BOSS
Latest BOSS guitar news, new electric and acoustic guitars, signature models, artist collaborations, and releases tracked by Guitar Radar.
Guitar Radar follows BOSS through 2 stories and 2 product releases, covering new gear, launches and company news as they happen. Most of it sits under gear. The most recent story, from Oct 12, 2026, is “BOSS marks 10 years of Katana with three blue flame-maple Artist editions”. Coverage here goes back to Sep 25, 2026. The newest product in the releases catalog is the BOSS Katana Artist Gen 3 10th Anniversary.
About BOSS
BOSS is the effects brand of Roland, set up in the early 1970s as a dedicated guitar-effects group inside the company. Its first product was the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, released in 1976, a large mains-powered box that reproduced the chorus and vibrato circuit from the Roland JC-120 amplifier.
The compact pedal format arrived in 1977 with six pedals, including the OD-1 overdrive and PH-1 phaser. That small, rugged housing, with a latching stomp plate and a battery compartment under the pedal, became the standard footprint of the modern pedalboard. The DS-1 Distortion followed in 1978 and has sold more than a million units. Production was moved from Japan to Taiwan around 1990.
BOSS has since added multi-effects, the Waza Craft series of premium reworked classics, and amplifiers such as the Katana line. In 2026 it marked its 50th anniversary with limited metallic editions of the SD-1, BD-2 and DS-1. Guitar Radar follows BOSS's new pedals, Waza Craft releases and anniversary editions.
Sources: Wikipedia: Boss Corporation · Guitar World: How Boss revolutionized effects · Guitar Guitar: A brief history of BOSS compact pedals · BOSS: 50th anniversary
Stories
BOSS marks 10 years of Katana with three blue flame-maple Artist editions
The made-to-order Artist Gen 3 combo, head and 212 Waza cabinet are limited to Roland’s flagship stores in New York, London and Tokyo.
Oct 12, 2026
BOSS packs 120 effects into the compact EX-4 pedalboard expander
The new EX-4 runs four effects at once, adds flexible routing and MIDI, and is designed to slot into an existing pedalboard rather than replace it.
Sep 25, 2026