Blank Boss-style enclosures?

M

MattG

Well-known member
I did a little research on this, so pretty sure the answer is "no", but I'll try anyway: does anyone know if it's possible to get blank Boss-style enclosures? (Short of buying super cheap used/broken Boss pedals.)
 
Yeah, I saw those. That gets half-way there, with the knobs being well out of the way of the footswitch.

But as someone in another forum said, "The Boss design is an actual pedal, everything else is simply a button."
 
Nope. I’ve done plenty of research on this. There was one company that was making something vaguely boss-like but they were absurdly expensive. Best bet is buying cheap boss pedals locally on Craigslist. I have a few projects in the works with boss enclosures that are currently secret to all but a select few people, but I’ll hopefully be posting more about them soon. Boss enclosures are difficult and relatively expensive to come across to say the least 😅
 
I wonder if someone like Tayda could offer enough volume to contract with the factory that makes Boss enclosures, and offer them to the DIY community.
 
I wonder if boss does have any kind of trademark or patent on the case shape.

ISP use roughly the same shape for their decimator noise gate, so I would guess not?
 
MattG said:
Yeah, I saw those. That gets half-way there, with the knobs being well out of the way of the footswitch.

But as someone in another forum said, "The Boss design is an actual pedal, everything else is simply a button."
Click to expand...
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I was thinking about the same thing yesterday.... Now I'm wondering about using magnets with a standard lid. Obviously one side would need a magnet and the other steel. Still in the "hmmm.... what if I...." process....
 
How much are you willing to pay? That eBay offer is attractive if the price doesn't get bid up too much. You don't just get the box, you get pots, knobs, jacks and maybe some other good parts.
 
You can't copyright something like the shape of a box, that's not how copyright works. You can copyright the artwork on the box.

Trademark is what covers things like company names and things that are recognisable to consumers like a distinctive container. I am certain that Boss has their iconic design locked down by trademark, and to own a trademark you have to defend it, so anyone selling lookalikes would be hearing from Boss' lawyers very swiftly.
 
:unsure:the basic box(similar to what SBE sells) is likely fair market, the lid/footswitch plate is probably where the patents lie...those are also about 45 years old. Is this a personal item or you gonna make up like 20~30 of them for Reverb?
 
Deperduci said:
:unsure:the basic box(similar to what SBE sells) is likely fair market, the lid/footswitch plate is probably where the patents lie...those are also about 45 years old. Is this a personal item or you gonna make up like 20~30 of them for Reverb?
Click to expand...
Trademarks, not patents. Patents are for new inventions, not basic stuff like boxes. Patents also expire relatively fast, while trademarks are forever, as long as you defend them from copiers. I took an interest in this stuff at one point so I learned the differences between copyright, trademark, patent, etc.
 
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