A Boss BE-5 multi effects pedal, owned since new sometime in the early 1990s. In excellent condition. Unlike modern digi effects pedalboards, this features actual circuits, so is in effect 5 seperate Boss effects pedals, as follows:

> Compressor – Basically a Boss CS-3, featuring the uC1252 chip.
> Overdrive/Distortion – Very close to being the Boss OS-2.
> Simple noise suppressor.
> Digital Delay – MN51010RBA based, similar to highly acclaimed early DD-3.
> Chorus – analog BBD (based around Panasonic MN3207/MN3102) chorus very similar to CE-2 but with stereo output (if used in stereo mode, one channel is dry).

Connectivity
> Input
> Tuner out
> FX loop send/receive jacks between noise gate and the delay
> Mono and stereo out
I really like having FX loop because it adds a lot of versatility. For example, you can connect guitar -> BE-5 input -> BE-5 send -> Amp in -> Amp send -> BE-5 return -> BE-5 out -> Amp return. That allows you to pressor and overdrive in front of the amp and place delay and chorus in your amp’s FX-loop. Or, it can be used the same way to pressor and overdrive in front of a tube preamp and have the delay and chorus after the tube preamp.

Compressor
I’m not a pressor user, mostly because I don’t know how to use it properly. pressor seems to be doing to job just fine, especially if using overdrive.

Overdrive/Distortion
Just like the OS-2, this actually has two circuits inside with a pot to blend between the two. It’s a great idea because you can have the distortion or overdrive, but also everything in between, just by blending them together. Distortion side is similar to DS-1, with two clipping diodes after the first op-amp stage, producing harsher clipping. The overdrive side resembles SD-1 with asymmetrical clipping diodes (2+1) in the feedback loop of the gain stage, producing softer clipping. It’s really useful, can be used on a clean channel of the amp or to push an already overdriven amp into saturated goodness.

SAM_1904
Noise Suppressor
It’s a very stripped down version having only Threshold knob, but it does the job without killing tone too much. There is no bypass switch for noise suppressor, so you can only turn it all the way down. However, it still seems to cut some noise even turned down.

Digital Delay
Delay is a very simple, but effective clean digital delay as you’d expect from Boss, very similar to DD-3 but with slightly longer maximum delay. There’s no tap tempo or tone control, just simple controls for setting level of echoes, number of repeats and delay time (up to one second). Repeats are very clean with no added noise. Older DD-3 pedals that share the circuit with BE-5 are sought after for their clean and natural sound that still has some warmth and doesn’t sound sterile.

Chorus
Chorus is a BBD-based circuit built around Panasonic MN3207 and MN3102 BBD chips. Those chips are still highly desirable. It features rate and depth controls without any tone shaping, just like CE-2. Sound ranges from subtle chorus that can add dimension to distorted chords (think Zakk Wylde or Petrucci) or lush deep chorus suitable for three-dimensional cleans, especially with a little of delay added. It’s really nice sounding, simple chorus.

What’s really cool about it is the stereo output, but not necessarily for using stereo. There are two mono output plugs labeled A and B. When only Output A is used, the pedal mixes dry signal with modulated vibrato signal, producing chorus effect. But when both Output A and Output B are plugged in, the pedal splits dry and vibrato signals, sending vibrato to Output A and dry to Output B. So we can fake chorus/vibrato switch simply by plugging a mono jack in the Output B jack (without using the dry output if we don’t need it) and what we’re left with on Output A is a very nice vibrato effect. Very cool!

Although it's made from plastic, like all Boss products it's built like a tank, which means it's still in excellent condition. I have this hooked up to a daisy chain power supply so not sure whether i have the AC adapter, I will try and dig it out, but it is being sold on the basis that i can't find it. The power adapter requirements are taped on the underside (see photos) and instructions can be found and downloaded online.