Boss ES-8 3 Great Ways To Use It

[@TommySixGun]

I’ve had one for about a year. It’s amazing, to say the least. My live rig has two amps, so it’s great to be able to output to one, the other, or both. The ctrl outputs handle all footswitch functions for both amps. Being able to change the order of the chain without moving a pedal is fantastic. So is the expression pedal capabilities. I could go on for hours. Get one!

[@LucasGonzalez-yu6ny]

does it work with analogue pedals? i really want to get one but i don't know if it work with non digital pedals

[@savoirfaire8979]

Lucas Gonzalez - Of course it does.

[@frankgrocholski]

Great little demo! Thanks for taking the time to make it.

[@Relayer6a]

How are you using so many pedals? There are basically 8 loops (I know there are also volume, exp, etc...). You have like 14 pedals. Are you doubling them up? More than 1 per loop? And if you were to do that, if the pedals were midi controllable could you use midi signals to say only activate a single pedal even though there are two in the loop?

[@timcestnick2004]

Hey Rob, thanks for the video. I just purchased an ES-8 and I’m getting it set up. You have more pedals than can fit in the 8 loops on the ES-8. I’m the same. Have you kept some of your pedals outside the loops of the ES-8? If so, which ones? I have the big three Strymon pedals (Timeline, Mobius, Big Sky) and have connected them by midi but I’m struggling to know how to fit all my pedals into loops. Obviously the volume and tuner pedals fall outside the 8 loops. Any advice?

[@ethanlandrum4054]

How do you connect them via midi?

[@tomattah_]

Really clear, very concise - thank you!

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Tom Attah thanks for watching!

[@tdz69]

THis looks great. Ive seen these units for a while and yesterday, at rehearsal, I was struggling with doing the tap dance on some songs. Very stressful when trying to sing and then get into a solo where you have to hit two pedals then disengage one when finishing the solo. I think I may have to get something like this.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Troy Diaz . Yup. Solved that issue for me. Even if you just program the BPM of each song to feed all your time based FX. Keeps me focused on playing and less tap dancing.

[@pijankodupe]

Hi, thanks for this video! Could I switch channels on my Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister Deluxe 40 whit this over midi functions? I was looking to buy FSM-432 MK III but this looks way more versatile... Thanks!

[@jhs564]

There is 8 loops and a lot more pedals. Can you explain how you solved this - which are actually used in the loops? Do you have more pedals in one loop or do you use some before or some after the ES 8?

[@subliminal741]

I'd like to know the answer to that aswell

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

@@subliminal741 So there are actually 9 loops in the ES-8. I share the spark in that loop. the distortion pro and TS are not hooked up ATM. I interchange them with my drive loops.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

The "Volume Loop" is the 9th loop without a switch. It's on on most pre-sets

[@adityamra]

Hi maybe it’s a bit late but is it work with analog delay pedal without preset feature? I have vox time machine delay pedal and it doesn’t have preset feature, only tap tempo. And i want to have different tempo or kinda like that to be stored in es-8. Is it possible? Thanks!

[@MarvOtis]

Hey Robert! Great video thanks for sharing. I'm wanting to run the Es8 in a stereo setup having my drive pedals going into the front of my tube amps and my stereo pedals i/e reverb delay and Modulation after my pre amps thru the effects loop. I've looked on you tube and the internet trying to find someone who is doing this and your the closest person I have found. Any help or advice would be great! Thank you in advance:)

[@jeremiah_justice]

Great video. I'm kinda late to asking questions on this but do the footswitches have multiple functions within a patch, for example a short press and a long press do two different functions? Or like a double press? Similar features to the morningstar mc6 and rjm pbc. Thanks

[@miguelaraujo8526]

Hi. Thanks for the video. Maybe you can help me with a few questions. I'm a guitar player and singer in a portuguese band. As i sing and play at the same time it's very uncomfortable to be tapdancing. Some years ago i bought a Mooer L6 switcher. For the price i can't really complaint about it (the main problem is this kind of delay when you press the buttons, the sound kind of fades in). I've been using it to control my modulation pedals live, but i want to be able to control all pedals (dis, drive, boost, etc). This happens because i use my modulation in the fx loop of the amp and the other pedals in the front inside of the BOSS NS2 loop. My question is if using the boss es 8 four cable method feature i can route the pedals i want to the front and to the fx loop "separating" them but still using in the same loop system. Other thing i would like to know is how the boss NS2 loop would work in a foot switcher, i mean how can i still be using the noise surpressor loop or how can i use it still using a switcher. As i'm thinking of switching to another switcher, i would like to ask some of good choices for me besides the ES-8. What exact foot switchers can i use to route pedals to the fx loop and to the front of the pedal. Thank you.

[@kylegifford2116]

I see the Angry fuzz on there. sweet pedal!!

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Kyle Gifford Yes! It's a nice little secret!

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

+Kyle Gifford you betcha!

[@SeyfiSariaslan]

Hi. What is the difference between "Studio Mode" and "Preset Mode" that you are describing in the video? They look so similar.

[@Shahriar_Firoz]

I had the same question. I believe that they are almost samd but just differ on how he uses the Preset mode. Studio mode is a Preset mode but just wasnt designed for a single song. Studio mode is a collection of different overall presets that he tweaked over the time of playing. Robert, please correct me if I am wrong about that... Thanks!

[@davidreedjr8517]

Hey superb video - I have a question about power (apologies if I’ve missed in prev comments) but what power source/bank do you use for all the pedals and also what patch cables do you recommend? Thanks 🙂

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

I'm using the Pedal Power Mondo for everything. I use George L's cable. I would go with straight and angled ends if I could do it over again. Right now I'm using all angled. lots of guys just buy a spool of moogami cable and ends and custom solder. If you go with george L's make sure to crank em down with pliers.

[@giuseppmetallic8872]

@@RobertWilliams-bp9ge how do you connected the tuner ? how can i activate it through mute switch ??

[@bertsbike]

@@giuseppmetallic8872Hey there. I don’t have the tuner in the loops. I reprogrammed the mute switch to send tap tempo. So the tuner is before the switcher. It mutes the board when tuning.

[@joshpetermann]

Sorry for an extremely late comment, but I have a question for you. Im looking at buying an ES-8, but am debating between it or a Disaster Area DMC-8 and DPC-8EZ combo. Anyways, on to my question. Would it be possible to kind of split the switches between what you call your "preset mode" and "pedalboard mode"? For instance, could I program switches 1-4 to enable (via midi) presets A and B on my strymon pedals, while leaving switches 5-8 in "pedalboard mode," allowing for me to simply switch on and off my overdrive pedals? Thanks!

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

+Josh Petermann You won't be able to do that. It's either in pedalboard mode or preset mode. But getting to each is just a click away.

[@joshpetermann]

Thanks for the response, I think I found out that it actually can be programmed to do it. For example, the following youtube video demo by Sweetwater: goo.gl/DxTc26. Starting at 7:53 on that video he says that the ES-8 is capable of programming any of the footswitches to turn on and off loops while within a patch in memory mode, and he then demonstrates this feature. The switches can be set as either momentary or latching whilst in memory mode as well. Also, I found one of the stock photos of the ES-8 shows precisely that feature, having preset 1 engaged on memory mode whilst also having loops 7 and 8 engaged in "manual mode." Here is that image: goo.gl/ZNNFDH. So, it turns out it can in fact do it, but figuring out how to program it that way with their crappy manual is the challenge, haha.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Josh Petermann Thats pretty cool! Let me know how that works for you!

[@eduardocervantesaca]

Robert I have a question for you. I hope you can help me. I have my Mobius and my Timeline in loop 7 of my ES-8. How can I make a patch in which I choose only one of the two to be active. For example, I want the chorus from the Mobius but no delay from the Timeline. On another patch I want some delay from the Timeline but want the Mobius to be inactive. Does that male sense? I am hoping to save a loop by having those two Strymons in series.

[@matiasmoulin2126]

I have a question: can I rename the banks with song titles? I'd like to have a bank for each song and with clicking banks up and down kind of scrolling through the songs. Or does the banks have no name but only the presets? If the latter is the case, does the display show the first preset name if I change the bank?

[@GGRetroRally]

Hi rob, you have more pedals than loops (I count 12 pedals but only 8 loops in the es 8). Really interested in how you have it configured as I’m coming into this dilemma now. Thanks

[@gordof1991]

Andy Lord Yeah it'd be interesting to know how he set this up cause I'm looking at this as I'd rather spend the money on this than a total monster like the gig rig 😂😂

[@DrFeder]

Me too

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Hi there guys. Sorry I’ve been dormant for a while on here. I run the tuner before the ES-8. The ES-8 has a hidden loop (The volume pedal loop). It’s a loop without a button. You can program it in and out and move it around per preset. The other pedals are there to swap out if I just want a different drive tone. For example I use 3 stages of gain. But a may want a different flavor of the high gain pedal so I’ll swap pedal 3 for another in the same family. The spark boost is in line on the Volume loop.

[@andenahlino]

Have you noticed that there is a slight "delay lag" when switching between presets? But when switching pedals on and off in manual mode, it is smooth and direct.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

andenahlino , yes I noticed that lag right when I got it ... but you can turn that off in one of the settings menus. I changed the value to 0 and the lag is no more!

[@andenahlino]

Oh really! Do you remember what setting value that was? I have been so i been so psyched about the ES-8 and yesterday when i got it, i was quite disappointed.

[@andenahlino]

Found it!

[@Papa_O.A.M]

@@andenahlino Where did you find it?

[@sirTimithiusReviewsProducts]

Hey Robert, I just picked up an ES-8 and having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I'm running a Mobius into a DD-500 into a Big Sky. They are all cabled up with midi cables, but I can't seem to control them. Do I have to set each midi device up in a dedicated channel? For instance mobius channel 6, DD-500 channel 7, Big Sky channel 8? The Manuel doesn't seem to specify this. How are you running it?

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

sirTimithius Reviews & Products Yes that's how I do it. Assign a midi channel to each.

[@ptortland]

Nice vid. When you create and save patches, does it also save the settings for each of the pedals in that patch? For example, can Patch 1 have a hall reverb with overdrive and a long 1/4-note delay, and Patch 2 have a plate reverb with a short dotted 1/8-note delay, without me having to bend down and make the actual changes on the pedals themselves?

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Paul T . The way the es 8 communicates is thru midi. Through that, when you change presets it will jump to the banks/sounds that you program it to do. Also it will save the tempos to each. For example I have a dotted 8th setting that I want to use for a preset. I'll program the es-8 to tell my delay to jump to preset 2 and have it receive tempo also along with a combination of whatever else you want.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

+Paul Tortland it saves the bank of the delay pedal. but it does feed the tempo that you saved. Let's say you have a preset for 80 bpm dotted 8th. You can save the same bank with a different tempo for the next song without having to create separate banks on your delay pedal.

[@juanplayscom]

Does it can save different sounds from an Overdrive Pedal? I mean, You have connected your OD pedal in BOSS ES-8, and save in Patch 1, one sound with a lot of gain. Then in Patch 2, save sound with less gain. Is it possible? Thanks

[@WeslieJJ94]

@@juanplayscom No, unless the pedal has Midi options. But the ES-8 is not saving any parameters of a pedal that has no midi. In your case you need 2 seperate drive pedals and set both of them at different gain settings. Then you can program 1 (low gain) drive pedal in an ES-8 preset, and 1 (high gain) drive pedal in another preset. Or stack them together. Hope this helps :)

[@MiroPalokallio]

@@juanplayscom: You need an OD with midi capability for that. I use the Elektron Analog Drive, it has 8 different analog overdrive/distortion circuits and you can save presets etc. Works like a dream with my ES-8

[@Seven2eleven590]

Hey man. Great explanation and more or less sold me on the ES-8. Quick question though: can you explain the signal chain. What effects do you having sharing loops or outside of the ES-8?

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Thanks for watching the video. I only share the volume loop with the spark boost(which has no switch). I have the guitar signal going into the tuner and then the compressor and then to the ES-8. I do this cause I leave the compressor on all the time and I like having a dedicated tuner at the beginning. After that everything is in its own loop except for the Ds-1, and tube screamer. Those are just on the board to switch out different flavors of drives (not hooked up). Since the ES-8 has a dedicated volume pedal loop (total of 9 loops). I have the spark boost in line in the volume loop. I only use the spark sparingly. Even tho you have the ability to switch the order of the pedals with the ES-8 I find it's important to put them into a typical order and only change the order to get some different FX. For me that's Loop 1,2 and 3 are my Drives (lower to higher gain), then the Volume pedal/boost loop. 4 is the tremolo, 5 is the Phase 90, 6 is the H9, 7 is the Time Line, 8 is the Bigsky.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Hope this helps you out!

[@MW-pm1kl]

So correct me if I'm wrong, but you have: guitar > tuner > compressor > ES-8 Then you have 8 loops. You have the volume pedal and the spark boost in one loop. Leaving 7 loops, but 10 other pedals....? Are the Strymon and Eventide pedals not in loops, and instead connected via MIDI? Thanks.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

+Matt Walch . Hi there. The tube screamer and the distortion pro are not connected at all. I just switch them out if I want some diff flavors. The es 8 has 8 loops but one "hidden" volume loop. for 9 total loops. I have loops 1 2 and 3 as my "drive pedal loops"

[@beljakovinc]

I have a Lehle volume pedal and still dont' know where would/will I put it...the idea at this time is (before I buy it)...guitar->Xotic wah->One Control Baltic Fuzz->Lehle Volume->ES-8->Strymon Riverside->amp.......fx loop: ES-8->Strymon Timeline->ES-8->Neunaber EXP->ES-8->back to amp fx loop....And also put TC Polytune 3 in tuner loop...Or would you suggest any other pedal order?

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

If it were me I would do Guitar /Wah / ES-8 (1.Riverside 2. Fuzz 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Timeline .8 Verb ) put the Volume in

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

The Volume loop. It has a dedicated one so you can move it around or bypass it per preset.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

I prefer the tuner in line as the 1st pedal or using the tuner loop. I changed the “Mute” Button to a dedicated tap tempo button.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Leave the empty loops empty. And use them as audition blocks. Or use them to just patch in an effect you need every once and a while. The Volume loop will also allow you to position that pedal anywhere. For instance you can put it before your drive on a preset to control the amount of gain. Even tho you can put the pedals in any order I would try to position the pedals in the order you would put them on a regular board so numerically it makes sense. Hope this helps you out. Just my 2c

[@beljakovinc]

@@RobertWilliams-bp9ge Thanks for info. How come that you would put Riverside before Fuzz? Does Volume loop has an option to take/add dBs? Lehle doesn't like too hot signal...

[@benjkparker]

Is this a pedaltrain board? If so, what model/size?

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

It's a pro. But I recently changed setups to a PT-3. Using dunlop mini tuner. Half TU-3 as well.

[@anthonyaragon4480]

Good video What size is your pedalboard?

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

PT Pro. I recently downsized to a PT-3 tho. I should post a video soon about that.

[@marton_ratkai]

Hi there Robert, which cables do you recommend for es-8?

[@darionbuck8864]

Tho only cheap route you can go with is the ISP cables on ebay. But you really need to invest in the solderless custom cables that you cut yourself. It's going to be several hundred dollars.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

I use George L's. I'd use straight on the ES-8 side and angled on the pedal side. Right now they are all angled.

[@shatteredsquare]

can you use an expression pedal to send CC data to a connected midi effects unit? like with the 12 assigns, I know there is a built in expression pedal and LFOs you can send out, but can it take the expression pedal input and send that out as midi CCs?

[@mattschlesinger2426]

Hi, I noticed you have like 12 individual pedals. How does that work with only 8 loops? Thanks.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Hi . The es 8 has a dedicated volume pedal loop which can be programmed in or out of each individual preset. I have loops 1,2 and 3 dedicated to drive pedals. I have a couple of individual pedals that are just substitutes incase I need another flavor

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

+Matt Schlesinger . I keep a few extra drives just on the board incase I want to change the flavors the volume pedal is in loop 9 (no switch).

[@eduardocervantesaca]

Hi, thanks for the video. I just got my es-8 and Im finding it to be a great switcher. However, Im afraid i dont know much about midi and I still have to learn how to wire and program presets where my mobius, timeline and h9 change presets themselves. Does that make sense? Ive found videos where you can learn how to swicth presets on one pedal (a video showed a mobius and another one showed an h9), but what about three at a time or even more.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Yes. Basically the way that MIDI works is that you should have a midi In/out on your pedals. So the cable would go MiDI out of the ES 8 to the Midi in of let's say the timeline. Midi out of the Timeline to the Midi in of the Möbius and MIDi out of the Möbius to the H9 Etc. The ES 8 can send 6 or more MiDi commands at one time. It does this through Midi Channels. Let's say Midi 1 is the timeline , 2 is the Möbius and 3 is the H9. Within those channels you can now choose the bank (preset they will trigger) so let's say you want the H9 to jump to preset 10. On the ES-8 you would select Midi channel 3 and then send out bank 10. I hope this helps you out. I could probably do a quick vid on this in the near future.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Note: I believe the Strymon pedals do not start at preset 1 they start at preset 00 A B C Etc. So on the ES-8 bank 1 is equal to 00 A, 2 is 00B , 3 00C. Etc.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

You'll have to set the timeline, möbius and H9 to receive commands to receive midi in the settings of each unit. channel 1(timeline) , 2 (möbius) and 3(H9). They're probably off or all set to channel 1.

[@LuisRamirez-bs7fl]

Hey Robert great explanation this is exactly what I'm looking for, one BIG question for me is, can it change channels on the amp? For example, one song in particular calls for my main rhythm on channel 3, then switch to lead which has a boost and delay, then to channel 2 which is a dirty less distorted sound heavy with chorus. Im currently switching all of of these on and off on the fly from pedal board to amp foot switch. Can i create patches to remedy all this including amp channel changing? Thanks

[@Always_in_C_standard]

If you have all MIDI capable pedals on a single chain, how do you get the ES-8 to know so send an instruction to e.g. pedal 3 in that MIDI chain?

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Chris James you have to Cain each to midi out to in on each pedal and tell each individual pedal what midi channel to receive the command from.

[@zellars3248]

quick question. can you change a patch volume with the es-8? I have a 5150iii 50 watt and need to boost my clean when I switch to it. If this can do it it would save me from buying a exotic ep boost. thanks

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Shawn Zellars . I don't think you can use it to control volume. It just switches your pedals on and off as well as send midi commands

[@rjw7032]

Each patch can have +-2, 4 or 6db of boost or cut at the two outputs. Each output can be set differently as well. I use that to boost cleans and my Trem per patch. Version 2 of the OS also added either 0 or -6db for each of the two mixers. By default mixing two pedals has an automatic -6db cut to compensate for the volume boost you get by putting two pedals in parallel. By mixing two drives with 0db on the mixer also boosts volume nicely.

[@muzjikstb]

Hey Robert, what size board are you using? Thanks!

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Hey there! Thanks for the comment! That's a Pedaltrain Pro Model. If you don't use a Wah or volume the Pedaltrain 3 size could be cool too!

[@BetoRubineli]

Danny

[@jonathanmccoy9803]

Robert, could you tell what pedalboard and what cables are you using ? tnx!

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Jonathan McCoy, Im Using a Pedaltrain Pro with George L's right angles and Mogami Leads. Powered by a Pedal Power Mondo

[@jonathanmccoy9803]

thanks a lot for info! :)

[@SaigenSyndrome]

Any idea why the 4 cable method would be so loud when using the dist channel on my amp (mark v)? I get a lot of white noise...

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

I haven't used it in that manner. Maybe your FX loop has a line or instrument level adjustment?

[@gabrieleredes]

helo, it is posible to connect 2 or more midi devices? Thanks.

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Gabriel Morro Guerra , I think you can send messages to 6 or 8 MiDI devices.

[@gabrieleredes]

connected betwen then to midi out?

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

Gabriel Morro Guerra they are chained trough each effect. MIDI out of es8 into midi in of your timeline midi out of timeline into another pedal and so on.

[@gydur]

Is it good to use with synths?

[@RobertWilliams-bp9ge]

+Geir Otto Dahlie Well that's a good question.... don't see why not... I would imagine anything with a guitar jack lead will work.

[@adityamra]

Hi maybe it’s a bit late but is it work with analog delay pedal without preset feature? I have vox time machine delay pedal and it doesn’t have preset feature, only tap tempo. And i want to have different tempo or kinda like that to be stored in es-8. Is it possible? Thanks!