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chrissydamage
Silver Member
United Kingdom
180 Posts |
 Posted - 08/28/2009 : 15:21:40
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Greetings all -
I can say with (semi) certainty that all boss compacts pre 81 with the inked serial numbers seem to be hand finished - you can see the brush strokes on them!!
Had a few of them and to be honest just thought it was the work of some muppet in a shed with a can of dulux and a brush, but after seeing quite a lot more of these it does appear this may be a factory finish!!
Does anyone else have any old compacts with a similar finish?
Anyone disagree with this?
Sorry if I'm recycling old information but couldn't find any mention of this on the site or anywhere else - I seem to learn something new about Boss every day and this sort of thing interests me - yes I am aware I am a total anorak so no need to remind me 
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2009 : 15:32:36
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Never knew this.....
Don't worry about being an anorak your in the right place here.... ... i'm a total gear geek(especially about anything with a valve in it) and guitar nut..... .. |
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jsoi_narciso
Silver Member
Philippines
200 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2009 : 16:32:01
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will check mine 
thanks for the info
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2009 : 18:07:21
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| i would have to say yes cause i have seen this |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2009 : 18:48:58
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There was a thread about his but I can't find it right now.
I think you're right though. Some of the old pedals have the bottom edge painted while others hasn't so they might have experimented a bit with how to best apply the finish. |
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Right Foot Boss
Gold Member
USA
881 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2009 : 05:54:30
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| Definitely. I remember that thread from a while back. I think the brush marks coincide with the silver screws. |
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FunkenGrooven
Silver Member
USA
360 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2009 : 06:04:07
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I'm gonna say yes as well I have a couple old ones and you can see brush strokes must not have had powder coating back then |
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DrakeSequation
Bronze Member
USA
105 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2009 : 06:08:36
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| I have only one really old pedal (SS PH-1r) and I thought the same thing. You also tend to see more imperfections in the finish on these older pedals. Sounds reasonable. |
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natthu
Gold Member
Australia
756 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2009 : 11:49:22
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| My old SS NF-1 I used to have had a definite brush-like paint job. The difference was very noticeable when compared to my Black screw NF-1 which had a smooth finish. |
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verivorax
Platinum Member
Canada
1185 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2009 : 14:03:18
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I believe it's actually in the casting of the aluminum, and not the paint-job. there are some real consistencies, and I'm sure you could find two pedals with identical "brush strokes" which may have come out of a specific mold. Even with an ionized spray-system, the paint would reveal (or even enhance) the texture of the base metal. My opinion anyway.. The pedals which exhibit this "brushed" texture are also a tiny bit different in overall size - they tend to be wider and not want to fit inside the BCB I have without marring the finish - just a millimeter or two different. I think they changed casting methods at the same time that they dropped the SS.
Here's one of the older threads.. http://www.bossarea.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6031
The random occurrence of finished bottom edges on BOSS goes beyond the SS changeover.. I have some CS-2s which display this- a painted edge on a much later pedal, and lacking the paint on a very early example. My PH-1 also has some sloppy base-plate painting, but it's hard to tell if it's done by hand or if it was just an anomaly in the drying process.. |
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chrissydamage
Silver Member
United Kingdom
180 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2009 : 14:12:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Right Foot Boss
Definitely. I remember that thread from a while back. I think the brush marks coincide with the silver screws.
Yes thats exactly what I was thinking :) Good to know I'm not going mad!!
I think thats really cool though, I just love the thought of these things being assembled and finished by hand in the early days - back when they used to be built to a standard and not just target chasing and building to meet demand as they do now
The other thing I've noticed is mid 1980 the potentiometers used on the pedals seem to have changed to a cheaper variety - the old ones feel much more solid to the turn and sound loads better - early ss models have these but some later ss ones seem to have the cheap pots..... I have no concrete evidence of this at the moment but a very strong suspicion ;)
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chrissydamage
Silver Member
United Kingdom
180 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2009 : 14:53:20
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quote:
Originally posted by verivorax
I believe it's actually in the casting of the aluminum, and not the paint-job. there are some real consistencies, and I'm sure you could find two pedals with identical "brush strokes" which may have come out of a specific mold.
Interesting post, thanks for the link also :)
I too have noticed that the older pedals are larger in size - my theory is that demand was soaring for these pedals in the early 80's - and Boss realized that they must cut operating costs and speed up production to meet this demand -
Using slightly less aluminium per pedal, a cheaper thumbscrew, painting them by machine etc etc all enables them to get more out the door and reduce their overheads and increase their sales considerably
I think it is perfectly reasonable as you suggest that the change would go beyond the SS changeover as they would more than likely have produced the cases in large quantities and had a lot left over when they decided to change the screws and the case dimensions- I would suggest that the early one you have lacking this finish may be a franken-pedal perhaps? Of course it may not be - you could have something very rare there where they experimented with a different finish........
You have certainly given me food for thought though - I'm pretty sure its brush strokes from what I can see - surely once primer was added to the outside of the case any imperfections from the aluminium would be covered - I'm 99.9% sure that its brush strokes but I guess there's only one way to find out for sure - I'm very tempted to ask Boss Japan directly-
I've got a few questions to ask them myself regarding these early pedals and I'm guesing its going to be pretty hard to find someone within the organisation who can answer them and satisfy my geekness - anyone else got any burning unsolved questions before I start bothering people?
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verivorax
Platinum Member
Canada
1185 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2009 : 15:16:08
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I'm the same way.. I'd love to know all there is about the earliest production (the OD-1 chip changeover, touch-to-T-wah, skeleton switch etc). I try to calculate 6-digit serials in my head. I'm working on memorizing the type IV serials too..
so much cognitive power wasted..  |
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chrissydamage
Silver Member
United Kingdom
180 Posts |
Posted - 08/29/2009 : 17:06:29
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Yeah the OD-1 I'd certainly like to know more about - that pedal seemed to be reworked on an almost monthly basis in the early '80s!!
I guess most (or all) of these questions could easily be answered if they kept all their purchasing invoices from the early days - we could see the first instance of a black switch being ordered, black screw, supplier or order changes for the cases, paints and materials, opamps etc etc etc
Its quite possible that the answers to all our questions could be lying in their accounts department in a box long forgotten somewhere in Japan-
Unless of course they have been destroyed due to the age, which is the liklihood.
In which case the only people who may know semi-accurately are those workers present since the inception of the company -
This could indeed be a challenge!!
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Progger
Copper Member
USA
36 Posts |
Posted - 08/31/2009 : 17:49:04
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| This is a valid point. I only have one silver screw, a BF-2 #10100. This is my only Boss, out of around 15, with any evidence of paint brush strokes. |
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Goran
Double Platinum Member
Sweden
2203 Posts |
Posted - 08/31/2009 : 18:19:46
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quote:
Originally posted by verivorax
I believe it's actually in the casting of the aluminum, and not the paint-job. there are some real consistencies, and I'm sure you could find two pedals with identical "brush strokes" which may have come out of a specific mold. Even with an ionized spray-system, the paint would reveal (or even enhance) the texture of the base metal. My opinion anyway.. The pedals which exhibit this "brushed" texture are also a tiny bit different in overall size - they tend to be wider and not want to fit inside the BCB I have without marring the finish - just a millimeter or two different. I think they changed casting methods at the same time that they dropped the SS.
Here's one of the older threads.. http://www.bossarea.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6031
The random occurrence of finished bottom edges on BOSS goes beyond the SS changeover.. I have some CS-2s which display this- a painted edge on a much later pedal, and lacking the paint on a very early example. My PH-1 also has some sloppy base-plate painting, but it's hard to tell if it's done by hand or if it was just an anomaly in the drying process..
This makes sence, why on earth paint with a brush when spray painting has been "invented" 100 years ago (or something). |
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Topic |
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All Boss Compacts pre 81 (ish) are hand painted?
