BOSS Waza Craft BP-1W Booster/Preamp

The BOSS Waza Craft BP-1W Booster/Preamp is an analog booster and preamp pedal that packs two vintage preamp circuits into one compact stompbox: the preamp sections of the BOSS CE-1 Chorus Ensemble and the Roland RE-201 Space Echo. A third mode adds a transparent clean boost. It arrived in November 2023 as the latest model in the Waza Craft series, Boss's premium made-in-Japan line of compact effect pedals¹²³.

For a player, the idea is simple: instead of hunting down a 1970s CE-1 or RE-201 to get the sound of their preamp stages, the BP-1W puts both in a pedalboard-friendly box, along with a clean volume lift for pushing an amp harder. Boss describes it as a premium booster and preamp pedal with analog circuitry derived from legendary BOSS and Roland effects⁴.

The CE-1 and RE-201 preamps behind it

The BP-1W exists because two of Boss and Roland's most storied effects units happened to have preamp stages that players came to prize on their own. The CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, Boss's first compact effects unit, and the RE-201 Space Echo, Roland's tape echo, each colored everything that passed through them, and that character lived partly in their preamp circuitry. Boss's own history article on those preamps notes that the BP-1W represents the first time the RE-201 preamp sound has been made available in a compact pedal¹⁸.

Gearnews, reporting the announcement, put it plainly:

The two preamp voices are not identical, which is the point of having both. Each mode has its own characteristics, and the pedal is best understood as three tools in one enclosure rather than one sound with variations⁸.

The three modes

The BP-1W gives you three boost and preamp tonal options, each with its own character⁸:

The Gain knob offers a range of saturation and drive tones unique to each mode, so the CE-1 and RE-201 voices can be pushed into drive territory rather than acting only as fixed preamp flavors². Pedal of the Day characterized the pedal as "a boost, overdrive and preamp rolled into one"⁸.

Controls and the buffer

Beyond the mode selection and the Gain knob, the BP-1W carries high-quality buffer circuitry with two selectable types, accessed via a switch on the rear panel². The buffer runs in the pedal's signal path to preserve tone through long cable runs and true-bypass-heavy boards. Of the two types, the Vintage setting has a warmer tone and a smooth dynamic response, which Gearnews noted suits a guitar fitted with passive pickups².

Analog circuitry, Waza Craft build

Boss positions the BP-1W within Waza Craft, its series of premium compact pedals, and the pedal is made in Japan²³. Guitar World, writing about the standout pedals of the 2020s, noted that "Boss has made the sound of its preamps accessible to all using analog circuitry in the Waza BP-1W Booster/Preamp"¹⁰. For players comparing it against digital preamp and amp-in-a-box options, the BP-1W's circuitry is analog throughout⁴.

What reviewers said

Published reactions to the BP-1W have been positive. Pedal of the Day reviewed it in March 2024 and summed up⁸:

Price

At launch, the BP-1W carried an official MSRP of $169.99 and was available in November 2023 at authorized US BOSS retailers²³. Published prices since then disagree: Gearnews's May 2026 boost pedal guide lists it at $149.00, while Guitar.com's October 2026 guide prices it around $169¹¹¹². In the EU, Gearnews listed it at €179 at Thomann at launch².

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