BOSS AD-10 Acoustic Preamp and FX Pedal

AN ADVANCED TOOL FOR SERIOUS ACOUSTIC PLAYERSAnyone who plays an amplified acoustic guitar on stage knows the challenge of getting a sound that’s as inspiring as playing the instrument acoustically. The BOSS AD-10 the perfect solution to this common problem, offering advanced sound tools that allow you to achieve rich, natural acoustic tones every time you perform. The AD-10 is a feature rich, dual-channel acoustic preamp/DI pedal with premium audio quality, deep sound-shaping options, and flexible connectivity. Ambience, chorus, and delay effects are also built in, removing the need to carry external sound processing.

The AD-10 takes acoustic preamp design to an all-new level with BOSS’s groundbreaking Acoustic Resonance processing. This advanced tech restores the complex body and string resonances that are lost with most pickup systems, bringing back the expressive, organic vibe that’s so vital to the acoustic experience. And that isnt all, with transparent anti-feedback controls, memories for sound setups, an 80-second looper, USB audio, and much more. Hugely powerful yet simple to use, the compact AD-10 is your all-in-one companion for realizing impressive acoustic tones in every performing environment.

at a glance • Professional preamp/DI for performing and recording with acoustic-electric guitar
• Four-band EQ and variable low-cut filter tuned to deliver optimized tone shaping for acoustic guitar
• Two channels with independent EQ for connecting two instruments or blending multiple pickup sources
• Newly developed anti-feedback functions control feedback while maintaining balanced tone
• Acoustic Resonance restores the warm and rich resonance lost with most pickup systems
• Multi-band compressor with MDP technology provides transparent dynamics control

BOSS Acoustic ResonanceThe most widely used pickups in acoustic stage guitars are saddle-based piezos. But despite some upsides like great feedback immunity, their noted drawback is a hard, sterile, and “quacky” sound. This is due to only picking up sound from the bridge area, leaving out the body and string resonances that complete the guitar’s rich, complex sound. Magnetic sound hole pickups and other types of systems also provide incomplete sound reproduction, resulting in their own tonal drawbacks. Although playing into a microphone can deliver natural results, but using one is impractical in all but the most controlled stage environments.

That’s where the AD-10’s innovative Acoustic Resonance feature comes in. Using sophisticated BOSS technology, Acoustic Resonance analyzes your pickup signal and recreates the missing body and string resonances, restoring the elements that are essential for natural acoustic sound. The AD-10’s Acoustic Resonance implementation has been greatly expanded from previous generations, providing more powerful processing, three different resonance types, and the ability to balance the tonal characteristics to perfectly match your performing needs.

Multi-Level Feedback ProtectionDue to their highly resonant construction, acoustic guitars are subject to problems with low-frequency feedback in stage situations. There are many elements that contribute to the severity of feedback issues, including the instrument type, the pickup system, the location of the instrument relative to the speakers, and more. The advanced processing engine in the AD-10 goes well beyond the capabilities of other preamps, offering multiple levels of feedback protection that are engineered to produce maximum results with little-to-no tone colouration.

Your first line of defense is the AD-10’s feedback reduction function, which uses newly developed BOSS technology to seek out and gently suppress the offending feedback frequency. At the same time, your overall tone is subtly balanced as needed for transparent sonic results. For those real problem situations, the AD-10 also includes two separate notch filters that can be tuned manually or set for automatic scanning to instantly remove feedback in the background whilst you play. Each filter notches out both the fundamental and first overtone of the feedback frequency, and the depth of the filters can be adjusted as necessary for the smallest possible tonal impact.

Useful Performance FunctionsAlong with its powerful abilities to shape and maintain your core acoustic tone, the AD-10 features a wide-range of built-in effects that sound great and are easy to use. The single-knob compressor delivers much more than meets the eye, employing BOSS’s acclaimed MDP tech to transparently control your dynamics with intelligent processing. Acoustic guitars work great with reverb, and the AD-10’s Ambience effect offers three types of high-quality reverberation specially tuned for guitar. A delay with standard, mod, and reverse types is included, plus three different variations of BOSS’s renowned sound-widening stereo chorus effect.

The AD-10 also includes many thoughtful elements to enhance your live performances. The soft-touch footswitches are designed for seamless operation in quiet acoustic settings, and can be configured to select memories, turn effects on/off, access the onboard tuner, and more. With the AD-10’s looper, you have a convenient tool that’s always at the ready for practice, jamming, and stage creativity. The on-demand boost function is great for increasing the volume for solos or reducing the volume for heavy strumming, and it even includes an adjustable tone control for changing the sound when engaged.

External ControlOn the rear panel of the AD-10, stereo XLR jacks provide a DI feed to the front of house, while stereo ¼-inch jacks allow you to connect to your stage amp setup or headphones for monitoring. From the AD-10’s panel, you can choose to send signals to the outputs with or without effects, or assign input channels one and two to independent outputs.

There’s also an effects loop for patching in external effects, and a jack for connecting up to two footswitches or an expression pedal for controlling looper functions, volume, tap tempo, anti-feedback scan, and more. The AD-10 also functions as a two-in/two-out USB audio interface, enabling you to record tracks to a DAW and play computer music through the AD-10’s audio outputs.