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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Boss FRV-1 '63 Fender Reverb

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Hi all Newbie here. Experience comments,testimonials re: Boss FRV-1 '63 Fender Reverb pedal?

Are 29 pages (571 posts) enough? Big Grin

http://surfguitar101.com/search/?q=FRV&models=forums.topic&models=forums.post

All kidding aside, it is widely held by almost everyone (but not absolutely everyone) to be a very good alternative to a real reverb tank. I have both, and that's certainly my own experience.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Noel, you were about 5 seconds ahead of me. Thanx.

Oh, yeah, and welcome aboard too! You come to da right place.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Stringer wrote: Hi all Newbie here.

Welcome to our little corner of cyber space. Glad to have you with us. Hope you enjoy it here as much as I do. I am sure you will.

I see Noel has already directed you to the long discussion about that pedal. I don't have it. But I do have the Boss FDR=1, The 65 Deluxe Reverb pedal. It has a decent sounding reverb and a nice vibrato, When I plaay one of the amps I seldom use, I generally am too lazy to change the cable from the tank over to that amp. So I use the Boss pedal. It serves the purpose. However, my pedal has developed an annoying boing sound. I don't have to kick the reverb tank to get it. Quaint, but not appreciated in the middle of a song.

Talk to you later,
Norm

Hmmm- I did search before I posted. Apparently not very well. Thanks for the link and the welcome.

Stringer wrote:

Hmmm- I did search before I posted. Apparently not very well. Thanks for the link and the welcome.

The "-" in FRV-1 is interpretted mathematically, as in FRV minus 1. Either leave a space (a space equals the + sign) in front of it, so the " -1" is added to the search string like this, FRV+-1, or leave out the "-1" altogether.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

I'm very impressed with mine. The controls are all very sensitive and it tends to sound best on less than extreme settings. It's not a genuine tank, but it's 1/4 the price and 1/20 the size!

And about 7/10 as good!

Surfocaster wrote:

And about 7/10 as good!

I was very unhappy with my reverb until I bought a FRV-1, and that lasted until I bought a Texotica Reverb tank. Then I sold my FRV-1 and was very happy without it until I started needing good reverb in my guitar lessons and the occasional place I couldn't (or wouldn't) bring my tank. So I bought another FRV-1 so I could have good reverb in those places too. Now I'm happy with my reverb everywhere.

The FRV-1 isn't as good as a tank, but it's good enough for when a tank isn't an option. IMHO. YMMV.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Great pedal if you can't do the tank yet. I've found when I mix it with the amp reverb it sounds more natural.I have the Epiphone Valve Senior which probably has the worst real reverb out there. The only other pedal I've tried is the Holy Grail reverb. I did a side by side when I first got the Boss and the FRV-1 beat it out hands down.

I've had amps with and without... Upon getting the VM Jaguar, it was a MUST HAVE for my little early 70s Vibro Champ.

Things i like about it, the name of each control makes sense (we've all seen some weird ones) easy to dial in a sound (we've all had gear that was just annoying b/c we could never get it "right"), solid construction (BOSS proven), compact for the back of the Vibro storage, etc. And it had the Fender sound.. Exact? no. but fits my wallet and is very respectable...

My 2 cents: I own a RI tank and the FRV-1. Especially as a RI tank owner you should bring this pedal along in case of emergency. I've had a lot of trouble with those RI tanks...other story.
The FRV-1 is a 1 trick pony - drippy reverb (nothing else). You can get close to the real tank sound and tbh, the audience will not notice. Plus I've tried plenty of reverb pedals and some of them are really good. But none of them came even close to the FRV-1. So, you like drippy wet reverb and don't have the money for a tank? This is the pedal you should buy, IMHO!

The Hicadoolas

I read a lot of negative reviews online especially in comparison to an actual tank and then I actually heard/played one and thought "What's the fuss, this is pretty damn good for a pedal" I think, for the price, it's unbeatable as a back up or for smaller gigs when you need less gear, this coming from a guy who plays and loves mostly vintage gear, FWIW.

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic

A tip I've never heard anyone mention is that to get a really good tank drip with the FRV1 on staccato notes, it's best run the input really low. How you adjust for this elsewhere in the chain is up to you. It just seems to disappear when the input gain goes up. Like a lot of people I run another pedal (the excellent Yamaha Magicstomp with EFTP) for "normal" less ear piercing reverb & multi-tap echoes & kick in the FRV1 for the muted staccato stuff.

John Blair and I tried the Boss FRV-1 and a vintage 64 Fender reverb tank side by side. They were pretty close. Close enough that if I was a regular touring musician that needed reverb, I'd leave the tank at home. I less piece of gear to haul or get broken on the road.

HBkahuna wrote:

John Blair and I tried the Boss FRV-1 and a vintage 64 Fender reverb tank side by side. They were pretty close. Close enough that if I was a regular touring musician that needed reverb, I'd leave the tank at home. I less piece of gear to haul or get broken on the road.

May this be the final word on this pedal? Who's gonna argue with these two giants of surf sound? Not me, that's for sure.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

I loaned my FRV-1 to Tom Stanton of the Surf Kings when his vintage tank took a dump. He was skeptical at first but very impressed after he used it for a while.

Sorry, nope. Opinions are like you-know-what--everyone has one. Josheboy and I A/B'd this atrocity with his vintage 70's Silverface tank and there was absolutely NO comparison. Give me a tank or give me death. No, really.

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