Boss BD-2 Opinion

[olefudd]

Hello, I've never owned a pedal of any kind and thinking of picking up one of these. I play a Squier Standard Tele through a Vox Pathfinder 15R. I don't gig and play at home only. Just looking to add a little zing to my sound. I play mostly blues and early rock. I have close neighbors so I need to keep it down most of the time.

Thanks, Marcus

[Trout]

There are a lot of great BD-2 demo's on YouTube. Maybe not through a Pathfinder, but you can get an idea of what it'll do for you.

On the other hand, I listened to a lot of YouTube demos on the Marshall BluesBreaker clone pedal from General Guitar Gadgets. I made a purchase decision based on these demos, ordered a kit, put it together, and I don't like the pedal at all. I never use it. I get better overdrive sounds from my amps by overdriving the tubes the old fashioned way.

There are a lot of good affordable overdrive pedals out there. The BD-2 is a good one, so is the TubeScreamer (either TS808 or TS9), the Boss SD-1, the previously mentioned MBB, etc.

[Tonemonkey]

BD-2 is a good versatile option for your use. From grit to full on OD with a level control.

Boss OD-2 (or is it OS-2) seems to get a lot of love around here too, but I've never knowingly heard one.

Both these can be picked up 2nd hand off the bay for relative peanuts....and if you don't like 'em...flip 'em for little or no loss.

The BD2 has some nice mods too, but not really necessary for your home use.....unless you're curious about improving the tone a little?

Best wishes.

[JesterR]

BD-2 really sweet pedal. Good dynamics. From clean boost to real crunch. And pretty cheap.

[stax]

BD2 is fine but if you’re just using it to beef up a bit of quiet home practice there are plenty of pedals to do that job.
Imo the Bluesdriver is one of the best sounding o/d pedals ever, (the King of tone borrows heavily from the design) but it only comes into its own when the amp is working a bit.

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by olefudd

I don't gig and play at home only. Just looking to add a little zing to my sound.

BD-2 is fine for your needs, and probably a pretty good choice (it's already been mentioned that there are a ton of choices out there). It's weaknesses (IMO) are mainly exposed at higher volume levels (gigs) and higher gain/drive levels (but you play blues/rock).

Originally Posted by Tonemonkey

The BD2 has some nice mods too, but not really necessary for your home use.....unless you're curious about improving the tone a little?

Yep - I worked a good long time on coming up with a mod that makes this specific pedal much more smooth, dynamic and (IMO) in step with what a guitarist typically expects from a "great overdriven tone," but it's probably overkill for your purposes. But it does make it sound extra nice at practice volumes (had a few folks get the mod just for that purpose).

[olefudd]

Thanks to everyone for your feed back. It sounds like a good choice.

[JohnK24]

Pathfiner huh ?...ok, forget the Blues Driver. You'll end up with a very thin tone, imho. Try the Digitech Bad Monkey or Ibanez TS7 or 9 - you'll want some mids to add to that Vox tone. To my ears, the BD2 is a more "open" sounding pedal that can get harsh once the gain is past noon. Other ideas - the Danelectro Cool Cat "Drive" pedal would give you some solid tones too

[Rolling Estonian]

I have the OS-2. While not the best OD or distortion, it's good. Less expensive too. I have it dialed into the OD side most of the time and I dig it.

M

[bluesky636]

I have a Blue Driver with the Montel Alums H2O mode and love it. It is noisy if both the gain and volume control are turned up past 12:00 noon, but otherwise, it is great.

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by bluesky636

It is noisy if both the gain and volume control are turned up past 12:00 noon, but otherwise, it is great.

Further (different) modification will all but eliminate the noise, and make the tone control much more flexible throughout it's entire range (99.9% of all BD-2 mods don't address the issue of too much treble at higher gain settings, IMO).

[olefudd]

Dang, I thought this was going to be easy. I've been looking at U-Tube demos but you never find anyone using the same setup as you have. The Bad Monkey is a possible and the price is not to bad.

[Beachbum]

I bought the BD2 a few years back and really likes it. However I exchanged it for the BBE Green Screamer based on the BD2's lack of true bypass.

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by Beachbum

I exchanged it for the BBE Green Screamer based on the BD2's lack of true bypass.

The BD-2 actually has excellent buffered bypass (IMO). It uses a field effect transistor on the input that is top shelf - it's a Toshiba unit to boot (good stuff).

Many Boss pedals that were released around the time of the BD-2 also feature this "jFET input" buffer, which is vastly improved over the old bipolar type transistor found in the older Boss stuff (SD-1, DS-1, etc.) and is still used in pedals such as the Tubescreamer and others.

[jglenn]

My favorite pedal of all time,mine has the keeley mod,but the stock one I had was just fine.See them used all the time in Seattle area,from 40 to 70 cash!

[Chiogtr4x]

Originally Posted by JesterR

BD-2 really sweet pedal. Good dynamics. From clean boost to real crunch. And pretty cheap.

Going on 10 years with my Blues Driver thru clean Fenders- love it for just about everything I play. Cheap and versatile.

BTW, for $50 bucks, the Bad Monkey aint bad either- to me it sounds kind of like a Blues Driver "mated" with a Tube Screamer. Less Gain on tap than a BD-2, more Gain than a TS, can give you a pretty clean volume boost if you want that, and good Tone controls- both are great workingman (poor, like me!) pedals, IMO

[bluesky636]

Originally Posted by 11 Gauge

Further (different) modification will all but eliminate the noise, and make the tone control much more flexible throughout it's entire range (99.9% of all BD-2 mods don't address the issue of too much treble at higher gain settings, IMO).

Please elaborate on mods to eliminate the noise.

The Allums H2O mod does take care of many tone control issues. It sounds great through out the range.

[Tonemonkey]

Originally Posted by Beachbum

I bought the BD2 a few years back and really likes it. However I exchanged it for the BBE Green Screamer based on the BD2's lack of true bypass.

But these have completely different sounds, with the BBE GS is based on a TS9 circuit (?).....so you changed your whole OD tone based on a lack of TB...?

Fairy snuff. Got a good buffer the BD2....most (all?) mods leave it in place.