If classic tones with custom voicings and enhanced functionality is what you’re after, in a package that’s built to the highest possible quality, Waza Craft is for you…
The cult appeal of effects pedals has exploded in recent years and one manifestation of that has been the rise of modded versions of classic pedals by BOSS. But while imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, BOSS saw this as an opportunity to offer something better: boutique-grade versions of classic BOSS pedals and all-new premium pedals designed by its own team of tone experts. This was how BOSS’s de facto custom shop – ‘Waza Craft’– was born in 2014.
In Japan, the term ‘Waza’ –represented by the kanji character –means ‘art and technique’. Accordingly, BOSS pedals bearing that emblem are the highest quality, in terms of design and craftsmanship, that the company offers and are built exclusively in Japan. They also address a problem that many unofficially modded versions of BOSS pedals have suffered from –in the process of squeezing new sounds from classic circuits, modders often lost the essence of what made the original pedal great.
“Many of them made a difference in sound by adding or replacing parts,” says Mitsuhiro Wakiyama, division head general manager, Effector Development Department, and one of the key members of the team that developed Waza Craft. “Changing the components produces a sound that is different from the original –however, the original quality is lost. Waza Craft was born because we know that we can advance to a higher level without losing the original quality. Because we know the original –and build the circuit from scratch –we can create sound with more freedom, while maintaining the original quality. This [Waza Craft concept] was based on the proposal of Yoshi Ikegami, who was then president of the BOSS Corporation.”
With this ethos driving the project forward, BOSS launched the first Waza Craft effects in 2014 with a trio of classic pedals that had each been given the ‘hot-rod’ treatment by BOSS’s design team: the BD-2w Blues Driver, the SD-1w Super OverDrive and the DM-2w Delay. Setting the pattern for subsequent Waza Craft releases, the three new compact pedals offered classic tones but also unique, custom voicings accessible at the flick of a switch. For example, the Custom mode on the BD-2w delivers “an expanded tonal range, with increased body and sustain”, as BOSS explains it.
But the ‘custom’ approach didn’t end there. Under the hood, the n
