Boss BD-2 Blues Driver

pretty simple, 3 knobs, you know. one complaint i have with it is that the tone and level knobs have been switched places compared to my ds-1 so i sometimes make some mistakes in dialing in sound. kind of annoying, I'm a whiner eh? I think Boss might as well standardize what knobs go where on its 3 knob pedals though. The manual gives some suggested settings, but the guys at the shop are usually more than willing to tell me their favorites, and what it can do.

after trying a variety of overdrive pedals including about all the boss ones, tube screamer and some boutique ones I decided this was one in my price range and good enough for me. I needed a mellow overdrive, something that could give me the same sort of effect as a tube amp just starting to break up. The BD-2 got close enough. I use it mainly to add a bit of character to the clean channel. It's being used with a modeling amp and it adds some warmth to the tone. It never ceases to amaze me how versitile this little guy is, probably the most underrated overdrive pedal. It goes from zero to a very nice fuzzy drive that remindss me off Sabbath. Unlike the DS-1 (one of the most over-rated boss pedals) the drive knob on the BD-2 gradually changes the distortion, no jumps here. It's a very sweet little pedal and I'm in love. Its a really warm light overdrive that can be cranked when needed. Really look into this guy if you're sick of the razor like "overdrives" out there. One problem I have with it is getting a not too bright tone, but not muddy either. There's a sweet spot that takes a while to find.

One thing can be said for Boss, can't break em. I've beaten up the DS-1 gigging and its still ticking. Be careful with the AC input though if you use one, they're fairly fragile I've lost one to this already. I hate batteries, big money wasters. GET A DAISY CHAIN FOOO

Look into this pedal. It's very versitile and.. just check it out, It makes me cry with joy. Could cost a lot less though. Stupid corperations, probably cost 20 bucks to make.

Simple!!! The usual three knob Drive Stomper setup. Start with everything at 12 o'clock and tweak as needed. No need for manual, but the product catalogue boss always enclose keeps you up yo date with the newest pedal revisions and new gear....handy!!!

I bought this pedal in favour of, and to replace a marshall gov'nor II which had become unreliable. I'll explain my setup in a second. To to begin with, it is a great pedal. It is full bodied and raucus like a fender more than a marshall and gives a big wide open sound in comparisson to most drive boxes. It cleans up well when you relax back. I dont particularly like the driven sound with gain after 2 o'clock, a bit sterile and fizzy for me.
I used it as my main rhythm overdrive for a few months until i picked up an Ibanez TS-9. I find the TS-9 has a better quality of sound and sounds even more natural through my AC30. I use the BD-2 as a lead boost now on top of the TS-9 and it works amazingly. Loads of volume power with great tone shaping at hand and plenty of gain to really raunch up your solo sound.

My setup goes like this now:
'69 and '72 Fender Thinline Telecasters, TU-2 Tuner, Crybaby, Marshall Bluesbreaker II (Boost mode for clean breakup - Rhythm), Ibanez TS-9, Boss BD-2, Marshall Vibratrem, Boss DD-3, EHX Holy Grail Reverb all into the Vox AC30TB.
Fantastic sounds from pristine chimey cleans through three stages of drive to rip roaring leads....amazing tone throughout!!!

Boss stuff is great as regards reliability. Built good and strong. A good cleaning and tightening of parts every so often should keep these boxes well in check.

Never needed....touch wood!!!

The BD-2 is a great pedal. I have been playing for about 13 years, i'm 25 now and i have had loads of fx and stompers over the years until i went in search of a mature and professional sound and equipment rather than dilly dallying with toys. My band plays Pearl Jam/Radiohead type rock. The BD-2 can deliver and will remain on my board for a while.......or,until i find something even greater......i love the search!!! The TS-9 and BD-2 is a cracking combination. The BD-2 is quality, but there is no point having a good pedal when your guitar and amp sound like arse on their own....remember, prioritise your buying of equipment (Good Guitar, Good Amp and then Effects).

this thing rocks, i use it as a boost, and although it coulours the tone, it does in in a sweet way, not edgy at all, boosting the mids and lows, while keeping the trebs tight. be creful with the tone control as if it goes too high, you get a keef tone ala sympathy for the devil not, nice at all! the distorsion gets a bit edgy too at high gain levels so watch out, best to run with an on the edge valve amp

i use a variax 500 through a jen crybaby wah into the bd2 and then a copicat into a jcm800. somtimes i run it in front of the crybaby wah to boots the tone as it is a real sucker. works great. mine was silent until i accidentally put the variaxes ac supply into the dc box. mad squeals, burning plastic andfoul language later, i realised that it had improved the initially edgy overdrive, and boosteed the treble a bit, but it does hiss a bit now. as to artist sounds, depends on the amp u r using, but will do much heavier stuff than blues eg. howthewestwaswon immigrant song led zep. a proper classy pedal. not so true bypass, but muchmuchmuch better than my vintage wah

it is built like a tank, so i doubt that there will be too many problems over the years paintwork chips a bit though

never had to

i play led zep and blues rock, and i would repace it if lost without a question, it is an all time classic, wish it had a better bypass. i hate the fact that you have to have witch fingers to acess the tone knob properly, but hey what can you do. an all time classic, and in by opinion beats the ts9 (but NOT THE 808)HANDS DOWN

Easy. Set all the knobs at 12 O'clock and play. I always get a kick out of the fact that centering the knobs on most Boss effects usually does something pretty. The knobs on my boss ce-2 live permanently at 12 O'clock too.

Epiphone ES-335 dot to blues driver to clean channel on a Fender Deluxe. I've been dropping a Boss CS-2 compression/sustain once in a while, and a Boss CE-2 once in a while. Haven't really tried them in combination yet. The Epi tone is at zero, on the bridge pickup.

The really odd thing I did notice when I was trying this thing out in the guitar shop is that it seems to do very different things to different amps. I plugged it into about three different amps and the results were very different each time.

Oddly, I don't get anything remotely resembling a metal OD sound even with the gain cranked all the way on the Deluxe. I can't help wondering whether it's been mod-ed.

What I do get is a really sweet jazz tone with all knobs on 12-oclock. With the gain cranked to max I get a nice light bluesy sound.

Absolute magic for jazz. Not enough distortion to get in the way of big bold jazz chords (maybe a little muddy below the 5th fret), but just enough drive to give my sound a little bite.

I heard Kurt Rosenwinkel playing recently. Rosenwinkel uses a RAT distortion pedal of some kind, with much the same results: chords retain clarity, solos get a little bit of crunchiness. So I decided to pull the blues driver off the shelf and see if I could get it to do the same thing. It did. Definitely going to become a staple for me.

Like a brick.

Never dealt w/ boss support.

Gain for amount of distortion, Tone for enhancing/cutting treble and Level as volume when pedal is turned on. Manual has some suggested settings but I never tried them, I find out mine.

My setup is:
Stratocaster >> Boss BD-2 >> Electro Harmonix BIG Muff >> V-AMP2 >> 50 watt tube amp armed with Weber Alnico Silver Ten and Weber Alnico Blue Pup. A use it : Level 11 o'clock, Tone 9 o'clock and Gain 3 o'clock. Pedal is noisy only a bit. There is enough gain, always. Common, I use Strat with weak single pickups... When you let gain on 12 o'clock it enhances your sound, tube-like. When you turn it to 3 o'clock it turns into little rocking monster.I can almost mimick The Edge's (U2) sound of Until The End Of The World or Beuatiful Day.

common, it is a BOSS :))) I'd never think of backup.

never dealt with them

I can't think of much better OD pedal than this. I might try TS-808 but i guess it wouldn't be dirty enough for me.I play rock, U2 like for few years now. If my pedal got stolen I'd defintely buy it again if I had the money. I love it's blue color and golden tops of knobs. I compared it to Marshall Bluesbreaker 2 and Boss PowerDrive PW-2?? Can't remember. I preffer this one. I only wish I had another one, so I could keep one with gain at 3 o'clock and one with gain with 12 o'clock. I love it, really.

Three twisters, a stomper and an LED. Simple enough?

The manual isn't the best I've ever read, nor is it dreadful. It's useful as a starting point, providing some suggested settings, although I would have preferred a more detailed explanation of how to make the controls interact with those of your guitar and amp. Of course, any decent player will figure that out himself.

That said, most guitarists -- even some very good ones -- simply don't know how to use overdrive/distortion pedals. Too many are content to crank it, counting on the buzz to cover sloppy chops. Besides, playing loudly enough can disguise the uncomfortable fact that no stompbox is going to make your Crate bedroom amp sound like a Marshall stack. So maybe it should be harder to operate?

I got this pedal to warm up the sound of my Strat copy (Ibanez Roadstar) through a solid-state amp (DOD Juice-It), which it does very well. My best results have been in the clean channel. (The dirty channel, like nearly all transistor amps, is useless unless you enjoy the sound of a circular saw cutting through barbed wire.)

I set the pedal's gain around 11 o'clock and the level just above that of the clean amp. I swear, this works like a tube amp. You have an essentially clean sound, but an aggressive attack will clip the signal. This works great for blues and rock. You won't get the glassy sound of overdriven tubes, but you can pull more dynamics out of this pedal than any solid-stater on its own.

Also like a tube amp, the pedal cleans up when you roll down your guitar's volume.

Boss/Roland's reputation is excellent, but I've owned it less than a year -- hardly long enough to form an opinion. It's sturdily built, though.

Never dealt with them.

I've played, off and on, more than 25 years. I haven't gigged out in years, but I'm a serious home and informal jam player. A few years ago, I foreswore tubes -- too much maintenance given their inherent undependability. This pedal makes that decision easier to live with. It doesn't quite nail the smooth, creamy, just-overdriven sound of real glowing glass, but it comes closer than any other stompbox I've ever run a cord through -- and that includes the hallowed Tube Screamer.

Very simple to use....Read the manual for style settings.

I have read many post that refer to this pedal as BOSS' interpretation of the Ibanez Tube Screamer. IMO, the Screamer is the better buy and it sounds a lot better. I do own both and have used both and for the money the tube screamer is better. However, the Blues driver does get a nicer and more mellower sound and when used with other effects produces a nice bite that any guitarist would want.

IT'S A BOSS!!!!! WHAT'S NEXT?!?

Not very "Bluesy" if that's what you're looking for, but it can definently be a useful pedal if you know how to work it right.

Three Knobs, gain, tone, and level. How much easier does it get?

When i first got this pedal i was rather disapointed... i thought it was going to be a smooth overdriven sound but it was very harsh. I then started using it at low setting which was sensible lol and i realise how great this pedal actully is. I run it through a marshall mg250dfx, solid state but still ok, and it gives the clean channel that little bit extra in treble, and makes is bite. The amp was very bassy to start but this pedal sorted it out, and has given it a sharpe edge, it cuts through in a band and gives a simualr sound to stevie ray vaughans ts 808. It is an awesome pedal. I use it with the level on 12:00, gain 10:00, and tone 10:00 and its awesome... very clean when playing soft... give the the guitar a kick and its crispy. When i use it on the OD channel it boosts the sound cuts through better... but i had to lower the gain my amp from 3 down to 1.

Boss nuff said

awesome... not for everyone.. but blues fans must try it.

Three knobs, not rocket science. Getting a good sound out this thing is easy as hell, it's pretty much impossible to get a bad sound out of it. (Unless you play badly off course, this thing does NOT cover up mistakes). I've twisted the knobs thousands of times, and continue to find tones I love.

My setup is an Ibanez RG -> Vox wah -> BD-2 -> Keeley DS-1 Ultra -> amp. Normally two od/dist units don't sound to well together, but these two, mmm.. They compliment each other nicely! The sound from the BD-2 is lovely, it's versatile as hell. You can get everything from a slightly overdriven sound, to a crunchy rock n' roll tone! Either from twisting the Gain knob, or just by picking softer/harder. Very responsive to your picking. It's pretty quiet too, there is naturally some noise, but that's only if you crank it above 3'o clock. But I rarely do that, at 1-2 it has lots og gain !

Throw it into a brick wall and the wall will be more damaged than the pedal. VERY reliable.

Never dealt with them.

Overall this is my favorite pedal ever! I've never tried a pedal I liked more than this. (And don't think I've only tried what's in my current setup, I've tested tons of pedals.. but I'm a student so I can't buy everything..) I will never sell it! I play blues, rock and some metal. I use the pedal for all of them, it's not the best for metal, but it's ok. (Combined with my DS-1 Ultra I can get some pretty high gain tones..) For rock and blues however, it's perfect.
The only thing I don't like about it is it's battery appetite, I always unplug it after use, still I feel like I change batteries constantly!
I'd advise all blues/rock players to at least try it out! You won't be dissapointed!

It's a Boss pedal. How much easier could it be?

I wish I'd had this when I was gigging 3 times a month. I used my Hot Rod Deluxe's internal drive, and was never quite happy with the harshness I was getting. I've since gone to running a three-overdrive line into the clean channel of the HRDx, with this being the middle unit, i.e. guitar (Am.Strat or Tele)->Marshall BB2 in clean boost mode -> BD2 -> Boss OD-3 -> amp. For 99% of what I do, this pedal is on all the time. With the gain set at high noon, tone at about 10:00, and level as necessary to be just a tad louder than the amp's clean, you can get anything from country clean to light overdrive just by picking dynamics. Totally transparent, responsive, and grit-free, in a way that the amp by itself never was. I can't comment on the higher gain settings, because I use this strictly to emulate my idea of a just-overdriving tube amp. If you slam it with the clean boost (or really, just pick harder), it produces a great, singing lead tone. In turn, if I run it into the OD-3 (another great pedal) with both on, the tone of the guitar is still preserved, while producing a pretty massive high-gain sound.

The only way I've found to make it sound bad-ish is to raise the gain much past 12 (too much grit for what I want), or raise the tone up even to 12. As far as I'm concerned, it adds only harshness, not legitimate high end.

I've never had any pedal go bad, least of all a Boss.

No experience.

I've been playing for about 35 years, usually in small-time gigging bands. I cover mainly contemporary country, and basic or blues-oriented rock, from Fleetwood Mac to Clapton to Los Lobos to Dire Straits. I have not found a genre, excepting stuff that requires chainsaw high-gain distortion, for which this pedal is not excellent.

If it got stolen, I'd replace it in a NY minute.

how difficult can this thing be! just whack a few knobs around so sort out ur tone, dist. and level and ur away! sometimes the tone knob can be a bit fiddly but im nit-picking.

setup=marshall avt50H and cab, boss ce5, bosstu2, boss bd2, boss dd3, boss ns2, yamaha pacifica.it sounds grt through any half decent tube amps-better thru the fenders than the marshalls though i'd say. sounds good bith a tad of chorus, and is definately more effective using open chords rather than barre-so if thats ur flex than this is the pedal for u!

boss-nuff sed

9/10. cant really fault the thing-sounds even better using a better guitar the the one i have-a tele for instance sounds grt with this pedal. go buy!

As easy as it gets! Just use your ears, when it sounds right it is right! Don't let some jumped up "guitar expert" tell you any different....

My setup : Epiphone Les Paul Classic Plus (Gibson Humbuckers)-> George Dennis Wah Switch+ -> Boss Tu-2 Tuner -> *Blues Driver* -> Boss Phase Shifter -> Peavey Classic 50. I play in a 60's / 70's rock style band (think Zep, Purple, Skynyrd, Grand Funk, Sabbath etc etc...).

I first tried this pedal in the shop through some Line 6 Amp and everything sounded wrong. I managed to get them to wire me up to the only vlave amp they had (Marshall slp) and then it was a different story. It probably wasn't the pedal at fault but this thing definately sounds way better when paired with a good set of valves.

I find the pedal to be very quiet, not silent but hey this is an overdrive pedal after all. It's unrealistic to expect something that raises the signal gain to impart no noise. The noise it does introduce is certainly not a problem and is virtually silent when the gain is below about 10 o'clock.

I tried a bunch of pedals before buying and this one really stood out. It has a very wide range of very useable sounds. Low gain settings produce a lovely warm break up (think Peter Green) and high gain settings can produce weighty thick distortions (think Tony Iommi). And everything in between totally is useable. This is quite rare, most overdrive/distortion pedals seem to excel in one area and suck at everything else. Don't let the name put you off, whilst this thing can produce some truly classic blues tones it's certainly not all it is capable of! However, if you want to sound like slayer look elsewhere!

Bought a used Boss HM-2 about 18 years ago and it still works perfectly. This pedal is basically the same metal box so I have every faith in it! I've gigged Boss pedals without a back up for about 14 years and never had any trouble.

No idea what customer support is like, never needed them.
The only thing I'll say is that the UK supplier is a pain in the arse. On a number of occassions I've been after a particular pedal and shops have said "it's on order should be in this week..." 6 weeks later they actually turn up. I know the guys in my local guitar shops and they all say the same things about Boss UK, stuff like - order 30 pedals 2 weeks later 1 turns up, the next week 4 then nothing for a month etc.... SORT IT OUT BOSS UK!!!

To sum up I'd say this pedal is pretty damn good. I played a few boutique pedals costing twice as much and this kicked their arses! Cheap, reliable sounds great - what more do you want?!

Well theres not much to say about a pedal that only has three knobs. Level, tone, gain. When i got it i didn't have any instructions (ebay) but i dialed into the tone that i wanted in about 2 min. Yes its that easy.

Right now my set up goes as follows: 1976 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe >> Carvin wah(see my review) >> Boss Metal Zone >> Boss Blues driver >> a Fuzz Face >> into a Kustom tube 12(practice) or when i want to make noise my 60wt fender hotrod deville. Right now i use the blues driver for a sightly overdriven sound, depending on how arrgesive i play, thats what i love about this pedal. i play almost everything rock from every era, classic rock to modern day rock (in my opinion is all just rock n' freakn' roll) so when i what a hard distortion i use my metal zone but when i want th mellow out and play some Clapton or some Stevie Ray i just step on my blues driver. it gives me that sound i want. great pedal!!!

it a boss....of course!

but NEVER....i repeat NEVER play live w/o a back up!!!!!It's just the smart thing to do.

never delt w/them!

well as i said above i play all rock. and this pedal can get you from a very light singing distorion to some classic hard rock distortion and eveything i between.I've been playing for going on six years now and let me tell you, I've gone throught more effects and guitars and amps then i care to list, but tis is a great pedal and i wouldn't trade it,and if for some reason it was stolen i'd kill who ever did it. well i guess i'd just buy another one.

Very easy to use. Everything is well labeled and does exactly as it says. With three knobs and a light it's not all that technical.

Very impressive tonally! While it isn't totally transparent in the chain the noise to the signal it does add is pretty much accepted if you were using an amp at such a gain level. I guess it's authentic but not perfect, for whetever that's worth.

Most pedals are very much one-trick ponies. I always had a Tube Screamer around because it gave me that nice little extra push on a driven amp to get "that sound" and a Distortion pedal for a clean amp to get a high-gain sound. This pedal does both, and it does it exceptionally well.

A good ear can hear the difference between the real deal of a cranked amp and a pedal, and this unit is no different. However of all the pedals out there it probably has some of the nicest sounds that way. After awhile I've even begun to like that sound for certain things.

One very cool thing is that the Tone knob really gives a nice high-end lift to amps that are generally pretty muddy. I tend to be a bit of a Fender Blackface amp addict and am always looking for more Mids and Highs; the Tone knob does a good job of adding those frequencies and gets the signal to cut through.

It's a Boss...I used an HM-2 as a hammer once and played a gig with it later that day. Built like a tank.

I've had very positive experiences dealing with Roland on other things.

I use this pedal with my Strats (Clapton, 73', MIM), Teles (first-year Squier with EMGs) and my 73' Les Paul Deluxe into a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue, Peavey Classic 30, Hot Rod Deluxe and Princeton II.

I can't get it to sound bad with any of it.

I play Blues and classic rock; it has enough clarity for just a touch of warmth on a clean channel and enough gain for ZZ Top riffing.


If lost or stolen I'd probably replace it without thinking twice.

I've played a bunch of pedals over the years. So far this is the one I keep coming back to the most often and I find sounding better than everything else.

It's a great little Blues pedal for low dough. I wouldn't hesitate to take this over a Tube Sreamer if I had to pick one.

Simple, really. Gain, tone, level. A check light lets you
know when it's on.

I use this with a Reverend Slingshot Custom and a 50's RI
Strat into a Peavey Classic 30. Very versatile little pedal.
Not true bypass but it doesn't seem to mess with your natural
tone very much if you turn it off. I can get some Cream-era
Clapton with the Reverend (P90s) and Stevie Ray Vaughn type tones
with the Strat.

The gain pot is very logarithmic. You're cleanish up to 4 o'clock
(with 6 o'clock being max) and you're Live at Leeds by 4:30. Very
transparent overdrive, not the muzzy mask of distortion that other
pedals impart. It's probably a bit polite, and low end really
gets underrepresented by the pedal, but you can get a mod switch
from Robert Keeley or someone else and take care of that if it
bugs you. Or just run up the bass on the amp. Works for me.

I play rock and country-ish stuff, and have delved into jazzy
stuff. I can get the tones I want for each genre.

When the world ends, alien lifeforms will attempt to
discern human existence from cave etchings, fruitcakes and
Boss pedals.

Haven't tried. Haven't had to.

I like it. It likes both my guitars, it's very versatile,
it's very adjustable and I don't have to sweat for hours to
try to get a sound I like.

It's on or off. This is the biggest problem for most. When should it be on? When your playing a lead? The answer is no, and I'll explain below.

It's great with a fender setup. As a matter of fact the whole tone stack is a fender based tone stack. Use this with a two channel fender tube amp and your golden. Here's the trick for you stomp box fatheads. Play with the knobs on your clean channel and match the output levels and tonal sound. Now when you step on it it doesn't seem to do anything. This is perfect. Now switch to you favorite lead sound and crank it up a little. Now when you step on the bd-2 you want to cut the volume by a decibal or two. If you don't like the sound of your amp then buy a new one. Don't use these pedals and expect miracles. If you plug one into a stereo or a set of powered speakers they sound awful. Check out Motherbogart.com and listen to our version of "Love removal Machine".

Can't beat boss in this category.

Single coils into a fender amp all day long. I'm an American all the way. If you have a three channel amp you don't need it unless you wan't a different colored sound at your disposal.

Its fairly easy to use, I'd say. I don't use lots of stompboxes, and this one was simple to figure out. Still, you can do a lot with it that may or may not be in the manual, and it seems to behave quite differently depending on the amp you are using.

I have simple jazz/blues/roots setup. Ibanez Artcore (semi-hollow)->MXR MicroAmp->Vox Wah->Blues Driver->Behringer Vintager amp.

One thing about this pedal, it rolls off the low end. No doubt about it. Actually, I had to add the MXR Microamp to the setup to have a gain boost on the low end. I will be sending this to Keely for the fat mod, after which, I expect to love the pedal. Oftentimes, I just use the Microamp to overdrive my amp, not touching the BD-2.

I also have found that this pedal sounds best in the moderate settings. Once you get into the extremes, it sounds like the effect is separate from your guitar tone, not integrated.

A great pedal, useful in many ways. Lots of great tones possible as a stock unit, just be ready for a bit of your low end to be sucked away. Maybe there is a way around this that I have yet to discover...I'm not a seasoned player. But I know what sounds good...I wouldn't buy this new. Get it used and see what you think.

One of the easiest to use and get a good tone out of, no matter what kind of ax you're using. The manual is pretty useless, but you don't need it anyway. Plug and play...adjust on the go.

With minimal adjustments, you can get some great sounds as many previous reviews have indicated. I am most impressed with it's versatility. I use a '62 Strat RI, '52 Tele RI, and Gibson Les Paul Standard through either a Fender Blues Jr. or Gibson Goldtone GA-30RVS. You can use it with anything and it sounds great.

I think BOSS should have a patent on indestructible. I haven't found a way to break it yet.

Never dealt with them, but I've only read good things about them. BOSS pedals don't break anyway.

I play blues, classic rock, rock, and a little dash of country for a bit over 5 years now. Obviously I'm no expert, but I'd die without this pedal. It is absolutely my favorite and I'd replace the day it disappeared. I love it's simplicity, versatility, reliability, and let's face it, all around great tone. I can't imagine not having it. Simply one of the best ever.

It's a pedal, not rocket science. Plug in, turn knobs until you find that sweet-spot, play... Very easy to use, manual included, not necessarily needed.

Fender American Tele Plus and/or Epiphone Les Paul Standard through a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb reissue amp along with Boss CS-3 and DD-5 pedals. Awesome sounds easily found with this gem of a pedal. My deepest thanks and gratitude to the people at Boss for blessing our world with this great treasure.

Never had a Boss pedal die on me yet... Very sturdy, no backup required. Might get a second one and set it differently so I can switch between my 2 favorite settings so I don't have to turn knobs between songs. Only distortion/overdrive pedal I use...

Has 800 number for customer support, but never dialed it...

Play in a typical Texas bar band which means George Strait, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Bon Jovi, Judas Priest, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Merle Haggard, Jack Ingram, you name it, we play it (except Lynyrd Skynyrd or Pat Green)... This pedal works for all of the above and then some...

Pretty self explanitory, Tone, level, gain, play around. I just set the level to match my clean level but U could use this for a solo boost if the band is quiet enough

Not too much color when in bypass. Im a big stickler for clarity, I run a Fender American Double Fat Strat>blues Driver> classic Crybaby (true bypass)>hughes and Kettner Duotone combo. I have tried all my pedals and compared going through them vs. going direct. this didn't seem to do anything to the tone. I use this to acheive a single coil sound since I have 2 humbuckers. The only single coil I have is the inside neck coil and its a Seymour Duncan 59' so its pretty thick through the amps drive channel. I set the gain and level at about 11 o'clock. I get a pretty good SRV tone when using the split neck pickup and the 2 inner coils combined sounds like a single coil bridge pickup. Not as good as the real thing but it's a good 60$ solution. Cheaper than buying a single coil strat and switching guitars.
At times when I use my bridge pickup and the clean settings are set just right I can get a good hard overdrive. But after about 12 oclock on the gain it gets to fuzzy for my taste. But the amp gets about the best overdrive sound out there, but thats another review

No probs. throw it in my tote after every gig so it takes a lickin and keeps on rockin. I play 3 hour gigs and can usually get through 5-7 gigs before the battery dies. Sounds best when battery is full power. (tried doing the Eric Johnson theory of using 1/2 power batteries but not very clean. )

never dealt w/ boss

Not a tube screamer but what else is? for the price its a great pedal. As w/ almost all pedals, as long as U have a SUPER clean channel to go through it does well. (fender, Hughes & Kettner)Ive tried it on my solid state crate, not very good.

easy as can be . three knobs. tone, gain, and level.

this seems like boss's answer to a tubescreamer. it took me awhile, but i finally found a good setting for this thing. set the level at 11 o'clock. set the gain at full and the tone either at the lowest setting or about 9 o'clock. i get a nice smooth distortion with that setting. if u turn the gain and tone to full , you don't get that good of a distortion, at least in my opinion.

its a boss. so its good. haven't had a problem with any of my boss pedals yet.

hasn't messed up yet. so i don't think i will be using CS yet.

if i lost it, i would buy another one. but more than likely i would get an actual tubescreamer instead. its a good pedal overall though.

It's a pedal with a footswitch and three knobs - it's the easiest piece of equipment you'll ever use.

It is VERY easy to get a great sound out of this pedal; it may just be the best sounding pedal Boss makes, as far as distortion/overdrive goes. It doesn't sap your tone at all - in fact, with the even-ordered harmonics it enrichens it. On a clean channel you can get everything from a great thick overdrive to a simple boost, which really makes the guitar sound alive. The manual is necessarily sparse - but I would expect that with so simple a pedal as this one.

I use the Blues Driver mainly to thicken and enrich my distortion channels... I play a multitude of guitars (from a custom shop Strat to a homemade metal solo guitar with humbuckers, to everything in between) through a Behringer Ultratwin and a Peavey Backstage 110. This pedal runs totally silent unless you use it to boost the signal on a high-gain channel on the amp - then the amp will further distort an already heavy signal, and you'll get tons of background hum and fuzz. That said, I still managed to dial it out with some careful listening and attention to tone. It is easy to get piercing, bassy overdrives like Hendrix, Clapton, early Santana. It is impossible to get sounds like Marty Friedman or Kerry King, so don't even try. This is NOT a case of putting the pedal to the metal. Lastly, the blues drive is REALLY good on batteries.

It's a Boss. Therefore, it is immutable, and will last forever. I could easily drop this off the roof of my house onto the driveway and expect it to still work, minus some paint.

Never dealt with Boss/Roland, but I hear they have a good reputation. Their website is fantastic.

For anything from fusion, rockabilly, rock, country, even some pop, this pedal is a fantastic addition. It doesn't alter your tone while adding its own dynamics to the mix. I've been playing 13 years, and gone through tons of analog and digital distortions, and this is clearly one of the best. It took my amp's already good distortion and made it even richer and more full. If I lost it, I would most certainly replace it. It compares favorably with a TubeScreamer, any DOD pedal, etc. One of a kind, and it shows.

Could this be any easier to use? Three knobs: level, tone, gain. Do you really need anything more? The manual is skimpy, but then again this pedal is so easy to use you really don't need a manual, so it suffices

I have a Heritage 150 LP clone (for my money the best LP copy around) and a Ventura ES175 copy. I play them through a Carvin Bel Air 2x12. The Bel Air's "Soak" (dirty) channel is usable but bot outstanding, but with BD-2 I can get many great tones through both guitars, particularly the Heritage. A great clean crunch and very nice bluesy ODs with both guitars. And this thing runs very quietly! I hear SRV, Neil Young "Down by the River" and Stones tones with this pedal. I have it for two days and I realize that this is the sound I have been looking for.

OK, can't really judge the dependability of this unit after only two days, but it seems to well constructed and can probably take a good beating.

Haven't dealt with Boss yet, but you really should visit their website!!!

I love blues, jazz, classic rock, punk (not EMO) and garage bands and this pedal would be work well for all these except jazz. I have been playing for 12 years and this is the first pedal I have ever bought, relying solely on the guitar and the amp to this point. If it lost it or damaged it I would definitely get another one.

Three knobs, what can I say. You already know the drill by now.
My point being: When you only have three knobs, you really don't need a manual.

I play a Gibson Les Paul through a Marshall half-stack i.e.
ROCK N'ROLL! I've tried millions of boxes with my setup including a Marshall Jackhammer, an Ibanez Tubescreamer, Big Muff's (both Russian and American) and even a RAT2 along with legions of other brands.
This one tops them all! The reason for this is NOT that the other brands doesn't sound good, but I play in a band with two guitarists and I'm The lead guitarist and my rythm partner is ripping loud so really need to cut through the mix at high volumes(and quite often at small venues), live as well as in the studio. The BD2 does that without comparison. I can turn this one really far up before it starts feedbacking on me, and though I owe it to say that I could do that with the tubescreamer too, that one really never got dirty, at least not for my taste. And don't be fooled by the name, this kicks ass regardless of your playing style.

No backup required.

With this box there really is no bullshit and for that it deserves a ringing ten, because in world with so many crappy(expensive) options it's nice know that there is still a tool you can fully rely on.

this pedal is very easy to use not to put down the quality of the pedal.
the manual is useless so throw it away

the quality of this pedal is something exepcional it has a rather odd sustain to say the least its not your average sound unit normaly u buy a distortion but with this unit your taking your guitar to a next level of sound!
if your expecting a sound from the 60's 70's rock than thats what your gonna get with your blues driver
i use this thing with lots of amps but fenders seem to stick out with it.
well u can't expect to get the sound of an artist by the effects u use u gotta make your own sound cos when your on stage u gotta make your mark not cast a shadow of someone you like
this pedal is a must have if you want a dist or just want to make your amp sound better.
my gear is my guitar into my ds-2 boss than into my blues driver boss than into my jackhammer marshall than effects like delay and chorus
if i put all the dists together i get the what you might describe BIG MUFF sound what would resemble a harsh hard spanking of distortion in your face its a matter of love or hate it but keep the box no matter what!!!

yah shure can always dependend on it
backup what do u think i am?!?!
ent gonna waste my money in the same effect it wont brake trust

no problem