BOSS ES5 Effects Switching System

The Boss ES-5 is the answer to your pedalboard tap dancing fears. Everyone has a pedalboard it’s hard to be a gigging guitarist without one. Unfortunately tap dancing on pedals to get your next tone is still a problem a lot of people suffer with. The ES-5 fixes that with 5 independent pedal loops, amp channel switching and full MIDI control you can control your entire rig with just this pedal.

5 Different Pedal Loops

With the ES5 you have 5 different pedal loops which you can plug any of your pedals into and then control. So if you want to go from a clean channel with compression and reverb and change to your amps lead channel with an EQ pedal, reverb, delay and boost pedal as well it only takes one switch press rather than 5+.

These loops can be programmed to be in any order so if you suddenly decide that you want the reverb to change from being in front of your drive to after it is really simple to do without having to unplug anything. This gives you ultimate creativity in optimizing your pedalboard layout without ever having to physically move your pedals.

Manual or Preset Mode

With these different modes you can control your pedalboard however you need it. In manual mode you can turn off each of the 5 loops as you want meaning that even if you don’t have your pedals accessible on your board you can still control each of your 5 loops on the fly. In preset mode you can instead switch between 5 different programmed presets for each bank. There are enough presets for a long gigs worth of sounds but when you want to work out your sound the manual mode gives you that extra control

Amp and Midi Control

Controlling your pedals is all well and good but what if you have MIDI capable gear or need to switch channels on your amp- Well it can handle those fine as well. If your amp supports MIDI or 1/4″ Jack channel switching you can plug the ES5 into your amplifier to control that as well as being able to control a bunch of external rackmount MIDI gear as well.

Here’s what Boss say about the ES5

Based on the same concept and features as the flagship ES-8, the ES-5 is pared down to offer more practical and essential use options for typical guitarists and bassists, and is drastically reduced in size to fit ready-made, standard-size boards. The innovation in creativity of pedalboard systems made possible by the ES-8 has become more available and affordable. Expand your board just by one size and incorporate the ES-5, then you are in for a whole new world of musical expression, not just another utility tool. From this day on, the use of stompboxes will never be the same.