Boss FDR-1

Pretty self explanatory functions

In my opinion, no digital device can replicate the feel and response of a tube amp. Having said that, I tried this pedal for direct recording (which is where these digital emulations make sense, I think) and I was able to get nice results, which is surprising because this is not an amp simulator, like the POD etc.
For me, the test is clean sounds, and with Gain to almost 0 and a little bit of reverb I got some really good recordings.
As soon as you add gain, it starts sounding fake. But I repeat, I'm talking about direct recording. for everything else I use my vintage Fender Princeton Reverb...

it's Boss!

It's intuitive, compact, battery and AC operated, quiet, and sounds reasonably good.
To me these are the most important things in a music device as far as creative use, and i was positively surprised - I now use it for direct recording as an alternative to my old SansAmp.

Pretty easy to get a sound, the trick is using the right amp.

I used a Fender Strat with GFS Hot Staggered pickups. I plugged it in to a cheap Crate GX-15 practice amp, and it sounded great. The reverb is totally usable for normal rock/blues levels.

It cracks me up to read these guys bragging about all their vintage amps, and how they didn't sound as good after plugging this pedal in to it. Duh! The pedal is made for people with cheap little SS amps, like my practice amp. If you already have the lineup of vintage amps, why did you buy the pedal in the first place??

For the record, I have a Fender Twin and, surprise surprise, the pedal didn't sound as good as it did through the Crate.

Boss pedals last forever.

Roland is as bad as the others. No surprise there.

I'm using this pedal to noodle/practice with. The Crate is quite a cheap piece of gear, but this pedal actually makes it sound decent.

I'm sure it's quite fashionable to gather in a tight herd and start bashing this pedal, but it looks like most people had too high an expectation and/or didn't have a clue about how to use it.

It's decent for what it does, sounds better through an amp than a POD does (PODs should be going direct through a board and PA speakers, anyway) and is pretty cheap when you look for it used from the disappointed masses.

A couple of years from now, they'll be all the rage since they'll be out of production by then. I'll be happy to sell mine back for more than I paid for it. Been there, done that.

I found this pedal to be very easy to use. Right out of the box I was able to dial in a nice range of overdriven sounds. I originally bought this pedal because the reverb in my blackface twin was cutting in and out, and I figured this would be cheaper than getting the amp fixed. I touch of reverb is all I need. The vibrato takes a little while to get used to setting, but not a big issue for me because I don't use the feature. When I want vibrato, I just warm up my old Ampeq "Reverberocket", nothing can beat that. There is not much to the manual, but then again there doesn't need to be. This box is SIMPLE to use.

I found the sound quality to be very acceptable. I was able to dial in a wide range from clean to overdriven very easily. I set my amp up for a very neutral, clean sound and was impressed with what I could do. The reverb did what I needed it to do, and that was supplement the ailing reverb in my amp. I have read what others have written about the reverb being very spongy when cranked up to high, but then again does anyone use the reverb set that high? I use the subtleness to "shape and color" my sound, not to cover up for lack of quality equipment or playing skills. I love the sounds I can get, but if you are expecting to instantly sound like SRV, you will be dissapointed. I can hear the "pops" others have written about, but I think it adds the character of an old tube driven spring reverb. Every single tube amp I have had has had this type of sound when the cabinet was bumped. The more I played with it, the more I stopped noticing these sounds.

It's a BOSS pedal, what can I say? I have owned many of their pedals over the past 30+ years and have NEVER had a single one fail. I have bought, sold, and traded them, but have never had to replace a single one due to failure.

I have never had to contact customer support, so will leave it at no opinion.

I play blues primarily, with some classic rock thrown in, for about 30 years now. I have a number of strats which I plug into a Fender Twin. My pedal board includes a BOSS compressor/sustainer, Blues Driver, Ibanez Tube Screamer, and the BOSS FDR-1. Next to them on the floor is a Steve Vai Bad Horsey Wah. The FDR-1 is an awesome compliment to my effects. I chose this pedal because I needed to replace the reverb built into my amp, and I thought I would try out the Fender/Roland relationship and I am happy I did. If it were lost or stolen I would probably replace it. The FDR-1 is on just about all the way through my sets along with the blues driver. I would recommend this pedal to anyone like myself, who understands that stomp boxes are meant to enhance an already good, quality tone. If you are expecting to make your marshall stack sound like a 65' reverb, then forget it, it won't happen because it is not a miracle maker. Did you really expect a Fender Deluxe Reverb for $119? Of all the reviewers who claim this sounds nothing like a deluxe reverb, can you honestly say you have even seen one? have you really played one? The only reason that I didn't rate this pedal an overall 10 is because nothing is perfect.

Four knobs, Boss pedal.

Here is where I am going against the norm, I like this pedal. I run it straight into a Groove Tubes Soul O 45 which is partial to stomp boxes. Sounds like a nice overdriven amp. The Reverb is good Boss digital reverb. No just saying this, the pedal sounds good. I ordered the Boss FBM 1 since I liked this one so much.

Boss, Very good

N/A

This one is a keeper!!!

This is a fairly easy pedal to use. Spend an hour tinkering and you can figure out how to use it. This unit came right out of the box at the local guitar store.

I'm using this pedal as a pre-amp for my marshall solid state halfstack. I'm a big fan of fender guitars but always feel their sound is not fully dimensional for heavier or hard rock. This pedal provides the extra push over the cliff. It adds a tube-like sound to a solid state amp and gives even the cheapest strat-style guitar a thick sound. Perfect for single coils that need to be humbuckers.

I don't mess too much with the reverb option on distortion. I have a good reverb on the amp itself. Kind of redundant. The trem is a cool feature that requires the user to tinker with. It's possible to get some very cool surf rock sounds on clean, as well as some nice acid rock fx on dirty. Be patient and figure it out.

I've had it for 6 months with no problems. Will absolutely use with no backup.

No opinion

I play hard rock. I tend to not use pedals, but jumped on this one to round out my sound. It fattens up tone and adds the warmth of a tube amp to any solid state rig.

Been playing 15 years and this is the pedal I've been looking for to compliment the stock distortion sound on my marshall. I have looked for something like this for a while, but most distortion pedals are too heavy for what I'm looking to do, which is blend with the amp.

Would absolutely buy this again.

Its fairly straight forward, gain/volume & reverb/tremolo combined with stacked knobs. EQ is a bit weird as they will cut each other's frequency ranges. Setting Tremolo speed is a little tricky and would be better if it came with an option for an external on/off switch or expression input.

I'm using a variety of guitars (Surfcaster/Jagmaster copy/Mexe Telecaster/Tiesco "thing") into an Epiphone valve jr.

Its in the 2nd last place in my FX chain just before the Bad Monkey which I use as a DI/Line Splitter. the only time I had noise from it was when I had a dodgy patch lead otherwise it emulates a bit of amp hiss, but not at regular settings.

I can only compare this to a Fender Hotrod Deville and it certainly sounds very nice and emulates a large spring tank perfectly, right down to the splat you get when you're driving the reverb tank too hard. I'm not usually a fan of modelled distortion but this one is very nice and bitey on modest settings and can go hard when pushed all the way. Well not with extreme distortion but easily as distorted as the bad monkey.

Its very responsive to player dynamics.

This thing is a fabulous little Surf in a box and I could happily us it as my only pedal if I couldn't drag my pedal board along.

I am trying to find a second one just because those nested pots are very expensive to replace. Around 20 pounds or Euro($40 Australian). I found this out from a friends broken loop station.

Otherwise it seems well built enough so I wouldn't worry.

I'm in a slowed down surf band and use masses of reverb, this thing is a great alternative to lugging around my 2 accutronics tanks and(unreliable)spring driver gear.

I've been playing for 17 years I think and have owned some great amps, some of which I wish I still had, but this is a great alternative to a back breaker, most venues you play have terrible acoustic environments and PA's or are just too damn loud for anyone to appreciate your "tone" anyway so I go for the cheapest stuff I can find.

I've had a Marshall reverb pedal and it ws ok, but this thing is the business.

I just wish it had either expression input or provision for a trem on/off control.

if it were lost, stolen or broken I would be gutted.
I'll gig witout a backup only because they're so expensive to buy new!

this pedal is dead simple to use. didn't need a manual to get started, and that was the whole idea. the vibrato is cool, wish it was footswitchable...

i bought this pedal in order to play electric guitar through my small gigging PA & i also play acoustic guitar through the same PA. Setup is Strat -> overdrive pedal (Xotic AC Boost) --> FDR-1 --> PA. The Carvin PA has built-in digital effects, so i can add delay or chorus that way. The FDR-1 provides exactly the right coloration of the guitar signal to make it sound like a miked-up amp. Set the overall master volume high (since these amps never had MV) By setting the gain on 2/3 it gets John Mayer neck pickup sounds, and on 4 it gets the Eric Johnson SRV or Trademark tones. Kick in the overdrive pedal and you've got a very portable amp rig. The best part: it only takes a second to setup. Sometimes not being a 'swiss army' knife is a very good thing.

Appears to be very reliable. i have a variety of Boss pedals, some for more than 20 years.

I play original music & covers (classic & modern rock - 70's 80's 90's and newer stuff) rock and blues styles, and have played live shows for 20 + years. I AB's this pedal against a POD Express through one of those BOSE tower PA units at GC, and could tell instantly that the BOSS provided a more realistic amp simulation and a Fender sound within 30 seconds of playing. I own a POD XT live which is great for recording, but when you need to get a good tone fast in a gig environment, less is definitely more. I was using a small KORG amp simulator which was pretty simple, but the BOSS just nails it the amp sound and comes in a much more sturdy package.

I bought mine ex stock with no manual and figured out how everything works after a few hours so i'd say it's pretty easy. Adjusting the tremolo speed is not so obvious though - you have to hold the pedal down for a few seconds till the led flickers green then tap in a tempo. The process isn't too hard to master and i am pretty confident it could be done quickly, between songs, live.

How accurately it reproduces the tone of a Deluxe Reverb i can not say but I do know it sounds good! I've been playing it through a modded Grainger valve amp that has no reverb and the EQ is a little tame. Now I have access to some really cool vintage tones.

I've been able to nail some Cramps and Mary Chain tones out of this unit so am very happy. Some people have complained the reverb is no use above 12 o'clock - I disagree though it does become pretty extreme. It does "clang" a bit but I think this is a wonderful over the top sound to add some interesting ambience to your guitar. If it's too much for you just don't put it up that high!

The tremolo is good too as are the clean tones. Not so keen on the distortion but I prefer to get this from my amp anyway.

It's Boss - I've heard they are built like tanks. It certainly appears that way.

Never hand to deal with them.

I like vintage rock n roll like Elvis, Bo Diddley, Link Wark and Dick Dale up to punk/post-punk stuff like the Cramps, Nick Cave, Mary Chain, etc. I'm able to get those vintage reverb/tremolo tones in one pedal. I think these sounds are the most important, after distortion/fuzz, in the rock n roll cannon. This pedal does them very well.

I have one amp for recording and one amp for live use, both all valve and both cheap. I think this pedal is built for people like me who want a vintage tone but can't afford the original stuff. If you want more complex reverbs get another pedal but if you want that "vintage" sound you should definly check this pedal out.

Like all Boss pedals it's very easy to use.

I own a Twin 65 RI, and I love that amp. At home I have a Blackheart "little Giant" that sounds wonderful, however I decided to by an or two pedals. I wanted a reverb and a tremolopedal. The FDR-1 seemed to be the right choice with both reverb and tremolo. The sound of the pedal is really good, both the clean and the dist is fine. The tremolo is even better. The real drawback is the reverb. It's a shame for both Fender and Boss. I've heard that the guys that programmed the pedal programmed in the cracks ond noises. I don't belive it. It's really horrible allmost painfu, even at low levels. The reverb has nothing to do with reverb from fender, or Boss. It sounds like someone stand by an amp with springreverb and hits it with his hand. The noises comes randomly but most often when you are playing high notes. I would have rated this pedal higher if it not would be for that lousy "reverb". I'll give the unit 6 but if the reverb had been at least a bit useful, I would have rated the FDR-1 8 or 9

I belive all Boss pedals are build like tank's

No idea.

I like the idea of this product, and I think we will see more products like this in the future. But the "reverb" is awful i'm afraid.

This pedal is supposed to emulate the sound of a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. It has most of the same controls (vol/gain/bass/treble/tremelo/reverb). The gain, level, and tone controls are easy to use and work quite well. The tremelo is pretty akward to use. The reverb is pretty straightforward, but doesn't give a very usuable range. The battery is easy to access

I've played on the Deluxe Reverb reissues, and I've owned various vintage blackface and tweed Fender amps. This was a nice effort to capture that sound, but I think it falls far short. You can dial in a pretty good range from nearly clean (use a volume boost) to very gritty. The tone is more gritty than creamy, and I found it to be a little abrasive. The tremelo is difficult to use, but gives a fair approximation of a real Fender tremelo. I found the reverb nearly useless. It is OK at very low levels, but turn it over 1 and it starts getting real clangy, and not natural sounding at all.

In all, not a bad overdrive pedal (that's really what it is, not a amp modeler), but I think it is way overpriced for what it does.

It's a Boss, which are typically built like tanks, but for some reason this one seems more gimicky and not as solid as some of the other Boss pedals I own.

As a overdrive pedal, it's OK, but way overpriced. I just sold my FDR-1 and bought a Boss SD-1, which I think sounds far better for a fraction of the cost. The tremelo and reverb are pure gimicks and not really usable. If you think you can plop this down in front of your solid state Crate and get blackface Deluxe Reverb sounds, you'll be disappointed.