BOSS FDR-1 Fender deluxe reverb experiences?

Hi Guys,

since 2 weeks I am teh rpoud owner of a Pro Jr with a nice greenback in it, sounds really great with my Tele! However to get some gain and reverb I am thinking to buy a Boss FDR-1. But I am a bit worried that it will ruin my sound instead of making it better. Does anyone have experiences with this stomp box? (or maybe other suggestions?)

Thanks!

I think I'd skip on the Boss FDR-1 and get an EHX Holy Stain, but that's just me.

ok, Maybe I get distracted by the Fender Logo on the stomp box :)

I've had a Boss Fender '63 Reverb FRV-1 for about 8 months now. I have it on all the time & really love it. I have not heard very good revues on the FDR-1.

ok, Maybe I get distracted by the Fender Logo on the stomp box :)

I think that's the point :mrgreen: In all honesty I've tried that pedal and the Bassman pedal and was unhappy with both.

Careful with EH, I have heard ALOT of complaints about them being noisy. The BOSS FRV-1 is badass as far as sound goes, but I've had one since they came out. Best reverb out there. FDR-1 is a different story.

RJ

I bought the FDR twice and sold it twice. It just didn't do it for me. Reverb was uselessly boingy after about 2, and I wasn't crazy about the gain.

I've got a Pro Jr. For reverb I've been using the Marshall Reflector. I like the way it sounds with the tele and the PJ. If you want more gain, crank the amp. It's got quite a bit!

I sold my Boss FDR-1 in favour of a Holy Grail Nano - that is not noisy at all, by the way.

The first Holy Grail I tried was not a Nano and was really noisy - with a battery if I remember well. It was in another store and it was so noisy that I didn't like it at all. Someone told me to give it another try with a power supply and I'm glad I did because I love it!

I also owned a Marshall Reflector for a couple of days. It sounded so bad, noisy and all, that I returned it. I'm pretty sure it was a defective unit though. So, I can't really speak for those.

I think the EHX pedals are very picky about the power supply you use with them...

I bought a Memory Toy Nano too. It sounded cool in the music shop. I came back home and thought it was not so good after all. The day I sold it, I plugged it with a Boss 9-Volt Adapter... and it came alive! Too late, someone was already on his way to get it!

The 9-Volt Boss adapter is the one that they gave me with my Holy Grail Nano at Moog Audio in Montreal. Not an EHX power supply as I would have expected and it works perfectly!

The Holy Grail Nano comes with a power supply, not the Memory Toy Nano...

Well, lesson well learned for me: a good power supply does make a difference!! :oops:

For your information, I thought the Vibrato was better than the reverb on the FDR-1 !

I have a small amp too and I use another EHX pedal to get a bit of overdrive: the English Muff'n. I like it because my amp only as 3 knobs - volume - gain - tone. The English Muff'n has - Bass - Mid - Treble - Volume - Gain - controls! It's a nice complement to my amp.


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Sorry for my bad English, my first language is French.

i had the big box holy grail and that thing buzzed like no other........

DO NOT GET THE HOLY STAIN if you like the sound of your amp as it is. it colors your tone pretty bad but if u like that color go for it

Had the pedal and got rid. It use to make a popping/echo sound like a dripping tap in a tinbath, at mid to higher settings, ( quite common) now use a Digitech Hardwire RV7, its in another class.

I love my Holy Stain; it is a little noisy at times, the tremolo is rather uninspiring and the pitch shift is only good for chorus sounds, but the reverbs are really great for little amps. It makes my little Peavey Rage sound like a Twin Reverb when recorded. Oh yeah the fuzz is awesome.

the reverb pedal seems rather nice (though I didn't buy it as I have the analog Fender version ;) ) but the concept of putting a whole amp into a pedal didn't work out on most amps. I hear they sound good with a Roland Jazz Chorus (that's what they do the demos on), but a Fender already has a colour on it own, and that doesn't seem to sound nice together. So if you want reverb get reverb, if you want gain get overdrive ;) (not much gain to expect from a blackface model anyway).

I found that for lighter gain I still love the Danelectro DJ1. It starts to suck when cranked, but at around 12-13 o clock its awesome. For fuzzier more distorted sounds I use the Behringer VT 999. These 2 cheap pedals do it. I resold all the more expensive stuff I had over the years but kept these.

Thanks Guys for your comments!
I go for the option, single OD/Boost pedal and a nice analog reverb :)

The Malekko Spring Chicken is said to be a good one too... http://www.malekkoheavyindustry.com/index.php?page=spring-chicken

Holy grail is good. Mine wasn't noisy at all. they are very picky about being on their own isolated power supply (at least the older ones)

But I'd skip it and get the Hermida if you need reverb. It's cheaper if we're talking new, and richer sounding to me. And used, well I can't say I've seen any Hermida reverbs used -folks seem to love them.

I'd get the boss FRV-1 if you want a surfy sound in particular. They nail that, but I found it lacking for atmosphere and regular airy type of stuff - general wetness. Very small range of usable postions on those dials if you ask me. But it does have it's sweet spots, it's not a bad box at all, but Mr. Springgy just slays it for general use rich reverb. As well as the Hermida. But the FRV-1 is the bounciest, springiest, boingiest pedal I've played if that's your thing. It's also very bright, not very full, and sounds really tin can-ee real easy if you knock it out of it's sweet spot. I bought it, auditioned it for one hour and sold it to a friend who LOVED it because he was specifically looking for a surfy sound.

I don't know anything about the FDR pedal.

The Malekko Spring Chicken is said to be a good one too... http://www.malekkoheavyindustry.com/index.php?page=spring-chicken

+10,000,000. That would be my pick.

The Reverb on the FDR-1 is the worst thing about the pedal - sounds very unnatural and digital. The pedal sounds nice used direct and the tremolo is nice but the reverb is not good.

I'd get a nice reverb pedal and an overdrive (Blues Driver/CoolCat CTO-1) to push your tubes.

Too bad the Pro Jr doesn't have an effects loop - a reverb would sound better there instead of going through the preamp and accumulating dirt.

This is a very nice discontinued Boss Reverb unit you can find at good prices on ebay:
http://www.dancetech.com/item.cfm?threadid=4181&lang=0

Max

Sorry to be late to the party and reactivate the thread but ......
Just bought an FDR1 (via e-bay) and found variable experience.

Quite like the drive but its fairly active and hard to dial completely off.
Like the vibrato (for slide blues)
Not happy about the dripping tap popping noise - always on an upstroke - and I'm not a hard player - I have quite a light touch.

All in all - decent drive but the Reverbs virtually unusable. Does anybody have any ideas for getting rid of the popping noise with the reverb; i've got it dialed back to virtually zero and dropped the output, tried putting it at the end of the chain of effects, but still getting the iritating popping sound ??

Cheers.

M:?:

I sold my Boss FDR-1 in favour of a Holy Grail Nano - that is not noisy at all, by the way.

The first Holy Grail I tried was not a Nano and was really noisy - with a battery if I remember well. It was in another store and it was so noisy that I didn't like it at all. Someone told me to give it another try with a power supply and I'm glad I did because I love it!


I think the EHX pedals are very picky about the power supply you use with them...



Hi, I have the Holy Grail 'plus' - i.e. not the Nano, but not quite the old full size either, and a I use it with a 3rd party power supply (a Marshall branded wall wart as I recall) and it is quiet as a church mouse.
Quieter than I even could have hoped for. Maybe a lucky model / combo.

The reverb on the FDR-1 is rather stinky...fake spring boings and such.

The FRV-1 on the other hand is excellent...I'm a dope for getting rid of it.

I'd opt for the FRV-1 and an SD-1 or OD-3 if Boss is your liking.

same question but what about the bassman pedal?

"Had the pedal and got rid. It use to make a popping/echo sound like a dripping tap in a tinbath"

Funny I just got a new one today and I am assuming it is broken because it has these boingy sounds and is really unusable. I will be returning it-the gain did not sound too bad though.

same question but what about the bassman pedal?

I liked the B-Man much better than the FDR, but I wouldn't get it for gain purposes, but rather to make the Junior sound like a Bassman. The FBM is still rather low in the gain department, but it should fatten up that 10 incher.
I'd try a Tech 21 Blonde for a wider variety of Fender tones, and with more gain on tap, if you need it.
Heck, I'd get a gain pedal like a TS-9, run that into the Blonde, then the Junior.
But that's just me.

I'm really liking the sounds I'm getting from my FDR-1. I started using it as an "always on" modelling pedal, but discovered over time that it never cleaned all the way up. In other words, it is a distortion pedal at heart.

I like the tremolo and reverb, but since they're tied to the rest of the pedal, you'll only have them when the pedal is on. So, no super-clean tremolo or reverb, you only get those extra effects when the distortion is on. I didn't love that.

Once I got wise, I dialed the tremolo and reverb down to zero and started using it as a plain distortion. I got a TR-2 and a slapback delay for those sounds and I'm in love with my sound.

I've had a Boss Fender '63 Reverb FRV-1 for about 8 months now. I have it on all the time & really love it.

+1 for the Boss 63 FRV-1. It the only reverb pedal that I've used that I like.