Boss AD-10 Acoustic Preamp

The Boss AD-10 is an acoustic guitar preamp in a floor-pedal format, built to sit between your pickup-equipped acoustic and the PA or amp. Its central feature is Acoustic Resonance, Boss's processing that analyzes the pickup signal and recreates the missing body and string resonances that a piezo or magnetic pickup alone does not capture, restoring what Boss calls the elements essential for natural acoustic sound¹. Around that preamp core, the AD-10 packs a full set of stage tools: boost, chorus, delay, compression, a 3-band EQ, reverb, an 80-second looper and anti-feedback notch filtering².

The AD-10 sits above Boss's compact AD-2 Acoustic Preamp in the line, offering more powerful processing, three different resonance types and the ability to balance tonal characteristics, along with two input channels rather than one³. Acoustic Guitar reviewed it in November 2017, when it was new, at $449.99 MSRP and $329.99 street².

What the AD-10 does

The AD-10's job is to take the thin, quacky signal a pickup produces and turn it into something that sounds like a miked acoustic guitar. The Acoustic Resonance knob controls the software that does this, and it offers three options: Natural, an uncolored sound; Wide, mellow and warm with more bass emphasis; and Bright, with more emphasis on higher frequencies². Boss describes the processing as analyzing your pickup signal and recreating the missing body and string resonances¹.

The two input channels are a practical feature for working players. Boss says they allow you to set up tones for two different stage guitars, blend two pickup sources from one instrument, or run two instruments at once⁴. Each channel can carry its own settings, which the 10 onboard memories can store; Boss says these memories make it possible to save favorite setups for different instruments and songs⁵.

The effects cover the usual acoustic stage needs:

• Boost, chorus, delay and reverb²
• Compression and a 3-band EQ²
• Resonance processing²
• An 80-second looper²
• Anti-feedback with notch settings and a reduction control²

The Ambience effect provides three types of high-quality reverberation specially tuned for guitar³. Delay repeats are set through sub-parameter settings, reached by long-pressing one of the effect buttons; the Feedback parameter allows from 0 to 99 repeats².

Acoustic Guitar's reviewer, Pete Madsen, plugged a Martin OM-28V outfitted with a Fishman Eclipse pickup into the AD-10, feeding a Schertler JAM 150 amp². His overall verdict on the unit:

The controls and footswitches

The control panel is organized in sections. The EQ section occupies the top row of dials, with standard Bass, Mid and Treble knobs plus Presence and an EQ level output, and a central Output Level control sits adjacent to the EQ knobs². The bass EQ has a Low Cut button that selects a range to remove low frequencies between 10 Hz and 990 Hz, for tone shaping or additional feedback control².

The anti-feedback section gives you two individual notch selectors that dial out two different feedback-causing frequencies; depressing both switches makes the unit scan for the offending frequencies itself².

The three foot controls are Boost, Delay and Tuner/Mute, and they are offset at an angle to help prevent errant toe manipulation of the knobs². Boss says the soft-touch footswitches are designed for unobtrusive operation in quiet acoustic settings, and can be configured to select memories, turn effects on and off, access the onboard tuner and more³.

The tuner is chromatic, with the three foot pedals lighting up to indicate whether you are flat (left pedal), sharp (right pedal) or on pitch (middle pedal)². Madsen noted one quirk: the accidentals can look a little unfamiliar on the display, for example F# shows up as an F with a small square next to it².

Inputs, outputs and power

The rear panel carries the full connection set. There are two 1/4-inch inputs, two XLR main outs, two 1/4-inch line outs, one 1/4-inch send for the effects loop, and a Type B USB output for interfacing with a computer². Boss adds that stereo 1/4-inch jacks allow you to connect to your stage amp setup or headphones for monitoring³. Madsen observed that the stereo output is more for the effects such as reverb, and there is a stereo/mono switch².

There is also a jack for connecting up to two footswitches or an expression pedal for controlling looper functions, volume, tap tempo, the anti-feedback scan and more¹.

For power, the AD-10 supports the included AC adapter or batteries¹. Acoustic Guitar's spec listing gives the power source as 6 AA batteries or a 9-volt DC power supply². The unit measures 2.56 by 8.56 by 6.37 inches and weighs 2 lbs., 14 oz.².

The AD-10's rear panel carries two XLR main outputs, two 1/4-inch line outputs, one 1/4-inch send, and a Type B USB port, alongside stereo 1/4-inch jacks for connecting to a stage amp setup or headphones for monitoring⁵³. Inputs are two 1/4-inch jacks. Power comes from a 9-volt DC power supply or six AA batteries³².

For players comparing acoustic preamps, the AD-10's two-channel design, full effects set and balanced XLR outputs place it among the more complete floor units in the acoustic pedals category, alongside earlier Boss entries like the AD-8 and the compact AD-2⁴².

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