LIVE: Is The BOSS Waza Tonebender Worth It? 

My grandfather was an engineer for Bell Labs after WWII for over 40 years. He personally knew some of those on the team responsible for the first germanium transistor. I never fully appreciated how nerdy cool that was till after his passing.

My solution to scalping and exorbitant reverb listings is to just not buy them, and be happy with whatever I can afford. Works for me.

It's super clear Josh is doing it for the love of effects pedals.. anyone who is genuinely into effects can clearly see !

When a 'collector' buys something, and can then immediately flip it for 4x the value, all I can think of is Beanie Babies.

You're one of most authentic guys on RU-vid. Please don't let people with that opinion ruin it.

I'm almost 65, yes I'm old. Old enough to be witness to the time when candy was good and then it wasn't. It all comes down to greed. All candy used to be handmade and was very, very good but in the mid-'60s, corporate greed took over. First, they claimed there was a sugar war and then a chocolate war, this justified the doubling in the price of candy. They used the increase in the profits of candy to set up the mechanical production of candy and thus saved labor costs. When machines started making candy it became harder and started tasting like stale candy. So as a young boy it became hard to find candy that tasted good like it used to. Candy used to be made from all-natural ingredients but then they started using artificial ingredients, which made it taste even worse. Then they started making the candy and candy bars smaller to save money. Today's Tootsie Rolls are hard and when I was young, they would be considered stale. If someone in the early 60's tasted modern Tootsie Rolls, they'd return them to the store as stale and ask for a refund. In 1964 and earlier, Tootsie Rolls were soft and chewy, nothing like the ones sold today. They were also a lot bigger.

Why not address the real issue here?? Why is JHS suddenly endorsing Tootsie Rolls?!?!

Just to comment on the hot topic, Ive always got the impression that this channel was genuine. Ive never had the feeling that the dollar has ever influenced any episodes or opinions. Thanks for the history lessons, thanks for the honest comparrisons, and thanks for the entertaining jam sessions. Keep up the good work.

WHY IS JOSH DRIVING UP THE PRICES OF TOOTSIE ROLLS ON REVERB??? 😡😡😡

For someone who was thrown under the buss big time early on, Josh is such a humble dude. Really appreciate what he does. I love that he OFTEN pushes other brands who directly compete with his own products. Hard to hate someone that does that.

Love the show, unbiased approach with appreciation for multiple price ranges and functions. Also educational but that adjective rarely gets the recognition deserved.

For anyone trying to buy this pedal on reverb, You could literally just get an original MkII Tonebender from Anthony Macari for that price

I for one am very glad Josh does his pedal show and shares his wealth of knowledge. I’ve learned loads from watching him and the guys.👍

The JHS show is gift to us. I have no complains and love everything you guys are doing. Deeeeep Hugs Josh.

Hot Topic: don't stop doing what you like to do. I appreciate these videos so much. The show stands on its own. I love that you don't do promotions as you described, but, if you did, I would still watch!

I love the show. I have never seen it as nothing but an honest look at the history of pedals and a great time.

Dear Josh, for another more time you are giving to us much more than we deserve. Keep the "you giving to us more" , this is not regular video, it's much more than a broadcast, the musike, the knowlege, your warmth, and so many other gifts make us lucky... I just want to express a thank you, and i try to give back a little part from the things you give us... Thanx man, you are the one of the kind..

Love the show guys! And thanks Josh for doing this each week

After going through the back catalog of the JHS Show, I think I’ve finally acquired my taste for fuzz. Although the only type I dig is definitely Tone Bender variants and clones, it’s not as useless of an effect as I thought. Much appreciated, JHS. Keep this thing genuine, we support you all the way.

Appreciate everything you do. This is easily one of my favorite RU-vid shows.

Josh I love your show. If you spoke about car parts I'd watch..... You make it magic with your knowledge, playing but most of all enthusiasm . The fuzz visit to macaris was the highlight. Thanks

When I first saw an advertisement for the TB-2W, it was obvious to me that it was going to be a collectible pedal. There are many interesting facts about the pedal but when I read that it was a collaboration between Boss and Sola Sound....it had to be. Then, add that only 3000 will be available and you know it will become a significant part of the history of an already historic pedal. I received the two I ordered from Sweetwater on 6/19. My intention was to stash them away to sell in the future. My curiosity got the best of me so I opened one and put it on my pedal board. The pedal has found its home. Boss did an amazing job with this pedal and it truly does sound amazing. Great live stream, Josh. Thank you for sharing the wonderful story behind the Tone Bender and Boss's TB-2W.

Man I love seeing the stuff you bring to this show. For me anyway, I learn some effects history, how to use the stuff, hear new things (new to me anyway), and get some insight and ideas on how to add to or change my tone. If anything I'd like to see more on JHS pedals. I have but one JHS pedal and it is by far my favorite pedal, a "full size" Unicorn, most expensive pedal I have paid full price at $250 plus tax. Really like when Josh shows his wears, not comparing them to anyone else's work, but more showing us what his stuff does and what the concept behind it is and what inspired him to make it. I love this day and age when you can have so much access to the people who create the stuff we use. Thanks for being so accessible, I really appreciate JHS more because you do this stuff Josh.

I am old and remember a lot. I really enjoy your show. And I enjoy your little boxes. A lot!

As someone who did pay scalper pricing for one of these, I can say that the prices shown on reverb are not all sale prices but instead are the original listing price. The one I bought shows up on the sold page for hundreds more than I paid after going through a couple offers and counter offers.

I got my TB-2W today! Paid 349 in January/Febuary and waited almost 6 Months. It's a awesome pedal and def an keeper! Nice Show to celebrating this great day - thanks!

I’m grateful you’re doing your thang here. This is a great space to teach us, oh wise one. PS - I’m using your Colour Box on the album I am working on, on everything. Killer pedal.

You raised a really great point about part scarcity that I don’t think a lot of people understand. In the documentary about the TR-808 it is mentioned that a lot of the synthesized sounds in it, I.E; the kick, snare, etc were produced using B Stock and sub par transistors from a radio company. Once that company either stopped using transistors or got a point where they weren’t producing B Stock or sub par transistors, they couldn’t provide Roland with those transistors anymore and they wound up ceasing production on the TR-808, which is why only roughly 5,000 TR-808s were made. Of course because the drum machine sounded like fake drums, most people didn’t enjoy it at the time so Roland didn’t see the ceasing of production a big deal. Come 5 years later you could get an 808 for 50$ and it starts the chain reaction of supply and demand which is why they go for such big money now. Thank you so much for bringing up the truth of that reality.

That jam at the @38:00 mark is so fkn goooood! I rewound the video multiple times to listen back to it over and over. Great playing. Very original, and Great Tone⚡️

When Josh is in the groove he gets a smirk and his nostrils flair....priceless guitar faces brother👍👍👍

I wanted to thank Josh and the JHS team for being so informative and giving us tone junkies sonic examples so we might be able to make informed tone decisions...as opposed to just buying and trying and getting burnt a few times...which can equate to thousands of dollars!!! Thank you for providing context in the world of tone chasing..and also thank you for being so selfless...never plugs his own designs...which makes those of us who know happy to throw down our hard earned cash for JHS designs.

I just ordered a Morning Glory, a Switchback loop switcher and two Red Remotes yesterday from Sweetwater! After watching this episode I’m even happier about that decision. If Josh thinks the MG is one of his best pedals ever, it cannot be the one I don’t have! Thanks JHS for doing what you do.

I think that end jam was the best thing y'all have ever created.

Great content🖖 JHS show is in my top 3,Andy demos,That pedal show and JHS show,and its great that you are reviewing other pedals too not just JHS pedals👍

There's nothing HARD building Tone Bender MKI, I.V, II, III or IV. You can even build good ones yourself. The biggest issue is going thru hundreds of transistors measuring them and categorizing them. The biggest obstacle is to find good Q1 transistor and biasing it correctly. It's time-consuming and costly but it is not HARD nor impossible. But Josh has a point. Sourcing 3000 consistent quality Germanium transistors and hard-bias them for a mass-produced pedal... there aren't many who can do that. Everyone can build DIY Tone Benders rather easy... but making 3000 of them. Ohh boy :) So yes... Boss TB-2w is limited to certain number of units for a good reason. The price is right if people are paying it. I'm not going to pay (or need) that Boss Tone Bender since I like to build TB and FF clones myself, experimenting with different transistors etc. I recommend you to give a DIY Tone Bender (or a kit of one) a chance if you like to try Tone Bender sounds and get yourself into measuring transistor hFE and leakage. Cheers!

Excellent topic and a great video. Old school germanium fuzzes are one of my favorite rabbit holes I love to go down when it comes to gear. Honestly could've easily watched another hour of that, but then I'm totally addicted to awesome vintage and vintage style fuzz pedals, along with the history and their origins. I also really loved your perspective on the creative process around how our favorite pedal gear gets made, as well as putting a bit of appreciation back into the equation when a company like Boss chooses to make a run of 3000 pedals using finicky and hard to come by components in a collaboration that they totally did not have to do, and one which shines a light on important guitar pedal history and may open up some people to the other small batch homages being made by some current builders. As someone who currently owns a couple of modern Sola Sound reissues, a few D*A*M, Pigdog, Analogman, Castledine, a Pepe Rush built Pepbox, and a JAM Rooster Ltd treble booster I really love the idea of Boss doing this collaboration with Sola Sound. I love the way they went about it and how this might help a wider audience of people get interested in a sound they may not have previously been aware of or knew how it was made and maybe even help people become aware of a whole community of builders making handmade reissues of these awesome pedals. I love the passion you bring to this topic and I'd love to see you do a video going into the different builders making interesting replicas and new vintage inspired versions of these old fuzzes. I also know that some of these handmade circuits are like artwork and I've even shown photos to my friends who don't play guitar or know circuits and just in seeing the construction of them they literally remarked that they could understand and appreciate the workmanship that went in to building some of these which is something we understandably do not often see in products made today. I also loved seeing a builder like David Main get a shout out with two of his builds being played. Also for anyone curious there were 100 of the Sola Sound MK1 reissues built 25 by David Main of D*A*M, 25 by Steve Williams of Pigdog, 25 by Ian Sherwin of Ghost Effects, and 25 by Stu Castledine. While super expensive to buy, the circuit inside was built in the same manner as the originals wherein not only was each individual component soldered to each other (called point to point wiring as opposed to the common printed circuit boards in most pedals and the Boss TB-2), but where normally there'd be a tag or turret board used to hold all of the components, these circuit is literally put together supporting itself by its own wires ones with a board just placed under it to give it some shape just like the original Mk1s were put together back in 1965. Totally a labor of love pedal and really cool nod back to the original which was really awesome to see in one of your videos. A fun side note to that is that of those 100 Mk1 reissue pedals 3 of my favorite guitar channels on youtube own one of them. Rhett Shull and Pinstriped Clips each with one by Steve Williams, and you with one of David Main's. As one of the other owners of a Sola Sound Mk1 reissue built by Steve Williams its really cool to see them being used and appreciated in a way that people who don't own them can still hear and enjoy them. Oh and Josh if MK3/4s are your favorite, for a really interesting take on them I recommend you look into trying a D*A*M FS-77 Fuzz Sound. I own one from the grey colored batch he did with 1 blue jacket Mullard OC45 and 2 green jacket OC82D transistors. It is a really amazing take on that version of Tone Bender (though it can be hard to find) , as David has set up the tone circuit with a 4th knob for balance along with the normal tone knob. In feel and sound I liken this extra knob to something akin to a phase or presence knob on a fuzz pedal. To me it's like a modern take made using the old school parts and methods. In particular I find it remains very clear on chords as you dial up the gain (even with humbuckers), and unlike the vintage Mk3/4 circuit this also has the capability to boost the volume past unity gain which I found also provides greater lower gain fuzz options. I also imagine that as a pedal builder you'd love looking at the point to point circuit inside as it honestly looks like artwork. Anyway last thing I wanted to say was to keep up the great work and continue with the positive intentions you've got in your videos as it really shines through. We can definitely see that with what goes into to the production value and the library of new and vintage pedals you have, the content on this channel is a labor of love giving back to us tone junkies and I just wanted to say from one passionate pedal nerd to another I thank you for taking the time to do this and for sticking with it. Cheers from Melbourne Australia

I LOVE the show! You’re very entertaining and it’s cool that you share your vast knowledge of pedals. I’ve never been too in to pedals but now I’m shopping Fuzz’s and actually have an interest in other pedals 🤣🤣🤣.

From this episode it's obvious that Nick is usually the adult influence in the room. (Congratulations, Nick + fam!)

My first "hearing" of the Waza. Sounds magical. I can only imagine in person experience. I think Josh knows how to use these TB style pedals. I've seen several YT demos of great TB pedals just today and they sound like crap because the kids using them just don't get it. Thank you Josh for being Josh.

So I got a TB-2W and I also got a Jimmy Page Dragon Tele replaced the pickups with Throwbak 59's and got some fretwork done and it pleked. You put on good times bad times and it's 100% dead on.

The RU-vid universe? The YouTubiverse? Another excellent chill JHS video. Keep it up, Josh, not just because I love what you do, but because what you do is excellently awesome (but you knew that).

The outro is very Opeth: To Bid You Farewell. One of the best songs with a huge build up. I love it!

Super informative! Learned alot about transistors - turns out I won't be paying extra for germanium in the future (just my preference from the knowledge).

Congrats, Nick!

Man I had an original mark 3 colour sound tone bender, my old boss gave me, when I was getting info guitar in the early nineties, he had kicking around in a cupboard and handed it to me, saying you may want this for your setup, kept it for years, loved it - then formed a sixties type beat band in the mid nineties and lent it to my friend the guitarist, I was playing bass at that point, our first band practice went really well, so stupidly we packed our gear into our cars and decided to celebrate with a drink in a pub up the road, the car was parked on the old Kent road, in broad daylight, busy as anything, was in the pub for one drink, so roughly 20 mins, came out - someone had put the car window through and robbed our stuff - including my original tone bender :( I was gutted. Ok so it was stupid to leave the gear in the car, but we was young exited and foolish. I hope whoever stole our gear put their back out robbing my mates Peavey Bandit. That’s all I can say lol

Killer Waza Craft drumming this spisode!

I luv pedals ! I only had about 5 of them 2 years ago before I got hooked on this show and now I have over 100 half are boss pedals . Yes I do have an addiction ……….,and I can admit it and I am also gonna stick with this addiction cause it’s better than drugs or alcohol. Lol. Thanks josh for bringing out my true luv for effect pedals .

All I can say, is that I’m glad to have one!

I've got the Ramble FX Twin Bender, don't know how it compares but I love it

“Tears for Fears did not need a Tone Bender” I laughed for 5 minutes 😂

There are many great fuzz pedals out there to help the player that needs a tool and not a paper weight. Also putting a great boost after the fuzz can bring a fuzz pedal to the next level. Try a Basic Audio Marq Won or a Kingtone Fuzz pedal (with the Zonk setting) and add a Jan Ray or Tchula after it. It will cost you close to a grand, but you will have a seriously awesome fuzz tone.

Congrats, Nick.

Hate to say it, but the best part of the show was Addison's face when he was playing drums. Can't hide the joy at all. :D

That last jam started out Slowdive then turned U2. strange combination, but great playing. Loved it.

I got mine from Sweetwater and I think it's great. However, you can get the same sounds from a Keeley Fuzz Bender, Magnetic Effects Solar Bender, and a few other brands for cheaper.

Hi josh been watching your channel and have literally gone pedal buying mad just need the bikes to put them all on now

I built my tone bender myself from a kit. It works and sounds right.

I’ll just enjoy my JHS Bender pedal. Really enjoying it and Smiley.

Great drumming Addison. Who knew?

Love the show!

Re: Hot Topic.. You have not only the most fun and entertaining pedal show, but the most fun and entertaining show in the guitar world. Because of this show you got me buying your pedals and T-shirts. Don't change anything you are doing. Also because I'm not adequately equipped to deal with change.

Man it must be a blast working for this guy. XD

Forget the haters Josh...you are the least biased reviewer ever.

I bought a 1000 NOS 1967-72 CV7117 transistors off Ebay many years ago for about £20. MOD surplus, a silicon transistor that sounds like germanium. They have VERY LOW gains between 6 and 14 Hfe. When you pair 2 transistors in a darlington config, the two transistor gains multiply. So I can probably build a hundred fuzz faces, tone benders, rangemaster's etc with precise gains for Q1 and Q2. They sound like germanium but no temp problems, and built at military spec so max/min temp specs are better. I've only built 2 circuits with them so far, for my own use. A clone of a Vox distortion booster (fuzz face circuit), and a Dallas rangemaster. Sound great. Going to attempt a clone of the Rush Pep Box next. I don't sell them, I just play/use them. Costs virtually nothing to build them.

I have a Williams 'Whole Lotta Fuzz' and it is worth every penny. I do love Boss pedals.Having a premier fuzz in that design classic is brilliant. Blur are way better

I just completed the set today. July 23, 2024 I just picked up the missing piece, I got the TB-2w for $1400.00 CAD Now I have them all. 💥💥💥💥💥

I'm a subscriber because you are a pedal builder who loves pedals. And because you love showing the rest of us pedals from other brands new and old just because they're freekin cool. You and Brian Wampler alike. I've learned a bunch of stuff from the JHS show and Brian's channel. JHS show is more entertaining though.

Tone Bender totally worth it!!!

I have it and to be honest if you have the money for this "collector" piece is worth 100%. I don't think it's a gear piece, for me Benson - Germanium Fuzz sounds way better and if I want something more complex I will just go with Jackson Audio - Fuzz. I'm gonna keep the Boss pedal for now and see if I can trade it for a new house in 10+ years :)

It's so good, so nothing to say, really good product.

Great closing jam, gents!!

When I watched this I realized I had an Angry driver as well as a Pigdog Professional MKII and I do have a TB2w. The TB2w is excellent, and funnily enough I prefer the 12V setting too. The settings I had on the Angry driver were just like the TB2w at noon, however the Pigdog is much looser almost spitty. They all have their positives, the angry driver was noisier than both the Pigdog and the TB2w. I love them all and will be keeping them.

I can see myself collecting not just pedals but equipment altogether. I can't justify a $1000 purchase unless A) I have the money saved for that specific purchase B) I'm genuinely going to use it or utilize it in some shape or form. Most of the time both rules have to apply for me to really spend that kind of money on gear. It's unfortunate though because I would love a tone bender but I definitely won't have the scratch anytime soon but they do make great clones out there that won't break the bank. Like I said I can see myself collecting but scalpers really put the kibosh on things fast with absurdly high prices. Genuinely, I love that boss ran that in tribute. I think it's a fantastic tip of the hat to history and a big part in music. Just some people have to try and take away from that by preying on anxious musicians looking to get the genuine article. For now, I am still happy with the collection I have now because they aren't vintage now but 30-40 years down the line. Some might be like "holy cow is that a Caline Snake Bite" and I'll be like "oh yeah, that old thing..." Idk seems like a nice thought for myself. Anyways, I really enjoyed the show, thanks again for another fun episode!!

Great show...Everyone..!

I understand what you’re saying with the Boss thing. I think it’s the fact that we see so many other companies (large ones especially) not really caring about their customers/products and people just transfer that mal-intent to Boss.

Hey Josh and team, I think you are making a terrific job of teaching us all about pedals, music and life! There are always people that envy you if you are successful. They envy that many people watch your show, that you successfully sell pedals, that you can play guitar, or drums or bass. They envy you and your team because all of them seem to be smart and likeable persons . These internet people get mean and abusive because they never made it in their life, and nobody cares about them. Well f**** here’s the word: stop bashing other people on the internet - just try to get productive yourself. If you are not able to, sorry but please shut up! Hey internet-meanies: This a good show - don’t ruin it with foul-mouthing. Go somewhere else

$377.99 from Sweetwater total. (Tax, shipping & handling). Great show guys!

I'm enjoying the Crazy Tubes Constellation 7003 which has way more options for way less and sounds fantastic alone and stacked. My Hartman sfz loves it 🖖

Addison was amazing on the kit!!

That shirt is THE best!

That last jam ... spot on

Go Addison! You threw the candy of rock’n’roll right in the face of those drums

I think the gold Tone Bender is my favorite.

Hey! Maybe you could create the following: 1. Pedals with built-in memory, so you can Save various favorite tones and settings, and then later easily recall those same settings from the pedal memory. 2. A fast, easy pedal battery level tester, where the voltage testing device is mounted on a 1/4" Guitar cable male end, so you can just plug the male Battery Meter Jack into your pedal input, and the attached device will read the pedal battery voltage and give you a green light for good, red for low voltage, or better yet a digital read out with actual voltage. ??????

I absolutely love your jams. That’s it, that’s the comment.

I got mine which I preordered as soon as it came out. It is now in my pedal board. It sounds amazing and I plan to heavy use it like it was meant to be done. Also, the Serial Number I got is between 3000-3100, so certainly there were more than 3000 being made.

My Ramble Effects Twin Bender does a beautiful Mk1.5 and Mk2. Easy to get.

Tone comes from your hands, lots of ways to get great tone. Currently I'm using Supro amps and the fabulous Supro Overdrive.

I hum the "I don't have this pedal...." jingle to myself. Alot.

La jam de fin 🔥🔥🔥👌

Nice drummming Addison!

I've got the Hybrid MKII Tone Bender from Sola Sound and it's awesome. I mean super aggressive. I've still thought about getting the Boss one though since Macari's put their stamp of approval on it and I literally talked to Ant about it and he said it was awesome. He's the one that recommended the hybrid to me and I'm on the waiting list for the next batch of true MKII's they do.

I feel like Addison should get more kudos for those fills in the final jam. 🤘

The ramble fx twin bender is fucking awesome and its half the price.

Heck yes, Addison!

Thanks for the insight! It’s a pedal I would love to use, and I may keep and eye out for a “reasonable” priced one… I’m not in the loop on what will be in short supply, so I miss out easily.

Best news of the day was defenatly Nick and his family. Congrats!! 'The Pedal' was great too and I have always loved tonebenders for slide-work. I sometimes find them a bit too gnarly, thoug. And to Matt, -what a surprise! A nice one too! But, I think Nick still is the superior.. Great show. Again. Thank you!

I can get nearly the same sound with my trusty old Fuzz Factory…. if I’m lucky that day 😂. I actually played an original Maestro FZ-1 (with the cable hard attached) sending a 1959 gold top LP through it, at Soundcity studios. They had one of the old Vox tone benders that we used on some solos as well . Both sounded fantastic but not mortgage your house fantastic. Lots of builders are putting out pedals at reasonable prices that capture those tones IMHO. The 2nd hand prices on the Boss are ludicrous but I’m still glad they made them :)

Glad you got to buy two. Would’ve been cool…if you could have bought them all

I bought one Tone bender like yours, the Silver orange one you said you replicated it using silicon transistors. I bought mine at London in 94, 95 at Denmark street, not in the original store, by 78 pounds. And I have the box. :) But at home, surprise surprise, the circuit inside was just a Big Muff ckt without the last output transistor stage. Even the tone control is the same. All Silicon transistors and diodes. Damn. Bloody Englishes. A fake? But it sound well (like a good Big Muff), so I made some changes suggested by Brian Wampler in his book and I still use it. And go on...