Boss FDR-1

I use the Boss/Fender FDR-1 for blues harp. It works great for this purpose - I just send the signal straight into the PA and use the stage monitors for sound

The FDR-1 cannot take a hot signal. I find that a regular Shure SM-57 has about the right signal strength. I also use a 1960's Astatic JT-30 which is a bit hot for the pedal, but works fine as long as the gain is way down as I get serious breakup with the gain higher than 2 but it gives a great Chicago sound at that point. I've been leaving the EQ pretty well flat - on most amps you need to attenuate the Hi quite a bit, but not with the FDR-1. I also use a Shure Green Bullet with a vintage 1950's CR element. It is VERY hot for this pedal but is great for a nasty distorted sound. Really quite inspiring. I like a touch of reverb and go with that. Turning up the reverb gets ugly, but I never want to go there anyway.

Boss pedals don't die an easy death. This one looks to be no different

This pedal takes the place of my usual amp (1968 Bassman head and 1970's Celestion 112 cab)and adds reverb that I can control to the mix. I carry all my harps, mikes, cables and this gizmo in one small case. It's all I need to gig. I couldn't ask for much more.

It's fairly easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. With all the EQ knobs at 12 o'clock and the gain set low (7 o'clock), you get a nice, clean tone. It just sounds plain nice. Cranking the gain up to about 1 o'clock gives you a sweet vintage, tube tone. With the gain all the way up, this is a respectable distortion pedal. I use it as my main distortion, and I like crunch. The manual is very helpful with teaching you to use the tap tempo for vibrato, and gives guides for what setting you should have for a certain sound. (Ex. surf rock, clean, and heavy crunch.)

You can get a good range of sounds with this pedal. The distortion is warm, and sounds vintage. The Vibrato is ok, I have never used it for anything except playing around. I use this with an Epiphone Les Paul and an Epiphone Triggerman amp. This pedal isn't noticeably noisy, however, sometimes when you run your amp through a PA, this distortion can become a bit harsh and sound cheesy.

This is a very dependable pedal. It is built Boss-sturdy. I would use it without a backup, but at $150 I wouldn't buy another one of these for my backup distortion.

Never had to deal with Boss.

I play all styles of music, from acoustic worship, to blues, to rock, to heavy metal. This pedal works for most everything but DOES NOT WORK FOR METAL. There's just not enough gain. I've been playing for about 3-4 years, and I also own the Digitech DF-7 "Distortion Factory". This pedal sounds nicer, but the Digi pedal is more flexible with gain and tone. If it were stolen, I would probably not buy the same pedal. I would try out different distortions first. It definetely helps you make music, I love holding out distorted open chords with this, it sounds so nice. I'm not sure if it is worth $150 though. Try it out first.

It's very easy to get a sound from the unit one thing i did was reverse the tone controls from my amp to the pedal Bass, Treble, at the 12noon pos reverb turned off Overdrive volume off bright off & reverb on 0 { all these settings on the amp } plus the mid on the amp tuned down btw 6:30 & 7:00 the manual in general is self explanatory.

I have an Acoustilc tube amp i play the FDR on along with a Cry Baby Wah, an Electro Harmonix Phase Shifter i no longer use the volume pedal { that came with the amp } to switch to the Over Drive the FDR takes care of that i recently purchased the Hendrix guitar strings & with the combonation of the great sound i get coming from my strat using the FDR it has a little of the Hendrix sound he's my number one guitarist of all time alongside him is Eddie Hazel { From Funkadelic } i like using the Phase shifter along with a dirty distortion tone { i get from the FDR } when soloing. { simular to Hazel} no noise just good clean sound.

it's very dependable & i have use it without my other effect especially in our band rehearsel's at church { I play in a Church Band } & it sounds just as good without the wah & phase as it does with them.

Haven't needed to contact the support group & no upgrade or repair needed at this time.

My style of music is Progressisve Rock mixed with Funk & Fusion & Blues as wek as Contemporary & Traditnal Gospel { for futher info checkout my webpage on myspace.com/conradmason} our band at church is into all kinds of music like myself & we throw every style of music in our playing on Sundays. i would get another FDR if stolen or lost { no question }

Very easy to set up, no instructions needed [they are provided though].

The vibrato is great but would be better if it could be turned on by an external switch.

I personally dig on the sound of the pedal. I use 2. One for a more gain and reverb driven tone. And the second for a break-up 'pushed' tone.

I use a 52 tele and a 59 esquire through a vox ac30 head and 4x12 cab.

Pedals:
Tuner--noise suppressor [looping a soul bender, micro amp, and both fdr's]--dl 4 and a maxon ad9.

Having it set with with the bass and treble straight preserves my original vox tone and adding more gain and verb it can get a rich humbucker like sound from my two single coil guitars.

Having it set once again with bass and treble straight and the level all the way up and the gain very minimal can add a great classic rock tone at lower volumes and at higher volumes it really works with the amp and makes a killer lead tone.

It seems solid.

Overall I think the pedal is killer. I play different styles of rock and alternative music. I think the pedal will work for anyone looking for a good variety of tones, it might not be a deluxe reverb, but it has some very cool and very usable sounds.

The verb and vibrato are very cool, I just wish the vibrato could be externally switched on.

All in all, I liked this pedal so much I bought another one! I don't think the price is steep. I like this pedal more than the fulldrive2, ocd and ts-9 I've owned and sold.

These pedals have me excited to gig!


I set my ac30 up with the two channels blended, so I start with a real nice crunch.

Mixing the 'more gain and verb' setting with the 'lo res' delay on the dl-4 is an amazing sound!

Mixing the 'more level/lo gain' setting and the micro amp really gets some ballsy leads!

Easy to use, hard to get used to. I think previous reviews have this covered ad nausium, but i think there should be 4 separate switches and 8 knobs, more on that later.

Forget about favorite artists, this is all about favorite amp, not artists. I used 4 Fender tube amps to test this puppy for 4 different reasons. American Deluxe strat with noiseless pups used for all tests. All controls on 10 for guitar.
1. 1968 Princeton early silverface non-reverb. Goal: to provide reverb and a little "umph" for lead solos. Reverb sounded atrocious (very, very, bad). Tone - not bad, it added a little bottom end and some much-needed gain, but distortion was mixed bag. Yes, it did growl a little, and rolling off the volume cleaned it up, but did not make the amp sound like a '65 Deluxe, not even close. Treble was varied throughout test, bass was 5 - 7 volume on 7. Overal score using this amp 8.
2. 1985 Super Champ. Goal: to compare tube driven reverb to pedal reverb. Tone - same as PNR - to add some bottom end and gain. Not surprisingly, this amp bennefitted the most from this pedal tonewise. The amp actually sounded a little better, as in deeper, fatter tone, and the added gain sounded very blusey. Reverb on the Super Champ proved to me why Boss should have done their homework before relasing this pedal. The SC's tube driven reverb simply blew away the FDR-1's. And with a very short tank. Rating with this amp - 7 only because of added bass response.
3. 1972 Bassman. Goal: added gain and reverb and vibrato. Vibrato works great. Added gain seemed to muddy up the tone, did not make it sound anything like a '65 DR. I already have good fat, round tone, but was hoping for some nice slightly overdriven tones. I used the normal channel with bright switch on for best results. Reverb had that sprongy sound which ruined the tone and was extremely annoying. Could only use the reverb on the pedal set to 1 or 2 - that's it. At 3, the spronginees kicks in at given frequncies. I also noticed that the reverb is actually has a rather pronounced delay, which I found irritating to no end. Rating with this amp - 2
4. 1968 Bandmaster reverb. Ok, I didn't have to do this becuase it already has tube driven reverb, been blackfaced, early breakup and vibrato. This just makes me scratch me head. The distortion (gain) on the pedal sounded absolutley horrible at all but the lowest volume levels. The reverb on my BMR (tube-driven, long tank) NOS tubes, sounded better on 2 than any setting on the FDR-1 pedal. Tone of the pedal degraded my sound tremendously when cranked. I guess you would not use this with a blackface anyway, but this is the sound they are emulating? You CAN'T be serious. Sound with BMR- 1.

It's a Boss! - I always wanted to say that.

Hehe. Right. Part of Boss's R&D should be dedicated to beta testing by musicians. Just a thought.

I play rock, blues, jazz, and all types of clean music, some blues, no metal for 30 years now. I would not waste my money on this if I were you. Save the $150 and put it towards a used tube amp. Although my tests showed the most improvement with the lowest powered amps, they already had pristine cleans to begin with, so the idea was to make em break up and take the dry edge off them. Nice tone when clean and bass slightly boosted, but not tube amp breakup type overdrive. No need for this on a nice amp, unless you want the tremelo and boost to cut to leads, so on a Fender Champ, or other non-reverb amp you can benefit. 20 watts + I would say don't use this pedal. I did compare this to my $60 Zoom G1, and sadly, the G2 outperfomed the FDR-1 with 9 types of reverb to choose from, all sounding better than the FDR-1. I can also get any amount of distortion imaginable from the Zoom, plus choose from 9 amp models. My FDR-1 goes back ASAP. If this pedal had a separate switch for amp model on/off, gain on/off, trem on/off, and reverb on/off it ould be a monster pedal and could possible justify the steep price. They need to fix the reverb model, lower the price, and TEST it!!

OK, I'll skip this, as the features have been reviewed before.

So, here's my 10 cents of wisdom added to the fierce debate.
As recommended by Boss, I ran the FDR-1 through a Roland Jazz Chorus and A/B-checked it with a '68 Silverface Deluxe reverb, that I borrowed for that occasion.

I used a Fender Telecaster with .011 flatwounds for all testing and dialed in a mildly overdriven, fifties-Rockabilly sound.

1) Sound and overdrive: The sound produced by the original amp had a more direct, in your face quality and was more biting. The pedal had more mids and seemed a bit distant. To me, the FDR-1 sounded more like a good generic overdrive than the exact blueprint of the Fender Deluxe amp.

2) Tremolo: No complaints here. The sound and range are like the real thing.

3) Reverb: YES, this is the archilles heel of the whole thing! One reviewer described it as "the sound of some drunk randomly kicking the reverb tank". True!
Turned up two thirds, it was total crap. When you only use a tiny amount of reverb, one third of the way or less, it's OK, since all the shortcomings of the effect are still there, but you don't notice them as much. IMHO it is more of a bad parody of a spring reverb and I can see a lot of people NOT buying the FDR-1 for that reason.

Having read the mixed reviews, I made sure that I bought it from a store with a good return policy (4 weeks money-back guarantee, no questions asked). I've never dealt with Boss directly.

I play country, western swing and rockabilly mostly, with some exotica thrown in.
I wanted the FDR-1 as a backup for my '62 Ampeg tube amp. So, when the amp would give up during a gig (luckily this has not happened yet) I could use the FDR-1 into the P.A. and all would be well.
Since I never use reverb anyhow, I decided to keep the pedal. It's OK for what I want it for.

Generally speaking, I see this device more as an average overdrive, a good tremolo and a
barely useable reverb all rolled into one, than the precise modelling of a Deluxe Reverb.
It's definitely NOT what it could have been, and the advertising mumbo-jumbo created for it is way over the top!

Interesting fact: On the FDR-1 demo movie shown at bossus.com, when the guy pretends to dial in reverb, he actually turns up the tremolo knob - but get's reverb ;-D
Weird. Check it out for yourself!
(Written on june, 10th. Let's see if Boss notices the mistake and corrects it. Makes you loose you faith in product demos, somewhat.)

This pedal is, as you are aware, a simulation of the '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb. The cosmetics resemble the black face style and the knobs are recreations of the '65 Deluxe controls. This is a very easy pedal to use, as are all Boss pedals, and getting a variety of classic Fender sounds are right there for use.

The quality of sound depends on which type of amp you run the pedal through. It will make a solid state amp better and the sound through a VOX AC30 is o.k. Where this pedal really shines though is through my little Fender Champ 600 Reissue, which I use for practice and some recording. The reverb on the pedal is very shimmery and the vibrato is quite realistic. The tone stack is very Fender like meaning, it is passive and therefore fairly interactive. The level and gain however is where the Boss people got it spot on right. It makes my little Champ sound like a Deluxe Reverb!! I use a Strat and a 335 and the pedal gives both guitars a perfect voice for blues, classic rock etc. Perfect for Clapton type material, early Zep and the like. The pedal is very quiet. This pedal does as advertised. A previous reviewer simply does not get the point of this pedal. The sound quality is stunning. I have played Deluxe Reverbs in the past. The pedal does the job very, very well indeed.

It is a Boss. Enough said.

Not needed. The web-site has useful info toward the product.

This is perfect for my needs. I was thinking of getting a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue anyway. My wife bought me the Champ 600 for my birthday, yes I am spoiled, so I got the FDR-1 and viola!! Instant Deluxe Reverb for 1/4 of the price. The sounds I get from my little practice set-up are very inspiring and an absolute joy to play. I highly recommend this pedal to players who are on a budget but want the classic rock/blues sounds. Clean or with varying levels of overdrive, this pedal is a winner!!

A chimp could operate this pedal.

I bought this because I wanted Fender style vibrato (tremolo). My rig is a guitar through a pedalboard to a tube amp.

The FDR-1 is virtually useless.

BOSS pedals are usually bullet proof.

Do not waste your money. This is feeble attempt at amp modeling. If you want an amp that sounds like a Fender Deluxe Reverb, get a real Fender Deluxe Reverb.

I returned this piece of junk to Guitar Center. Thank God for the money back guarantee.

Covered

It's a question of the right combinations: Through my computer, useable 6. Through my solid state amp, quite good 7. Through my Fender Blues Junior, marvellous 9+.

Covered

Dunno

Having used Fender amps for many years it's almost weird that a tiny digital pedal does sound remarkably Deluxe-ish, even down to the way the controls work and interact. The reverb is good but only if you use a little. The drive does indeed sound like a tube amp overloading, no buzz or sizzle at all, just that oscillating shimmer. Make sure you try it out with your model guitar and amp if possible and at the volume you play at. As with any ingredient in a signal chain, it'll sound awful or great depending on what you add it to. This is useful for blues, jazz, or country. Not for surf, cos the reverb makes random plonks when high, or metal, cos the overdrive is subtle. This is an outstanding pedal if you're into the Fender sound in a tiny package.

I read some other reviews of the FDR-1...AFTER I had already ordered one, so needless to say I was suffering from some degree of remorse before it arrived. I held my breath as I removed it from the box and connected it to my USA made Pro Jr. and 1989 American Standard Stratocaster without even a glance at the manual or the controls on the pedal. With the amp volume set at only 3 and tone at 5.5, I brought the three guitar knobs all the way up and strummed an E chord. What a relief! For only a $150, I had just turned a simple practice amp with only volume and tone chickenheads into a very expensive vintage Fender Deluxe Reverb. Like magic, I now had the flexibility to manage gain, overdrive, bass, treble, vibrato, and reverb which is reason I bought the FDR-1 in the first place. The only reason for rating this product an 8 instead of a 10 in this category is that some players may require more time to obtain a desireable sound due to the complexity of their amplifier. Also, some may not realize the intended purpose of the pedal as an amp model and be somewhat disappointed to discover it is not the equivalent of adding several independent effects.

Like many, I have fallen under the spell of the Fender tone well exemplified by the guitar work backing artist like Lucinda Williams in particular. I was looking to achieve the simple, clean vibrato and reverb presence heard on almost all of her arrangements. I have heard that the Fender Deluxe Reverb amps were also very good when overdriven using gain and I wanted similar capability, not just a fuzz pedal that turns the effect on or off. The FDR-1 achieves all of this very quietly. I have been so pleasantly surprised and satisfied with the performance benefits the FDR-1 added to my Pro Jr., that I have not yet got around to trying it out on my USA made Hot Rod Deluxe. I can confirm that the effects are strong and controlable with both Stratocasters and Telecasters. My USA made 1988 Telecaster sounded over 30 years older running through this thing at least in my imagination. The real purpose of any good effect is to inspire creativity, so I suppose it can be said that the FDR-1 delivers because I pictured myself in a fancy cowboy shirt and tall hat on stage alongside Merle Travis a couple of times.

This is a typical Boss pedal in both size and weight, therefore it should prove to be as durable as any of their products. While maybe not as colorful, the matte black finish I believe was chosen to enhance the vintage factor associated with the old Fender blackface amps.

Never had to deal with Boss, but there is a wealth of information on everything the company has made or makes at the non-affilliated http://www.bossarea.com website. Every dime-a-dozen guitar player knows they make great products.

I am a fan of the early Hillbilly country music 1946-1956 as well as some of the past and modern day American folk songwriter music. Chet Atkins and Glen Campbell are my kind of guitar heroes. I am sure some rock or British style players, can find a use for the FDR-1 as well, but I stopped listening to anything recorded much beyond 1977 sometime ago. With few exceptions, everything after that just sounds far too over produced and I like things simple. As for current country music artist, let's just say there is not much that is even listenable these days. For certain, the FDR-1 is an inexpensive way to take your sound back to the heydays of the hayride if you do not happen to own a hand wired all tube amp from that era. The reverb displayed none of the "sproings" mentioned in other less than favorable reviews through my equipment. Of course everything I use is made by Fender, including the instrument cables, so that may have something to do with my sonic success utilizing this Fender inspired device.