'' Boss Tone '' Effects .

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Does anyone still use the Boss Tone device anymore ? I have one and hav'nt used it much . Any suggestions ? Keep it clean ! Thanks in advance . Best Regards,,,Gary .

KENNY KRUPNICK · From: Columbus, Ohio

Gary, I traded mine to Larry Cole about 3-4 years ago.I think Bobbe had a couple for sale when he was at his other shoppe.

Smiley Roberts · From: Hendersonville,Tn. 37075

Gary,
Not only do I use it,I have a 2nd,for backup,
in case my "main" one goes. Best distortion unit they ever came out with,for steel.(IMO)

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  ~ ~


  ©¿©  It don't mean a thang,   


  mm   if it ain't got that twang.


       www.ntsga.com

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

What Herb said.

Once, a "Chet Atkins" type lead player (you know, the kind who would never use a fuzz) asked me what the "little black box" was for.

I held it up in secretive fashion and then whispered,

"This is rock and roll!"

The band got quite a kick out of that one!

[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 30 July 2004 at 02:34 AM.]

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Donny that was a good one . But you did'nt help me out . I know that these can be used to kinda simulate a fiddle . I have done some of the wild sounding Jimmy Hendricks stuff with it but i'm looking for something more like the fiddle sound . I know whats coming next Buy a Fiddle !!! When i played bass in a country band years ago the lead guitar player got some real nice fiddle sounds out of his . Oh well ,just a thought . Fiddled out in Ohio ! G.P.

Gere Mullican · From: LaVergne, Tennessee, USA (deceased)

Gary, I looked for a long time for one of those original Boss Tones with no success. Still wish I could find one at a reasonable price. I friend of mine downloaded the schematic form their web site and built me one but it is a little too big for my liking. It's about the size of a small scratch pad and a little awkward. I really liked the Boss Tone I had years ago.
Gere

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Gary, I haven't used mine in a long time, but I think the idea to simulate strings entailed using 2 unison strings, say string 5 w/the A pedal C# and string 2 lowered a whole tone to C#....it was suggested to tune the strings slightly out of tune, if they aren't already, for this effect. I've heard some pretty effective string sims done by people who had the technique down. I could never have too much luck with it and just ended up using it mostly for trash on R&R. I'm going to reevaluate the thing tho. It still works.[BTW which one is the original or
most desirable? The label on the one I have reads Music City Mfg. It's the one that has the thin knobs that always come loose.]

[This message was edited by Jerry Overstreet on 30 July 2004 at 05:24 PM.]

Rex Thomas · From: Thompson's Station, TN

Hi, Gary. Yeah, I had used it since the early '70's & still do. I find the string sound is more controllable if the fuzz is set to where it just starts to take off & not on "stun". Also, cutting the highs, much reverb, & working the vol. ped. so you mask the slides helps with the authenticity.
Just for the sake of chat, I found a little stomp box that gives me a great overdriven sound without coloring the steels natural tone. It's the Guyatone OD 2. Love it. But for grins I tried the string effect, & once I figured it out, I actually like the OD 2's string effect better because it's smoother & I don't have to cut the highs hardly at all. Now I do have to run the overdrive (not the vol.) wide open (because it's an overdrive, not a fuzz like the boss tone) but it's perfect. So for me the OD 2 wins out, though like Smiles I'll always keep a boss tone handy.
Getting MANY nice compliments on my cover. Thanx again.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Gary, I seldom used the unison-fuzz-reverb trick to get a fiddle sound. That's because it usually came out sounding more like out-of-tune violins playing in a cave whenever I tried to do it.

Jim Bob Sedgwick · From: Clinton, Missouri USA

Donny, Have you been listening to our fiddle player?

maybe you are subconsciously imitating him.

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Thanks guys for your help . The Boss Tone that i have is the one that says Music City Mfg ,also but i don't have any problems with anything coming loose . This one measures about 2-1/2 x 2 x 1-3/8 inches with two knobs and an off/on switch . On the control knobs there are written settings but i don't know what they mean ! Can anyone educate me about these . On the outside the left knob says volume and the other says attack ! I wish that i had a booklet that explained all these settings . I know that when these were made that someoene did test these and came up with all the best settings for this . I'm thinking that this would be very useful for back-up music . But i could be wrong ! G.P.

Jim Smith · From: Midlothian, TX, USA

Volume controls the volume of the distortion. Attack controls how much distortion.

Dan Hatfield · From: Columbia, Mo USA

Gary, here is a suggestion. If you could get Smiley Roberts to give you a little seminar in making the steel sound like a fiddle, it would be well worth your time. I heard him backing T. O. at a concert in Columbia, MO back in the 70's and he blew me away with his technique. I kept looking for a violin section on stage and finally realized it was Smiley doing it all by himself.
Just a thought.

Dan

Smiley Roberts · From: Hendersonville,Tn. 37075

Hey Dan,
Thanx for the plug. Didn't think you could remember that far back. I can,barely! You write a lot younger than you are.

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  ~ ~


  ©¿©  It don't mean a thang,   


  mm   if it ain't got that twang.


       www.ntsga.com

Dan Hatfield · From: Columbia, Mo USA

No problem Smiley! Just send the check in the mail.

Dan

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Just for the fun of it at our family reunion in Grayson Ky on August the 7-th we had some music and they played a rock song and would'nt you know it ''Boss Tone ''time . I made some real ''noise'' with that . A.K.A.Jimmy Hendrix !!! . So much for that . G.P.

Vann Ray Cranford · From: Kinston, N.C. 28501-1571

Hey Gary,
I am definitely not an expert on anything. However, I bought a Boss Tone back in the mid 1970's. In fact I still have it and it is like new. The technique that I used to simulate the fiddle sound involved me playing the F# notes on the 1st and 4th strings on the E9th neck. I tuned both strings harmonically together, but I slanted my bar slightly to get the sound that I wanted. I found that the Attack dial needed to be just turned up enough to get a smooth sound. Too much Attack gives too much distortion and not the fiddle sound. I hope that my comments help you! Vann

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Thanks Vann . Any input is always helpful . Thanks all . Best regards,,,Gary .

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

I learned to use my BOSS-TONE while working on the Opry in ’77-’78, by Sonny Burnette, during the time that Sonny and Weldon and Hal were doing (3)-part String background as part of the Staff-Band backing various Artists. Sonny showed me to turn the Attack Full-ON and then just back it off about >! !< that much. And then adjust the Volume so that it is the same with or without the effect. They also used the 1st. & 4th. strings. Originally the units were mfg'd by Jordan and later bought out by Sho-Bud. The three-part harmony background by the Opry Staff-Band seems to have really put the unit on the ‘Map’! They also taught me that if you play strings 4,5 & 8, it will produce one single-note, one-octave below string #8. E-B––E = Low-E. Also, if you have (2)-Jacks on your steel going to (2)-Input-Jacks [(2)-vol/pots] on your volume-pedal; you can just run your BOSS-TONE into one-Amp. and you can actually play Harmony, w/o extra unwanted noise. Paul Franklin did this with his earlier Franklin (‘Stereo’) Guitars.
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“Big John” Bechtel
(2)-Fender ’49–’50 T–8 Customs
Fender ’65 Reissue Twin-Reverb Custom™ 15”
click here
click here click here click here

[This message was edited by John Bechtel on 10 August 2004 at 08:16 PM.]

Rick Johnson · From: Wheelwright, Ky USA

Gary
You're always right. Buy a fiddle! ha

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Rick Johnson

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Ricky Joe what am i gonna do with you ??
you better go out and buy you a boss tone
quick mister . Just fiddling around . G .P

Jim Smith · From: Midlothian, TX, USA

John, to get harmony with a BossTone would require stereo, but it would also require separate pickups for whichever strings you wanted the harmony on, and two BossTones. The Emmons String Machine was setup this way, except with three pickups and three fuzz tones, mixed together into one output.

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Thanks guys for all of your input . Best regards ,,, Gary .

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

Beg to differ! My first Franklin was back when they had (2)-output jacks, (1)-P/U and a Stereo Volume-Pedal. Just run the BOSS-TONE in (1)-output jack to one input of the Pedal. One amp. is effects and the Dry-amp over-rides to help clearify the harmony-sounds. Can't call it clean-distortion, but then distortion isn't clean anyway! I guess you could call it an Overdrive-Effect!

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“Big John” Bechtel
(2)-Fender ’49–’50 T–8 Customs
Fender ’65 Reissue Twin-Reverb Custom™ 15”
click here
click here click here click here

Jim Smith · From: Midlothian, TX, USA

Sorry John, I thought you were talking about distortion harmony with the Boss Tone, not mixing a dry and distorted sound. It sounds like what you were doing by mixing the two was ending up with a less distorted sound that helped cover up the distortion, and the added clean sound allowed you to hear the harmony.

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