dial in. The reality is that you???ll find the sweet spots within fairly narrow parameters, with some small tweaks to the eq and gain/level depending on what you???re playing.

The original Bassman was 50 watts pumped through four 10??? speakers. Running this pedal through a 15 watt 1x10 SS practice amp with cheap speakers isn???t going to get you very far toward the Bassman tone. You need at least a 2x12 to get some mass and presence, for lack of a better way to put it. Not that the pedal won???t work with a small amp ??? it will certainly thicken the tone with juicy overdrive, but it just won???t be very Bassman-like. The pedal works best through a squeaky clean channel. I don???t think it matters much if it???s a tube or SS amp since the pedal provides all the tonal coloration. In fact, it???s supposed to work very well with the Roland Jazz Chorus, which is an SS amp.

I run it with a strat into a Crate Palomino series V50 212 (EL34s, somewhere between a Vox and a Marshall), and tried it with a Vox AD30 modeling amp. It???s redundant through the Vox since that amp has a fairly decent tweed model (surprising, really). Works great through the Crate and gets me a Fender tone out of a British sounding amp, which is exactly what I wanted (well, I really want a Bassman, but that???ll have to wait). It gets me close to Buddy Guy???s tone, which has so far eluded me with all my other pedals. Like a Bassman, it???s thick, rich, and warm with a top end sizzle. I like plugging into the Bright input for the Buddy Guy tone. The normal input can get you into darker sounding, SRV territory. A great blues pedal with a lot of character.

Well built. Never had any problems with other Boss pedals and don???t expect any from this one

Never had to call

With a decent amp and speakers as mentioned above, you can get 75% of the Bassman mojo, and that???s good enough if you don???t have the big bucks the real thing. One of the bad reviews came from a player with a 15 watt SS practice amp. No way you???re going to get much of Bassman tone with that. I ran it through my son???s 30 watt Spider III and it didn???t really work there either. Someone else thought it was too expensive for $150. I would have to agree, but I only paid $69 and for that it???s well worth it. Definitely a keeper and a great tool to get a Fender tone out of a British type amp.

Quite easy to use without manual. Remember to try out both "Bright" and "Normal" inputs.

The knobs are very effective, small tweaks will let you fine-tune your sound.

In both clean and overdrive modes, it does give a tweed Bassman flavour to your amp. Remember, it is recommended that you use this into a clean amp with high headroom, like Roland cubes and JCs.

The overdrive is quite organic and warm.

Have only tried guitars with single-coils, and it sounds good with those guitars. Dunno about humbuckers.

It's a Boss.

I always thought it was a gimmick for Boss to try to put a tweed Bassman into a pedal. Never tried one until I got the tweed Bassman bug recently and thought of it.

I played a couple of tweed Bassmans before and my impression was that they needed to be turned up way too loud to get any tone cooking.

That's where this pedal comes in. It can simulate the overdrive sounds of a tweed Bassman at much more acceptable volumes.

Plus, I was sold after watching this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuWV8-WDXeE

It's easy to get a great tone with this pedal, but..... the amp you plug it into makes a big difference on your tonal output.

It sounds much better on my larger amps (Fender Hot Rod DeVille,Concert, Vox AC 15) than in my small amps (Princeton Reverb). It seems to work better in an amp that has more headroom. But then again, I've used it in a Blues Junior and gotten great results for a mildly Over-driven sound.

To the previous poster, if your dials don't render any tonal change, something is very wrong.
You should hear big changes. Unless your amp has little or no headroom to operate in.

Would swear by it.

Never needed any

I don't know what kind of amp the previous poster is using?????????
Is he sure?

Dude, if you are using some small distorting amp with NO clean headroom, for sure this pedal won't help. For Clean tone, YOU DON"T NEED THIS PEDAL! It's best on squeaky clean amps that need to have more life, tone and feel. You can turn down the GAIN dial to eliminate the OD, but it then really depends on the amp that you are plugged into.

The only reason that I set the ease of use lower is because, to me this pedal doesn't seam to have any tonal difference when you twist knobs. I have been playing around with this thing for a month, and I don't notice much difference no matter where I put knobs, or what combonation for that matter.

I would've given it a 0, but I have never actually played on a Bassman. My guitar tech calls them "magic". Fender tube amp tone to me, I think of Los lonley Boys type of stuff. I have actually owned two fender amps in my day (ultimate chorus, and some valve state thing I can't remember--both of which, very tempermental, and not sounding the same from day to day), and I have developed a love-hate relationship with that company. I have never liked a Fender distortion that was not just overdriven clean. On the other hand, my favorite clean tone is a fender clean tone. I don't know what this pedal is, honistly, I could use my guitar to poweramp and get the same tone. I have been paying for 13 years, and I just don't get this pedal, and I don't hear any "Fender" tone.

Would have no way to judge, but I am a fan of Boss.

The only thing I don't like about this company is that they don't list their phone number of their web-site.

Some people seam to really like it. I don't understand. I don't hear Fender tone, and I don't even notice a difference in my tweaking the pedal, or my sound overall. It may as well have been an overdrive.

This pedal is a little more complicated than most made by Boss because it includes equalization (bass, middle, presence, and treble), which is a dimension most pedals don't have. You will need to play around with your amp and your pedal to find the sound you like. I found the best results by setting the equalization on my amp to neutral, and then adjust the equalization on the pedal, using the Bright channel input jack on the pedal. The only adjustment I make to the pedal during a performance is gain - it stays "on" all the time.

This pedal is pure tone - just like it's namesake. I've played through Bassman amps, including a '60's blackface and a '59 reissue, and this pedal gets close to that marvelous sound without spending big bucks and without ear-bleeding volume. But like everything else - it all depends on your rig and setup. I use this pedal with a Gretsch 6120 Nashville and a Fender Telecaster through a solid state Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus amp.

Most of the time, I use the clean tone setting through the "bright" channel, which gives me a warm, vintage tube amp sound, full of sparkle and that fat, creamy, bass snap. With slight to moderate gain, I can recreate a spot-on match to Brian Setzer's rockabilly sound or a really good blues crunch. With higher gain, I get a rich, overdriven crunch that works well for Texas blues and classic rock WITHOUT losing any depth of tone. If you're into heavy metal, this pedal is probably not for you - not enough gain, and it doesn't work well with other distortion pedals. I experienced some noise through the pedal until I moved it to the front of my chain.

My one complaint is that I cannot discern the difference the Presence control makes to the quality of tone, but the tone is so good anyway, this is a minor issue.

I agree with a previous review that this pedal doesn't cut it with a small practice amp. I played it through my Peavey Backstage practice amp, and although it helped a little, this amp is just not powerful enough to get a quality tone.

I've owned this pedal for about 6 months and I've had no problems with it so far.

No issues here.

I play a variety of genres including classic rock, blues, country (old and new), rockabilly, and jazz. This pedal stays on all the time, and adds depth to all my styles of music. If I ever lose it, I will buy another - the sound is that good.

REPLYING IN UNISON WITH ANDREW!

Nine and a HAlf Still digging it. Tube amps love this pedal. Small practice amps are not capable of giving up what this pedal represents. Big amps that can't be turned up loud at practice or at home really benefit from a pedal like this. JUICY at lower volumes.

I love to play Blues guitar. Freddie King, Mike Bloomfield, Eric, Jeremy Spencer.
Playing 40+ years, on tube amps with all kinds of guitars. I would buy another if L. or S.
It is the "blues" tone. Singing and "loose". Rich. I hate playing without it.

I'm just writing this review to comment on the one by "mjr" below. Dude, if you're using this pedal through a crappy solid state piece of garbage, then you're not hearing this pedal. I don't have experience with this pedal, it seems like a waste of money to me. Just buy an old Bassman if you want Bassman tone, not some retarded pedal that doesn't get CLOSE to what an old Bassman sounds like.

But mjr, please for God's sake buy a better amp (tube) before you knock this pedal - even though you're probably right about it. Goofball!

If you want to finish this conversation later, e-mail me at bigalthethird@yahoo.com

Controls are simple enough, just a little hard to see where you're at on the dials. I got great results almost immediately, and a wild smile.

I love the sound of early Bassmans (from the 50's). They are loose, touch sensitive, nice and mid-rangey with plenty of bass and treble. I also dig the 10 inch speakers' sound and feel. This pedal helped me in achieving that sound in my Fender Hot Rod DeVille with 2 - 12in. spkrs. This amp has a tight clean sound, too tight at lower volumes.
With the Bassman pedal, all is changed. The amp now has that loose sound and feel. Full and biting when the Gain knob is turned up just less than halfway, like a mild OverDrive that's sweet and musical. Like an amp turned way up and distorting in a great way. Great sag, easy to overdo it and get spoiled.
With the gain knob turned down to about 9:30-10:00, the pedal cleans up well but I still get that full and juicy feel. The gain dial is sensitive, and I don't care for it much above 11:00. The other controls work well also, with a good volume boost if you want it. I can't believe the other reviewer turns the controls all the way up! That is OVERKiLL and not what this pedal is designed for, nor is it what it does best????
If you want tweed tone, on a budget with a newer , more reliable amp, this pedal is the way to go.
Also used this pedal in my Korg RI Vox AC15 with splendid results. I take it to jam sessions where the supplied amp is always a Fender Blues Junior. Man does this pedal make that amp jump and shout with FAT lead TONE. I didn't like it in my Fender Princeton Reverb. (too squishy). BTW, that amp needs nothing!
Great with solid bodied and hollow bodied guitars. Single coils and humbuckers just wail with it. I even use it with my Gibson L5 CES for that 50's jazz tone, FAT and mellow. Very Sweet.
As others have stated, this pedal also juices up your OverDrive effects. With the HR DeVille, we all love its clean tone, and don't love so much the distortion channels. WELL! This pedal solves that problem extremely well. Saturated and clear Lead tones with beautiful sustain.

It's a Boss!

Never had to contact them

Only a 9 because nothing is perfect, okay maybe 9.8.
I am keeping this pedal. I would replace it if lost or stolen.
I find it hard to play through an amp without it now. It's a fun accessory that adds a whole new dimension to the sound and experience of playing through my amps - short of buying another amp! It's smaller and cheaper! But, I do get that 50's Bassman approximation plus a nice OverDrive when I need it.

It took a little bit of knob turning, but once I got a feel for the sound it all came together. The knobs include Middle, Presence, bass, Treble, Level, and Gain. Two inputs: 1. Standard 2. Bright.
The manual had a couple of different options ie: what settings to set your amp on and some setting samples such as standard crunch, hard overdrive, mild crunch, and bright clean sound.

This pedal gets a lot more gain than I expected. I play punk rock, the kind of sounds I am looking for is along the lines of "Give 'em Enough Rope" era Clash and early Swingin' Utters crunch. I am using my Gibson Les Paul Classic into my Fender Twin as my base, running this into my Maxon OD808 Pedal through my clean channel. The result is a screaming overdrive that is not too gain saturated but also not low-fi sounding.

So far so good.

Haven't had to contact them so thats probably a good thing.

I bought this pedal to shape my sound by pushing my overdrive pedal a little harder through my clean channel instead of using my drive channel. I wasn't planning on buying this pedal actually I was trying out a Blues Driver and a Maxon Micro Amp and this one sounded great. I am not sure that I use this pedal in the spirit of which it was created for, I wasn't looking to make my amp sound like a Bassman. If you want a Bassman go buy a Bassman but if you want a pedal that has a nice tube sounding overdriven sound then give this one a try.