[improviduto]

Boss BD-2 Blues Driver

[evileye]

How much did you purchase this item for? €90, new, I got the VAT off as it was an export from Belgium.
Where did you purchase this item? About 6 months ago.
Is this item new or used? I bought it new, but it's been used. Still A1 condition.

Features: It's an overdrive/distortion pedal, with three knobs. Tone - How much it screeams, basically adjustes treble/bass. Level - Controls the loudness of the pedal. Gain - Controls the distortion. The pedal can be used as a solid distortion, or it can boost another distortion pedal for lead work. Also, you can have it giving you loud clean tones, with that slightly overdriven sound, using it as a booster. Really versatile.

Construction: It's a Boss, so obviously - indistructable. You can drive over it in a car, so fairly strong.

Sound: Amazing sound, it's a real crunch. As HMB has said before, "Blues Driver" isnt really a suitable name for it, because it's suitable for rock, blues, any genre really. It delivers that real classic rock crunch, and bluesy lead tones, yet so much more. This pedal can be used for almost ANYTHING! It's amazing. It should be recognized alongside the Ibanez Tube Screamer, and the Boss DS-1.

Ease of Use: 3 Knobs, couldn't be easier.

Reliability: Never had any problems, and I dont expect to.

Overall: I dont think I ever really give a product 10/10, but this one deserves it.




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[mistymountainhop]

How much did you purchase this item for? £54.50 inc shipping
Where did you purchase this item? www.guitarstrings.co.uk - but would recommend piedog.com - its cheaper there!
Is this item new or used? New

Features: As above, 3 knobs - does exactly what it says on the tin... gain - the amount of crunch... level- the volume it pumps out, and tone, well that adjusts ur tone!

Construction: Boss - renowned indestructability!
I wouldnt try what evileye suggested tho... it might just break with the wieght of a car - but stong none the less!

Sound: Sound, well I get some good sounds.... it emulates my overdriven channel on my amp pretty well, and my amp is tube, so thats cool for u SS'ers! it works well as a transparent overdrive too - or a boost..

Ease of Use: 3 Knobs, couldnt be easier. Even has settings for different types of dist.'s in the manual!

Reliability: This is the second one I've had, but that's because the company sent me a duff first time round... but this one works perfectly...
battery life leaves a little to be desired, but most of the boss range have a shortish life of about 20 hours!

Overall: hmmm... I havent had a lot to compare it too, but its very versatile and it gives good tone, so I'd give it about a 7.5-8 - I couldnt give a pedal a full 10 until I tried all and knew it was the perfect pedal!

[halfmoonbay]

How much did you purchase this item for? I traded it for some magic beans.

Where did you purchase this item? A shop.

Is this item new or used? It was new.

Features: It's a basic three control Boss unit - the BD-2 has a 'level' control, a 'gain' control and a 'tone' control. Fairly self explanatory methinks.

Construction: Fine. Nice simple, durable box that can take a kicking. Footswitch has a good level of responsiveness.

Sound: The fact that it is called a 'Blues Driver' is a bit misleading I reckon. Whilst it can be 'bluesy' it can be so much more as well, it can be applied to a wide range of styles. And it's not a traditional transparent overdrive like the Tubescreamers, it's a lot more gainy and ballsy. (It works well when combined with transparent OD units, as well as on its own actually). It's as much as rythmn guitarists pedal as it is a lead guitarists pedal - there's some great settings for rythmn and riff work.

I never used to rate Boss OD/DS units. The DS-1 and DS-2 were fine for a contemporary crunch but there were better and more versatile units out there, the various OD's seemed to me like Tubescreamer-wannabes and there was something missing, whilst the metalzone et al wasn't what I wanted. The BD-2 is far more impressive. If you want a warm sloppy fuzz then a Big Muff might be the way to go, or a Rat for something tighter, or a Tubescreamer if you want a transparent OD with a lot of clarity............ but the Boss BD-2 is still worth checking out, because you might just like it better. It used to be the case that if I brought one pedal along to an open jam it'd be a Tubescreamer, now it'd probably be the BD-2.

The BD-2 lets the characteristics of your guitar and your playing come through nicely, that's one of the reasons I like it, but on the other hand it'll highlight sloppy playing much more than it will cover it up so I can see how beginner players might get a tad frustrated with it. It's very responsive to the dynamics of your playing, pick attack and the volume control on the guitar. I usually set the 'gain' between the 11 and 3 'o' clock, 'level' on about 10-11 'o' clock and have the 'tone' rolled back down to the left at 7 'o' clock; then using the volume control on my guitar I can get tight rythmn tones throught to smooth creamy lead guitar tones through to ballsy rock rythmn. Nice.


Ease of Use: Like all of the best units, it's easy to use. You turn the 'level' control to make it louder or quieter, you turn the 'gain' control to increase/decrease the gain and get more or less crunch, and you turn the 'tone' control to make it more or less trebly.But the fact that it's such a simple unit doesn't mean that it's a one-trick pony. On the contrary, it's very versatile. You can get anything from a hard crunchy riff sound to a soft jangly rythmn tone, or lead tones from the smooth, warm and sustained to the harsh and ballsy.

Reliability: It's a Boss, so (cliche'd as it has become to say this) they can take a kicking and odds are it won't crap out on you anytime soon. Never had a Boss unit fail on me. Probably the weakest spot is (as with most units) the battery hookup, but a bit of care and it'll be fine.

Overall: All in all, it's a good unit. Might not be everyone's first choice but it's certainly well worth checking out. And I like it. Hurrah for the BD-2

[xplizit]

How much did you purchase this item for? 950NOK ($135 / £80)
Where did you purchase this item? Guitar store
Is this item new or used? New

Features: 3 knobs (Gain, level, tone). On/off LED, also works as low battery indicator. Can be used with an adapter.

Construction: Can take a kicking!

Sound: Sweeeet ! Everything from a mild bluesy overdrive, to a hard rock crunch. Very versatile, despite the name.
Has a nice warm and fat sound, I love it.

Ease of Use: 3 knobs, stomp on to turn effect on/off. Errr... ? Sounds hard? Not very.

Reliability: Like I said, it can take a kicking. I'd feel safe with it. Except it's a hungry little box. I've had it for almost 2 weeks, and I'm on the second battery, which is soon to be changed.
(I play a lot though!) I'd get an adapter if I was going to use it on stage, or at least put in fresh batteries!

Overall: I don't have all too many boxes to comapare with, but it is a lovely little thing. I liked it a hell of a lot better than the overdrive/dist on my Zoom606. Tried out the DS-1, SD-1, Marshall Bluesbreaker II and a few
others at the store, the BD-2 was the best. But due to my lack of experience, I'm not giving it a 10. 'Just' a 9/10

[xplizit]

Updated review

Since the last review I've gotten a tube amp, so now I can judge it on that aswell. I still say it's a great little box, it doesn't suck much tone (compared to my DD-5, which had more trebble-loss than this one.), and it drives tubes nicely. I like using it on lower volumes to get a smoother sound out of my amp, because the amp sounds a little flat when it's not cranked. Higher volumes it's nice as a almost-clean-boost (only a little bit of gain). With the gain up it gets VERY distorted, almost fuzz-like, but not the best fuzz, so I keep it low. If I want a fuzz sound I'll get a designated fuzz box. It's a very transparent od-unit, it leaves a little personal touch, but only slightly. Leaves the amp-tone more or less to itself (with gain turned down), which, like I said, is how I use it. I keep the gain below 11 o'clock. On the clean channel (the previous was on an already overdriven amp) it's not bad either, but it gets a little sharp in my opinion, so I prefer to use it on the gain channel. Other than that I can't think of much I'd change about it, except maybe true bypass, but it's not that tone sucking. More non-true-bypass units will add up though, so it'd be nice if it had true bypass.
Oh, and it could have a little better bass-response, I'm curious about the Keeley BD-2 mod, which (supposedly) fixes this.. but it's not the first thing I feel needs changing in my rig.

I've had this pedal for about a year now, and I can't see myself changing it. It gives me "my" sound. I wish I hadn't sold the Keeley DS-1 Ultra so I could have compared the two on a tube amp. The BD-2 was better on SS amps though, which was why I sold the DS-1.
I would definately buy it again if it got stolen/broken/etc. It helps me get my tone, so I like it. I'm sure there are tons of other great od's out there, but this does the job for me. Very affordable pedal too.

[Claptonman]

How much did you purchase this item for?$50 maybe?


Where did you purchase this item?Ebay


Is this item new or used?used


Features: Awesome tone, amazing drive


Construction: Like a tank


Sound: amazing. sounds just like a tube amp.


Ease of Use:3 knobs. what else can I say?


Reliability: Never broken down so far.


Overall:Great unit. Turn the drive all the way down and put it behind my DS-1 and makes great tone. Also nice for a volume boost.