Boss BD-2 Blues Driver

Dead simple to use. 3 knobs, one switch and 2 jacks.

Well I have had this pedal for about 3 years now. I put it away 2 years ago as I could not bring myself to sell it, but was not using it enough. I got this pedal back out this year and still love it.

The amount of tones and sounds you can get out of this is incredible. You are able to get a standard clean overdrive, or you can get a real bluesy crunchy OD. Then you turn the gain full and you get standard blues distortion.

This really is a fantastic pedal.

This is my set-up:

SJB Audio tube amp <-- Boss BD-2 <-- 1999 Gibson SG Standard.

Very simple set-up for a very powerful sound.

Well since I have got it I have had no problems with it, like all of my other Boss pedals. So it???s really reliable and I can???t see it breaking anytime soon

This pedal will never need them.

I play rock and blues. This pedal fits right in with my style.

I would defiantly recommend getting one as they are so versatile.

My other pedals I have are

Boss GE-7 EQ
Boss RV-5 Reverb
JD Uni - Vibe
JD JH Classic Fuzz
Vox V847 Wah

As I said before you don???t need an EQ with this, the sound is perfect the way it is.

EASY! 3 knobs and they all react very nicely.

I've tried a ProCo Rat, Jeckyl and Hyde, DS1, Metal Master, Big Muff....etc. I could get good hatd distortion with all of these pedals, but none cut through smoothly. The BD-2 certainly does. There's no noise or unwanted feedback.
Strat or Les Paul through a Fender Tuner, VOX Wah, TS-9, BD-2, MXR Phase 90, Digitech Digital Delay....into a 1971 Fender Super Reverb.

Don't know yet. So far so good. Played every night for a month.

No idea. The website is slightly helpful.

These guys that are bashing this pedal need to re-evaluate their entire rig. I play a lot of originals that have smooth, clean Funky/Bluesy Rythems and loud cranking solos. We cover Santana (Old and New), James Brown, Tower Of Power, Zep....you name it. This pedal is it for me. Use it with the TS-9 and you get long sustaining bliss.

Easy to use three knobs volume,gain ,tone.

This one has been modded by The Guitar Tone Shop and has the vintage tube mod.played thru Strat 62 reissue w/texas specials and fender blues junior.Wow!! what a pedal.It nails that vintage Fender amp tone@ SRV vibroverb tone.Great clarity or transparency.Really lets your pick attack come through.Tone knob very usable.Thick and rich tone.This guy knows how to mod this pedal.

Tough as nails

Never dealt with

Play mostly blues.This is a great match.Been playin 20 yrs.Would replace if stolen definitely.Much better than stock.

This unit, with the 3 basic knobs (level, tone, gain), is supremely easy to use. In spite of the super simple controls, the pedal offers a huge diversity of overdriven tones. It is easy to get great sounds out of this unit.

In spite of the price tag (super affordable), this pedal offers some great, fundamental overdrive tones. From a simple "boost" to spicy overdrive, you can get a wide variety of crunchy sounds. I've found that it works equally well with both tube and solid state amps. I've spent thousands on effects pedals and have owned modified overdrives, customs, rack gear...and the quality of tone from this simple Boss pedal is nothing short of remarkable. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, it is tough to beat.

This is a simple question with an even simpler answer; BULLETPROOF.

While certainly not the BEST tone out there, it does represent the best value. Is there better? Yes. Can you get "better" for the price of the Boss? No way. Sure, plenty of boutique fans will turn their noses up at the Boss pedal, but hey...a spade is a spade and this Boss is fantastic.

Wickedly easy. Three knobs: Level, tone, gain. Pretty self-explanatory.

This pedal is FANTASTIC. There might be better overdrive pedals out there, but this does a great job of adding some grit and crunch to your sound. If you crank the gain, it's just as good as most distortion pedals, and it's great for adding a little edge to rhythm chords or riffs.

It's a Boss. My pedal has been dropped, kicked, etc, and it shows no signs of wear, except for some little dings. But there's been no decrease in its performance for the seven years or so that I've owned the pedal.

I really have no idea. I never needed it.

You can't beat it for value and quality and durability. And what more can you ask for? Get this overdrive pedal.

It's great for blues, rock, southern-fried boogie, proto-punk, and everything and beyond. Pick this sucker up, you'll not regret it.

I put it in and it like, used itself it was so easy. It was easier that most women I know and I know a lot of easy women. It's GREAT.

I plugged in my Honey-bee electric and man, this thing sreamed like a baby with poopy diapies. I wish every pedal sounded exatly like this one. It sounds so good that you can hear the fidelity in space if you have a soundcone attached to your shuttle. I read that somewhere.

I wanted to test the Realiability. I strapped meat to it and let my really big dog chew on it for a long time. It was going to town for about 15 minutes. I plugged my Honey-bee back in and it still screamed like, woah.

They're great. I love them. My uncle works for them. I think.

YOu can cover it in sticky barbeque sauce, wail on it, then take it on stage for your awesome sweet spectacular tour. It will play as if the first day it was ever played every time one day some.

Boss pedals are the industry standard for ease of use. I have not done any mods to this because I like it just as is.

This is my favourite pedal in my chain. I play predominately Blues, Blues-Rock and old school R & R so this pedal was the perfect choice for me. Warm, smooth, sustaining overdrive at just about any setting I am in the mood for. No need to dwell on the virtues. This pedal was made for me.

It is a Boss. Enough said.

Never needed it.

As I said before, this is my favourite, made for me, go to pedal in my chain. The chain consists of a Boss CS-2 (compression), BD-2 (my beloved Blues Driver Pedal), DS-1 (distortion for heavier R&R), EQ-7 (for subtle tone tweaking), Marshall RG-1 (a great modulation pedal) and an Ibanez DE-7 (for delay and echo effects). All of this runs through a Vox AC30CC2 and extension 2x12 cab. If you play electric Blues or Blues based Rock, you can not go wrong with this pedal, and it will last you a lifetime of fun and enjoyment.

Simple to use, but it may take some time fiddling around with the knobs to find a sweet spot that suits your particular set up.

I play a Strat through a Blues Deluxe. I was looking for something to coax a little more growl & sustain out of the Blues Deluxe which is not a high gain amp and never really breaks up on its own. Unfortunately the BD-2 isn't the ticket. It's hissy and, as others have noted, tends to suck away rather than add tone. At least it does in my rig. It adds a kind of midrangy edge that in my opinion doesn't necessarily improve the sound coming from the amp, just more or less clutters the tone. On the other hand, it sounds virtually identical to a TS-808, which I also have, and people seem to love the TS-808, so go figure. I think it really depends on whether you have a solid state or tube amp, what kind of pickups you have, what kind of music you are playing, etc. My advice is try before you buy.

It is virtually indestructable. Boss knows how to make pedals that don't break.

Never dealt with Boss.

Been playing 30+ years, all rock. Still gigging. Over the years have come to realize that when it comes to guitar effects less usually is more. Most pedals tend to add a layer of haze to your sound rather than improve it. Maybe I'm becoming a cranky old man. Oh well, like I said, try it first and see if you like it.

It's a standard three knob overdrive box. Pretty much anyone that has used a distortion unit will know how to use this.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
It's a Boss product, so generally people will say pretty easy. In fact sure, I'll even say it's pretty easy, too bad for...welll we'll talk about that soon enough

It's a Boss box...it's not true bypass, it's got some cap's and resistors that change the tone bypassed or not...get a tech to rip them out and replace them with some clearer units...or do it yourself if you know how.

When active the box can provide some interesting tones. I find it can be pretty bright, and can constrict the tones of your guitar a bit making some more open complex chords muddy or incoherent. Needless to say this gets even worse when the gain is turned up...

For me I run it pretty mild, and use it to thicken up my tone while providing some fat girtty saturation. I'm using it with a Gibson ES-335 and a Vox AC30 from the early '70s.

It's still pretty decent compared to most other Boss boxes in my opinoin, and can make provide some good tones in a pinch.

I've had this box since the late 90's, and it has had the CRAP beat out of it! Not much paint is left, and the knobs are missing the inserts, but it's still providing the same tones it always has. Pretty indestructable.

never delt with them for problems, but their local reps kick ass.

I play mostly rock music that is influenced by most of the popular generes from country, blues, classic-rock, metal, punk, that I have a need for something versatile. My basic rig is comprised of Gibson guitars (Les Paul, ES-335, SG) and a Vox AC30. But my pedal line up is always changing...currently this box is in it. But I'm still looking to replace it with something a bit clearer in the mid range.

I won't be selling this unit anytime soon, and there is a good chance if it were stolen I'd buy a new one for the price. It's a great box to rely on if you can compromise some of the mid range mud it provides...and if you can control it's top end.

It'a about as simple as it gets.

As an overdrive/ distortion pedal, it has never gotten the type of tone I wanted. I play blues in a gigging band. have used this pedal quite a bit for songs requiring a little more bite. The only other overdrive I use is tube screamer TS 9 and sometimes a Tech 21 Double drive. My biggest complaint about using this pedal for overdrive is that it sounds very thin and trebbly. Even with the tone all the way down, it always sounds very tinny. Especially with a strat. Once the gain is turned up, it sounds very muttled and is almost useless.

That being said, this pedal is an outstanding as a clean boost. I've been using it lately exclusively as a clean boost. I keep the tone around 3/4, gain at zero, and the volume nearly all the way up. I adjust the volume on my super reverb reissue to an acceptable level. To me, it majorly enhances the sound and fattness of the tone. It gives it a driven sound that adds alot of life to the tone. With the tube screamer behind it, I can get an incredible tone. It really brings out the tube screamer and makes it sound SO MUCH better. It seems to make up for some of the transparency you lose when just using the tube screamer. If you have a blues driver, try it out as a clean boost in front of your favorite overdrive. It sounds good.

NEVER had a problem with it.

Never dealt with them.

As a clean boost, it sounds as good or better that clean boost pedals I've tried. Highly recommend it for that purpose. As an overdrive, I don't like it at all. It might sound better with something else, but with a Strat, it sounds tinny and weak. I'm a stevie ray freak and to me, using the pedal as a boost with a good fender tube amp and a tube screamer gives me a tone very close to Stevie's tone from the "live at the elmacombo" days. It will deliver a very fat sound, it will give it a driven tube amp sound at a reasonable volume, it will enhance an overdive and make it more usable and transparant.

I owned it for about 3 months before the dialing in was done - It's the same old story where what you hear in a rehearsal space has nothing to do with the sound in a larger room. No need for a manual.

I mostly love the sound of a regular old strat or sometimes my tele into a tweed bassman - I have a subtle amount of compression on all the time ( just enough to knock down the transients a little ) - Carl Martin compressor. Most of my sound comes from that clean fender into fender with the 4 10" swirl - I wouldn't give that tone away for anything else. BUUUUUTTTTTTT - I need something to add to the bridge PU to get the right break-up in about 10 songs. This is the pedal I have stayed with now for along time - I have either sold or else they are rattling around in my kitchen drawers the following: budda phatman S10, TS9, sparkle drive, "real tube", Maxon 820 ( ithinkthatsthenumber)keeley fuzz head, black cat OD-1 ( this one is my second favorite) fulltone OCD, fulltone distortion pro, big muff, roger mayer mongoose, voodoo lab fuzz, and others.

there really is something about the full range thing - no mid hump that does it for me. The gain is at about 10 am - never adjust it.

maybe 18 months, 25 gigs, lots of banging it around.

pop-rock, r+B, - all the goofy dance songs people like - for 35 years - past 10 in a cover band - no interest in recording ( there ought to be a separate review section for this - way different animal than live) I Keeley modded it about a year ago - even better now but it was pretty decent straight up. This thing with a single coil bridge PU gets it for me.

Easy to use but you must spend a bit of time tweaking it to your taste.

I only play straight ahead Chicago-style blues in clubs. I've used it successfully in a variety of amps and it does sound good. I spent an afternoon at Guitar Center trying a dozen pedals. This was one of the cheapest but the best they could bring out for me to try. Very good tone without being fuzzy. I only use Gibson 335-types of guitars with 40 yr. old humbuckers.

So far so good

Haven't needed it.

Been playing 40 yrs. Only blues. NO FUZZ TONES--NO SILLY PEDALS. This si the only one I now use.

EASE OF USE: ....you come this far... i think you can handle it!

SOUND QUALITY.... - i'm reviewing the stock BD-2 - i'll keep in short and sweet - here's the thing .... with single coils it's not bad within the context of my rig ( fender vibro champ through a 4x12 cab with a compressor / wah / eq etc... ) but i like to use a PAF equipped guitar too and then.... most of the faults that others have pointed out on here on this site are true (unfortunatley ) which accounts for the big differences in reviews here - i have no idea about the robert keeley mod, but i let my stock one go because there are so many options out there and i need something thats better across both platforms - single coils and humbuckers - if your strictley a strat guy then the stock one will perform for you , maybe not as well as a keeley modded one but if your a PAF lover like me, the "stock" BD-2 aint gonna make it ! because of that i give it a 7 -

it's not a hyped boutique pedal but I never had ANY problem with ANY boss pedal period !

CUSTOMER SUPPORT: .... never needed it, which may be the best kind!

picked this up to try it with my blues rig ... playin for many years... with a lot of varied gear (some that cost alot, some a little and some too much ) - i don't pay as much attention to hype as my ears... I LOVE FINDING SLEEPERS - if it were lost (lol)?? I didn't wait for that to happen... i sold it on ebay .. but i liked it with single coils (within the context of my rig) -just not with PAFs - with single coils had enough bass for me and some dynamics which are importnt to me and when pushed by my compressor and EQ'd even some harmonics BUT with PAFs it just hurt my ears the pickups weren't even that hot but i guess it overloaded it - I STILL WANT TO TRY A KEELEY MODDED ONE just in case ... ( I have a feeling his mods JUST MIGHT resolve the issues )

I bought this pedal because I was unsatisfied with similar pedals.
I use it in stock configuration.
The Boss Blues Driver has 3 knobs (Level, Tone, Gain). So it is very easy for beginners to get a good sound out of it. The manual shows some great settings to start with. I give the ease of use a 10 because there are not to much or to less knobs.

It is very easy to get a good Cream or Hendrix (don't think about his heavy fuzz songs!) sound out of it. Also BB King or Albert King is no problem. If you use it with a phaser it sounds perfect for Pink Floyd rythm stuff. I use this pedal with my standard mexico telecaster lefty, the Digitech Digiverb pedal into my Epiphone Valve Junior amp. It's a very puristic blues rig.
Sometimes the sound of the BD-2 is a bit to low (for instance if you use it with an Es-335). So I'm giving it an 8.

I would definitely gig without a backup because Boss effects never let you hang.

I've never dealed with them.

I play blues music and this is the perfect pedal for this sound.
I started playing 3 years ago and I use lot's of other blues pedals like the Digitecg Screaming Blues or the Ibanez Tubescreamer. But let's be honest: they have no chance against this one. Overall I rate it 9 because it can always be better.

It is the standard Boss Overdrive layout: level, gain, & tone. I say standard boss, because their are other brands that don't use a tone knob.

I have not been able to ascertain, as to why these manufacturers do don't see the need for one; I would guess, that they think people should only use the tone that they think people should use.
Maybe they are worried that the stoners might be unable to fight off the blue people, in order to get the mouse inside the pedal to change it.
I think that the manufacturers are garding the classsic tone that made the pedal famous or made it just right for an artist that had success with it back in 197-something.

Boss has never really done that. Artists use the same pedal as the rest of us and find their sound, using the same controls.

To make a long story longer...

You give the pedal the sound, using the countrols. Boss gives you all the tools you need to find your sound.

I like Boss pedals and they are a major part of my rig. I like the Line-6 pedals and DOD pedals as well, in the fact that you can shape your tone.

This pedal is not very hard for anyone to use and there is a small book that will tell you everything you need to know, in order to use it.

The hard part is finding a battery in your junk-drawer. This is why I use an AC addapter

I was playing some SRV style blues through my fender blues jr. amp, using my ESP EX-100 (lefty), last night (one in the morning), and it sounded good.

I used an OD-3 to get a boost and got a nice fuzz. The OD-3 gets a cleaner gain, but the BD-2 is more versatile and and can be turned up.

The Blues Driver will give you clean boost and will also give you a really nice distortion for thouse leads that you can't get in a normal overdrive.

This is one for my top ten distortions. I would say that a novist guitar player could have trouble appreciating this pedal, I know I did.

I went through the Metallica only faze...
Back then, I was using my Boss MT-2 all the time. I was in my first stent in college and was trying to get Mesa/Boogie sounds out of a Creat GFX-15 and a standard fender strat.... This was not going to happen. Once I could play a whole lot better, I started to branch out. You are not going to get thrash out of a BLUES DRIVER, don't get one, hoping your going to sound like the Back album, and wine about it. Because it's not going to happen with the BD-2, it's not a mid scouping monster distortion.

That's why we have mesa/boogie triple rectifiers, Boss' MT-2s, Line-6, and Rocktron.

If you want good overdrive for boost, a bit-o-grit, or a mid-level distortion, you've found your baby. I have used an Ibanez TS-9 and have yet to use a TS-808. I will say, as far as the TS-9 is concerned, Boss Has taken the the tweed, this time.

As far as I have heard, SRV only used his TS-808 to get a gain boost. The People at GuitarGeek.com will show you that SRV needed two TS-808's to get that tone. This also leaves out the fact that the amps could be pushed to the edge too.

Yes you can depend on it.... It's built to last through the next world war!

I Have two, but I could use it without a backup, and not have any worries.

I'm sure -Bob- in India would be -most happy to do the a assistings of the me's-, but I have yet to find out, Boss makes them right the first time (most of the time).

Once again...

For playing, blues, (some)rock, jazz, classic rock, this pedal will do fine for that. If you want to play, Metal, Hard Rock, nu-metal, or phych., your going to need a boost and/or another, for a more powerful distortion; there are a great meny to chose from, on the market. To you I say, happy hunting; It depends on you, in the end.

I have been playing for the last ten years and own a footlocker full of stompboxes; I hope to keep this one as part of my arsenal, for years to come. Not that it's the end-all-to-end-all, but I like what it does, when I want to play some blues lead or a lite rhythm guitar with a crunch; this, I like very much. However when I want to play some Metal buzz-cruching power chords, I need something with more power.

Last thought...

I am going to go headlong, against the years of tridition and convention here. Buy this before you buy a tube-screamer TS-9 or dare I say, even the TS-808. Better yet. try them out in the store, side-by-side; I know guitar center will let you do this. I would think that most stores these days would too.

-...and that's how the angel got on top of the christmastree!-

It's a Boss Pedal...thay never take much science: Gain /Volume/ Tone.

As with any opinion about sound/tone, it's best to know what equipment I play and in what genre. I play a 1979 Neck Thru Greco Speedway with DiMarzio Humbuckers and Single Coil . I use a JH-1 Hendrix Wah, MXR Super Comp, Digitech Whammy, Boss Phase Shifter(Now sold, didn't like that one!) into a Line 6 210 Spider. My Dimarzio's have a very hot sound to them(especially the bridge) and the pedal really makes them stand out and sing. I typically have the gain somewhat pass three o' clock and the volume closer to 9 o'clock.My tone has ALWAYS been no higher then 9'o clock or else I find it too harsh.though it's no High End Tube Amp, I enjoy the Line 6 for it's clean amp setting(I adjust my eq's to acheive a good tonal balance) and it's "Crunch" ("Marshall Plexi")setting(With the right adjustments, you can get early Santana tone...trust me, I have fooled many!!)and it's DEPENDABILITY(no broken tubes, blown tubes,or expensive maintainence)Even so, the BD-2 is pretty essential to my sound(This amp does have some pretty stale distortions though. The Plexi is the only exception to me, and just for solos for that matter) I play funk/blues/Jazz Rock and would rate my distortion as Sustain/Overdrive heavy, which the pedal has done wonderfully since day 1. On the "Plexi" setting, I use the pedal as a Volume Boost and end up holding notes for a loooong time. Superb sustain. In my clean amp set(I use it most often) the pedal delivers great crunch to contrast my clean rhythm strums.
As you have read, your guitar's volume makes great differences in the distortion's attack and tone. Vol on 10, Strong Overdrive On 7-8 Crunch but articulate enough for chords. On 5 I can strum open chords with a pleasant break up. That's the great thing about this pedal. As for what it lacks, I would say a little more tinal control would be good, but I get a good eq from my amp and my p/up's.
Also, I have ALWAYS used a 9V in this pedal. I have heard of certain guitar greats that prefer batteries to weaken some to get a warmer tone and have found this to be TRUE! This pedal ALWAYS sounds more spongy when my light starts to dim. Try it for yourself....you may be suprised.
BOTTOM LINE: Great Overdrive/ Easy To Find Tonal Characteristics when you watch your guitar volume

People, I brought this pedal used six years ago and honestly have used it AT LEAST Three times a week, EVERY week since thenand have had not one malfunction. The pedal has been so used, that it is even starting to show it's original grey, metal casing, works the same as day one.
My only advice, be sure to always check your input/outputs for loose nuts, they can produse horrible noise if you forget to tighten them, but that's a small case of maintainence. NO ONE BEATS BOSS FOR DURABLITY

Couldn't say, never had to call

This pedal is a valuable purchase that you would not regret, reguardless of your style. I have shown up for recording sessions/shows without my amp and just my pedals on several occasions and was always pleased with my results. The BD-2 is a great stand alone distortion unit and EVEN BETTER when mated to another HIGH-GAIN Distortion pedal as well!(I have personaly used a HM-3 Hyper Metal with it for a while and pulled out some Great Mesa-Like Crunch (a la 311's "All Mixed Up" /Rage's "Vietnow") From my perspective, using an excellent Humbucker Guitar and an "alright" amp, it has proven to be invaluable. I only give it an Eight because there are some INCREDIBLE Overdrive pedals that really are Perfect Ten's, but they also make you pay for it.....you can find this thing for 50 dollars on Ebay and get it either modded or get another High Gain Pedal and have a World of tone at your disposal for a fraction of the costs......choice is yours and I have never regretted mine!

Like someone else said, it's a distortion pedal with three basic knobs...if you can screw that up, heaven help you.

I have a Fender Roc Pro 1000 combo, and that gives me my dream distortion (it's got a tube preamp, solid state power amp, so best of all worlds), plus the unparalleled Fender clean. but i was looking for something in the middle - just a little grit, that breaks up more the harder you play, or cleans up in response to your right hand technique. After trying a few things out (ok, a lot of things - i'm very picky), I tried the Blues Driver. Spot on what I was looking for. It's fairly transparent, as well.

I wrote it off as being a weak distortion pedal, until we went into the studio for our last record. When we were doing scratch tracks along with the drums & bass, and I think i needed a longer cable to reach from the iso room, as well as needing distortion, and i was lazy and wrote what i was playing off as "scratch track, it'll get deleted anyway". Whatever the reason, i plugged this in and switched it on and off as needed, after cranking everything appropriately. I was blown away. It's still definitly an overdrive, and a lesser-gained one at that, but it had SO MUCH BITE to it that i never realized. we ended up keeping that track it sounded so good cranked. (check out Talking to Walls / www.talkingtowalls.com - "Naked" - first song, "Cut Out" to hear it - i think most of the distortion is that pedal. at least, the base of it is...we did like 8 guitars on that song!)

so try this pedal out. there is a lot going on there. people who have heard it in my rig often covet it. nowadays i use it in-line, parked on top of my amp, next to my wireless, everything else is in my effects loop.

it's boss. i have seen one dead boss pedal in all my years playing, and it was someone elses, so for all i know, they tossed it into a pool.

it's boss. who needs customer support? actually, i bought this used, and missing all the knobs. i called the company and they sent me new knobs with no hassle for a couple of bucks, cheap, but worth fixing up a pedal i'll never sell.

I think i've written enough here for you to know how i feel. I play pop-rock/modern rock, think the Cure with the Replacements. I've been playing for...longer than i'd care to think, and i know gear (perhaps more than playing guitar). this is one of the single best pieces of gear i've bought, and if i lost it, i would defnitly replace it with only the same. EQ, Tuner, Volumes, even delay...all those pedals I could probably find a comparable replacement. but this is unique.

This pedal has Gain, Level, and Tone controls. It is extremely easy to use and get a good sound out of it.

Sound Quality. Hmm that is an interesting aspect of this pedal. IF you play it through a solid state amp the sound sucks. It is harsh and rough and lacks warmth. It just sounds like what it is: a digital distortion pedal.
But there is a glimmer of hope. I run this through a Seymour Duncan SFX-03 Twin Tube Classic and a Crate thirty watt amp. Before I bought the Twin Tube I didn't know what tubes sounded like so I thought that this pedal gave out a great sound. When I bought the Twin Tube I plugged this in and realized how much I have been missing. When played through tubes this pedal sounds insane. No matter what the settings you can get awesome sounds out of it. When I turned off the Twin Tube was when I really learned how thin the sound was. The difference was like the difference between hot water and cold water. The 8 that I rated this at should be looked at as an average. Through solid state the sound quality is probably a 5, but through tube it is definitly a 10.

It is extremely reliable. It is solidly built and feels like it will last forever.

Haven't dealt with them.

I play anything from Classic Rock and Blues to Worship to Hard Rock. This pedal works for all of these styles and even more that I don't play.
If it were stolen I would definitly buy it again.
If you are considering buying this make sure you have a tube amp. If you don't then get a tube amp and then buy this pedal. It is a great pedal as long as it is set up and played right.

This pedal has three control knobs: 1)level, 2)tone, 3)gain.
The manual is good and describes the features and includes some setting suggestions. However, great tones are to be found by experimenting with the control knobs. This pedal has a great feature that is very rare: you can set the gain control high and then obtain varying amounts of gain by simply adjusting the volume control on your electric guitar. Try it!

This pedal maintains the great tone of your guitar over the full range of gain settings. Using a Gibson Les Paul guitar and Fender tube amp I am able to get the classic Aerosmith overdriven tones. I would say that this pedal is well-suited to get blues-rock tones such as Doors, Free, Who, and Aerosmith. In some reviews here, people have mentioned that there is too much treble, and then they go and pay more money to modify the pedal. Why don't they just go buy another pedal that gets the sound they want? There certainly are enough of them on the market. The high treble setting is needed for classic early-sixies tones such as Freddy King and others.
Also, be sure to try this: set the pedal's gain control high and then adjust your guitar volume control. It will allow you to get your lead tone with your guitar volume set at maximum, your crunch tone with the volume rolled off to 7, and your clean tone is achieved simply by turning off the pedal.

It is a well-constructed pedal, I have owned it for several years and it has not failed.

Not needed / not used.

This pedal is ideal to achieve late sixties and early seventies blues-rock tones. The guitar's tone is not lost over the range of settings. I like the range that is covered by the gain and tone control knobs.

Stock BD-2, no mods. Easy to set up and play around with to get the "right" sound. This pedal is not complicated.

This pedal seems to get a wide variety of sounds. If you're in to heavy metal, you may need more distortion than this thing can dish out, but that's to be expected. It's called a BLUES driver. It does this job very well. My main setup is a Fender Roadhouse Strat with Texas Special single coils, TU-2 tuner (also used as a silent cut-out when changing guitars during a set), BD-2, and finally a CE-2 Chorus into a Fender Twin Reverb (Pro Series). I can get a non-driven volume boost with the gain set low. Turn up the gain a little, and you begin to hear the amp break up a bit. A little more, and you get a little SRV, Clapton sound. With gain at about 2 o'clock, I'm playing "Keep Your Hands To Yourself" by Georgia Satellites. I can get an AC/DC tone as well, but not much more than that. That's ok, because SRV-style blues is what makes me tick. I'm giving it a 9, because nothing is perfect. I've been reading about all the after-market mods that are supposed to improve the sound. I'm not sure if I am going to mess with a good thing or not.

I have several Boss pedals (Chorus, Blues Driver, Tuner, Flanger, Auto Wah), and I have never had any problems with them.

I have never had to deal with them.

I've had this pedal for several years, but kept reading all the fuss about the TS-9. So ... I stopped at Guitar Center (Man, I hate that place) to "test drive" a TS-9. I brought home the TS-9, and played with both the TS-9 and BD-2 side-by-side for several hours. While both are great pedals, I think I like the BD-2 sound better. It sounds a lot "warmer" to me than the TS-9. In all fairness, maybe it's because I'm used to the sound. I may try out the TS-9 at my next gig just to give it a fair chance. But, I'm pretty sure I'll be paying another visit to GC to take the TS-9 back. The TS-9 did not have as much drive, and sounded a lot more "tinny". Plus, it's butt ugly and doesn't feel as robust when switching as the BD-2. I'm not knocking the TS-9, since it's a staple in the blues world (SRV, LLB, etc), but I just like the BD-2 sound just as well, so I don't need to shell out another $100.

I play in a Classic Rock & Blues cover band, and this thing is with me all the time. It works great for all the styles my band plays (60's & 70's rock, and a lot of Blues). I have been playing for about 24 years. I would surely buy this pedal again if I had to for some reason.

ias easy as any i guess

mine is the stock BD-2 not modded and i use a dyna comp >>> boss BD2 >>> ross 10 band EQ >>>> DOD fx65 chorus (dont laugh has nice flange on right setting) into a Fender VIBRO CHAMP (single 6v6gt) into a 4x12 cab - I have the vibro champ vol almost dimed and the BD-2 vol turned to about 9 oclock and gain bout 2 or 3 depending on how loud i want to get and the vol control on my guitar (w/one retro fit p90 raised up for min pickup hieght and max pickup output) the compressor dials in the right amount of sustain i need and ta-dow - i got black face type tone with sweet harmonics AND picking dynamics everything i ever wanted ITS A BEAUTIFUL THING! It's nice and mellow so i still need to use a fuzz & wah for more extreme rock - but thats it - most of the time its just what i said - i guess i will get the keeley mod someday - just to see - BUT if you like overdriven fender amp sound - i can't imagine a better pedal for the money - i sold my maxon 808 tube screamer NO CONTEST!

never a problem

wouldn't hold my breath

this is BLUES DRIVER hence the name - if you have a low wattage fender amp cranked overdrive it with this pedal you can get down to the business of the blues - no joke even stock - it's not true bypass .. so your probably not going to use it in conjuction with too many other pedals - less is more when it comes to this pedal but w/ a decent compressor in front and a decent eq in back of it - you can get a very dymanic blues sound - thats ALL it does but it dose it SO WELL / transparent and doesn't color your tone FANTASTIC VALUE yes

3 knobs, on off switch, if you screw this up you got problems...

I used to own most of the 1998-2001 boss line up, plus a few older favs (PH2, HF2). And this (along with the TU-2 Tuner) are the only two pedals I still own from my 'Boss days'. In fact, I purchased the BD2 four times since I originally sold my collection...

The sound is why I've always came back. Being my FIRST ever pedal when I was a kid, the sound of this box through my Fender Twin has always been the basis for overdrive tones to me. Sure my tastes have evolved, simplified, and moved on, but the BD2 has rentered my line up, and I'll tell you why.

First off, the tone. It's transparent (once you get rid of some of the tone sucking resistors found on the input and output sections of this little box) and has a lot of play. I'm not one on the search for high-gain solutions, I need something a bit beefier than a Maxon OD808 Tube Screamer, smaller than a VoodooLab Sparkle Drive, but something that retains the top end. The BD2 is currently my solution.

It's tone is thick, and inviting, but not messy and missunderstood. I'm running this through an 1970's AC30TB/6 and I'm very happy how it can get a smilar tone to the amp being overdriven on it's own. I turned up the tone control to 3:00, the gains sitting just around 1:00, and level around 12:00. The tone I got is semi-growly, just on the verge of breakup with 'normal' playing. When I start digging it it really provides some good dirty breakup. This is great because I find I'm a dynamic player that demands a pedal that can respond to picking dynamics.

The best part is when playing more complex chords higher up the neck (being raised as a keyboard player I can't stand playing powerchords and think of the guitar the way a keyboard player thinks of a keyboard) the tone never gets muddy or congested. It's thick, but bright, and ever note rings through.

My basic setup with this is: Gibson SG Supreme or ES-335 -> BD2 -> AC30TB

My more complex setup: Gibson SG Supreme or ES-335 into Sennisher G2 wirless -> Radial Dragster -> Voodoolab amp switcher -> BD2 -> Alesis MEQ230 -> AC30TB

Both setups give me the tone's I want, the first is more a jam session rig, the second is just a small part of my live/recording rig.

Pedal gets a 7 because it's noisy, and sucks tone when bypassed. I also find it seems to naturally compress my signal, and take out some of the high and low frequencys. The BD2 also has too much lowend to really use this pedal without boosting top end. (hence my EQ in my main rig)

My last two BD2s died on me. I'm probably one of the few that have had bad Boss pedals. I often have been in contact with failures with various peices of their gear. Give me a Crowther Audio, Maxon, or MXR pedal anyday for reliability over this Boss stuff

Being friends with people within the company helps. I've been to Rolands BC facility a few times and have leared a lot about their products. Before this it was murder getting replacement parts or other supplies to fix these pedals.

Now they just toss me a replacement when I need. Or when I gig in Vancouver and I need a flanger, I'll just ask them and deal with one of the worst Flangers I've ever used. :P

Out of all the boss pedals I've owned the BD2 and TU2 are the only ones I can currently say i'll be hanging onto for a while. But when I find an Analoug Delay I'll be picking that up... I reget ever getting rid of the damn thing!

The only pedal I'll be purchasing to replace this box is the Maxon OD808 that I sold a few weeks ago. Now with my EQ's I'll be able to get the bottom back that I've wanted for a while.

Level, Tone, Gain controls. Everyone knows how this works, right?

I dont know why anyone would need to mod these.

I use this as almost like a preamp for couple of different heads.
Level @ 3oclock, Tone @ 1, Gain @ 2. Perfect sound - roll back the
volume to clean up, hit it harder to get even more crunk. Dynamic
overdrive that seems to cut through anything. Goes from a nearly
clean boost to almost fuzzy distortion. I don't understand the
complaints about the tone control. Sure, it can get bright, but
thats a good thing. I'd rather have something be too bright and have
to dial it back than have it be too muddy. Definitely has enough
bass. Perfect with any of my guitars, no rolloff at all. Works well
with my J and MM basses, but not my P or 5's.

I don't believe in the Boss=indestructible cliche, but it IS a Boss.
I've broken a couple, but I'm also very hard on my gear. Lets say
that they arent easy to kill.

Never dealt with Boss directly. They are a big multinational
whatever, so they shouldnt be entirely trusted.

I've been through more TS clones and variants than I care to
remember, most of the boss product line, Proco Rats, and some of the
more expensive ODs (Klon, Fulltone, a few LovePedal), but I always
come back to the BD-2. I dont know why anyone would feel the need to
mod these. I've tried some of the mods and they all get too muddy or
lose some of that touch sensitive thing that makes the stock version
so great. Definitely the best of Boss' OD offerings, and a great
first pedal for someone just starting out. Even better last pedal
for those of us that have been around, and know how to listen with
our ears and hear something other than hype.

very easy. It came with a manual that was ok. In the long run I found my settings ( gain fairly low ) and leave it alone.

MY SET-UP IS:

I plug my guitar into a s**tload of pedals which I change around all the time. Then I plug these into a guitar amplifier.

Mostly I use a clean strat sound ( just a tiny amount of compression using a Carl Martin box ) - but I need something to make my bridge PU thicken up when I'm using my tweed bassman for rock covers.
( with my lower watt class A amp I don't even need this ) - anyway this Boss pedal has been my favorite - I tried TS9, TS10 ( both Keeley moded ), Maxon 820, Budda Phatman, real tube, voodoo sparkle drive, fulltone distortion plus thing, and others - the Boss is my favorite - not noisy - I leave my gain at 8:00 and volume up to give slight increase overall - I sent it in for a Keeley mod but it was pretty decent straight up.

more than a year - heavy use

OTHER GEAR I OWN:

everything - my kitchen cabinets are stuffed with pedals.


Have played 40 yrs - past 10 in cover band - gig twice per month - this is what I need for that bridge PU.

I play electric violin.
As long as I don't use too much gain it's not too hard.
It's nice to experiment a little.
I'm sure there are still some hidden treasures to be discovered.
It's versatile enough for that.

I use it with a Yamaha 60W solid state amplifier for strings.
Bd-2 is capable of providing beautiful crunch.
Most distortion pedals use too much compression for a violin.
This one is very well useable!

I play pop/rock/jazz/fusion.
I only use reverb, delay and bd-2.
I Play the violin for almost 25 years.
Almost 15 years of them electric.

Bd2 helps me to make music. Chicken skin when I hear it.
For violin it's the best boss distortion pedal I have tested (o3, ds2, you name it).
I only didn't test the ds-1 by the way, but I trust the bd2 to make a better match with my way of playing the violin.
I've also tested some boutique pedals and a lot of modeled distortions by different brands.
What works for guitar doesn't always work for violin.