Boss BP-1W Booster/Preamp

By Chris Gill, Guitar World, June 2024

With the exception of the limited edition TB-2W Tone Bender, which was anomalous in numerous ways, all of the previous Boss Waza Craft pedals were based on pre ‐existing Boss pedal models. The BP-1W takes a radically different approach by adopting specific elements of classic Boss and Roland products — in this case, the preamp sections of the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble and Roland RE-201 Space Echo — and reconfiguring them in the familiar Boss compact pedal format. The BP-1W’s analog circuitry provides the preamp tones of the CE-1 and RE-201 in a pedalboard ‐friendly format without the excessive bulk of those devices or impedance mismatch issues that are optionally resolved by placing a buffer before their inputs. The BP ‐1W also includes a Natural setting that provides a transparent/“clean”-sounding boost effect. With the Level and Gain controls fully maxed, the overdrive texture is delightfully aggressive and gritty, but it never becomes flat or compressed. Attack remains razor sharp and note-to-note definition is precise. $129, boss.info

Donner/Third Man Hardware Triple Threat

By Art Thompson, Guitar Player, May 2024

Combining three analog effects in a small package with a low price tag makes the Triple Threat an outsider among today’s boutique boxes. However, it all makes sense considering that Jack White conceived this sleek little multi-effector for his Third Man Hardware line, partnering with Donner to produce the pedal in China. The Triple Threat features distortion, phaser, and echo effects that are arranged in right-to-left stompbox order, each of which can be controlled with a trio of small knobs. There’s volume, gain and tone for distortion; level, rate, and depth for phaser; and level, feedback (repeats), and time for echo. Yellow rubber surrounds on the knobs make them easy to grip and more identifiable on the black top panel. Even though they’re close together, I didn’t find it a problem to reach down and turn them in live situations. Roughly the size of a TV remote, the aluminumalloy enclosure has front-mounted input and output jacks, a center-negative jack for the included adapter, and an LED above each switch to indicate on/off.

Standard edition $99, limited edition $129,

EarthQuaker Devices Shadows II

By Chris Gill, Guitar World, October 2024

Time Shadows is an advanced multi-effects unit with three very distinctive algorithms or modes. EQD mode (developed by EarthQuaker Devices) is “an envelope-controlled suboctave filter delay” or “pitch-morphed fuzz delay filter;” DBA mode (contributed by Death By Audio) is a “multi-delay regenerating filter” or “multi-delay filter remorphinator;” and !¡ mode, a new addition that wasn’t featured on the initial limitededition version of the pedal, is a “pitch-warping dual delay” created by EQD’s Jamie Stillman and completed for the new version of Time Shadows. Each mode has its own distinct personality, which gives the box functionality similar to three entirely separate multi-effect and/or synth pedals. Time Shadows provides only three controls for tweaking sounds — Time (delay time), Filter (filter frequency envelope and gate for EQD mode, filter frequency and phased delay line shift point for DBA mode, mix for !¡ mode) and Span (intensity) — but this modest seeming array can summon a multitude of compelling effects and textures. $199, earthquakerdevices.com