TU-3

The BP-1W is one of the jewels in the Waza Craft crown. Boss outdid themselves with this low key gem-it’s part boost, part drive, part compressor and all brilliant. I use this primarily for solo shows with my Fender American Acoustasonic Jazzmaster, it’s up front on a pretty extensive board (behind a TU-3W and a ten band EQ), and I use it as a clean boost for fingerstyle, to push my overdrive for solos, to stack with my compressor for edgy tones and controlled feedback and sometimes just as a mild drive. The Nat setting offers a slightly hairy and vaguely compressed clean boost, like an MXR Micro Amp into a Diamond Comp turned way down, but more hi-fi. It simply makes everything sound better and bigger. RE mode is a little darker and crunchier, bringing a replica of the Space Echo pre into play. The CE mode sounds just like a MIJ CE-2 with the chorus controls turned all the way down. The CE mode is why I bought this pedal-my producer has an early ‘80s CE-2 which we often use as an always-on “bettering” pedal, such is the great tone of the preamp in it. This does the same job but for way less money than an MIJ CE-2! The BP-1W is super easy to use. Two knobs, one three way switch, and an on/off treadle. Great tone is easy to find-just switch it on, find unison output, add gain to taste and let it do its work. It just works so well. Would probably be my desert island pedal. I bought one before, didn’t appreciate the subtlety, returned it and almost immediately bought it again. It’s simply sensational.

This new, Waza Craft, in other words; Made In Japan Super Overdrive (as were the OG BOSS pedals), is superb! I have a fair few overdrives, and although the Waza Blues Driver (BD-2w) is probably my favorite for lead boosting as an overdrive, this one isn't far behind, and is arguably the better 'always on' pedal of the two, especially for Hard Rock / Heavy Metal tones! That's probably a biased statement, as that's the genre of music I prefer, but stack the two together and you've got something quite special! Harmonics just seem to jump out with this pedal on, and I find myself having a very handy 'Van Halen-esque' tone constantly and easily - great for lead and rhythm. Simple, foolproof layout and knob options, typical bombproof BOSS build quality, low current draw (15mA for all you pedalboard builders out there!), comes with a 9V battery as well. The switch in the middle changes the character of the drive from the old, standard SD-1 (but with improved circuitry) to a more modern take - both are great, but I personally REALLY like the Custom option! Nothing to dislike here, superb pedal at a more than fair price.

Likely the best overdrive. It has a really good range from subtle to slightly over the top. Really nice when playing monophonic or duophonic. Not really for metal, there are better distortion pedals for that I would say, but great for rock and blues style for many popular bands styles. Not sure I needed the waza features, when on, the waza reminds me of the Dolby switch hifi devices used to have ie it adds tone maybe a little dull and less rough. Through a large amp this may make a huge difference. Better to have it and not regret it later though when you see reviews or your friends tell you how great waza is

Amazing pedal of outstanding quality, if you are looking for that one pedal to sit at the front of your stack and just be on all the time as a booster, then this is it. it can do distortion and breakup if you want but it's great to just sit there and make everything feel more together and balanced before you go into your other pedals or amp.

I see what all the fuss is about the TU-3 tuner pedal. I've held off buying one for ages and finally decided I needed to finish my pedal board with one. It has multiple tuning modes and display options, will easily deal with 7-string guitars and 5-string basses, and will allow drop tunings directly from the front panel using the mode control. One creative use I intend to put it to is to act as a signal splitter for effects pedals since there are two outputs, "output" and "bypass". This means I can have two FX chains behind it, in my case one vintage and one modern. It runs from standard 9v PP3 batteries or from a wall-wart power supply that is *not* provided. Fortunately for me, I always intended to power it from a power brick (in my case a TrueTone 1Spot) using the adapter cable that TrueTone provides, attached to an outlet that can provide 12v. The fact that it can pass along power to other Boss pedals is a major plus, and it will even feel older Boss pedals because I believe it steps down the power to conform to older pedals. It certainly powers my old compressor/sustainer pedal also made by Boss, using a simple daisychain cable. The display can be switched to a higher brightness so that it's visible in sunlight, but the power draw of the pedal really leaps up if you do, from 30 milliamps to 85 milliamps. If you're daisychaining other Boss pedals using the TU-3's pass-thru power you'll need to bear in mind that there will be less power available for those pedals in the daisychain. Similarly you will need to allow for this if you're using a power brick PSU and switch to high brightness now and then. The enclosure is like all Boss compact pedals - tougher than boots and with everything, especially the battery compartment, easy as anything to access. It comes with a battery installed that has been used for testing. You're recommended to keep a battery in there (it isn't being used if there's no instrument cable in the input) but since I don't play live I just removed it. How does it lock on to the notes? Phenomenally well, quick even on the low B on both 7-string guitar and 5-string bass. I have a Korg Pitchblack rack tuner that I've long considered to be the canines cojones, and this definitely is the equal of that unit, and takes the capabilities a bit further with features like the various flatting options. It's used all the time, and the option to use it on two signal paths makes some rudimentary pedal routing hacks available.

Sounds absolutely fantastic and it’s very versatile at both low gain (great clean boost) and full gain (almost fuzz-like). It loses a star due to it being not true bypassed. This means if this pedal is placed first in your chain, any fuzz pedal or other pedal that requires interaction between your guitar volume will not work, which is disappointing (but typical of Boss’ design). Well worth it though as it’s a classic, and the updated circuit is fab.

The best tuner I’ve owned . Gives me total confidence . Fits in my boss pedal board well and the by pass feature is awesome

Bought this as my first pedal. Keeps the guitar tuned, easy to use - just plug in and off you go. Plenty of ways to set it for non-conventional tuning and 7-8 strings guitars/basses.