BOSS PS-6 Harmonist

December 2010 Guitarist 117
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£149 & £99
EFFECTS
A
s much as we love the
Twin Pedals series and
the new incarnations of
the Cube amp, it’s somewhat
refreshing to be able to address
a pair of new BOSS compact
effects. One emulates the feel
and response of a valve amp
stack, the other does pitch
shifting and three-voice
harmony. Are we ready?
PS-6 Harmonist
The main difference between a
pitch-shifter and a harmoniser
is that the latter adds intervals
from an existing note, while the
former alters the pitch of the
note you play and, among other
things, the PS-6 provides both.
In order to fit the Compact
format, the PS-6’s four-knob
front panel can be rather
confusing, simply due to the
sheer amount of stuff that’s
crammed in – it takes various
control combinations to access
all the features.
The heart of it is the mode
control, which selects the five
basic modes; major or minor
harmony, pitchshifting, detune
and S-Bend. For harmonising
you first need to set the key
you’re playing in via the 12-way
notched key pot and either the
major or minor mode.
From there, the harmony pot
provides 11 pitch and interval
options, such as third above,
fifth below, octave above and so
on. It also gives a choice of four
distinct three-part harmony
intervals, such as third above
with fourth below.
S-Bend is a new feature and
is, in effect, a rudimentary
Whammy. In that mode the
footswitch allows you to apply
the effect for as long as you have
the pedal depressed. The
balance and key controls alter
their operation to rise time and
fall time respectively, and you
The Rivals
PS6 Harmonist
The DigiTech Whammy
(£195) remains the go-to
pedal for real-time pitch
shifting, while the Micro POG
(£125) from Electro-
Harmonix provides some
genuinely spine-tingling
effects. For studio-quality
sounds and versatility, try the
Eventide PitchFactor (£399).
ST2 Power Stack
The MXR DD11 Dime
Distortion (£169) is among
the filthiest pedals out there,
while the morph pot of the
DigiTech Metal Master
(£80) provides a smooth gain
curve. The Danelectro Cool
Cat Metal II (£44.99) adds
dirt to an already hot tone.
Two new stompboxes from opposite ends of the
BOSS canon. A versatile harmoniser and pedal that
aims to offer a stack in a box by Simon Bradley
BOSS PS-6 Harmonist &
ST-2 Power Stack
£149 & £99
One emulates the feel and response of
a valve amp stack, the other does pitch
shi ing and three-voice harmony
can to set it to give a pretty
convincing dive-bomb effect.
Detune gives a subtle chorus
effect, and ‘pitch shifter’ alters
the note or chord to the amount
set by the harmony pot with
options including two octaves
above or below, a seventh below
and a fifth above. The dry signal
stays audible and unaffected.
The versatility of the PS-6 can
be significantly increased by
using both outputs, as they
produce different parts of the
signal when used together. You
can also operate the S-Bend
functions by connecting any of
the optional expression pedals
BOSS produces.
Sounds
Nearly all digital pitchshifters
and harmonisers can have a
tendency to sound like a fist-
fight in Munchkin Land and
our advice would be to use such
effects sparingly. Here the
harmony mode isn’t intended
for anything other than single
notes and, once you’ve set the
right key, the intervals are
sufficiently accurate. Of course,
sending the effected signal to a
second amp can help with the
EQ of the wet tones as we can
see that there’d be little chance
of shoehorning an additional
EQ pot onto the front panel.
If you’re sausage-fingered, it
can be fiddly to set the exact key
as the increments of the key
GIT336.rev_boss 117 11/8/10 10:05:37 AM