Boris is a band based out of Tokyo, Japan and the best I can describe them… a little heavy, a little psychedelic at times. Lots of fuzz and a 3 piece. They definitely show some older/good Smashing Pumpkins influence, and I think the guitars is what really drew me to them a few years ago. I only own the album Pink, and it’s pretty great!
Wata is the lead guitarist, and she has a great combination of pure noise with shred – and is a major component of Boris’ sound. A while back, I saw a post on their Facebook Page of Wata, which looked like she was in the studio, so I perked up. I was curious what dirt boxes she had on the board, and that led me to this post.
But, let’s get a taste of Boris first. Check this out:
After doing some digging I came across a Japanese blog that went into their gear. I wish I could translate it, I’m sure it had some good info, but there was a clear picture of Wata’s board:
Here is the breakdown of pedals on that board:
Marshall Drivemaster
Wata fuzz
Elk Gakki Co. Big Muff Sustainar
Boss RV-2 Reverb
Boss DS-1 Distortion
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Korg DT10 Tuner
Boss FS-5L Footswitch
Ernie Ball Volume Pedal
Dunlop BB-535 Wah
Real McCoy RMC3 Wah
Dwarfcraft Shiva Fuzz
Z.Vex Super Duper
Z.Vex Tremorama
Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler
One Control Power Distribution
Unknown True Bypass Looper Strip
Now, in that recent Facebook photo, there is a new pedal not shown above. It has the Z. Vex style layout, but I don’t think it’s a Z. Vex pedal, but I’m going on a limb here.. I bet it’s a fuzz of some sort. If anyone can help identify it, please let me know.
Let me know what you think about Boris OR if you can identify that pedal in the bottom corner of the above image.. by commenting below! Thanks everyone!
UPDATE: Looks like the unidentified pedal is a MASF Wata Fuzz (possibly a prototype). Thank you concretebadger for the photo and letting me know! Here is a pic: