Boss BD-2 Blues Driver

Easy to use and turning a knob really changes the sound completely.

It produces loads of sounds from tweaking the knobs. You turn the drive knob and you can go from a very clean boost to a MASSIVE drive sound, it really does have loads of drive on offer. Turning the tone knob anticlockwise takes you to a mild blues lead tone which is actually great for thumping HARD ROCK chords. Turn the tone knob clockwise and you go into fuzz like territory, and also trebely lead tones. There is about 17 million tones available out of this pedal and it is one of the most versitile pedals I have ever used. The only niggle is the slight loss of bypassed tone as this is not true bypass.

Built like a brick. Throw it through a window.

It won't ever break as it has BOSS invincibility.

The pedal does a mighty fine job at producing any overdrive/distortion/fuzz tone required. If you are after an unbelievable versitile drive pedal get a Boss Blues Driver. Mine was a bargain a #36 second hand.

Easy if you got fingers

Excellent
Either solidstate or tube it retains the quality of sound
unlike Govener 2 - which got too muddy with Bassman 59
especially for rhythm the Guvnor was poor whereas with solidstate amps the Guvnor was excellent
now, BD-2 perfomred with equal results both with solidstates and tubes
I sold the Govner and kept BD-2 and a proco rat-2 for my distortion needs
these are the best,
as to ts-9
it's okey but no real distortion here

10

-

10
just play it
buy good guitar, amp and cables
that's all boys
just guitar and cables
and bd-2 for instance to push it
taht's all

but buy a GOOD guitar and AMP

like everyone else says three knobs, level , tone , gain... it preatty easy...

I use my bd-2 with a couple of other pedals with my gibson les paul std. and a marshall dsl 50 head with stock 1960a marshall cab.I find this pedal works best with tube amps,I previously used it with a marshall avt100 combo and preatty much put the pedal away but since i bought my tube amp it sounds amazing.Really really great rhythem tone.. as long as u hold off on the gain.. even with my equipment i can get a somewhat close SRV tone with this.. a strat would help ofcourse (soon hopefully).. it works great with my other pedals dunlop crybaby and ibanez dE-7, i plan on teaming it up with a ts-808 in the future! overall i rated this an 8 becuz with the right gear and tweaking u can get a great sound out of this from a classic rock tone to a blues one i love this pedal!

I can depend on this pedal totally without backup! boss makes a good pedal!

Never Dealt with the company cuz you ushually don't have problems unless your careless.

I play blues,classic rock,modern rock,pop and i can find a place for this thing everywhere.I've been playing for four years its not much but i know my stuff.if it were stolen or lost id buy another but id definitly upgrade to the keeley model mostly because these pedals arn't perfect, boss is a huge company that sells millions of pedals the gotta keep crankin em out, its shouldn't be expected of them to have super high quality gear.The thing i love about it the most is that it gives me a really great not to heavy rhythem tone.. its not for leads really thats why i want the ts-808 to boost it! when i bought it i actually compaired it to a ts-9 Reissue and im glad i went down this road because the ts-9 wouldn't of given me enough gain back in that era of my playing(don't wanna talk about it.. punk ewww) but now im super glad i have it. it truly is an inspiring pedal. so if it sounds like this pedal fits you chances are it will !

This pedal is awsome. The first time i plugged it in i didn't even
screw around with the knobs and i got a crazy sound.

when i use this, i setup my fender studio reverb with my gibson SG
and there was no kind of a buzz or anything. The effects are not weak
at all, that's why i love this pedal. The tone is so warm. I play a lot of jeff healey and it's awsome.

It's a boss pedal what more could i say.
I would definitly use it without a backup.

really friendly. Boss is just a wonderful company. The Blues driver was my first boss pedal and i never turned back to any other companies.

I play a lot of blues rock and this pedal is perfect. I also own countless Boss pedals.(SD-1,DS-1,DS-2,TU-2,MD-2).
If this pedal was stolen i would definitey go buy another one.

Three knobs, very easy in that regard. Knobs seem to have a wide range of values in terms of sound.

This pedal is very finicky about what amps it likes and doesn't, and also with guitars. It seems to dislike all my humbucking guitars (high output), but really adores the single-coils (low output). With higher output pickups or certain amps, it is thin thin thin, brittle as glass, and fuzzy. Unusably so. With the right combination, it sounds truly incredible. I've never encountered a pedal with such diverse sounds.

And never, EVER go straight to a mixing board with this in the path. The worst sounds you've ever heard. It literally made people cringe and turn their heads. On the other hand, playing out with a Behringer GX212 solid-state and a cheap strat clone, people came up afterward to ask how on earth I was getting "that sound." I guess it's a 0 or it's a 10.

See above.

It's a Boss. Shoot it with a shotgun - it'll still work.

See above.

SUPER, SUPER, SUPER EASY TO USE. THREE KNOBS.

this is a great sounding little blue box. i find that after 9 to 10 o'clock on this little monster's tone knob can sound a bit trebbly...but aside from that, i love that the gain is very usable! shockingly so, i was able to get sooo many sounds by keeping the tone knob low, and dialing up whatever amount of gain i wanted or was appropriate for the song.

its a boss, so far i have yet to have a boss pedal dissappoint me in this category.

i bought this guy about 5 or 6 years ago and used it extensively for the first 2 and half years of owning it and was very pleased....BUT....along came a boutique pedal named the fulldrive 2

for a long time was using the fulltone fulldrive 2, and yes it was warm, but with that warmth came lots of mud...after having used it for about 2 years plus, i realized that i was never fully satisfied with it and came back to this faithful little booger. what everyone is saying is true, more money doesnt necessarily mean better sound...it took me a long time to come to grips with this, because many of us want our pedal boards to be unique or full of boutique pedals. but in the end it always come back to your tone...if that cheap dano pedal makes your tone sound better, then go for it. i found the blues driver to be very forgiving of me having forsaken it for so long...

oh one more thing...i just played a praise and worship session at church and my tone never sounded better.

3 knobs is NOT the same as ease of use; I find the EH Big Muff Pi and its 3 knobs to be a real bear to work with. That said, though, with this thing it's pretty much what you see is what you get. Does its thing in under a minute.

Couple of points knocked off for hum at the upper gain registers and more treble than is really necessary on the tone knob.

I've been using this pedal between an Epi ES-335 copy (stock pickups) and a Vox Valvetronix tubestate emulating amp, and I've really been enjoying the snot out of it. I never push the gain past 12 o'clock, and with the tone knob at around 10:00 it makes my neck pickup sound crisp, clear and a little raunchy. Works really well for the Hendrix/ SRV "blooze" axis kind of sound (a guilty pleasure if ever there was one), responds well to pick attack and guitar volume changes. Muddies up lower- voiced chords a bit, but I'm into that myself.

For my rig this thing provides overdrive with a little stank to it... just what I wanted.

Haven't had it long, but it looks fine to me and I've never seen a Boss pedal bite the dust... should be good to go.

Haven't the foggiest.

Mostly what I prefer to play is edgy, sort of spaced- out postpunk with just a taste of blues thrown in for spice. This pedal's sound is a little too easily identifiable as blues/ blooze so I think I'll probably stick with my Rat, Muff and a loud amp for that.

However, I love noodling around the house with it and if I was ever going to put on a fake beard and head down to the local blues 'n' brews joint, this is the pedal I would take. Big fun.

pretty easy...3 knobs
level, drive, tone

bossarea.com has some general settings

I have a Fender Strat mexican, I run this through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
it's chained with my Digitech BadMonkey and Behringer EQ700 graphic equalizer.
sound quality is pretty good, responsive to volume and picking.
I recommend that you get it modded with Germanium transistors, the silicon ones that are stock means distortion is either very heavy or completely off; you can't really get a light distortion or rather it's difficult with stock.
Keeley swaps in germanium transistors in his Phat tone mod.

definitely.
I bought it used off Ebay, and it's been through many gigs.
still sounds great.
metal case

n/a
never dealt with them

christian worship, rock, punk
I might buy another one; for the price it is good.
I might get a Nobels Natural Overdrive instead though...
however, my friend has a modded one, and it sounds awesome
I might just buy a brand new modded one from Robert Keeley

The Boss BD-2 pedal is nice and straight foward to use right out of the box, with only 3 knobs to choose from which include:- 1. Level 2. Tone 3. Gain.Manual is uneeded if you are an experienced player most boss pedals come with an instruction manual with a couple of sample settings.These may be of some use or interest if you are just starting out and this is your first venture into buying an overdrive/distortion pedal.

I have a mixed group of amps and guitars that I use this pedal with and find that the pedal performs well with any of the combinations that I tried so far.I have not noticed any unacceptable levels of noise with this pedal except for when you start maxing things out.Then you have to allow for the amp, the guitar,the pick-ups single coil/humbucker, the power source batteries v's 9 volt wall wart etc.
So many people I find, are so oft to blame just one peice of gear without fully investigating all the possibilities of the noise source combined.Just remember
this though,when you start linking things together that send and recieve electrical/sound signals anything can happen,including all sorts of noises etc.The BD-2 excels at its chosen path creating great sounding and very convincing tube driven like overdrive that responds well with with your amp be it solid state or tube at just about any volume settings that I have tried so far.It also responds well to pick attack and playing nuances and rolling off of the volume knob it cleans up quite reasonably. I have way too many amps to just play this pedal with just one, but I really like the way that it responds to my Gibson Les Paul Jnr GA-5 re-issue amp. Wether I use the BD-2 as a level booster with the gain virtually off and the level maxed,yes you will notice some background noise here but live it's more than acceptable but for recording you would definately need some noise reduction.With this setting it gives any good tube amp a nice kick in the arse and sends it into overdrive even when the amp's volume is set quite low.When you have all the knobs set all at 12 o'clock and the amp set to clean be prepared to be pleasantly suprised at the nice thick sounding overdrive you will attain. I don't really use effects pedals to sound like my favourite artist but I am sure with a little bit of tweaking with the knobs on your guitar,amp and the BD-2 you may get close or similar approximations of your favourite guitarist , depending on circumstances etc.To conclude this pedal is a one trick pony and I think for my tastes and style it excels at it's choosen trick, I am extremely fussy about distortion and personally this pedal blows me away.Please see below a list of guitars and amps that I use and if you have any questions no matter how dumb or trivial you may think it to be please don't hesitate to email me as I am always happy to try and help other people in their tone quest.

Guitars include 1 x Gretsch 6121 Round-Up re-issue heavily customized with recent DeArmond Y2K 2000 single coil pick-ups,1 x Gretsch 6118 Anniversary stock, 1 x 1968 Fender maple cap Telecaster,1 x 1987 Gibson Les Paul Jnr, 1 x Tokai Les Paul Jnr dbl cut copy.

Amps include 1 x 94 Vox AC 15 re-issue Eminence loaded,1 x 1964 Fender Tremolux head thru a 2 x 10 Celestion loaded G -50's box,1 x recent Gibson GA-5 Les Paul Jnr point to point tube amp, 1 x recent Vox Pathfinder 15 watt solid state practice amp,1 x 1994 Fender tweed Blues Jnr,1 x Fender 1974 Musicmaster Bass converted to head and box with a single 12 Celestion like a cool mini piggy back set-up, 1 x recent George Dennis Blue Beetle 15 watt amp converted from a head to a cool looking 2x12 GT-75 Celestion loaded Matchles style combo.

Can you really depend on anything? From your car to your dishwasher that question is just way to broad. In all fairness though I have to say that I have had nothing but good results from all the different Boss products I have used over the years .Yes I would use it at a gig without a back-up and if it faled well you know the old saying if life gives you lemons then make lemonade.But in all honesty if you consider yourself a professional or a semi-pro muso then you should always have a back up plan no matter what , and just remember like the boy scouts say "Be Prepared".

I owned a Boss BR- 8 digital recorder which I thought had a shorting/grounding problem with the inputs as I was recieving small electrical shocks from mics when they were plugged in.The unit was purchased 2nd hand so of course I was not entitled to any kind of warranty so I rang Roland in Australia they said bring it over and we'll take a look.They kept it for 3 days replaced the entire input section free of charge with no question's asked regarding warranty etc.so what can I say Roland Australia rocks but I can only speak for myself for every good experience many other people have suffered crap at the hands of Roland.I guess when you talk to anybody no matter who they are but especially if thay are going to fix something for you, play nice you may just be rewarded. But if you still haven't gotten satisfaction after a coulple of vists then by all means mow them down an take no prisoners.

1.The styles of music that I play are as follows:- PUNK ROCK OLD SKOOL,SKA,SWING,JAZZ, JUMP BLUES,GUT BUCKET HILL COUNTRY BLUES (aka Jnr Kimbrough RIP),ROCK-A-BILLY,INDIE/ALT POP,COUNTRY AND PYSCHOBILLY.
I have found the BD-2 to be a very versatile and adaptable pedal to my syle of playing thus making it a great match.

2. PLAYING FOR OVER 20 YEARS SEMI PROFFESIONAL ETC.

3.KORG D1600 MK II SET UP IN A HOME STUDIO SCENARIO WITH ALL THE USUAL SUSPECTS IN THE WAY OF GEAR MICS,PRE-AMPS ETC.

4.IF IT WAS LOST OR STOLEN I WOULD DEFINATELY BUY ANOTHER (LIKE THE ONE THAT I AM USING AT PRESENT)AS MY FIRST ONE WAS BORROWED/STOLEN BY A FRIEND FOR A GIG AND I HAVE'NT SEEN IT SINCE AND NOW THE SCUMBAG HAS LEFT TOWN.

5.I AM NOT TOTTALY IN LOVE WITH THIS PEDAL BUT IT GOES ALONG WAY TO SATISFYING MY NEEDS IN REGARDS TO DISTORTION AND OVERDRIVE. I AM EXTREMLY FUSSY ABOUT EVEN AND UNEVEN ORDER HARMONICS AND AS A NOTE STARTS TO DECAY I ABSOLUTELY HATE WHEN A PEDALS SUSTAIN WAVERS ABOUT INCONSISTANTLY.THUS MAKING THE NOTE SOUND RASPY,NASAL,THIN AND MUSHY.WITH THE BD-2 TRY THIS QUICK TEST, DIAL IN A CLEAN TONE ON YOUR FAVOURITE AMP,DIAL IN A SETTING ON THE BD-2 YOU LIKE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THEN PLAY A BIG FAT G BAR CHORD. NOW LISTEN TO THE NOTE AS IT DECAYS AND STARTS TO DIE OF AND IF YOU DON'T HEAR ONE OF THE MOST EVEN AND NATURAL SOUNDING FADE OUTS, THEN YOU MUST HAVE SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR EARS.I USUALLY ONLY ASSOCIATE THIS UTLRA SMOOTH NATURAL ORGANIC SOUNDING FADE OUT WITH A GREAT TUBE AMP MAXED OUT OR SOME THOUSAND DOLLAR BOUTIQUE HAND MADE PRE-AMP/PEDAL ETC.

6.IF I HAVE TO FAULT THIS PEDAL AT ALL IT IS THE FACT THAT THE TONE CONTROL IS VERY LIMITED I WOULD HAVE LIKED IT TO BE A LITTLE BRIGHTER. BUT PERHAPS THE BOSS DESIGNERS AVOIDED THIS AS A WAY TO AVOID THAT NASTY THIN FLY IN A JAR TONE WE SO OFTEN ASSOCIATE WITH SOLID STATE DISTORTION. SO YOU CAN'T HAVE EVERTHING AND AS IT STANDS THIS IS A VERY SMALL CONCERN WHEN YOU CAN CONTROL THE TREBLE ON YOUR AMP AND GUITAR ANYWAY.

7.DID I COMPARE THIS TO OTHER PRODUCTS YES AND IN OVER 20 YEARS OF PLAYING NOTHING HAS EVEN COME CLOSE EXCEPT FOR MAYBE MY BK BUTLER TUBE DRIVER PEDAL THAT WAS LOADED WITH A 12 AX7 TUBE IN A STOMP BOX SIZE. BUT I STILL THINK BD-2 IS STILL EVEN SMOOTHER THAN THE BUTLER, I REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW BOSS DID IT BUT THEY DID.I HAVE PREVIOUSLY OWNED IN MY QUEST FOR DISTORTION NIRVANA THE FOLLOWING PEDALS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:- AN ORIGIANL PRO CO RAT,A DOD CLASSIC TUBE PEDAL(NOT A BAD TONE BUT LET DOWN BY CRAPPY WORKMANSHIP I SMASHED IT TO PIECES AT A REHEARSAL)AN ORIGINAL BIONIX EPANDORA,VARIOUS BOSS OD- 1'S ETC,A CURTIS TWINTONE (AUSSIE GUY SIMILIAR TO VOODOO LABS TWIN SWITCH SPARKLE DRIVE)AND FINALLY I HAVE BOROWED AND TESTED COUNTLESS AMOUNTS OF PEDALS FROM MY FRIENDS IN MUSIC STORE'S PLAYED EM' LIVE AND AN THE STUDIO ETC. SOME OF THESE INCLUDE ALL OF THE FAMOUS TUBE SCREAMERS TS9'S 808'S ETC.

8.ONLY THING I WISH IT HAD WAS A LITTLE MORE BRIGHTNESS AS MENTIONED ABOVE.

9.DOES IT HELP ME MAKE MUSIC? DEFINATELY IT IF ANYTHING CAN INSPIRE YOU TO PLAY BETTER OR TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT BECAUSE OF A SOUND THAT IT CAN MAKE THEN BRING IT ON I SAY EXPERIMENT I SAY LIVE DANGEROUS TRY NEW THINGS WHENEVER YOU CAN.

10.FINALLY I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY OPIONS ARE LIKE BUTTHOLES WE'VE ALL GOT ONE AND THIS JUST HAPPENS TO BE MINE .SO WETHER YOU THINK THIS PEDAL SUCKS OR ROCKS ONLY YOU CAN MAKE THAT DESICION.THE REASON THAT I WAS INPIRED TO WRITE SUCH AND IN DEPTH REVIEW WAS THAT AFTER READING A FEW OF THE OTHER REVIEWS PEOPLE HAD POSTED RECENTLY (SORRY I AM NOT READING ALL 10 PAGES OF REVIEWS)I MUST SAY I WAS A LITTLE DISSAPOINTED AS I GENERALLY FIND HARMONY CENTRAL AN EXCELLENT PLACE TO HELP ME MAKE MY PURCHASING DESICIONS. MOST RECENT REVIEWS WERE ONLY KINDA SCRATCHING AT THE SURFACE OF THIS EXCELLENT PEDAL AND IT'S CAPABLITIES. I KNOW WAY BACK IN THE PAST THAT IN MAYBE SOME OF THE FIRST REVIEWS THAT WERE WRITTEN, THERE ARE PROBABLY SOME EXCELLENT IN DEPTH REVIEWS AS WELL.THANKS FOR TAKING TIME TO READ THIS DRIBBLE HA! HA!

11.NO REALLY FINALLY I THINK BOSS SHOULD REALLY RECONSIDER RENAMING THIS PEDAL AS THE I FEEL THAT THE BLUES MONIKER IS WAY TO WAY INACCURATE AND MISLEADING I MEAN C'MON. I PLAY HARDCORE OLD SKOOL PUNK WITH THIS THING AND IT RIPS PAINT OF THE WALLS. PLEASE TELL ME THE LAST TIME YOU HEARD JOHN LEE HOOKER WITH A TONE LIKE THAT, WHILST IT CAN EASILY DO THE JOHN LEE THING IT CAN ALSO DO US BOMBS JUST AS EASILY. MAYBE ALL THE OWNERS WHO AGREE WITH ME SHOULD LOBBY TO BOSS TO HAVE THE NAME CHANGED TO SOMETHING LIKE THE OSD -2 OLD SKOOL DRIVER OR HOW ABOUT THE OC-2 THE ORANGE COUNTY (COULD YOU IMAGINE THE LAWSUITS FROM A CERTAIN TV SHOW). AS THE AMOUNTS OF GAIN ON OFFER HERE ARE MORE THAN JUST POLITE BLUES TONES AND THE LIKES THERE OF. AND AS FOR MR TUBE SCREAMER AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED YOU ARE SUCH AN OVERATED ,OVERPRICED BLOW HARD THAT FRANKLY I VERY WELL MUCH INDEED THINK THAT YOU HAVE FINALLY MET YOUR MATCH IN MR BLUES DRIVER 2. THANK YOU COME AGAIN

It is easy though it took some tweaking to get what I wanted from it. 3 knobs. Never saw the manual.

I'm using it more as a clean boost with a bit of hair. It's not noisy at all. The controls are sensitive and it took some tweaking. I'm using it with a BF Twin and 68 Super, with the BD-2 set output-10o'clcok, tone-10'clock-10:30 and gain-11o'clock. When set like this, Single coils sound like there almost on the edge but not distorted. Clean with some sassyness. Nasty yet soulful. I'm also using a unity/gain buffer in front of my whole board.
Can get very dirty if you dial it in that way. It doesn't color the original signal but rather adds on to it. As far as working with other effects, it does, however it is isolated in it's own loop.
My favorite artists proabaly don't nor will ever use it. I love it. It has replaced my TS-808 after 20+ years.

It's a BOSS

No idea, never needed them. If I need another one, I'm sure I can find one

I play everthing except inaudible sounding guitars. It is a perfect match.
It is just another tool to get inside your head. If it was stolen it would really suck because it's fixed to my board. I like the fact that after trying RC's, BB's, LTD's, Klon's, TS', Tim's, Fat Boost, etc. that
I didn't expect much out of it and got what I wanted. It helps
my musical expression big time.
Probably not for everyone but definitely for me.

you see the knobs you turn the knobs you hear what happens

this is the most solid state sounding pedal i have ever used in my life.
i have no idea why anybody should say it simulates a warm tone.
the coldness of the crunch channel in my hughes & kettner tour reverb
seems like hot hot heat compared to the bluesdriver.

at higher gain settings noisy and very very fuzzy.
so as an overdrive useless.
buy a new amp if you want crunch sounds.

we know it's boss

I tend to sway a little to the blues thing but more in the
bluesrock kind of way, i've read here that this pedal is a godsent
to solid state amps,
forget it.

Lots of options for good tone here. It's easy as turning the knobs.

I was really impressed with Rick's SD-1 and now use it regularly with my set-up, so I was motivated to look into his BD-2 when he came out with it recently. I play through a Mesa Boogie Tremoverb 2x12 dual rectifier with Gibson LP Standard and I really dig the sound of this mod.

I've used the normal, unmodded Boss BD-2 for years, which has alright tone, although it gets fuzzy when you crank any of the knobs past 3/4. The new franklin mod gets rid of those limitations and the most noticeable improvement for me (possibly due to my guitar style) is the depth of the sound. It's much thicker, and clearer, specifically in the bass frequencies. The stock pedal is alright, but nothing to write home about. This pedal is so versatile and kick butt, that it inspired me to finally get onto harmony central and leave some feedback. You can dial this thing all over the map, and I've put in the series with the Franklin mod of the SD-1, and they sound phenomenal together. I played this thing through a peavey tube amp and 4x12 at a friends how today and messed around with the heavier sounds this thing can put out and the tight bass response reminded me of my dual rectifier and a few of my favorite Mark Tremonti licks. Dialing down the gain and tone knob can cover blues and warm overdrive for that southern rock sound, as well. Great job in this one, too, Rick.

Overall, this mod is awesome. I'm thinking these are going to get pretty popular just because of all of the different, quality tones you can pull from it. I'll be keeping an eye on future mods from Rick Franklin, because you can tell he takes pride in his work. He makes an already decent product just plain better.

It is easy to use
nuf said

supreme
let me tell you this
if you have a solid-state 20-watter or say Bassman or Bluesbreaker
see the difference in using this stomp?
ahhh
first, learn to play
uhu

10

10
use your ears
sounds are many

Very easy!

Very great sound. There were two ways I used this pedal: One, I had the gain up to about six or seven on my Crate amp and then had the gain at about 45% and the level about 55% on the BD-2. And the second way, I had the gain on my Crate amp all the way (not very strong, but still great) and the the level BD-2 to about 75% and the gain at about 25% (great boost for going into solos.) Also sounds good driving your clean channel for a real blues sound.

It's Boss. Need I say more? Yeah, I think not. . .

Never had to deal with Roland/Boss customer service.

Over all. I like it. It's Boss, it's really great. This is kind of like a Tubescreamer (without putting a dent in your wallet). Great Stevie Ray-type sound.

The pedal has three tweak knobs, as you can see for overall output level, gain and an EQ ( tone control). So anyone that can understand what each of those do... will find this a very easy pedal to use. Plus you get a manual so if your that stupid... it will give you some recommended settings.

The problem with most guitarists.. is they actually cant play guitar.
They think a little distortion in a box is going to make them sound ridiculously different. Tone comes from the way you play.. all the pedal does is help you achieve your ears desired reaction from your playing, so if you're #$%^ then you will still sound $%(! just with a better sounding tone.

the pedal works best with single coil pickup guitars through marshall amps but sounds great on my ibanez to, it has a lot of low end boost and responds really well to playing dynamics, though you have to spend some time tweaking the settings on your amp as well as the pedal especially when the amp is loud as your playing can sound abit to trebly and twangy. Apart from that, it has a gritty sound so hence yes its probably abit noisier than ppl think... but thats why its a blues pedal??? dirr! this pedal is designed to be scruffy but toneful to. this is great for most things apart from shred, but for rock and blues its fine. Stop moaning about the pedals and learn to play all you whiners.. plus learn to use the volume controls on your guitar.. which no one does! You can get a really cool gilbert tone if u wack up the gain, put output about half way and turn your volume control down on any ibanez guitar.

yep absolutely

its good

Easy as ABC
if you know ABC

Bassman 59 ri
nashvilel tele (or Peveay strat 1985 USA) - bd-2 - (sd-1) - rat2 - boss delay dd-20 - classic wah dunlop )
- sometimes - handmade (Ukraine) marshall and supra stomps (great )) marshall was presented to Mr Marshall himself
great stomp (in info)
:)))
ok
enough
BD-2
VERSATILE as can be
transparency - absolutely suited for modern MUSIC whatever
had all Tubescreamers - none was retained
all gone - see no point
buy it and learn to use
it'sa keeper - right as you Americans put it
agree

try ibanez ts-7... series
ha ha ha

why

10
some rate it way too low as 3
boys.
i don't know
if John (yeh the shot one) was here he would know how to use it
anyroads
play

easy

Teles, Strats, through Fender amps...classic rock, funk, country, blues-of course...great tweakable settings..also good for solo boost clean, to overdriven, very versatile!

yes and yes

really cool pedal

3 knobs!

It's one of the better Boss Overdrive pedals. It's also way too noisy.

Maybe there's a modded one out there that doesn't have the clipping, farting low end that this pedal has. There's no possible way this pedal is helping anyone achieve great tone. A Daddy-O pedal sounds better than this pedal does.

I've had this pedal too long 5 years.

It will last forever except for the switch!

Boss/Roland is cool to deal with, but not on warranty issues.

I play Hard Rock/Punk Rock & that's usually it.

This pedal actually is worthless. I wonder what the hell people are listening to when they try a pedal out (myself included). Finally after far too many years I have figured out what I want from a pedal. The Bluesdriver is not the answer.

If you want a truly Good, Clear sounding Overdrive pedal try one that doesn't pump out a million per year in a factory in Asia.
Do some research & save yourself a lot of time & money.

Theer are plenty of companies making killer sounding stompboxes, Boss & DOD have enough of our money & their pedals need to be modded to get them to sound & perform decent. Even after a mod they still don't sound like you want them to.

You can be 100% happy with an Overdrive pedal. I would never buy this pedal again at any price.

sounds good wherever its set. some settings better than others. three knobs. all you need. the magics in the guts, not the bells and whistles.

the selling point for this pedal to me, was the low end thump it gives your sound. it infinately beefs up your tone and gets rid of the bad beef. every note thats picked smacks your ass. imagine SRV's "so excited" from the el mocambo DVD. the style is more of a scooped mid high and low end boost. the tone knob is usable i geuss but 90% of the time sounds better at 12 o'clock. obviously great blues and rock tone.

seems sturdy to me, but i have seen older boss pedals and other newer ones that have whent tits up. if you dont build a house with it, it should be fine.

no matter what your setup...marshall 15 watt to 100 watt plexi, this is a tone boosting overdrive that adds some balls to your tone with that oh so special thump i mentioned that just thickens every note beautifully.

Just 3 knobs: Tone, Level, and Drive. It's all I need.

This pedal, for me, blew the BOSS OD-3 OverDrive, Ibanez TS-9 and TS-9DX away. It is so warm and thick. It also has a good amount of gain, so you can use it like an overdrive or distortion pedal. It also cleans up when you turn down your guitar's volume control. My favorite part is that it retains the clarity of your clean sound. It also picks up your pick attack really well. This pedal loves my Fender American Series Strat and Fender Blues Deluxe. I love this pedal.

I don't think I could break this if I wanted to. It is a BOSS pedal.

Never dealt with them, probably never will.

This is one of my favorite pedals. If you want an overdrive or even a distortion pedal, this is the one to get. It is wonderful for solo boosts.

This Pedal is really Easy To Use, with three knobs you can't get confused with that, though the knobs may be missleding because the tone has some effect to the sound but only enough if you full crank it in each direction.

has a very rich sound if you have it just right, i find if you dime the level with very little gain it makes a very blues sound for rockin blues.

i used it on a couple jams and gigs and found if you dont righten the screw to keep the pedal down all thw way screwed in, it turns on and off at will, or will turn its self back on after you turn it off.

but the pedal is pretty indestuctable, ive dropped it 1nce and nothing happened to it.

never delt with em

i like boss pedals and this pedal works for me, but at times this pedal is alot heavier then a blues pedal, but when its set right, its one amazing sound

Very easy

I have modified my BD-2 with the TS-9 emulation kit from www.monteallums.com, so I am really only commenting on this mod. The pedal was, eh, OK and all, before the mod. After - it screams, sings. You can feel it in the floor. Takes on the characteristics of both the BD-2 and TS-9, can be high gain, thick, or nearly transparent. I like it just a bit better than the TS-9 sound on its own...

I use this pedal with an SG Special / Gibson Blueshawk -> Maxon Comp. -> MXR Blue Box -> BD-2 modded -> DOD Corrosion -> DeArmond Weeper -> Boss CE-20 -> Marshall Vibra/Trem -> Arion SFL-1 -> Boss DD-20 -> Carvin 2x12 tube amp - for anyone interested in that crap.

Has been very reliable.

???

Overall, the mod kit has made this a sick pedal. It's my main tool for leads now, or to get any kind of sound that really cuts through the mix. Plus its kinda fun to take the thing apart and start soldering! I love it.

Easy to use, easy to find a sound, but surely not a good sound.
Clear manual.

Used on fender, peavey, laney, marshall and crate amp.
Very poor sound, horrible on boost of a dist.

Solid and good for any type of use, also like ornament.

Never dealt with Boss but never find a satisfied boss-user in chase of assistence requiring.

I'll never buy another boss effect of this type, if you think bd-2 gives blues sound you're mistaking.

3 Knobs easy. takes tweaking but so does everything

well i have used this pedal on many different setups and it just doesnt work with tube amps. for brittle solid state amps this is a godsent because it ads that missing warmth however those amps dont seem to be around anymore so now the thing is just overkill.

On a tube amp or good solidstate amp this pedal is overly trebly. I used it as my main source of dirt but unless the tone knod was all the way down it just peirced peoples ears. I found that it does have more range of overdrive than a TS9 but that the TS 808 sounds far better. However when i bought this the only TS808's available were vintage and incredably exspensive. this pedal's main good function is that ist can act as a subtle overdrive or monster distortion pedal. For me this pedal just misses what i'm looking for but it has served me well for the last 4 years of constant tweaking. On the Plus side audiences always compliment my guitar tone when I use this pedal so maybe I'm being to picky.

Only problem in the 4 years i've owned it is the fact that i cant seem to dial in the sound i'm looking for. Boss has made a very sturdy pedal that can stand up to abuse.

I play mostly Rock Blues Ska Regae Funk Fusion and Jazz with a little bit of everything else mixed in.
this pedal is great. and I would recomend it to anyone looking for a good overdrive. If I lost it or it was stolen I would probably get another just because I know what it can do and it is very very very very
close to what i want but just not quite. I've been playing since i was 9 (i'm 18) so I think that i'm just being overly picky.

Three knobs - no challenge I guess. Gain is the most important: with a little twisting you can get all the sweet different sounds out it. Adjust it with level to your setup. Only tone didnt have the impact other pedals have. So easy to use!

Used a Epiphone and a Fender ROC PRO with a variety of mod effects. NO noise whatsoever. From light crunch sounds to full overdrive everythings possible. Thats what I loved about this one. If you dont play metal you can do everything with that tiny tool! And they all sound great. However: I changed to a Deucetone Rat because I wanted to be able to change distortion within a song. I would by two or three of the BD2s but this would be two expensive. BUT I'll have later on in addition to my RAT if I can afford it. This pedal's sounds rule!

Build to last. CAN it even by destroyed?...

didnt need no CS.

My style and my band's style arent said in one or two words. We do pretty much everything from quite soft to hard stuff, esp. the last one though. Could use it for everything. For gigs I would need at least two of those though cuz I wanna be able to change drive within a song and Im not the guitar level twister kinda player... That is the ONLY reason I changed to a deucetone rat, which gives me more options.

BD-2 is the simplest you can get. Level Tone and Gain.

I use it with my Epiphone Les Paul Birdseye, in a Fender Rock Pro 1000 with one extra 12 cabinet.
The sound is really great (for me). if you are looking for a bluesy, kind of sound it is great, but if you want something harder, well it does the trick (gust set the gain up).
I Use it like a booster (with high level mid tone and low gain), for the normal and gain channels, and the pedal increases the range of the picking sensibility of your guitar. While testing it I did it with a american telecaster (the real one) but it sounded better on my Epi. I Really don't care for brands but The boss BD-2 its the real sound for all the real old bluesy lovers. It can sounds sweet and hard at the same settings. I Really Love It.

It doesn't have much use but it looks like a very robust constrution, and of course you have the 5 year warranty from boss.
You can really gig with it but I sugest you to use it with a Power Suply (ok it's obvious) when you play live (you never now when the battery if goig death on you, and that is the only problem with this pedal)

Never used it.

My thing is rock, as simple as that, and BD-2 is a great tool for that, and if i lost it i would by another one.
I love the increase in the picking sensibility and the range of expression I can get using it and using it in the bridge gives you that old time radio bluesy sound, while using it with the neck gives you great body and solid bass sound.

Easy if you use the neck pickup, as this device does not like bridge pickup. It is modeled after the traditional overdriven guitar sound used to get the sweet "woman tone" found in british blues/hard rock. i.e. neck pick up, tone control at 0 to 2.

Just set the tone to 0 to 2 and add the drive until you get the tone desired. Same with level

I took a chance on thise device when reading how someone got a sweet "woman tone" overdrive sound from a jazz guitar. Well. I got the same sound from my Gretch "rockabilly" guitar. The drive is at 6, tone is at 2. Once again, use the neck pickup. It hates the bridge pickup, it sounds to brittle.

Furthermore, it does not like single 10" or 8" speakers (too brittle/tinny) - Use a 4 x 10, or 2 x 12 amp. It got great tone from a 2 x 12 solid state no name amp.

As well, I was able to get a good overdrive tone from my Gibson melody maker bass with a strat type single coil at the neck. Once again, use the neck pickup (tone at 2, drive at 4)

Boss is known for their reliability

Boss customer support must be like the Maytag repairmen commercial i.e. the loneliest people on earth

If you want to get the sweet overdriven "woman tone" found in british blues/hard rock, this is the pedal for you. It is much cheaper than an Ibanez tubescreamer.

Very easy - Gain, tone, level - like you know it from Boss Super Overdrive or Ibanez Tube Screamer Pedals.

There is a manual when you buy it new in the box. The typical standard settings for starting with - when you are new in using guitar pedals.

There is always music equipment that - because of what you hear and read - is VERY, VERY MUCH OVERATED. And the Boss Blues Driver is on of it.

It is so much overrated, I tried and tried, but it can`t satisfy me.

Boss picked up a good image and design (the blue colour for blues...) to offer an alternative to their yellow overdrive-line.

It's like the Boss Super-Overdrive (the standard and cheapest Boss overdrive Pedal) with more bass, but less mids and a bit more gain. Because it has more mids the Super-Overdrive got even more character in the tone - and character that was what I was looking for in a "Blues pedal". Here the Blues Driver sucks compared with the old Super-Overdrive.

And to become the leader in Blues Pedals it must be compared with the Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9. And the Tube Screamer has the overall much butter tone. The highs are much milder and smooth, the mids are a dream and the lack of bass in the TS-9 is no reason for me to swith to the Blues-Driver.

The Boss Blues-Driver is good for me for 70s Rock (Smoke on the water etc.) Riffs and Solos, but even there the cheaper Super-Overdrive sounds much better and more autentic to me.

There are sure a lot of players out there who like the blues driver ... but I`ve never heard one of them getting a brilliant sound out of it.

I will keep mine for reference use - but I am back to play with my SD-1 and TS-9 and the Proco RAT for the heavy stuff.

I have it for one year now - and its like new - well because I dislike it - I only use it a little bit at home to compare other pedals I test - but its very, very likely to be as reliable as the other boss pedals, and they live forever, if you take good care of them ....

Never tried to have a Boss Pedal repaired. When one got damaged - yes that happens - I get a new one and replace the full pedal. Working hours are so expensive - for me it makes no sence to bring a Boss pedal to a store to have it fixed.

I play Rock from 70s Rock to 80s Metal. I play since the 70s - well the later 70s.

Usually I play with a Strat or a Les Paul in a Marshall 45 Watts Head and a 1x12 (small Bars etc.) or a 4x12 Marshall (clubs, festivals etc.) Cabinet.

The effect chain I use at the moment is:

Cry Baby Wah
Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9
Boss Super Overdrive SO-1
Proco RAT
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Boss Chorus
Boss Delay

The TS-9 is always on - it gives me "The Who" type clean/crunch sound. The Super-Overdrive I add to get a 70s Rock Sound, and the Ratt I switch on for a Mesa Boogie Type 80s Metal sound.

The GE-7 only boosts a bit the mids and the volume to be switched on for solos (that way I keep the character of the pre selected overdrive tone with the pedals). Delay, Chorus and Wah are only for certain effect parts.

I change me sutup every once in a while. The Blues Driver was intendet to replace the Tube Screamer and the Super Overdrive, when I saw Nazareth current guitarist Jimmy Murrison using two Blues Drivers in his bord live - but was so disappointed when I got mine. I sold one of the two I bought and went back to my "old" sutup.

3 knobs, Level, Tone, Gain. All are very sensitive which makes it easy to get exactly what you want. Manual has many setting you can use from Boss but you should just play with the 3 knobs and figure out what you like the best. Also has the useful 9v entry on back which i use.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard - Boss DS-1 - Ibanez TS9 - Boss SD-1 - Boss BD-2 - Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (tube 1x12). The Blues Driver is very quiet on both my clean and drive channels on my amp. I like to keep the tone at 10 o clock or below. When it goes higher, it just seems to sound nasally and very trebly. The gain sounds great wherever you put it, just dial in which sound you're looking for. I've compared it with the tube screamer and here's what i've found:

Blues Driver can get louder and can get cleaner and dirtier both than the TS9.

Because of this, the BD-2 is very versatile. Because it can get a little bit cleaner than the TS9, I like to use it on the clean channel of my amp to add a hint of overdrive. However, it can be used too push my drive channel harder and sounds great doing that as well. I like to boost the BD-2 with either the SD-1 or the drive channel on amp for solos.

Extremely reliable, never hard one problem with it. Since Boss offers a 5 year warranty, you can trust that their pedals will last much longer than this and will be very reliable.

I like to play classic rock. The pedal really sounds great for this style of music. I've been playing for 3 years. I stolen, I would buy another one. This is my most versatile overdrive pedal that I own. I love how clean and dirty the pedal can get. Has unique sound simlilar to TS9 but I like it's own character as well. Doesn't need anything else on the pedal, very simple but sounds great. Very glad I bought this.

It's an overdrive with three knobs--you can't get much simpler. Still, it's easy to get some truly nasty, shrill sounds out of it if you don't know what you're doing. Never got a manual and never needed it.

It's not perfect, but it is one hell of a pedal. Best overdrive/distortion box I've ever tried. It isn't transparent: it will color your tone with a raspy cranked tweed Fender/old Marshall sort of vibe, but it's a nice sound to my ears. Also, it has good bass and mid response, but somehow it sounds "hollow" to my ears. Like the sound takes up a wide spectrum and cuts through, but it doesn't have a lot of "oomph" or sustain to it--this pedal doesn't compress your sound much at all. That's why I mostly use it for rhythm work.

The key to this whole pedal is to be careful with the knobs. There is a WIDE range of gain to be had here, and the tone knob makes it REALLY trebly when turned up. I like keeping the volume set pretty high, the gain somewhere below 3 o'clock, and keeping the tone below 12. There a surprising number of crisp, gritty sounds to be found there.

You CAN do Metal with it. It just depends on what you mean by metal. It does AC/DC and 70s metal well, and I've found that for, say, Danzig and other bluesy metal, it also excels. Just keep the tone knob set fairly low, because it is one trebly MFer, and turn the volume knob up to keep the sound crisp. I wouldn't try to get SOAD, Hatebreed, or any of the bottom heavy stuff out of it, though.

For blues, it's great at a crisp, biting, '50s and '60s blues tone. For earlier stuff, which often sounded pretty muddy, you'd be better off with just a small amp cranked up loud, with no effects at all. For a more modern "blues" sound (and by this, most people mean SRV, Led Zep, and other blues rockers) it does a pretty good job, too.

I think this pedal was really designed to get you from a range from, say, Albert Collins up through Aerosmith, and that's what it does. Great gritty sounds there, and it can do some honky tonk stuff as well.

For people who want a crystal clear Pink Floydish space-rock tone, you'll be disappointed. Same goes for jazzbos.

Never had a problem. Boss is known for making indestructable pedals and this looks like one of 'em. But then I can't afford to abuse my gear.

Never dealt with 'em.

Lately I've been playing a sort of spaced out blues punk type of thing and it works great for rythmn, though I prefer a cleaner sound for leads. It's a great, great pedal with a lot of versatility, and if you play something with a blues-flavor to it, you'll love this. It's definitely not for everyone, but the tonal complexity and versatility has won it a wide following

Its easy to use mate.
I also find that less is more when dealing with electronics, take the old plexis for example......

I always play strats, they are the most responsive guitars on the market today. STILL.
I did think the bd-2 had a strange sorta eq to it, the high end is fizzy, really nice mids and bluesy bass.
I use a fender twin amp which may have added to the dynamics of this pedal also.
Overall i think it would be a fantastic pedal when run with the right combo of geeetar and amp,
Some does not suit so well

yep.

Easy enough to work with. Three knobs.

I use it with a Roland Jazz Chorus and it's good for any style of music, as long as it's blues. I use this with an Ibanez AF-85 and play through a Crybaby Classic, an MXR Dyna Comp, and a BOSS Chorus Ensemble set permanently on a Leslie-type sound. Not good for metal, but I don't play metal, so it works out nicely. Gain up 3/4, tone up half way and kick up the volume, and you've got yourself some nice overdrive. Nice in front of a distortion too, for a bit of fuzz.

Don't have any problems with it.

Don't have to deal with them.

Pretty darn good. Cheap too.

Simple dials.

Brian Moore i8>Dunlop Custom Crybaby>Boss BD-2>DeArmond Dual Volume>Boss GE-7>Boss CE-2>Line 6 DL-4>Fender Twin Reverb ('65 reissue).
It doesn't generate noise. it might accentuate some that's already there.
You can get bad sounds out of it. It's really raw so I keep the tone toward about 8-o-clock. It sounds ok before a Roland Jazz Chorus but with a tube amp, it's really meaty.
I like a more classic sound and love the pedal. Even though I like harder stuff, I don't need all of the gain on this. I guess that's what harder picks (1.5mm), and strings (10-52) and louder pickups (Duncan JB and Alnico 2) are for. I usually keep it at 3 or 4 o-clock.
Of course I like it. It's a good overdrive pedal in front of a Fender tube amp. To solid-state or direct it sucks, but that's not what it's for. I get a sound I like out of it. It's nice and fat and has more gain than I use regularly.
I have no qualms about the bypass.

No problems thus far.

I play rock and it fits my style. I've been playing for about 4 years. I am a musician and listen to my sound. If stolen, I would use my friend's. He liked my sound and got one. I'll probably also get a tubescreamer because it's smoother and I like variety. With knobs on my guitar, I can get a number of sounds, but more pedals would yeild to more diversity and flexability.

three knobs - ultra simple. Gain, Tone and Level. If you can't manipulate these with ease, you have major problems and should probably take up the flute.

With that in mind, it's very very easy to get a great sound out of it.

I don't understand any of the poor quality reviews below. I absolutely love this pedal - the highs *I* get are NOT ear-destroying, the bass is tight, the gain is just sizzling. It's the best overdrive pedal I've used, and I've owned at least 30 over the last 15 years. Boss really put the lights out with this thing.

However, I think a really big factor is 1) what kind of pickups you use and 2) what kind of amp it's feeding.

I actually get the best sound with a solid state Behringer amp set on a wonderful plate reverb. It results in a completely amazing sound. I could not possibly improve on it.
However, the pedal doesn't respond to any of my tube amps in quite the same way. It just isn't as "full" or "round." I'm not sure why.

Also, it definitely likes humbuckers and other high-output pickups MUCH more than single coils. I guess it likes being fed a real hot signal. This is just from practical trial-and-error experience. AND, I should also say that I can still get great tones from it using a vintage strat and tube amp. It's just not as skillet-hot as when using humbuckers and a solid state.

Tone is so subjective, it's impossible to predict what some people like and don't like. My blues listening friends love this thing. My metalhead friends even appreciate it the nasty breakup it can deliver to an amp perched on the verge. However, people who like really muddy mellow tones hated it. So did people who played mostly jazz. Go figure.

It's a boss. I could shoot it with my 12 gauge and it would probably somehow break the 12 gauge. Boss is Boss. They never break, ever, EVER.

No idea

This is the best overdrive pedal, bar none. I've had three different Tube Screamers, including an original, and it just wasn't the same. Amazing little blue pedal. I recommend it to anyone who wants to add some bluesy bite to their arsenal.

But don't just take it from me, or any other reviewer. Make your way to the nearest Boss dealer and play it yourself. Bring your favorite guitar. Try several amps. It's the only way you'll know for sure.

easy

Uh, I borrowed one from guitar center and it hurt my ears. The high frequencies produced from this pedal are ear piercing. Definitely full range! Tight bottom. Punchy even. Could sound good if the gain is all the way down but when even half way up the higher frequencies are lethal and probably causing hearing damage even at lower volumes.

I used a 2000 Fender American Series Strat and a 2004 fender Champion and do wonder if the Blues Driver would have sounded better on a tube amp...tube amps being less high fidelity [oh, shut up, they are too!]

I noticed that a tube screamer sounded good on my solid state amps but went to mud on a tube amp.


I figure Boss pedals are designed to work with tube amps and Les Pauls. Just the way it seems.

I like my Boss O/S-2 a lot more than this ugly blue box.

It's no wonder Keeley mods so many of these boxes. They have potential but just don't quite live up to their potential.

There is no support

I like metal and grunge.
I've been playing electric guitar since 1975.

I think the Boss C/S Compressor is my favorite pedal Boss makes.

I own about 20 Boss pedals.

I like the HM-2. MT-2, DS-2, DS-1, SD-1 and especially the OS-2 pedal. With a CS-3 in front and my DD-2 Digital Delay in back I can make any dirt box sound EXCELLENT!

But the BD-2 is the worst I've heard from Boss.

Fender 1970 Strat w/ Fralin 69' Pickups + Gibson SG. This pedal is not a blues driver. It has way too much treble, too much bass, and impossible to level and balance out. To give it credit, it does have a nice crunch on low gain with high volume with the tone all the way down. Other than that, lets just say it doesn't make me want to get up in the morning and say "Hey! I can't wait to use my Blues Driver!"

Don't get this pedal if you are looking for a vintage tube sound. You people are crazy for giving this pedal good reviews!! Although I have heard that the older japanese models are very sweet, but haven't tried it yet. I your looking for a nice tube sound, try the Fulltone Fat boost, or if you can get ahold of an older japanese Boss Overdrive, those are pretty nice as well, but i do have to say that i have been disapointed with the reccent Boss stuff.

The overall control arrangement is very straightforward and easy to use.

I use this with my Strat (SCN pickups, S-1 switch) and my dual humbucker Tele. The amp is a Blues Junior or Hot-Rod Deville.

The BD-2 is fairly quiet although there is some hiss which I consider typical for overdrive pedals. The quality of the sound tends to be a bit more harsh than the "Blues Driver" name would suggest. In my humble opinion the sound of this pedal is well suited for classic rock when the "drive" control is turned up and more suited to a Blues sound when used as a signal booster with the drive set low.

Like all Boss products, this pedal seems bulletproof.

I've spoken to Boss customer service in relation to tech support for another Boss product and i was greatly impressed. These guys are OK if you ask me.

I play Jazz, Blues, Classic Rock, Oldies, C&W and on and on and on. The BD-2 is a good and versatile pedal although it has its limitations. I would suggest this and a Boss SD-1 to cover the spectrum of overdrive pedals needed for the music I play.

As a clean boost or very slight crunchy sounds this Blues Driver
is OK,no more than that.But it ends there.The more you turn that drive knob the more
you're about to dislike it,this ain't a good overdrive pedal,at least
compared to what you can get today.To all of you guys that gave that
pedal such stellar reviews i say:WAKE UP NOW!HAVE YOU EVER TRIED
ANYTHING ELSE?Let's get real folks.If you still drive your Ford Pinto
and like it to death doesn't mean you have to convince us it's a great ride...

Skip those Boss overdrive and distortion pedals.Really not worth
buying nowadays unless you want to sound like shit.Have a great day.

Easy to get a great sound out of this. Beware if you use cheap gear, because you will get a cheap sound. Set the knobs at 12 o'clock and go from there. It is not a standalone distortion unit, it is an overdrive unit, so use it that way.

Used with a good strat and a fine tube amp, this thing sounds great. Not particularly noisy. Best used with an amp setting that is on the verge of breakup. Really smooth distortion, in fact, you might want to roll the highs back some on your amp. Anybody who complains about this pedal is likely using cheap gear to begin with.

It's a Boss. No need to say anything else.

Never needed the tech support.

Good pedal, good bang for the buck. To fully appreciate this pedal, you need to use it with good equipment. If you use this pedal with sucky gear, expect sucky results.

All pedals are easy to use.

I play a strat, tele and Korean Hamer (like a cheapo PRS) through a SF Deluxe reverb, SF Bassman head or a Rivera 30-12. I bought this pedal for a lo-gain rhythm sound ala "castles made of sand". The pedal has a huge gain range but the upper range sounds almost like a fuzz and is useless for what I want. At first I thought the pedal was great because it had more bass than a Tubescreamer and a flatter midrange which definitely made it better for rhythm tones. However I soon found the hi end to be harsh, the mids were a bit too scooped and the distortion sounded a bit fizzy. Worst of all the decay on sustained chords and notes had an unnatural transistorized sputtering quality. I found directions for the Keely mods on the web and after I soldered them in, the pedal had more lo-mids and slightly less fizz. Unfortunately the lame decay was still apparent and seems to be a basic function of the circuit that you cannot dial out or mod away.

Its a Boss

Has anyone ever needed their customer support?

I had heard many good things about this pedal being excellent for low gain OD. In particular the clips on Jason Barker's web page were a deciding factor in my purchase. However, even with mods, the BD-2 did not live up to its billing. The deal breaker was the really unnatural decay that just started to drive me crazy after a while. Tubes and amplike pedals decay from OD to clean in a fairly smooth and musical manner. The bluesdriver does not. In fact I went back and gave a listen to those Barker clips again and sure enough I heard the tell tale sputter. Boss seems to make OD pedals (DS-1, SD-1, OD-3) that are ALMOST GREAT but tend to suffer from an achilles heel that eventually drives players to look elsewhere. The BD-2 is another ultimately unsatisfying addition to the line.

This is oddly, the most simplistic piece of equipment i own, and yet it has the widest range of sounds (if that says anything) The tone and gain controls are very, very responsive and it doesnt take much of a turn of either to stray from the sound you had. It doesn't take much at all.

I'm using a Faded les paul with a peavey bandit 112. I could never achieve a high standard of sound with the amp itself. When I plugged up with the BD-2 I immediately noticed a difference. The sound from this thing is amazing. I can achieve hard-cruncy zeppelin tones to a very slight clean crunch. I'm telling you that you can get any sound from this (EXCEPT METAL HEAD SOUNDS) and probaly more. This pedal is very very basic and easy to use. For instance if you want a clean crunch just turn the gain to 0 and the tone to 5-10 and SHAZAMM. Or if you want a good 80's sound turn the gain to about 3 o'clock and tone to about 1:30 or so. Everything is very sensitive so its sooooo easy to switch sounds with a little turn of the dials. Just play with the settings and trust me, you'll find the sound you want.

Seems as sturdy as a Sherman.

Never dealt with em.

I play classic rock, blues, anything with a good vibe and feel (new age? hah!!) This pedal if for a musician, not some punk who wants to write about how his girlfriend broke up with him so he plays powerchords even faster and faster. I pity how music is now. anyway, if it were stolen or lost I would find who stole it and beat him to death with the pedal itself! (it seems rugged enough to do so) I didnt compare this with any other products or even tested it before I bought it. I read alot of reviews on this very page. some are good, some bad (idiots.. this product is RITCHEOUS). If your looking for that classic rock/bluesy sound. Your on the right page to research it. It's here and its good, do yourself a favor right now and buy it. You'll love it. TRUST ME.

Super Boss easy.

I had been using a TS9, TS808, and SD1 to push the front of my "already crunched" setting on the amp and loved those pedals. But I now have a clean Marshall Plexi and those overdrive pedals were lacking a little gain when used by themselves. I loved the warmth of all those pedals and heard that the Blues Driver was very similar, but more gain. I tried it at a gig last night and my Boss SD1 was on ebay the next day (not dis'n the SD1 or TS, just wanted a titch more gain). We play a lot of AC/DC and classic rock. This BD2 is perfect!!

Havn't had one break in my 25 years of playing.

Not sure.

I use the BD2 for my cruchy AC/DC sound, and click over to the DS1 Distortion for my heavier George Lynch Dokken / Ratt hair metal 80's sound. I use a Boss GE7 EQ to boost for solos. These three pedals are beautiful!! I only use them for live though. I have a Line6 POD xt for quieter home practice and recording stuff. Both are cool set ups. The BD2 can be a bit bright and feedbacky. I have my tone at 9:00 oclock (almost off). But I have a very sensitive Plexi. Other amps probably arn't so picky. If you want a titch more gain than your TS808 or SD1, try this. If you back the tone off a little, the BD2 to me, has the same "general" sound with a titch more ballz.

Its a Boss, easy and simple

The sound is great, just what I was looking for, it sounds natural! and for those who complain about it? should get their ears checked or buy a better amp or guitar? I use a USA Strat Plus and a Epiphone Les Paul Custom with Seymour Duncans! they sound great with this pedal, especially with the strat! I get this very nice boost! Eric Clapton, classic blues tones

as for the hiss some talk about? turn down the tone and gain? pedlas do hiss when u crank up everything? the hiss isnt too bad compared to others but its pretty quiet when u mess with settings below 12 O'clock

this thing is one of the best pedal designs out there! better than Electo Harminx units that cost more!! (I own a Small Stone USA which sounds great, im not putting their quailty effects down but I feel that boss units have better build quailty)

ive dealed with boss before and they always respond and very helpful! this is the UK Roland firm

nothing is perfect but if u love the blues, you will love this pedal!

Very easy to get a good sound out of it. It's an OVERDRIVE, and very transparent. If you use this with cheap gear, expect to get a cheap sound. This will not fix tone that was crap in the first place. I set all the knobs around 12:00 and viola, the tone was there.

Using this with a Fender American Stratocaster and Fender all-tube amp. It sounds delish; it has tons of gain if needed, but don't run it at that level or you'll be disappointed. What I didn't like was that it tends to chop out the low subfrequencies. There is a mod available from Keeleyelectronics.com that supposedly will compensate for this. As far as it being a smooth, musical OD unit at a reasonable price, this is the one. The tone is warm, and it gets a smooth, silky Hendrixian flavor if you work the sweet spot, and that means adjusting the guitar volume and tone knobs to drive it just enough. What it does best is smoothly overdrive an amp that was on the verge of breakup. Plus, if you work the volume knob, it cleans up so nicely.

It's a BOSS... no need to say more.

Never dealt with customer service.

Overall, this pedal sounds great. Don't listen to any fool who posted here dissing this pedal, it's likely they are into Korn or some other garbage and expected this pedal to magically turn them into Clapton. The BD-2 is a fine pedal, and it definitely has a character that is very different from the Tube Screamer. It's transparent, very flexible, and easy to setup. But as with any unit, don't use this with cheap gear and expect a miracle, or else you'll be whining like the rest of the poseurs who rate this pedal so low.

It is very easy to get a good sound out of the Blues Driver. This device is very easy to use: 1 tone knob, 1 level knob, and 1 gain knob.

This is one of the best overdrives that I have ever heard. This pedal is perfect for getting any desired blues tone. I use the Blues Driver with all my guitars but especially with my American Strat and my Nashville Tele through Crate and Fender amps. This pedal can dial in tones that range from a clean tone with a warm out put gain, to a chunky crunch, to a powerful screaming blues. The Blues Driver is designed for blues, however, it can produce a heavy overdrive that can be used for artists like Zeppelin and Aerosmith. I am really in to classic rock and blues. This pedal is great for playing Clapton and the Stones. I can dial in a good Keith Richards sound.

Ha.. of course I can depend on this effect.... YOU CAN NOT GO WRONG WITH BOSS!

I have never dealt with Boss.

This is a very good match for my classic rock and blues style. I have been playing for 4 years and own a number of distortions (Danelectro Fabtone and Daddy-O, Digitech Hot Rod, and the Boss DS-1). If my Blues Driver was stolen I would drive back down to Guitar Center immediately. Out of all my overdrives and distortions this one is my favorite. I chose the Blues Driver because of it's versatile tone options and price. If you do not own this, you need to get it now!

very easy to use, drive level and tone knobs...

I tried this pedal out at the store with a pretty good strat (cant remembr the amp) when i was looking for an overdrive pedal. Most people get there overdrive and are so proud of it, they give it all 10's just because they think its really really cool. Heres what i thought of it...
*Not overly noisy, but ive heard quiter pedals...
*Both in bypass and effect it masks (to a certain extent) the sound of your guitar, and is unresponive to picking technique.
*The distortion is thin, wooly bass, a horrible hissing high end, nice sweet mids though, but overall flabby tone...
*in order to get rid of the hissy high end, if you turn down the tone control, gets muddy and indistinct....
Alot of people claim it sounds very 'tube-ish' or 'valve-ish', but nothing could sound more unlike sweet singing overdriven power tubes.

seemed fairly robust apart from the switch, felt a bit flimsy..

n/a

save your money and buy a Pete cornish SS-2...

3 knobs - level, tone, gain. My tone knob goes from 3 o'clock to 3'o'clock. I'm not sure if the pot was turned or that is just the way it is. No big deal, I'm used to it now.

This is the most versatile pedal I've ever owned. I have found 3 very different uses for this pedal. I use a telecaster into a compressor, BD-2, then into a Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket with a Digitech RP10 in the effects loop for reverbs, delays, choruses, etc.

1. Hendrix-type fuzz. In the clean channel, turn the level to about 8 o'clock, tone to taste, and gain maxed. Nice fuzzy blues. Switch to the overdrive channel on the amp and it's Hendrix on steroids.

2. Overdrive. I use it like this most of the time. I set the gain at 12 o'clock and the level so that when I am on the clean channel, there is no volume difference between pedal on or off. This way I get clean, step on BD-2 and get mild overdrive, and then switch to lead channel and get creamy distortion. No feedback in lead channel even with pedal on. BD-2 just adds fullness and a little sustain to lead channel.

3. Slam front end of amp. This really only works well in the overdrive channel of the amp. Dial in a nice crunchy distortion. Set the BD-2 to max level, tone to taste, and gain to 0. Now it acts as a volume boost. The sustain and drive you get is unreal. Supposedly this is what Zakk Wylde does with an MXR overdrive.

Sturdy construction.

N/A

I play hard rock and blues. This pedal adds the extra flavor and punch I need. If you have good gear and good tone already, this pedal will work awesome for you. If your tone is hurtin' then this pedal won't save it. A gem and a bargain all in one!

Super easy to use. 3 knobs: Volume, Gain, Tone.

I am completely blown away by this pedal! I needed a low gain boost pedal for solos, and this thing nails it. I use a RAT for my main distortion sound, and am using the BD-2 to kick-in for the solos. Plenty of volume on tap and the tone knob really works wonders. I've tried it with both single coils and humbuckers and works equally well (just need to adjust the tone knob a little). I've owned - and gotten rid of - the Boss DS-1 and SD-1 pedals, and was never all that impressed with the sound quality of those two. But, for my purposes, the BD-2 is perfect. I keep the gain between 9:00-11:00, and adjust the volume as needed to give me the required boost. Keeping the pedal at these settings adds no significant noise to the signal. If you crank the gain past noon, then there will be some noise that will start to be added in - but I find the overdrive sound to be a little fizzy past 1:00, so I never push it past noon. For a boost pedal, I don't really want a lot of additional gain, just volume and tone shaping. Even with little or no gain, this pedal adds some special kind of roundness to the tone that is sweet. By the way, I am commenting on the stock pedal, with no mods.

I currently own a Boss DD-2 and CE-5, and have had zero problems with them over the years.

I haven't had the need to contact them. Their website seems to contain helpful information and contact info.

I give the sound quality a 9 - since you could probably find something better for three times the cost. But, for an overall rating (and for my purpose) it is definitely a 10. It is perhaps slightly overpriced, but it is the best of the Boss overdrive series and I would buy it again. I've been playing rock, blues, jazz for 23 years - and use a wide variety of guitars and amps (solid state and tube).

Very easy to use - just gain, level, and tone.

The sound is awesome. I use it with my '98 American Strat with Gold Lace sensors thru a mid-70's Twin with a Blackface mod and a half power switch. It's a nice, fat, slight overdrive. Sounds really nice with the bridge pickup. I can get a nice Hendrix tone and nice early 70's Clapton tones in position 2. I haven't tried it much at full gain though. It can be a real icepick-in-the-ear if you're not careful with the tone control.

Just got it so I don't know if it's reliable BUT I've always known Boss products to be VERY reliable. It's very sturdy.

I've never had to deal with them. They're probably not much different from the other small to medium sized multi-national comglomerate subsidiary manufacturers.

I play blues, classic rock, jazz... everything really. I've been playing for about 25 years and I'm a professional musician in the NYC area. I also teach.

If your looking for bone-crushing, in-your-face, super-saturated, head-slamming, megastortion - look somewhere else. If you want your guitar to sound "dirty", this pedal will do the trick, and it'll do it well.

Easy to use as most Boss pedals are.

I tried this out from a friend and my DS-1 is better in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong.....this is a great pedal......
but the cost is too much for the sound it puts out.
Please keep in mind that sounds vary with solid state & tube amps.

Very reliable.....it's a Boss.

I've never dealt with Boss....I guess that's good thing.
My buddy bought this on-line (not modified).

My comment is just my opinion of this BD-2 pedal.
Like I said, I borrowed it from my buddy to try out.
I personally wouldn't waste my money on it. Very overpriced.
But everyone has that special sound they want to find.
This is not a pedal for the crunching Metalhead.
I'm into blues & classic rock and this pedal is average for that.
Please read my comments on my awesome Boss DS-1 pedal?