Boss Amp In A Box Pedals Comparison and Review ST-2, BC-2, FBM-1 and FDR-1

If you’re a fan of Boss pedals and need an ‘amp in a box’ type overdrive this is the video for you. Let me know which is your favourite down in the comments.

Timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
00:10 - Low Gain
02:27 - Mid Gain
04:09 - High Gain
05:54 - Stacked with Fuzz
08:02 - OD-3 Stacked with Fuzz Comparison
09:07 - Summary

The pedals I'm comparing are the Boss ST-2 Power Stack, Boss BC-2 Combo Drive, Boss FBM-1 59 Bassman and the Boss FDR-1 Deluxe Reverb. I'm really just comparing the sound of these as drive pedals so I didn't include the reverb and vibrato/tremolo features on the FDR-1, but for anyone who's interested I thought they sounded good. It's just a shame that they can't be switched on and off independently via an external footswitch input, that would have been a great feature.

I played them all through a Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue.

Low Gain
I tried to set a straight forward balanced tone for each pedal which wasn't easy, some have an EQ character that you can't really dial out using the tone controls. The ST-2 does a nice Marshall plexi style breakup. The BC-2 sounds pretty similar to the ST-2 on low gain but with a sound more similar to a smaller amp with a more open high end which you could call the Vox high end chime. FBM-1 has quite a big low end with a compressed high end which I think is trying to simulate the sound of the 4 x 10 Alnico speakers in the Bassman combo. The FDR-1 has a nice sounding breakup but I found there’s a weird mid frequency in there that I couldn't EQ out, it takes a bit of time to get used to.

Mid Gain
With the gains all around half way the ST-2 goes more into a JCM800 flavour. The BC-2 you only have to raise the sound control a little bit and it sounds more towards a Vox AC30 with a treble booster hitting the front of the amp. The FBM-1 had a big bass response on the thicker strings and has a strange high mid frequency that you can't EQ out and sounds kind of trashy/fuzzy compared to the others. The FDR-1 Deluxe has a bright thick crunch, again with a frequency notch that you have to get used to.

High Gain
When the ST-2 and BC-2 are set with the sound control all the way up they sound like full on metal distortion pedals. The BC-2 just has higher and more open high end frequencies. The FBM-1 sounded quite trashy to me, maybe in the way a small vintage amp sounds when it's turned right up. The FDR-1 sounded quite snappy, with a bright loud crunch sound and a fast attack.

Using these amp in a box type pedals to colour the sound of a fuzz face, the ST-2 sounds ok but some of the pedals with notched frequencies made the fuzz pedals sound pretty strange compared to what I'm used to.

The OD-3 compared to these amp in a box type pedals is most similar to the ST-2 but when used to colour the sound of the fuzz face, more high end can be heard on the OD-3 and it colours the sound a little less drastically than the others.

The OD-3 doesn’t have the versatility and the fine tuning of the other pedals but when I want a more generic all round straight forward amp type overdrive I’ll still probably just grab the OD-3. The other pedals I think are better if you’re looking for something more specific and particularly with the fender range you have to like the sound of the notches in the EQ and be aware of how it will make other pedals sound if you stack them with other overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals.