BOSS TB-2W Tone Bender
- Thread starter idsnowdog
- Start date
ErikH
Well-known member
Boss lost the Phaser wars long long ago. MXR and Electro-Harmonix pretty much rule that roost, with MXR having the obvious edge. The Phase 90 is legendary, the Phase 45 and Phase 100 have their fan base. Boss' phaser was weird. Everyone I knew that had one eventually swapped it for a MXR or EHX and left it at that. If they do a Waza version of the first PH-1, that might grab some nostalgic interest but the Waza pedals out now are because the originals sold A LOT of units.
I love the DM-2w. It's great in front of an amp or in a loop, I really like the extended delay times as well as the original DM-2 settings. If I was to get a chorus pedal there's no doubt I'd go after the CE-2w or even the DC-2w.
PFDarkside
of the Forum
The main Boss phaser user I think of is Mike Einziger of Incubus. He’s got two using different settings. Who are some other users of the Boss units?
Lewguitar
New member
Anyone remember the Gibson Maestro PS-1A Phase Shifter? That's the one I liked. Someone ought to reissue it in a small box.
ErikH
Well-known member
Lewguitar
New member
Cool. Carl Verheyen likes it. He's great player. Depending on the cost, seems like that's the pedal phase shifter lovers ought to be looking at. Ernie Isley used the Maestro on Who's That Lady.
Billy from Smashing Pumpkins did use a PH-3. He uses an all-in-one effects now.
The Incubus guy uses PH-2 super-phasers. They are 10-stage on mode1 and 12 on mode2.
The PH-1 and PH-1r are 4-stage.
I have to admit though, my favorite phaser (that I have) is the Maxon PT9pro+. It's a 10-stage but is very lush.
But I sure don't see why Boss would just throw in the towel on such a popular effect.
Do they have no competitiveness or something?
Surely they could make some adjustments to the PH-1r circuit for a Waza. Isn't that what the Waza line is?
Lewguitar
New member
The real one's made in the 60's used germanium diodes. Is that the part that's in short supply?
PFDarkside
of the Forum
Correct, they sourced and sorted a batch of germanium transistors to build a batch of pedals. In the world of Boss, their designs are usually intended for mass production so they all come out in spec.
This was one of their teaser shots:
Lewguitar
New member
I want one. I had a real one when I was kid in the 1960's and loved it. When it broke no one could fix it. That's the way things were back then. But I loved that thing. It would roar! That huge low end growl and endless sustain that my Tone Bender had was unlike anything I've had since. I'd like to have the reissue just for nostalgia's sake. Just to hear that sound again once in a while.
Sirion
Well-known member
This. The Boss phasers have a sound of their own, but I think that the execution of it has often left something to be desired. A Waza Phaser would be an opportunity to get the record straight, and provide us with a proper alternative to the ubiquitous Phase 90.
As far as fuzzes, that is an effect that I just don't get. I understand that Hendrix was working at a time when there really was nothing else around, but I find that it makes the guitar sound wooly, undefined and, for lack of a better term, lo-res, which is exactly what I am trying to avoid.
Another reason I believe many didn't like the Boss phasers (when they tried them 20yrs ago lol) was the adjustability.
Coming from using 1 knob phasers and going up to 3 knobs can make for frustration until you work with them for awhile,,,,,,hard to do when trying them at a music store with all the distractions. Even the speed/rate knob has a different value and different sweet-spots than the MXRs do.
Might sound like I'm just making excuses for Boss, but after working with the PH-2 for quite awhile now I find it's an excellent phaser that has unison volume at about any setting of mode 1.
Even at unison volume it really excites the upper-midrange harmonics while only adding a very tiny-bit of additional perceived gain, and that's just from the upper-mids being enhanced.
For a high-gain lead/solo enhancement I run mine like this;
Rate= 10:30
Depth= 4:00
Reso= 10:00
Mode= 1
For an occasional faster phase I turn the rate up to around 1:00 and the depth down to about 3:00
The more resonance/feedback you dial makes the tone narrower and more nasal. It adds complexity but it's hard to appreciate with much gain coming after it.
IMO higher rate and reso settings work much better with light breakup and cleans rather than high-gain.
I wouldn't want boss making the phase90 or stuff that already others make that is unique to their respective companies. I don't mind making a copy of a discontinued pedal of some other brand that is unique & difficult to find.
Boss already has a few gems they discontinued or altered the circuit in the current production versions, these are the ones I'd like them to make again. Behringer already makes clones of lot of their stuff, some of which is a few mods away from being a close copy but I wish boss reissued some of their stuff that's hard to find & popular enough to cost big due to being rare at the moment.
Boss already has a few gems they discontinued or altered the circuit in the current production versions, these are the ones I'd like them to make again. Behringer already makes clones of lot of their stuff, some of which is a few mods away from being a close copy but I wish boss reissued some of their stuff that's hard to find & popular enough to cost big due to being rare at the moment.
Well they are doing the HM-2w next year. The word came right from their president last month.
They set up a HM-2w facebook-friends page to accept suggestions on what to do on the remake.
I think that alone might be a first for the waza series,,,,,,,,,,taking suggestions from customers that is.
They set up a HM-2w facebook-friends page to accept suggestions on what to do on the remake.
I think that alone might be a first for the waza series,,,,,,,,,,taking suggestions from customers that is.
I don't think they'd need or want to copy anything to build an awesome analogue phaser ithat is "based" on the original PH-1r and then refined from there, and then with a new custom-mode added.
Phaser is another good pedal for them to apply the on/off switch for the buffers. They should market one mode as "classic" and the other as "modern".
People would be excited to give it a chance because of the Waza stamp.
