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Pros:
- Extremely versatile
- Offers a lot of control over your tone
- Wide range of functions
Cons:
- You cannot undo the last loop
- Understanding the pedal is a bit time consuming
Have you ever dreamt of the unit that would change the way you think about your music? A device that would satisfy all your requirements and combine all the essential tools? If so, then let me tell you that your prayers have been heard – such pedals exist and they are ready to be at your service whenever needed. These stompboxes are real lifesavers for those, who not only play their guitar, but also sing along. They need a simple apparatus that will know what to do in many different scenarios – be it a live performance or a bedroom practice. In such cases, it’s crucial to find a pedal that won’t color your voice or sound, and assist you in the whole process. Nobody wants their acoustic guitar to lose all of its virtues and come off as lackluster. Rather, we all want our music to shine even on the cloudiest days (sorry for getting cheesy). If such a unit is what you’re looking for, then let me introduce to you VE-8 Acoustic Singer from Boss. This fella is quite big in size, but I’m sure you won’t care about the footprint once you grasp the scope of its capabilities. Let’s begin our review and see what this bad boy has up its sleeves!
Features
On one hand, it’s really easy to start sounding like a broken record when talking about Boss products. But on the other hand, you never actually repeat yourself because the majority of their pedals are rather versatile. VE-8 is a feature-laden unit that combines three different stompboxes: acoustic preamp, vocal processor and a looper. I won’t start talking about the durability of this one, since we all know the drill. I’m sure it will be more crucial to concentrate on actual properties. First of all, this puppy offers separate audio effects for guitar and vocals, enabling you to get out of your comfort zone and experiment with various possibilities. The former includes Reverb and Chorus, while the latter is comprised of Reverb. But there’s more – this pedal has the ability to recognize the key and chords you play and reproduce the harmony accordingly. This way your vocals will always be perfectly synced with your guitar, enabling you to create music and sing along professionally. More importantly, the preamp has all the essential controls that you would need to craft the sound of your instrument. When it comes to the looper, here we have 80 seconds of recording time topped with the ability to loop vocals and guitar separately. But keep in mind that we don’t have the undo functionality. VE-8 Acoustic Singer has 50 memory slots that enable you to store your favorite pieces and utilize them whenever needed. You could easily prep for your life performance beforehand or simply create wonderful music on stage. That’s up to you – the main thing is that this puppy gives you some options to work with. It also has an in-built tuner to keep your guitar always in tune. It can be powered with 6 AA batteries or an adapter to eradicate the chance of any obstacles on your way. As you can see, VE-8 is a unit that infuses the urge to explore more and try out new things. What’s not to love?!
Controls
Moving on to the controls, let me inform you beforehand that VE-8 Acoustic Singer can operate in two different modes. The first one is Manual mode in which you just play and tweak the knobs accordingly. The second one is a Memory mode in which you can utilize already recorded pieces or save the new ones. To make sure you don’t get tangled in the abundance of controls, let me explain the majority of them below and get you prepared for the tweaking process.
Guitar
- Acoustic Resonance – adjusts the resonance of your guitar;
- Shape – modifies the tonal character;
- Notch – takes care of the feedback that can be caused by the surroundings in the venue;
- Phase – takes care of the acoustic feedback itself;
- Reverb (with Type selector) – changes the level of reverb; Type selector lets you pick out desired reverb type;
- Chorus (with Type selector) – alters the depth of the chorus; Type selector enables you to choose the desired type of effect;
Vocal
- Enhance – evens out the input volume and helps you make your sound more consistent;
- Correct – corrects the mistakes in your pitch;
- Reverb (with Type selector) – alters the level of reverb; Type lets you choose the desired type of effect;
Harmony
- Type – enables you to choose between different types of harmonic effects;
- Auto – triggers the auto mode in which the harmonic response is chosen automatically;
- Key – lets you select the desired key for your vocals;
- Level – changes the level of the harmony (performs differently depending on the chosen type);
I won’t discuss the Loop part of the pedal, since it includes several combinations that are explained better in the manual. And since there are some hidden settings in all of the channels, I highly recommend looking through those pages.
Boss VE 8 Sound
The sound of VE-8 Acoustic Singer is simply impressive. You know how some brands brag with their multi-functional devices, but then you plug them in and nothing has quality? Well, this one from boss is exactly the opposite. The available effects sound wonderful – they all have definition and depth to them. Be it a guitar or the vocals, this pedal can easily accentuate all the virtues and take care of the inaccuracies or feedbacks. Though the in-built looper is not as powerful as its standalone variation, it is still really interesting and helpful to use. VE-8 is steeped with countless opportunities and the scope of its versatility easily justifies its price tag.
Conclusion
On the whole, Boss VE-8 Acoustic Singer is an amazing option for those who can’t be satisfied with one trick ponies and want some diversity. This puppy is equally amazing for acoustic guitars and vocals, and its quality will definitely surprise you. It will take you some time to grasp what is what and you’ll have to scrutinize the manual as well, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll have a powerful beast on hand. Good luck!
Click here to view more from 10 Best Acoustic Preamp Pedals.
