Tone Report Weekly Issue 135 | Page 18

how to get a place on the pedal board again.” The ES-8 has done exactly that. A dream come true for users the world over, the ES-8—and its little brother, the ES-5— offers unparalleled routing flexibility and customization, and does so with consummate attention to quality. Tonal purity—keeping the sound as unadulterated and free of noise as possible—was at the forefront of the project and is achieved with carefully designed analog circuitry. Interestingly, the DD-500—an updated take on the modern megadelay featuring a dozen modes, deep editing options and assignable real-time control functions that make it a dream on stage, in the studio and at home—was born out of the development process for the ES-8. In the nascent stages of the ES-8 project, it became increasingly clear that a new digital delay—specifically, one with MIDI capability—had to be added. “The DD-20 Giga Delay is great pedal, 18 INTERVIEW // but has no MIDI capability,” says Yoshi. “Modern digital delays have a lot of functionality and flexibility, and a twin pedal is not enough for this. And, for pedalboards, space was another important factor.” So the smaller, sleeker, more customizable and eminently flexible DD500 is just another step toward the future. Proof of a company—and a leader—obsessed with what’s next. What’s better. And what sounds good. Yoshi says that the pursuit of originality as a sound innovator has been at the core of the Boss brand since 1976. Today, four decades later, nothing about that has changed. The Boss is still looking forward. Yoshi wouldn’t divulge any secrets regarding upcoming products, but did want us to highlight the new TU-3 app for iOS and Android. It’s free, so download it today from the App Store and Google Play. The Boss of Boss: A Tone Report interview with Yoshi Ikegami