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Here's an another example of why patience is such an important part of a collector's personality. I went to a local music shop because they were having a huge clearance sale. This sale was so big that I passed on the first day because there were 205 people in the line ahead of me. I know the count because people have to take a number BEFORE they got in line. Yes, they had to line up just to get a number to join another line up. Well, that wasn't for me. So I dropped by the next day when the feeding frenzy was far less frantic. I sauntered by a table where I spied a pile of pedals. However, there was nothing there that caught my eye, as I either had the pedals or they were a tad overpriced for USED equipment ($95 Canadian for a USED BOSS tremolo? I think not!). So I wandered about the shop for a few minutes checking out the guitars (some nice used Strats, but I have to watch the old budget nowadays). I decided to take another walk past that table. Well well well! I saw a flash of pale yellow that wasn't there earlier. I swooped down and picked up a BOSS Dynamic Filter! Cool! I've wanted some kind of envelope filter ever since my beloved Electro Harmonix Doctor Q shuffled off this mortal coil (vintage EH pedals were never noted for their durability). |
And speaking of patience, I later spoke to an employee of the music shop. It turns out he placed that pedal on the table moments before my second stop. In fact, he was the fellow who brought the pedal in from another branch that very morning. Which means that if I had displayed one kind of patience and waited out the line Friday, I would not have found this pedal. Hmm ... I'm sure there's some kind of lesson here. Just don't ask me what it might be.
As for the pedal itself, my research indicates that BOSS only made this pedal for a few years, introducing it in 1986. I'm not exactly sure when it was discontinued but I'm guessing that the AW-2 (Auto-Wah) was its replacement, and that pedal likely debuted in 1991. Ironically, I had an opportunity to buy an AW-2 a few months ago, but the pedal didn't seem to have much "quack", if you know what I mean (and if you know envelope filters, you know what I mean).
The FT-2 has plenty of "quack", and the controls certainly allow access to a wide range of wah-like sounds. I've noticed that I can also vary the effect simply by moving my pickup switch. Personally, I find that placing the pedal before my overdrives gives me the best wah tones. It's a great pedal, and I don't understand why BOSS ceased production so soon. Very recently, BOSS has released the AW-3, which no doubt means that the AW-2 is also no more. The new pedal looks to be a very impressive improvement with controls up its yellow yinyang, but it boasts a price tag to match its features.
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