Boss Valve amp modernizer unit

nick_D01

hi everyone

came across this during a Youtube session the other day. not sure how many of you gents are aware that its been released, thought y'all might find it interesting ( @V8/ Meron ? )

V8

...$1,299 USD at Sweetwater.

Holy. <censored> <censored> batman, <more censored>.

That's a a lot of dosh for a bedroom guitarist.

But. I can easily see this being a studio staple. that footswitch & rig setup also makes it something that could really get a lot out of live. Impressive amount of features, tempting for anyone with a older amp that wants to add some killer features. (Almost all are what you not only want but need.)

The IR loader and amp attenuator alone would be a must have.

But, I'd still wanna hear what the uber valve-heads think it does to tone, I wasn't overly impressed with the tones he was getting. It's probably just me, but it sounds a bit brittle in this vid?

RodneyVikens

I don't understand a word he says. But it looks like it is nice. =)

guidothepimmp

I dont profess to know half of what he is on about.. but there does appear to be a thick dose of PR sales talk in there. Imho.. cranking a valve amp to hellandgone to get good tone is a bit of a myth. I dont think i have ever dimed a valve amp. Too loud and feedback galore. I have however opened them to about half. Theres a discernible increase in the sweep of the pot at some point.

ScottyDogg

guidothepimmp You definitely to want to drive a valve amp hard - however, you don’t need to push volume to max (as you say) and probably shouldnt cause amps start dying at those levels.

There will usually be a sweet spot where the power tubes are saturating and, because master volume controls are not linear, you’ll hit max volume long before turning the pot to full (thereafter you’re just pushing the tubes harder for less benefit and higher risk to the amp)

For my JCM900, the sweet spot appears to be around 4-5 (sounds low but 1 is already too loud for neighbors when using my 4x12 lol) and the actual volume output doesn’t actually audibly increase past 5.5 or so

This Boss device is damn cool with what it offers. Definitely worth the price I think (just check out how much load boxes like the Suhr reactive load go for). Dimed in the sense of max volume isn’t super accurate but most people, I’m sure, probably can’t even turn a 50watt valve amp past master volume of 1.