Boss FB-2 "Feedbacker/Booster" initial review

[RichL]

This pedal, which I ordered with the help of a gift certificate from one of
my kids for Father's Day, arrived today. And actually, I had never heard of
it, but the name appealed to me. "Feedbacker/Booster" pedal, Boss FB-2.

I just finished putting it through a few paces with my favorite rig, a
custom-made guitar with three Fralin P-92 pickups, and a Vox AC-30.

I'm a sucker for boost pedals; I've got the Keeley Java (treble boost) and
Katana (clean boost) pedals. This new one is similar in some respects.
There's a "boost" (level) control and a tone control, similar to the Java.
But there are two other controls as well: one is called "feedback" and the
other "character".

Initially, I plugged into the AC-30's "brilliant" channel. Here, you've
gotta watch out with the boost control. Too much boost, and it's an ear
splitting treble effect. So I backed off on "boost", set "tone" in the
middle, and started fooling with the other controls.

The "feedback" control is really interesting; I suspect it's based on some
sort of compressor, but it comes across as pretty transparent, none of that
initial "ping" often associated with pedal compressors. But it let me get
close to that Santana territory, a fairly clean sound but with lots of
sustain. The guitar's a hollow-body so it tends to feed back at high enough
volume anyway, but with the "feedback" control cranked up, I was able to get
that never-ending sustain at lower volumes.

Then on a hunch, I plugged into the "normal" channel of the AC-30 instead,
put the volume up half-way (where I get some crunch but not huge overdrive
without any pedals), and let the pedal loose. All I can say is WOW! The
"character" control really comes to life, especially with the "boost"
control turned up about half way. From Queen-like singing leads to AC/DC
crunch with just the turn of a knob. The only drawback is that as I move
the "character" knob, I've gotta compensate with the "boost" knob to keep
the level about the same.

Oh yeah, and like the Java pedal, the FB-2 really shines when I select
out-of-phase positions on the guitar and crank the pedal way up.

Like most boost pedals, this one seems to be mainly pushing the tubes rather
than generating distortion internally. I like! I haven't tried this with
another guitar or amp yet, but if I make any new discoveries in the process,
I'll fill you in.

Anyone else have one of these or try one?

[jtees4]

Post by RichL
This pedal, which I ordered with the help of a gift certificate from one of
my kids for Father's Day, arrived today. And actually, I had never heard of
it, but the name appealed to me. "Feedbacker/Booster" pedal, Boss FB-2.
I just finished putting it through a few paces with my favorite rig, a
custom-made guitar with three Fralin P-92 pickups, and a Vox AC-30.
I'm a sucker for boost pedals; I've got the Keeley Java (treble boost) and
Katana (clean boost) pedals. This new one is similar in some respects.
There's a "boost" (level) control and a tone control, similar to the Java.
But there are two other controls as well: one is called "feedback" and the
other "character".
Initially, I plugged into the AC-30's "brilliant" channel. Here, you've
gotta watch out with the boost control. Too much boost, and it's an ear
splitting treble effect. So I backed off on "boost", set "tone" in the
middle, and started fooling with the other controls.
The "feedback" control is really interesting; I suspect it's based on some
sort of compressor, but it comes across as pretty transparent, none of that
initial "ping" often associated with pedal compressors. But it let me get
close to that Santana territory, a fairly clean sound but with lots of
sustain. The guitar's a hollow-body so it tends to feed back at high enough
volume anyway, but with the "feedback" control cranked up, I was able to get
that never-ending sustain at lower volumes.
Then on a hunch, I plugged into the "normal" channel of the AC-30 instead,
put the volume up half-way (where I get some crunch but not huge overdrive
without any pedals), and let the pedal loose. All I can say is WOW! The
"character" control really comes to life, especially with the "boost"
control turned up about half way. From Queen-like singing leads to AC/DC
crunch with just the turn of a knob. The only drawback is that as I move
the "character" knob, I've gotta compensate with the "boost" knob to keep
the level about the same.
Oh yeah, and like the Java pedal, the FB-2 really shines when I select
out-of-phase positions on the guitar and crank the pedal way up.
Like most boost pedals, this one seems to be mainly pushing the tubes rather
than generating distortion internally. I like! I haven't tried this with
another guitar or amp yet, but if I make any new discoveries in the process,
I'll fill you in.
Anyone else have one of these or try one?

Don't have one, but saw an ad for one recently and was intrigued by
it. Appreciate the review because it is definitely on my radar...I
currently use a compressor as a boost, and it works well, but I was
thinking the FB-2 might bring an added demension. PLUS I have a small
Boss only board at the moment.
********************

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=789610

[RichL]

Update -- D'oh! It would have helped if I had read the manual first! Turns
out that what I was hearing in terms of compression/sustain was the natural
compression of the amp varying as I varied the settings on the stompbox. The
"feedbacker" feature is something else entirely, something I didn't explore
because I didn't realize that to engage it, you have to "press and hold" the
footswitch. And I never did that.

Since then I've listened to a few YouTube vids of the pedal, and the
"feedbacker" seems to be some sort of oscillator-driven thing and from what
I heard it pretty much sounds like crap. "Unnatural" is the word that comes
to mind. But the claim is that you can dial it in by adjusting the feedback
knob on the pedal. I have a feeling though that to get it right I'd have to
dial it in separately for each guitar/pickup/amp combination. But I haven't
had a chance to fool with this myself yet, and if I find out otherwise I'll
report in.

[Squier]

Post by RichL
Update -- D'oh! It would have helped if I had read the manual first! Turns
out that what I was hearing in terms of compression/sustain was the natural
compression of the amp varying as I varied the settings on the stompbox. The
"feedbacker" feature is something else entirely, something I didn't explore
because I didn't realize that to engage it, you have to "press and hold" the
footswitch. And I never did that.
Since then I've listened to a few YouTube vids of the pedal, and the
"feedbacker" seems to be some sort of oscillator-driven thing and from what
I heard it pretty much sounds like crap. "Unnatural" is the word that comes
to mind. But the claim is that you can dial it in by adjusting the feedback
knob on the pedal. I have a feeling though that to get it right I'd have to
dial it in separately for each guitar/pickup/amp combination. But I haven't
had a chance to fool with this myself yet, and if I find out otherwise I'll
report in.

nice review of the pedal - thanks!
I know someone that uses this pedal and you care corect in that
you have to dial in the push and hold feedback/sustain specifically
to each rig you play through. And if it is in a chain of pedals you
have to also take into consideration if any fx is on before or after it
and then it changes if you engage any other effect in the chain.
It's a PIA to get setup right and sound 'natural' as it really doesn't
seem to like it if you kick on any other pedal in the chain while it's being
held down for the feedback/sustain thing. I tried it out for a while
and gave up for using it in live play (I just use a compressor now and
have the sustain knob turned up a bit - so even if we are playing at
fairly low volumes the compressor sustain settings allow me to get close
to a speaker in my cab and fall into nice feedback when needed).
So I just use proximity to my speakers/cab for my feedback now.

But yeah - that pedal can be setup nice for home volume playing
but imho it really wants to be used as one of the only pedals in use in a chain.

[The_Chris]

Post by Squier

Post by RichL
Update -- D'oh! It would have helped if I had read the manual first!
Turns out that what I was hearing in terms of compression/sustain was
the natural compression of the amp varying as I varied the settings on
the stompbox. The "feedbacker" feature is something else entirely,
something I didn't explore because I didn't realize that to engage it,
you have to "press and hold" the footswitch. And I never did that.
Since then I've listened to a few YouTube vids of the pedal, and the
"feedbacker" seems to be some sort of oscillator-driven thing and from
what I heard it pretty much sounds like crap. "Unnatural" is the word
that comes to mind. But the claim is that you can dial it in by
adjusting the feedback knob on the pedal. I have a feeling though that
to get it right I'd have to dial it in separately for each
guitar/pickup/amp combination. But I haven't had a chance to fool with
this myself yet, and if I find out otherwise I'll report in.

nice review of the pedal - thanks!
I know someone that uses this pedal and you care corect in that you have
to dial in the push and hold feedback/sustain specifically to each rig
you play through. And if it is in a chain of pedals you have to also
take into consideration if any fx is on before or after it and then it
changes if you engage any other effect in the chain. It's a PIA to get
setup right and sound 'natural' as it really doesn't seem to like it if
you kick on any other pedal in the chain while it's being held down for
the feedback/sustain thing. I tried it out for a while and gave up for
using it in live play (I just use a compressor now and have the sustain
knob turned up a bit - so even if we are playing at fairly low volumes
the compressor sustain settings allow me to get close to a speaker in my
cab and fall into nice feedback when needed). So I just use proximity to
my speakers/cab for my feedback now.
But yeah - that pedal can be setup nice for home volume playing but imho
it really wants to be used as one of the only pedals in use in a chain.

Many years ago - they had a similar pedal - the DF-2 - distortion/
feedbacker... you would press the pedal, and it would produce an octave
above with vibrato - it was pretty cool.... Is that what this one is like?

[RichL]

Post by The_Chris

Post by Squier

Post by RichL
Update -- D'oh! It would have helped if I had read the manual first!
Turns out that what I was hearing in terms of compression/sustain was
the natural compression of the amp varying as I varied the settings on
the stompbox. The "feedbacker" feature is something else entirely,
something I didn't explore because I didn't realize that to engage it,
you have to "press and hold" the footswitch. And I never did that.
Since then I've listened to a few YouTube vids of the pedal, and the
"feedbacker" seems to be some sort of oscillator-driven thing and from
what I heard it pretty much sounds like crap. "Unnatural" is the word
that comes to mind. But the claim is that you can dial it in by
adjusting the feedback knob on the pedal. I have a feeling though that
to get it right I'd have to dial it in separately for each
guitar/pickup/amp combination. But I haven't had a chance to fool with
this myself yet, and if I find out otherwise I'll report in.

nice review of the pedal - thanks!
I know someone that uses this pedal and you care corect in that you have
to dial in the push and hold feedback/sustain specifically to each rig
you play through. And if it is in a chain of pedals you have to also
take into consideration if any fx is on before or after it and then it
changes if you engage any other effect in the chain. It's a PIA to get
setup right and sound 'natural' as it really doesn't seem to like it if
you kick on any other pedal in the chain while it's being held down for
the feedback/sustain thing. I tried it out for a while and gave up for
using it in live play (I just use a compressor now and have the sustain
knob turned up a bit - so even if we are playing at fairly low volumes
the compressor sustain settings allow me to get close to a speaker in my
cab and fall into nice feedback when needed). So I just use proximity to
my speakers/cab for my feedback now.
But yeah - that pedal can be setup nice for home volume playing but imho
it really wants to be used as one of the only pedals in use in a chain.

Many years ago - they had a similar pedal - the DF-2 - distortion/
feedbacker... you would press the pedal, and it would produce an octave
above with vibrato - it was pretty cool.... Is that what this one is like?

Yeah, in a way. It's not necessarily the octave above that gets sustained.
It depends how you pluck the string etc.

[Elmo' 7#9]

The current Behringer FB-100 is a clone of the older Boss Super
Feedbacker/Distortion pedal.

The distortion is, effectively, the MXR Distortion+ circuit, followed by a
Big Muff tone control.

The "feedback" is produced by a phase-locked loop circuit and the "Feedback"
control crossfades between the PLL output
and an octave-divided version of the same.

The constant-rate vibrato on the "feedback" gets irritating after a while.
I strongly suspect the vibrato is there to mask less-than-perfect pitch
detection in the PLL circuit.

I have mine open, right now, for modding, but everything is surface-mount,
so I'm moving cautiously.

Elmo' 7#9

[Elmo' 7#9]

Had a look at the claims for the NEW Boss pedal
(The subject of this thread).

Looks like the "feedback" function uses pitch-detection to set the resonant
frequency of a filter,
thus encouraging feedback at the detected pitch
Just like sweeping a wah to pick out a particular frequency to sustain.

It's a fresh idea, but I can see how it could sound ugly
(if a very narrow band is being boosted).

Might produce some bizarre results with jazz chords ;=)

Elmo' 7#9