Boss brings the Whammy into the 21st century with the all-new XS-100
Boss has unveiled its 21st-century answer to the Whammy pedal with the all-new XS-100, as well as a smaller unit adopting the brand’s compact pedal format, the XS-1.
Boasting a huge eight-octave range – and, of course, an onboard pedal for linear control of the four octaves above and below the centre line – Boss is confident the XS-100 is a “powerhouse expression machine that will transform how guitarists and bassists perform with pitch”.
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Meanwhile, the XS-1 takes the XS-100’s core features and distills them into the treasured Boss compact pedal format, offering instant drop tunings, capo simulations, octave effects, and even linear pitch control, if pairing with an external expression pedal.
Linear pitch shifting has long been an effect much loved by guitarists. But with the development of the XS series, Boss says it has pioneered new methods to “advance real-time pitch shifting and eliminate the tonal artefacts common in conventional designs”.
“Powered by finely tuned algorithms and a specially selected DSP platform, the XS series provides balanced polyphonic performance that feels natural and musical across all playing styles, pickup positions, and pedal setups,” Boss says.
“The attack and tonal character are fully preserved, and even complex chords and sustained lead tones – typically a challenge for pitch shifters – are reproduced with stunning clarity.
Let’s take a closer look at what both the XS-100 and XS-1 have to offer.
XS-100 Poly Shifter
Credit: Boss
In addition to four octaves both above and below, controllable via an onboard expression pedal, the XS-100 also enables motor revving-style tones via independent pitch-change speeds for each pedal direction.
There’s also an integrated toe switch, whereby at the end of the pedal’s travel, players can experiment with momentary pitch jumps with adjustable range and rise/fall time. Additionally, there are two footswitches which can be used to bypass the pedal shift and quickly retune an instrument at fixed semitone steps across the eight octaves.
The pedal’s range is also customisable, meaning musicians can create different presets for specific songs and bank them to 30 onboard memory slots.
And if one pedal wasn’t enough, the XS-100 supports up to two external footswitches or an expression pedal, further expanding real-time control options. There’s also MIDI I/O functionality for more advanced applications, like sending MIDI commands using the pedal and footswitches.
XS-1 Poly Shifter
Credit: Boss
Meanwhile, the XS-1 doesn’t have an onboard expression pedal – though an external one can be integrated – and is thus packed into Boss’s smaller compact blueprint for a more pedalboard-friendly footprint.
Offering a range of seven semitones and three octaves up or down, the XS-1 can be used for a variety of applications, including drop tunings, key changes, or capo simulation, to name a few.
Its easy-to-grasp interface features a dedicated Balance knob for adjusting the mix between wet and dry signal, while there’s also a Detune mode for experimenting with doubling effects.
The XS-1’s pedal switch can be assigned to on/off for momentary operation, while up to two external footswitches can be connected for quick access to alternate tuning modes with your preferred Balance settings. An external expression pedal can also be used to turn the XS-1’s operation more into that of the XS-100.
Pricing and availability
Both the XS-100 and XS-1 will be available in October 2025, priced at $349.99 and $199.99, respectively.
For more information, head to Boss.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
