Did Christmas come early for the Stratomaster? No, it was my birthday, and I got the ideal gift for a pedal junkie - The BOSS Book!

Quite simply, if you're any kind of fan of BOSS pedals, you NEED this book. It's chock full of information on these pedals.

The BOSS Book strikes me as being a collection of articles rather than a cohesive book. This impression is strengthed by the fact that there is no author credit anywhere on the cover. Maybe this is a deluxe version of those BOSS booklets? That's not really a problem here. For example, the book starts off with a full color description of EVERY BOSS pedal ever made. It's twenty pages broken down by effects groups, beginning with the overdrive/distortion pedals. I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't a checklist! The only drawback is that the book stops with pedals made in 2001, so the list ends with the AW-3 and PH-3.

This is followed by a few pages dedicated to the BOSS/Roland products that aren't compact pedals. This includes the new Twin Pedals, and goes back to such rare birds as the Roland AF-100 Bee Baa. Did I mention every photo is full color?

The book ventures into "fluff" territory with an article about the world's most fanatic BOSS collector.. This fellow has EIGHTEEN SP-1 pedals alone. Lots of color photos make this a fun and interesting read.

After that article, the book does a major service to every single one of us pedal fanatics. How many times has a loved one looked over your collection of distortion pedals and sniffed, "But don't they all sound the same?"

Well, BOSS has done a waveform analysis for all 20 distortion overdrive pedals, and in a colorfully illustrated five pages, show that every single pedal has a different waveform! So there! This is why we NEED so many BOSS overdrive/distortions!

There's a full color chart depicting the release years for every BOSS pedal up to 2001. Expect to see this information popping up throughout this site.

The Ultimate Collectors Guide is next, as it gets down to the actual physical components of the pedals, including the various knobs and back plates sued.

A nice article on the history of BOSS follows, and it includes a lengthy and informative interview with Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi.

Then it's pure GOLD as "The Inside Story of BOSS compact effects" has members of the BOSS development staff give their thoughts on every BOSS pedal in chronological order. I've only had this book for four days, and I must have read these twenty pages three times already!

The book closes off with various articles on the general history of guitar effects, including lists of famous guitarists and the BOSS pedals used The last few pages includes a track by track description of the settings for each pedal played on the accompanying CD (HA! I forgot to mention that, didn't I?), and some assorted trivia.

Personally, I love this book. It's perfectly set up for browsing, and if I keep it out in plain sight, I can't stop going through it. It's a must for BOSS lovers, and if you like pedals, you should consider it. One warning: repeated exposure to The BOSS Book could cause you to go out and buy more BOSS pedals.