Boss SE-70

[rotren]

Thinking about getting one of these to put in the fx loop of my 18 watter.

Tell me more about them. How do you use yours?

What is a good price for one?

 

[BSHARP]

I've had the SE-50 for several years. It is the model before the SE-70, but very similar. When new these sold for around $500. Used they go between 100-200 the last I checked. They work out fine in a guitar FX Loop or for a mixer send/receive. The delays, reverb and choruses are what you will use. The other effects (distortions) are not very useable.

 

[tonewave]

se 70 has some awesome sounds in it
the vocoder is great
also it has all the old boss pedals in it, including
slow gear and vb2
By todays standards its a bit noisy and limited in parameters, but it has got mojo by the bucketload
also the distortions are analog, just like the pedals
the synth ain't bad either

 

[ToneZappa]

The BOSS SE70 is great fun has stacks of algorithms I got one when they first came out then another secondhand a couple of years ago. They are always handy for something in a guitar rig or studio. You need to find some info on the internet. The Ring Mod, Feedbacker, Vocoder, Guitar synth and EQ are all good. All time based FX work well (live I have it in the loop of a Boogie combo) In the studio I,ve done sessions sometimes with just that going into a Palmer Speaker Sim. The ODs are analog I have got decent solo sounds from it. Actually in my signature below theres one track with all the guitars done on the SE70. (It should be the first track all the info is there) As with all multi FX units you have to program them, the factory presets never work for me.

 

[John Phillips]

I've had the SE-50 for several years. It is the model before the SE-70, but very similar. When new these sold for around $500. Used they go between 100-200 the last I checked. They work out fine in a guitar FX Loop or for a mixer send/receive. The delays, reverb and choruses are what you will use. The other effects (distortions) are not very useable.

I completely disagree - the distortions are very usable if you learn to dial them in right. (Start by never using the high-gain mode on any of them .) It helps to always use the parametric EQ in conjunction with them. Many of the other effects are really nice too, including some that aren't specifically meant for guitar (the Rotary simulator, particularly).

The SE-70 is really a lot better than the SE-50 too (no offense intended! ). It is very similar in overall concept and some of the effects, but it's a lot more powerful and makes the SE-50 seem a bit like a 'test run'.

I used mine as my main tone generator for years into clean amps, and got a whole lot of great tones out of it, if possibly just a little too controlled and smooth compared to what I like now. I only moved away from it really because I prefered a slightly more on-the-fly approach to tone tweaking and a thicker, more analog sound for the other effects. (The overdrive/distortion/fuzz module is analog, BTW.)

I still think the SE-70 is the best low to mid-priced multi-FX unit ever made, and I'm not planning on selling mine, which I bought new in 1992. I totally agree with ToneZappa that the factory presets are crap apart from just to illustrate what it does - wipe them (you can't clear them out of the last 45 positions, if you do want to go back to them) and start from scratch.

One of the really nice things about it for live use is that you can assign a couple of footswitches and an expression pedal to various parameters within a patch, rather than actually change patches. It sounds limiting, but it isn't really when you can turn on or off up to four effects in each chain at once, and it avoids the usual patch switching drop-out.

 

[ylo]

How do I use mine?

In the EFX loop of a Mesa Nomad, using a Digitech PMC-10 MIDI footswitch to select patches.

In the loop, the levels and EQ are a bit off for the OD & distortion effects (better in front of the amp I think), but the time-based effects sound great -- chorus, phaser, delays, flanges, etc. The reverse sample is cool, but you are limited to 2 seconds only.

If you find one of these at a good price, grab it.

 

[Deaj]

Many years ago I owned a Boss SE-50. It was one of several processors I had in a rack system. I remember really digging the chorus and delays. I have been playing through a Fuchs ODS-50 combo for several years now and I grew dissatisfied with the way delay pedals sounded in front of it. When I went looking for a processor to run in the loop the Boss SE-70 was my first choice. I picked one up used in excellent condition for around $200. I've been very pleased with it since.

I'm running the SE-70 100% wet in the parallel effects loop of the Fuchs. I use it mostly for echo/delay effects and it sounds fantastic (delay w/modulation kills!)! I use it for chorus and occasionally for reverb though I generally use the amps reverb. I use a dual momentary footswitch to move up and down between patches if needed. The SE-70 was $200 very well spent!

 

[rotren]

Thanks for the responses. What would be considered a good price for this unit?

 

[rotren]

Would you pay $300 for one?

 

[John Phillips]

Personally, yes - if it was in good condition with the right power supply and manuals - but I have no idea if that's a good price or not. I can't think of many other units you could get for $300 with the same power and sound quality.

 

[HarryJ]

SE70 has been in my main pedal board for decades.
I have to say I didn't like many, if any of the stock programs. I have programed many over the years.
I use an old antique barn hinge with velcro to lift the unit for performance, then folds under it to pack up. Leave the racks at home

The OD's change from time to time, depending on gig and amp.
Right now the Analogman KOT and Zen are in. The RC, and Tone Press stay put (occasional Analogman BiComp) The little brown box next to the TP is a buffer to convert all to line level.

Part time inhabitance are: The Tim, Ethos, AC, OCD(ver3), Pigtronix, Cactus Crunch, Sans Amp, Modded TS9, Keeley BD, and the little red one is the beta version of Gaspedals very sweet Dumb Bell.

SE70 is one of the best kept secrets... Henderson used it as well... may still

HJ
www.harryj.net

 

[rotren]

Harry, do you run the SE-70 in your amp's effects loop?
What kind of effects do you use on the SE-70?

 

[HarryJ]

Harry, do you run the SE-70 in your amp's effects loop?
What kind of effects do you use on the SE-70?

No, my old Fender's, don't have a loop.
I usually run in stereo with 2 amps

My main patch is "Club" just subtle 'verb, touch of delay, pedal brings in delay

Pedal Steel uses the Slow gear with EQ and lots of 'verb

Chorus is much like Roland's old dimension D, Thick, lush but not over powering. Pedal changes speed and depth

Harm is Harmonizer, Pedal changes pitch

Martin is a pretty convincing acoustic emulator using enhancer and EQ

Jamaica uses harmonizer for a steel drum effect (should have called it Trinidad?)

Reverse is a series of 12 delays, some reverse, using pitch shift all in different stereo spectrum.

D wah is OD and wah

Jimi Pan is stereo pan/vib/chorus effect pedal changes speed

All others are somewhat self explanatory?

HJ

 

[boardwlk17]

I got mine in the fx loop of my boogie but i also use a radial fx loop mixer so i get the direct signal and then blend the fx in. this also cuts out the dead spot in between the program changes. the radial will be replaced with a twin line fx loop mixer when they come out

 

[rotren]

Been thinking about using a mixer like that. With my Marshall JVM, I have trouble getting the right mix, for some reason. boardwlk17, do you set it to 100 % wet then, for all patches?

 

[sahhas]

i believe buckethead used one in the late 90s in his studio setup. one of his albums featured it a lot, can't remember which album, the funny thing he talked about in one interview saying that people loved his guitar sound the most and he was using the boss se unit....

doesn't billy G have one his his rig also? at least i thought he did....

 

[rotren]

Scott Henderson uses the SE-70.

 

[hacker]

I picked up an SE-50 for $60 a few weeks ago. What a steal. Great piece of gear-it can get a little noisy, and the distortions are terrible, but the chorus, reverbs, phasing, pitch shifting, octaver etc. are all classic Boss. It has like a 5-stage delay algorithm and you can program it to cut high frequencies, giving a very analog-like quality. The gated and reverse reverbs are very cool, and the space chorus sounds are as sweet as the Dimension-C.

I would pick up an SE-70 if I saw it just for the Slow Gear and analog distortions if the rest of the effects sound as good as the SE-50.

 

[ToneZappa]

Heres a couple of links that have recordings done with just the BOSS SE-70 going direct into the desk.
1) Cassette recording
2) Studio recording

I still have a couple of SE-70,s and they are still useful for somethings.