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.

I found the tremolo feature easier to use than some of the reviewers here. It only took a few minutes to figure out the two different ways to set the tremolo speed. You can do it by either turning the knob or tapping the pedal. After that everthing is pretty simple.

It's very difficult to get a "Fender clean" sound from this pedal. Turning the drive knob up from zero goes from no volume right into slight crunch. There's no in between. If you're looking for distortion you'll be happy. I liked the thick, bass sounds I could get on the neck pickup of my single coils. The reverb feature, on the other hand, is the pedal's ultimate downfall and renders the whole thing virtually useless. Any setting above 9 o'clock on the reverb dial results in a series of pings and pops. The most annoying part is the randomness of it all. The noises don't seem to be in any way related to what you're playing or your picking style. You can run through a series of notes and the thing will ping all the way through. If you stop and play the same thing over again in an attempt to replicate the problem it will ping in completely different spots. Anyone who has either played or heard a real Fender Deluxe Reverb knows that the amplifier sounds NOTHING like this.

I'm sure the pedal will last much longer than my patience with it will last.

I wrote to Boss to complain about the reverb noises and asked them if they were planning to issue an upgrade that fixed this obvious bug. They wrote back to me with 24 hours and told me that the noise isn't a bug, it's a "feature." In other words, they deliberately programmed ever random ping and pop into the pedal. I didn't care for the answer but I have to give them credit for getting back to me so quickly. I also have to sympathize with the guy at Boss who has to give such nonsensical answers to the public day in and day out.

This is the most diappointing piece of guitar geat I've ever bought and it's a shame because it's such a great concept. The Fender Deluxe Reverb is one of the legendary amplifiers in music history and the abilility to replicate its sound at a fraction of the price was something I looked forward to doing when I first heard about this pedal. Unfortunately, Boss was more interested in cashing in on the Fender name than they were about getting the whole thing right.

The double knobs on level/gain and reverb/veb. seems to be labled backwards to me. Other than that it is very east to use.

I use mine on a fender champion 600 and it does what I wanted. It fattens tone and adds options to the amp that are not there. It sound just the way I wanted it to. It is not for you guys that want heavy distortion. Its distortion is 70's like and sounds good to me

I think it is vey dependable

I like clean or very little dirt in my sound. This is perfect for that. If you want a different sound get a different pedal

I'm giving it a low ease of use rating because it is impossible to make it sound as advertised.

I own a Blackface Pro Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, and Princeton Reverb. This pedal does not sound like it is even related. Someone already said it well. Small, Flat, and Lifeless. The Boss Rep said "but think of it as a reverb, vibrato, eq, and distortion all in one pedal." The reverb is NOT usable past barely a hint of it. Sprorngy!!! I did not buy one I'm a dealer and all are going back to Boss.

It will last forever - like plastic bags in a landfill.

I play Latin, Jazz, Blues, Classic Rock. I have a vintage amp collection mostly Gibsons and Fenders from 50's and 60's. I play a Godin Montreal mostly but also play a '63 Strat, a '64 Gretsch Nashville, a G&L Comanche and a Guild X-500. Been playing 45 years. Owned a music store for the last 30 years.

Easy to use. Keep it simple. If you think of this pedal as a single channel amp it will work well.

I use it at the end of my effects right before my AXE active direct box mostly. Other pedals include: Boss tuner, MXR dyna comp, TC chorus, Cool Cat chorus, Fulltone OCD, Bad Monkey, Morley Wah/Volume. Guitars include: Fender Am Tele with noiseless pickups, Epiphone Les Paul, Samick 175 copy. Theater and church gigs. I also use it with my Ampeg AX70, Fender Bassman, and Fender GDec 30. If you have ever played a Deluxe amp, you'll know that the sound is not high gain. The magic of the Deluxe is controlling the levels you put into it. This pedal emulates the deluxe well. It takes some work to get to the sweet spot. If you want think high gain this is not the pedal for you. If you need a pedal that gives you a little warmth and smooth when you raise the level at the input using the volume control on the guitar or a volume pedal. This does a nice job of making a direct signal chain sound like an amp.

Boss is well built gear.

Boss is good if you need them.

I've been playing for 30 years. I spent time as a recording engineer and played lots of different styles. If you have a deluxe or a bassman amp you are limited to one sound that you set up on the amp itself. This pedal does a good job of replacing my amp sound and weighs about 50 lbs less. I like modeling for convience and a lot less noise. It is only 90% of the real thing. Most of your audience won't know the difference. $100 is a good price to pay for a single sound, if it is good. The Boss FDR-1 does just what it's supposed to do.

I did an earlier "good" review, and wanted to add now that I've had a chance to play it through a Fender Champ 600 that I can sympathize with some of the negative reviews, as unless you have a very clean channel and tube amp to boot (the Champ starts to get dirty at 3, and gain increases with volume), also utilizing both reverb/trem at 3 or less on the pedal, and keeping pedal gain at 3 or less, the sound isn't good. This pedal works great to ADD FDR "tones" to a really clean channel, but only enough tone to "fatten" or "complex" or "round" the sound, like old rhythm and blues, blues and gospel, not extreme treble sounds or even blues rock. This also works better with both humbuckers or the neck pup, not so much bridge pup. For what I wanted it still works great! Better than 65 lb Twin Reverb.

All Boss stuff is virtually indestructible.

Only thing better is what it emulates, FDR reissue at least $1000, vintage blackface is much more. Headstrong 1X12 (Princeton Clone with trem/reverb) is $1499, 35 lbs. Carr Rambler and other boutiques with term/reverb onboard are even more. Where do you get these tones otherwise? Holy Grail reverb pedal (great) $100 is only halfway there. This is the only game in town I know of.

Good design, lacks additionnal switch input, as well as additionnal speaker-simulated output ?? la digitech bad monkey (which costs far less...).

Aow, this hurts, the guy below is right: one have to admit defeat with this thing.
Sounds cold, small and flat, very lifeless.
The deluxe amp has eq, ?? la fender, quite effective. This boss pedal has the eq ?? la Vox, go figure... This means when you turn the bass up it looses treble, and so on. It sucks big time IMHO.
Keep in mind the thing costs more than many multieffectors which does the job of emulating the deluxe better than this pedal.
I don't smash boss, or modelers (I am fond of my GP20, which does the deluxe job quite good), but really the FDR1 misses the hit.

My only defective pedal in 20 years is a boss beq 3. All others still works.

For what it claims to be/do, it sucks big time. And is very pricey too.
Cosm technology can be amazing (GP20, RE20, Cube20X), I don't understand why boss missed it this time.
BIG disappointment, I returned it.

Plug and play, controls similar to Deluxe Reverb, manual is well written with descriptive hand drawn numbered pictures explaining controls.

Very close sounds to the original Fender amp it models; with my tube amps, a Fuchs BlackJack 21W with 6V6 tubes, no onboard effects, totally clean amp, and a Fender NOS Blues Jr. 15W with RCA tubes and Jensen speaker, onboard spring reverb.

I also have a DR Z Airbrake attenuator, so I can "dime" amp master and/or volume to get tube saturation, and the Airbrake lowers the volume for home.

I play classic Chicago blues, a la Mike Bloomfield style and lots of the 3 Kings styles, and the old Fenders had that sound down to a T, but are heavy. The FDR-1 pedal is the best solution yet to get that sound from a lighter amp. I also have a Holy Grail reverb pedal, which is also awesome, but much softer and smoother, with no gain or tremolo.

My notion is that classic blues, R&B, R&R and classic rock players have always idolized the Fender Deluxe Reverb. Many hard rock and blues rock players from 60's to 80's turned to Marshall, as did most acid rock players. Now it's new R&B, fusion, metal, etc. and modeling amps seem to be the favorite, as they've come so far at less cost and lighter. For a classic blues player who needs a fat, clean sound, with beaucoup sustain, my Gibson ES-345 (Varitone) and my LP hit it just right, and the FDR-1 is right there also. A good speaker will also help. The FDR-1 comes as close as possible to the real thing without actually replacing it. However, I don't like any reverb, or pedal higher than 6, and usually use 3-4. The FDR-1 is no different.

All Boss products have always been as solid as rocks.

Never needed any. Old reliable.

This is a good match for a blues man. I've been playing 53 years. My guitars and amps are already mentioned. If lost, I would buy it again. There is no other products to compare it to, unless you have a pedal farm with all of the separate pedals, i.e. reverb, tremolo, gain, etc., and then they won't emulate the FDR. That's too much work, like amps with too many knobs. Ir does what it is supposed to do, better than advertised. Play a Deluxe Reverb first, and if you like it enough to want to have it, buy the FDR-1 and with a tube amp you're there.

Fairly easy to use. The split controls for the combined volume/gain and tremolo/reverb can be a little fiddly. Otherwise, it is much like other Boss pedals.

I bought this to use with my Matamp King Street, which is a 15w EL34 old Marshall sounding amp. I was determined to like this pedal even after reading the fairly negative reviews that I have seen elsewhere. I wanted to add a Fender sound to my amp and this seemed like the easiest way to go. I have used amp modellers like the Pod before, but the FDR just seemed like the easiest way to add this sound to my existing rig using a simple stomp box. After much experimenting i have to admit defeat. I think this pedal is truly terrible. I think the only way to get a good sound out of this pedal is to use it with a very clean transistor amp (like the Roland that Boss demonstrate it with) or use this pedal with an existing Fender amp. Which kind of defeats the objective in the first place. Even if you can't use this pedal to simulate a good Fender amp sound then I thought I could just treat it as an overdrive pedal. The trouble is, it isn't a particularly good overdrive pedal either (in my opinion). It sounds very digital and there are many other better ones on the market. The tremolo/vibrato is an OK effect. I hated the reverb. Even on very low settings it sounded extremely digital and processed - my EHX Holy Grail is much better. Some people have criticized doubters like me as having too high expectations of this pedal. However, after much trying, I simply can't justify using this pedal. I'm going back to my Jeckle & Hyde overdrive, and ditching the FDR.

Seemed reliable. Usual Boss construction.

No comment

I mainly play blues and rock and bought this to add a good Fender dollop to my Marshall rig. Have been playing for over 30 years and gig regularly. I own 3 amps (Matamp, Marhsall JTM and Crate Powerblock), 6 electric guitars (Fender Teles, strat, Gretsch, etc), and numerous pedals. I definitely wouldn't buy it again. As I have said, the only justification for this amp is to go with a clean transistor amp - it sounds best with my Crate Powerblock. But even then it isn't very inspiring. There are better modellers (eg. Pod) and better overdrive pedals (eg. OCD, Maxon, Tubescreamer, etc), and better reverbs (eg. EHX). It is very hard to get a good clean sound out of this pedal (ie. a glassy blackface vibe). Only really does a dirty sound. To be honest I am surprised this is so bad. As I said I was expecting more, even though I had tempered by expectations by reading the other bad reviews first. Don't be tempted like me. It is expensive and definitely not worth the money.

Very easy to use without reading the well written manual.

I never used an original Deluxe Reverb nor the reissue, so I've no idea of the original tone, but isn't a problem. I've bought this effect mainly to drive my Fender Champio 600. It has only two input (low & high) and a volume. I use this amp for study becouse other Fender amps I own are too heavy to carry at third floor (and to loud too).

The sound is want I need: a more deep sound with a bit of reverb and the tone control to avoid the crisp sound of this amp with single coil pickups.

No noise at all, I've use on recording and on stage. I've planned to test it on pa system as backup in case of amp failure.

All I need, no noise, good tone control, good reverb (at low settings).

This is my second Boos pedal (the other is the TU2) and I think they are solid.

No need. 5 year warranty is good.

Playing guitar since 1970, then guitar since 1980 I play mainly blues, rock & roll and some easy jazz tunes with a female singer. I own three Fender amps (modded Blues Junior, Deluxe 90 ss, modded Champion 600) one '79 Stratocaster, one '84 Telecaster and a '08 Mexico Telecaster and a Ibanez Artcore Af125 Jazzbox. All guitars sound nice through this box.

I own a Digitech RP350 when I need to play on pa systems with acoustic gear or my jazzbox and I think FDR-1 is better, less versatile, but better for my needs and small to carry.

For me is a great value, I'm very happy and let me play in my home with a great sound at low volume, and is easy to play live with the right tone too.
Again I've bought this not for the '65 Deluxe Reverb tone, but to obtain a decent Fender sound in every situation.

If stolen or lost, I start to buy another. High value for who love the Fender sound.

Very easy to use. It's a Boss turn and tweak.

I own an original siverface Deluxe Reverb. So the comparison was
tit for tat. This pedal is a one trick pony. You can get the growl,
if you wanna call it that, but besides the reverb which is ok, I found this pedal to be a disappointment. I could not get it to clean up...no matter what. Now another user said he was able to so it's possible there was something wrong, but I don't think so, as the gain did increase. If you notice in the demo videos these guys are all using one kinda dirty tone playing in that typical 70's classic blues/blues rock style which I play also, but one of the great things about a deluxe is the beautiful clean bright sound of the 2nd channel which this pedal doesn't even come close to achieving.
I played the p??dal through a vintage Showman while comparing.

Don't know.

I returned the pedal to the music store where I bought it.

I've been playing for 40 years. I play blues, funk, rock(some prog), country and a bit of jazz(some fusion). I used to do sessions when I lived in Los Angeles and also had several different working bands.
I suppose that guys that want the sound of a deluxe reverb kinda almost breaking up might like this pedal but I thought it a bit narly. I have owned a lot of Fenders and in the 80s did my time with just about every preamp out there including Marshall, Fender, Soldano, Bogner, Groove tube and about every variation thereof.
I play now through various old Fenders including the Deluxe and Showman each having been tweaked.
There are so many boutique pedals out there now that sound so much better that this that to drop money for basically one sound that IMHO
doesn't even nail it that great, is not money well spent. The person who posted using it for harp, well I can imagine it might do a decent
job for that but that's harp and not guitar.

The rotary controls work as well as most other Roland/Boss product.

My amp died, so I bought the FDR-1 as a work around until I could find an actual replacement. I plugged the FDR-1 into a high qaulity power amp and a profesional cabinet. I found it inferior to both the Line6 (Flexible, but fussy and sounds like a photo copy of the orginal sounds to me.) and my Digitech Jimi Hendrix pedal which I've found surprisingly good and flexible enough to allow me to find my tone.

I have a Chinese tremelo/vibrato pedal that does both Fender and Magnatone sounds as well.

Usually, Roland stuff is bullet proof.

I used to be in thier super user group, but I guess I got dropped or something.

I've sent them a few emails. I used to get responses, but not lately.

Among the big companies, I find Yamaha sets the standard for help.

Anyway, I sent the FDR-1 back to Musician's Friend. I told them I respect Roland/Boss, but I just don't seem to care for their digital devices other than maybe their Space Echo.

Even with the Space Echo, I had to do a lot of knob twisting and I still haven't got the saturation sound to match the analog sound I have on tape.

I told them I have one of Boss' harmony pedals, which cost a fortune, and though it works it sucks out all of my tone. I'd send it back if I could.

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.

Very Easy...If you can use an amp, you can use this pedal.

Ok, lets get something straight. If you are using this with a regular amp, it's coloring the sound. I use it with a Tech 21 Power Engine 60 set flat and, whoa; instant 60w Deluxe.The pedal drives the amp quite nicely, giving me a 2 lb amp head. I've tried my Am Strat, Am. Tele, Les Paul and all sound very, very convincing. You can even feel the sag when you dig in. The random "sproings" from the reverb are annoying, but are not as noticable as they might seem.If you turn the reverb down, they lessen in intensity.The tremolo is a pain in the butt to set, but I dont use it anyhow. All in all, this thing does more for me than I expected. I plan to mount my PE60 amp into a Carvin BelAir 212 cab with Weber Spekers and have a 60w 212 Deluxe monster.

So far, no problem.

Never dealt with them on anything.

I've already got the Bassman Pedal, and it is as good or better. Both are great for jazz, blues, etc. The pedal is a gas.

Fantastic piece of equipment. Plug and play. I was extremely hesitant about a digital pedal however this one really smokes. I have never liked the floor model distortion devices that give you 100s of ways to make horrible noises. This one has great distortion with no buzz or fuzz.

P-90 les Paul special with the pedal through a low powered fender tweed. Sonic heaven. Really cool idea to emulate classic amps and this one has it down. Trem and reverb are ok.

All of the Boss pedals I have purchased in the past have been reliable ( tuner and OD1) so I would hope this would be the same.

NA

Great pedal. I tried the Bassman but did not like it. This is the one to get

No manual is neccessary to operate this unit, except maybe to figure out how to use the tap/tempo function for the vibrato.

I am a surf guitarist, so I tend to have a wet, reverby tone. The comments I have read about the loud random SPROING sound are absolutely true. For me, this renders this pedal totally unusable. I returned it immediately.

I have never dealt with Boss customer support.

What a disappointment! I really wanted this to work.

Very easy to use. Straight forward controls. Intuitive setup

This pedal was a major disappointment. I used it with an Eric Johnson Stratocaster, two of my amps (Hughes and Ketner 30 watt and a Fender Cyber Twin (clean channel) and had the same result. I used the clean channels as suggested and just had nothing but harsh, very unsatisfying sounds. I adjusted the treble, bass, mids on the pedal and the amps to no avail. The gain/level on the pedal was adjusted every which way too. The reverb and vibrato had annoying howls as aftersounds on both amps - even at lower volumes (guitar and amp). I wanted this pedal to work but no matter what I did it was an incredibly poor performer. Don't know how the Boss videos demonstrating the prowess of this thing happened - it's very puzzling!

Don't know about this specific pedal- only used it for 2 hours. All the rest of my Boss pedals are built to last and are very dependable.

I have not dealt with them. Never had to and I have lots of Roland/Boss gear. I guess that says something about the dependability of their products

I play blues, rock, classic rock, reggae, ballads. Anything with a melody essentially. I've played for 37 years and own 27 guitars of varying age and brand. I am primarily a Fender stratocaster player and have 9 of them. I took this pedal back to the store because it was not anywhere near worth the money in my opinion. Others of you may subsequently tell me I didn't know what I was doing with this pedal, but like I said - I tried everything I knew to do to make it work. I chose it because it sounded so good when the Boss reps demo'd it in the videos at NAMM (and the Phil Gates separate video). It definitely gets in the way of good sound for me - and like I said -there's an aftersound (small howl) when using the reverb and vibrato settings. I have many other pedals/effects to include Boss and Digitech products and have never had this kind of performance. I would not recommend this pedal if it cost $20.

It's easy enough for me to use and that's a plus. But due to problems with its reverb, I have to cut the score in half.

I like the basic Fender Deluxe Reverb amp modeling that comes in this pedal. I'd probably give that aspect of this pedal a 9. But I don't much care for its DRRI overdrive tone. It sounds a bit harsh or raspy to my ears. I'll take an Ibanez TS9 over this OD tone any day. The tremolo is nice and a big plus on this pedal. But the big problem is the reverb. I love a spring reverb tone and I own a DRRI amp so I have a good idea of what to expect. But this pedal produces random big drip sproing tones that sound like a drunk randomly kicking the reverb tank or your amp. They aren't consistent when they release so it really throws off my playing. I had a Roland rep try to convince me that this is what they are supposed to do "just like a Fender DR amp, but I'm not buying that. They are supposed to emulate an original DR's reverb, and this pedal doesn't accomplish that if I can use my DRRI as a reference. The reverb in my FDR-1 did settle down after I'd tried it out for a few days, but the reverb is still unusuable after half level and I can even detect odd sproing drips occuring randomly with the reverb only up about 2 clicks.

So I give this pedal a thumbs up (but not for the money) on its DR tone modeling and tremolo, a "so-so" on its OD tones, and a big disappointed thumbs down on its reverb. And with the price of superior Vox modeling/dsp units being available for just a couple hundred or more, I can't recommend paying $150 for a single compact stomp box model even with a decent tremolo effect added in.

If you want one of these pedals, be sure you try it before you order it. And run it thru something very clean like a Roland JC to evaluate it. A warm tube amp will bury some of its reverb anomalies and you don't want that while you're checking it out. But I'm hoping Roland will fix the reverb, cuz then, this would be a nice compact pedal to have. But if they are going to be stubborn and argue this is the way a DR's reverb should sound, then just walk away. Also, don't flame me on my review, I've compared with others and these pedals seem to have some variations. Others have reported that this problem with the reverb disappeared for them with some time. So the one you get, might be better than my sample.

Only if you don't use the reverb!

I won't even begin to describe my conversation (other than the ref above) with the Roland rep.

But here's a score.

Nice modeling, nice tremolo, OD is okay, but not for me, and the spring reverb has potential but the random sproing crash drips ruined this pedal for me. I'm sending mine back.

The FDR-1 is fairly simple to use. It does take some getting used to. In fact, you kind of have to wrestle with the level and gain before you get it right, but that is true of any pedal or effects board that you use. NO problem there. You have the luxury of playing it clean, with overdrive reverb and tremolo.

The FDR-1 sounds very close to the Deluxe Reverb. I use one as well and happened to acquire a Bassman LTD. The Bassman LTD with the FDR-1 sounds like a Deluxe Reverb on steroids. I use an Ibanez hollow body and an American Standard Stratocaster with my Bassman. The FDR-1 works great as an overdrive pedal. In fact, it sounds very similar to my Boss OD-3. I won't need both. As far as I can tell, the FDR-1 is not noisy. I think the reverb, while not as deep as the actual thing, is as close as it gets. It is very good. Sometimes it gets "boingy" if the strings are plucked too hard. I am still trying to tweak the tremolo. As far as I can tell, it leaves a lot to be desired, but that could be me. Again, I am using this with a Bassman LTD.

Yes, I feel that I can depend on this pedal. More as an overdrive pedal and occaissonal reverb pedal.

Have not had to deal with Fender however, my supplier said that if I didn't like it I could return it.

My band plays rock and blues. Some country. I think this is a very good match. I have been playing the guitar for over twenty years, and have been playing in bands for the past ten years. I own an Alvarez mandolin, Morgan Monroe resonator a JV Stratocaster and Peavey Classic 60 amplifier. If it were stolen or lost I think I would definately buy one again. What I love about it is this: I have always used Fender Black face amps. I have switched over to the Bassman because I think it is more suitable to my band's style of music. However, when I punch in that FDR-1 for certain songs it brings me back to what I am most comfortable hearing; that punchy, crisp and musical tone of the Deluxe Reverb. This is much better as a reverb unit than the Digitech Digiverb pedal which is highly rated. I think the tremolo is a bit lacking, but then again I am still getting used to it. I am pretty confident that it will help me make music, and enjoy doing it as well.

Very easy to use. One might want a footswitchable reverb or tremolo separate from the other functions but not a problem for me.

Some Marshall/Vox and Behringer + POD users looking below looking for a Hendrix sound are not happy. I am not surprised, this is not a rock pedal, nor is the Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. This pedal very well emulates the sound of Fender Deluxe Reverb when clean or mildly overdriven. Just keep the amp sound clean, tone controls in or around the mid position as the manual states and set the pedal gain on the edge of distortion or little more. Use your guitar volume pots and PU selector for the rest, lower vol for rhythm and full blast for solos. I have noticed the about noon gain position is great for humbuckers, 1-2 PM position for P90s and 2-3PM for a strat. Do not overdrive your amp with the pedal's excessive level setting unless you want it. Level and gain settings allow you to have so many more options than the DR offers, even at a bedroom volume. If you don't get a good sound using this pedal look at the mirror or the rest of your equipment. The reverb is really dripping and cool! Sounds exactly as an accutronics long pan. Tremolo works fine too.

Looks as solid as the rest of the Boss pedals.

Never needed or used them.

This is a pedal for players who want to get the great clean or mildly overdriven DR sound at a lower volume level. I play blues and this works great! I have played for 40+ years and after getting into Fender amps I have not looked back. For younger players who do not care about the Fender sound this works well as an overdrive or distortion pedal too. In addition to the great basic sound the pedal's reverb and tremolo effects came free with it!! Great sound and value, highly recommended.

Should be simple but the knob inside the knob is tricky to get at and harder yet to see for both rev/vibrato and gain/volume.

The demo's by boss sounded incredible through a Roland JC12 and that is a super clean amp. I tried with a Vox AC30 and a Marshall 1959 100watt and 4 12 cab with greenbacks. In either case it was very hard to desern any Fender spank/bounce/scoop mid type vibe and I won a Tiwn as well. Does it work as an overdrive well yes very close MT favorite TS9 but not as clean. The Reverb needs more flexibilty in depth settings the vibrato is limited by thos e damn knobs as well.

Seemed Ok but just demo.

For my purpose , to impart some Fender tone on my Vox/Marshall combo it simply did very little. As an overdrive it works ok. still no enough to keep. Think i will try a BBE FREEFUZZ next.

Easy to use!! no problem!!

This is a do all 10 punds of DUNG and I mean DUNG!! in a 5 pound box!!
I own a 65 BF Deluxe Reverb and to say this is the pedal version is a Sin!! this pedal plane sucks, I ran it into my princeton and my Twin reverb it gave the Twin a little more than it had but for the price? I don't like the new BOSS stuff it as well as other pedal makers no longer make stuff in JAPAN, now they sell cheap junk.

It feels like plastic metal if that sound strange pick up an older Japan Boss pedal and just feel it in your hand.

Wasted my $$$$'s!!
Been playing on the road and at home for 24+ years I have and had a pedal farm of stuff over the years and when it comes to cloning a sound some come close like the Wah and Fender Bassman setting on the Digitech RP-250
That was impressive and that had a bunch of other useless Crap involved + a tuner for $145.00!!

Hey, it's a food pedal. About the only non standard thing is you can use the switch to set tap tempo on the tremolo. It's supposed to emulate a Fender Deluxe Reverb.

First off, the reverb is horrible, very "boing-y", and at anything above the lowest level is just unlistenable. A "Holy Grail" just walks all over it, as do the reverbs in a V-amp and POD. Since half the reason I bought it was to use with amps that don't have reverb, for me this was a fatal flaw. The kindest thing I can say about it is that you can tell that it's supposed to simulate a Deluxe Reverb. But compared to a POD, for example, I don't think it captures the essence of the DR nearly well, particularly when it's set on the edge-of-distortion. You can get some real unpleasant sounds out of this, harsh and buzzy. If it was the only device that could do it, maybe it would be worth having and someone who wasn't expecting a lot might find it satisfactory. I was mainly going to use it at home to practice and warm up a solid state amp. The Tremolo sounded nice and was the best thing about this pedal. Somehow, I thought the Fender name on the device would indicate that it was somehow superior to the other devices that always seem to have the DR as one of the models.

I've found Boss stuff to be reliable and well made. This looks like it would be road worthy.

I took it back to the store. I've been playing for years, mainly at a bar band level, and I've owned an actual Deluxe Reverb (A silverfaced one). I wanted this to sound good, and I had hopes it would provide an easy way to get Tremolo, Reverb, overdrive and some EQ in an easy to use pedal. I'm not a "purist": I have a Jimi Hendrix pedal that I use in a similar manner, and it works great. It doesn't sound a like a real Marshall stack (etc.), but the reverb in it is nice and the sounds are not anywhere as artificial sounding as this one. Maybe it will work for you. I'd just make sure the store where you buy it has a good return policy.

This is the new "Fender Deluxe Reverb" pedal that Boss and Fender collaborated on. As with most Boss pedals, it's pretty easy and intuitive to operate. It has concentric knobs for gain and volume, single knobs for treble and bass, and another concentric set of knobs for reverb and vibrato (tremolo). The vibrato knob controls the intensity by default, and when the main footswitch is depressed and held, this same knob adjusts the speed. You can also do a tap-tempo speed adjustment with the main footswitch. Basically, you have all of the same controls as are found on an actual Deluxe Reverb, with the addition of a master volume.

I was pretty sure that I wouldn't like this pedal before I tried it. After all, the concept of having the sounds of one of the best guitar amps ever made, in the form of a pedal, just seemed pretty far-out to me. And I haven't been really sold on "modeling" technology so far. But, I figured it was worth a look. So as soon as I could get my hands on one, I gave it a try. I spent an hour demoing this pedal through a Fender Pro-Junior. While I won't say it sounds quite as good as an original Blackface Deluxe Reverb, I will say that through the Pro-Junior it sounded just as good as a Deluxe Reverb Re-issue. I play through a Bassman 10 most of the time, which is a fantastic guitar amp, but has no reverb or tremolo. I was planning on buying a tremolo pedal, but decided to wait until I could try the FDR-1. I'm glad I did. The vibrato (tremolo) sounds very convincing. It's pretty easy to get a sound much like the vibrato on a Blackface Deluxe. Then I tried the reverb. And I will tell you that I have never bought a pedal reverb, because none of them really sound much like Fender spring reverb. This one sounds extremely close. You start wondering how they got the springs in that little pedal. I found that the setting I liked on the pedal was about the same as the setting I usually use on actual Deluxe Reverbs. I tend to set the reverb around 3 or 4. I liked the fact that the knobs on this pedal were incremented closely to the actual amp. The tone controls do what they are supposed to do. It works best to set your amp tone controls flat, and set your tone on the pedal. The gain control on the FDR-1 is a real added jem. If you like the sounds of an overdriven Deluxe Reverb (and who doesn't) you will like this aspect of the FDR-1. It's better than most of the overdrive pedals I have heard. If you play through a dry amp like a Bassman, this pedal is a tremendous value.

I have only had this unit for a few days, but typically Boss pedals are very reliable. It has the same bullet-proof case as all their other pedals. It's small, so it doesn't take a lot of room in your pedal board. It's easy to change batteries, so I don't think there is much to worry about.

I've owned several Boss devices over the past 30 years, and I've never actually needed customer support. But the company is probably the most reputable effects manufacturer in the business, so I don't think customer support would be a problem.

I play a wide range of music, including Blues, Surf, Classic Rock, Rockabilly, and Country. I'm 55 years old, and have been playing for 40 years. I use many different guitars, including Les Pauls, Strats, Telecasters, ES 335, and some Ibanez models. I play through only tube amps, including Marshall, Mesa, and Fender. I like traditional guitar sounds. If the FDR-1 had sounded like a cheap imitation, I wouldn't have bought one. It really surprised me. This pedal has great tones, and basically replaces three other effects in most signal chains (reverb, tremolo, overdrive). Considering you can buy one for $150, it's a fantastic bargain. I don't think anybody is going to get rid of their vintage '64 Deluxe Reverb, and replace it with this pedal. But if you don't have a BF Deluxe Reverb, and don't want to spend outrageous money to buy one, this pedal will make you happy. It's very versitile, full of classic sounds, and simple to use. There is nothing else like it, and if it were stolen, I would order another immediately.