What BOSS pedal sounds really good, the power stack or the combo drive?

[Slobrain]

Well I have been using an old BOSS ME50 I like to use but want something more like my old pedal board that has all my old 80's stomp boxes.

I have recently listened to Pete Thorn on Youtube demoing the BOSS combo drive and the BOSS power stack, both sounding good. The Combo drive really sounds like a vox amp. Not exact but as close as you maybe can get with a pedal. The power stack has that 70s/80's distortion sound but I have read that the power stack does not work well with a tube amp.

I wanted to ask what some of you all are using and happy with. Pedals... or pedal boards like the BOSS ME70, ... or what ever you like...

Cheers


Slo

[Brad1]

My 95%-of-the-time rig?

American Tele with Texas Specials, into Fender reissue Reverb Tank into Jimi Hendrix Wah>modified Tube Screamer>Marshall Drive Master>Maestro MP1 Phaser>Boss DM2 delay into early-80's Marshall 2203 JCM800 (w/6550 tubes) into Mesa Boogie 2-12 slant cab w/EVH12L speakers.

The Tube Screamer and Marshall pedal cover all the "drive" I need, and the Maestro covers chorus/Leslie-type stuff (LOVE those big foot-controllable side knobs!). I don't do U2, so don't need a digital delay, the Boss DM2 is smooth and unobtrusive. The reverb tank adds just a bit of hair around the notes. The Hendrix Wah seems to be the best voice/sweep range for this rig. The Marshall amp with 6550's is clean enough for most cleans, with the EVH speakers, though it's no Fender Twin-clean. It's also "round" enough to not need a ton of overdone overdrive from the Tube Screamer, and the Drive Master gets used for that.

Have tried dozens of other combinations of multi-effects, pedals amps and speakers...but this one just seems to do the best at covering most of my needs.

Brad1

[soundguruman]

I never use effects pedals anymore.
I found that if the amp did not give the sound I liked, it's time to get another amp.
If I can't plug straight in and get a great sound, without pedals, it's time to start over.
I turn the guitar volume down, the amp should be nice and clean.
I turn the guitar volume up, the amp should have plenty overdrive.
No more footswitches, batteries, patchcords everywhere...hiss, hum, noises, etc....
After like 30 years of playing, I realized how silly footswitches really are. Why do I need to depend on those gimmicks?
I think I also realized that it's the player who makes the good sound, not the electronic devices...
You can take a great player, and he can play the worst guitar, and the worst amp. And it still comes out sounding great. Why is that?
I am free. I am free.

[Brad1]

I never use effects pedals anymore.
I found that if the amp did not give the sound I liked, it's time to get another amp.
I think I also realized that it's the player who makes the good sound, not the electronic devices...

That's a valid way to do things...if you aren't playing a wide range of different styles of music in a band that plays a lot of variety. When you play everything from funk to R&B to Buddy Guy/Albert Collins/all the Kings to ZZ Top/Neil Young/Petty/Allmans/Clapton to some Waylon/Merle/etc..to Grover Washington Jr/Jimmy Smith/Booker T (where I add some "Hammond/Leslie"-ness ramp-up & down in the rhythm with that old Maestro's "Speed" knob)......it's hard to cover all the bases with one guitar/amp...and it's much easier using effects than hauling around several amps and guitars.

I've not had a problem with excessive noise in my rig, and have been told my tone is pretty darn good. But then, I'm not a prima-donna front-guy superstar lead player vying for all the attention. I'm just another part of the whole, adding colors where necessary, and when I get my opening to kick on the Tube Screamer to to add a bit of boost for my lead part, it's as easy as stepping on a pedal.

I guess all Jimi's sounds had nothing to do with pedals, either? SRV certainly didn't avoid them, completely. What a boring world it would be without those marvelous little gadgets to fool around with. Sure, you could play any song without any effects, but then you wouldn't have that certain color added to the palette. I'll try anything to mix things up. But, then...I like all kinds of music. If I was a traditionalist jazzer, I'd just have a hollow-body electric and an amp, and call it good. I'm not, though.

Brad1