Boss Fender Legend Series Pedals - Bought One Got One Free!

[kipper15]

When recently visiting a local music store I noticed a "Buy One Get One Free" promotion running for these pedals. AFAIK this is a UK-only promotion.

So I took the plunge and purchased the FBM-1 '59 Bassman pedal, and sent off the required details to Roland UK in order to get my free FDR-1 '65 Deluxe Reverb pedal. Sure enough, Roland UK sent me the FDR-1 by courier within a few days.

I am really enjoying these pedals. They seem to work very well with the clean channel on my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I'm not sure there why there don't seem to be many fans of these pedals around, but I really like 'em.

Would I have paid the full asking price for 2? Probably not...but I simply couldn't resist getting both of these 2 pedals for the price of 1!

I'm not sure how 'authentic' they sound compared to the real thing but they sound really, really good in front of my Hot Rod Deluxe. The manuals have recommended settings for when connecting these pedals to different types of amps (including Fender combo amps), and also stipulate that an amp's clean channel should be used.

I read somewhere that Boss voiced these with a JC-120 clean channel sound in mind but they probably work well with any decent amp with a good clean channel. There seem to be lots of negative reviews on HC and elsewhere but then I look at what many of these people are using them with - cheap, nasty 15W SS practise amps simply will not do these pedals justice!!!

I'm guessing that BOSS (in collaboration with Fender) took into account that these would be used in front of amps and designed them accordingly.

The Hot Rod Deluxe has a great clean channel and that's probably why these pedals sound so good, at least to my ears. I've spent more time with the FBM-1 (Bassman) so far and really like what it can add to my HRD sound. I use these pedals with no other pedals or effects, so connect as follows:

Guitar => Pedal => Amp

What is slightly odd is that when I first got the FBM-1 home and plugged it in, I was really disappointed as it sounded thin and raspy. Really horrible in fact. I checked the manual and checked the connections, settings, etc, but could not understand why I was getting such a horrible sound. I played with the pedal's EQ, gain settings - everything. Still no joy.

I then had an idea. I usually run a BOSS GE-7 EQ in my FX loop. Would it make a difference if I unplugged FX Loop cables? As soon as I unplugged the cables from the Hot Rod Deluxe's FX loop the Bassman pedal started to roar! I have no idea why but even with a cable plugged in (not even with a pedal connected) to the FX loop of the amp, these pedals do not like it one bit. If anyone has any ideas as to why, I'd like to know!

Same thing happened when I tried this with the FDR-1 ('65 Deluxe Reverb) pedal. So removed the EQ cables and pedal from the FX loop and all was good again.

There are some good audio clips of these pedals here:

http://www.bossus.com/go/fender/

[TommyJ]

I have the 59 bassman I run it into my little chapion 600,
it is a very good pedal,its like I have 2 killer little amps now.
and if you dont want to crank the champ you can use this pedal
to give you that raunch at a lower volume,set the champ on 4
hook this pedal up fiddle a lttle and what I cant believe its not butter..

[kipper15]

I have the 59 bassman I run it into my little chapion 600,
it is a very good pedal,its like I have 2 killer little amps now.
and if you dont want to crank the champ you can use this pedal
to give you that raunch at a lower volume,set the champ on 4
hook this pedal up fiddle a lttle and what I cant believe its not butter..

Glad you're enjoying the Bassman pedal Tommy, I am using it at the moment more than I'm using my ME-50!

I was looking at that littlle Fender Champion 600 amp recently...it sure looks cool and would be a nice addition to my collection of gear. I was very tempted to buy one, and then I got an email from Vox announcing this little beauty:

http://www.voxamps.com/uk/modernclassic/ac4tv/

Just how cool is THAT?!

[TommyJ]

That is to cool now I want 1 of those,when you get it let
us know what it sounds like..

[Rickenjangle]

Awww, dayum! I remember playing an AC4 at a vintage guitar show once. It was tone like buttah! And I like the way it has a 10" speaker. I find that my Pathfinders with their 8" speakers can't handle 'buckers very well without crunching...

[kipper15]

Gotta severe case of GAS looking at that AC4TV, that's for sure!