Boss has just unveiled a guitar effects pedal that assumes the familiar form of its compact series units, and yet can do the job of any one of 16 of the pedal giant’s most popular effects.
The PX-1 Plugout FX is in a sense a multi-effects pedal, only – like the Line 6 HX One – it allows you to use one effect at a time. Here, Boss presents us with 16 models in total, and eight effects always-installed, plus a further eight user-definable presets.
Boss promises that more of its back catalogue will be digitalised and made available to the PX-1 via a low-cost Model Pass.
With 16 classic Boss effects to choose from now, more to come, the PX-1 is a creature of electric guitar’s digital transformation, presenting us with an abundance of choice. And yet the effects on offer will all be familiar to long-time fans of Boss.
We’re going all the way back to 1977 with the OD-1 Overdrive, one of the most iconic overdrive pedals of all time, its asymmetric clipping designed to emulate the breakup of a tube amp. That is present and correct. There is also the DS-1 Distortion, and yes, right now you are picturing an orange box with black text because this distortion pedal is almost ubiquitous in guitar culture – it is Boss’ top-selling pedal of all time for a reason.
There are some other evergreen choices, like the PH-1 Phaser and the CE-2 Chorus – one of the quintessential chorus pedals – plus the DD-2 Digital Delay pedal and OC-2 Octave.
But Boss has taken this opportunity to roll out some deep cuts, too, like the SG-1 Slow Gear, a cult favourite for its dynamic violining effects, the DF-2 Super Feedbacker and Distortion, a mid ‘80s curio that paired distortion with an onboard feedbacker, and the SP-1 Spectrum, which could be your secret EQ weapon for making your guitar solos pop.
The eight effects in the PX-1’s permanent library include the aforementioned OD-1, SP-1, PH-1, SG-1, DS-1, plus the TW-1 Wah, SD-1 Super Overdrive and the CS-1 Compression Sustainer.
Once you sign up for your free Roland Cloud Ultimate Membership, you can add the other eight to the presets. These include the previously mentioned CE-2, DS-1, DF-2, and DD-2, plus the PN-2 Tremolo/Pan, BF-2 Flanger, VB-2 Vibrato, and PS-2 Digital Pitch Shifter/Delay.
One thing we particularly like about the PX-1 is that, while it might be powered by all-new state-of-the-art modelling algorithms, delivering the “genuine sound and response of the pedal it’s based on”, the control interface is much like your garden variety Boss pedal.
The white enclosure has just three blue dials with metal inserts, each adjusting various parameters depending on the pedal. This looks like user-friendly way to give your pedalboard the ultimate wildcard. There’s also a swap function that lets you toggle between effects, and we have expression pedal inputs, tap tempo and MIDI clock support for the time-based effects, plus full stereo connections.
Priced £229/$249, the PX-1 Plugout FX is available now. See Boss for more details.
