Reissues! When we see something we thought was long gone, here comes the Reissue! I thought about this "issue" when I started messin' around with pedals for the last year or two. What I mean is really gettin' in to the crux of the situation. Lately, well.........let's take the Boss DS-1. Some say it's a truly classic distortion pedal. I think remember "around" when it first hit the scene. Now, most folks (myself included) would probably leave a good thing alone. Not Boss! Many people swear that the older Japan made pedals sounds better than the newer ones made in Taiwan. If it's ALL that, why mess with a good thing? I've been inside a few and did some research on this thing and found some differences like for example from 1978, the DS-1 was using a Toshiba TA7136AP opamp. This remained unchanged for about 16 years, but in 1994 it was replaced by the Rohm BA728N. In 2000 the opamp was again changed. This time the Mitsubishi M5223AL was used. The last change I can trace is around 2006 when the New Japan Radio NJM2904L opamp was used. Cosmetic changes? Very little. The older ones had a black label compared to the current silver ones. In this particular case they don't emphasis the term reissue, but that's basically what it is. I think all of this is a case of "long term bait and switch". I'm old school, you find something that works, you stick with it. These people like to tweak stuff to lower costs (another goal of theirs) without screwing things up entirely. Probably why production moved in the first place. Are folks capitalizing on the sale of used (Japan) units? You bet yer ass! There's tons of examples, but I used the DS-1 'cause I bought one when they first came out and at that time I was using a '76 MXR Distortion Plus. To have an allegiance to something is cool, but you gotta be on your toes (and willing to pay the price) if there's something out there you want. They'll be gone before you know it. Supply and demand! Get yer Electro-Harmonix Soul Food pedal 'fore they're gone (or go up in $$$$$)...........again! I got mine and the only reason is the $62.81(for now) price tag. Sounds okay. This stuff of course is not limited to pedals, but other gear as well. Business politics and economics all have a role to play in all of this as well. My guess is that's what it ALL boils down to.
