Legendary status among guitarists

The modern age of guitar pedals

In the words of Roland/Boss founder, Ikutaro Kakehashi, the principle behind Boss is to ‘provide pedals that work within severe constraints, while delivering maximum potential to musicians.’-Something Boss unquestionably delivered. The fact that Boss has been the No 1 pedal manufacturer for the past 40 plus years doesn’t happen by accident. What is the secret to the overwhelming success of Boss pedals?

Standardization and Reliability: The Boss compact enclosure

Boss helped kick off the modern age of Guitar pedals in 1978, with its first standardized, original compact enclosure pedals (the OD-1, PH-1 & SP-1). Boss’s continuity and compact design made using multiple pedals much more practical. Most up-and-coming pedal makers followed suit.

Another key element of the Boss enclosure is its design perfection. Every little detail was carefully designed for ease of use, and brick house reliability. A top mounted, toolless battery compartment makes battery swapping as easy as it gets. The usual mechanical switch was scrapped in favor of a noise free electronic (FET) on/off switch, said to last over 100,000 stomps. The top mounted control knobs are easy to adjust on the fly, but are physically protected from unwanted contact, even if it’s turned upside down!

Sound Quality and Specialized choices

Rock Stars, hobbyists and everyday players use boss pedals. Boss offers reasonably priced, high-quality gear that will probably outlast the user. Is that enough to explain Boss’s universal appeal? Regardless of how well Boss is built, nobody buys a pedal they don’t like, or need.

Boss makes a remarkably wide range of devices that can fill the role of anything you might need or want. The real appeal of Boss pedals is delivering products players want as soon they become vital. Anticipating needs and trends, coupled with the incredibly flexible range of tones each pedal provides, is probably the most decisive force behind Boss’s popularity and longevity.

Boss has never been afraid to take chances. While some pedals quickly went out of production, others were unexpectedly explosive: In 1998 Boss introduced the world’s first Pedal sized tuner. Within 5 years, the Boss TU2 became the bestselling pedal of any kind on planet Earth. To date, Boss has sold 21 million pedals, and offers 64 stomp boxes in the standard line-up (not including double pedals, the 200 or 500 series, Multi FX’S, Amps, or the amazing Waza craft offerings.