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

To get tone out of this little blue pill (box really) my sister can do. Tone comes along with a selection of overdrives and distortion, from a light, grilled, to the heavy stuff, and everything in between.

I am using this with a crate gx30m and a godin sdxt, running a dunlop crybaby in front of the blues driver sometimes. It makes no noise at all. Classic blues (both US and UK) overdrive of that warm overdriven tube amp are easy to dial in with any amp/guitar ived used the pedal with, including a fender hot rod deville, and a marshall tsl50 combo, a fender us strat, a '70 guild starfire IV, an ibanez rg (sorry i forgot the number) and a few others.

This box doesnt fail as long as u have a somewhat fresh battery or if you are using an ac adapter you are fine, gig with no backup, just check before you go....

I play blues and classic rock and am getting into some funk, and this pedal does it all. I have been playing for a year know (more actaully) if this was taken or lost, it would be replaced quickly. I like the simplicity, and it is just an overall great product.

The Holy Trinity of Level, Tone and Gain - Boss are great for limiting the numbe knobs you get on an effect pedal. Ideally, you shouldn't need any more then three on any pedal that distorts sound. Too many options make customising your sound take forever.

If you ever only have one effects pedal as a guitarist, it should be a distortion/overdrive unit like this. If you can't get a decent sound that you like out of the BD-2, you shouldn't own or play a guitar. Boss pedals are great, but the Blues Driver is one of the best ones I've used.

Any once can dial up for Overdrive, Turbo Overdrive, American and British Blues, Crunch and a whole lot more that the detailed, but unecessary manual dictates. I was able to get a brilliant subtle overdrive from the BD-2 in less then thirty seconds when I trialed it at the guy I got it from.

I understand there are mods available for this unit online, but I'm not very electronically minded and prefer not to mess around with stuff like that - I couldn't imagine it sounding much better anyway.

I play rhythm guitar/fills/sing vocals in a 5-piece indie-rock band with three guitars. I use the following gear with my BD-2:

'95 Epiphone G-400 SG > Boss DS-1 > Boss BD-2 > Danelectro DJ-1 Pastrami > Ibanez SC-10 Stereo Chorus > Danelectro DJ-11 Pedal Tuner > Peavey Blazer 158 or Rola 12" SS 40w.

The BD-2 is the current star of my lineup. It makes NO NOISE wherever it is placed in the lineup and when played in conjuction with DS-1, it gives a gritty, wailing tone that is great for just about anything. I usually run the BD-2 on a subtle distortion and add the DS-1 to beef up the sound on chorus' and it sounds MINT.

The Blues Driver sounds great on it's own and I play it with the mild overdrive on most of songs. It's brought my two solid-state amps to sounding more tube-like and gives a warmth the DS-1 can't match. I generally keep it on the basic overdrive setting but occassionally crank it to Turbo Overdrive by shifting the gain from 11 o'clock to 3 o'clock and use it without the DS-1 - gets a thumpier tone.

It can easily make my backup guitar, a Squire Bullet Strat with three single coils sound very Clapton and I'm very impressed by how responsive the Level dial is - the slightest turn with increase of decrease the volume very significantly - more so than any other pedal I know of.

Ideally, this is best used for an Overdrive effect and subtley colouring your tone - whilst it can go hard as metal-esque effect, I find it's best kept for what it was designed for - blues and rock. The only thing that could make it better would be if didn't lose so much treble coming into the higher levels of Gain, but that can be adjusted eaily using the tone controls on your guitar, though I tend to find it works better with humbuckers over single coils so if I had to use my Strat with it, the sound quality would not be as nice.

Give this baby humbuckers and listen to it howl and purr.

Boss quality is A+. Second to none.
Have my DS-1 as backup, so not a problem.

Never dealt directly with them, but Boss has a good website and I've heard they are quick to reply and well-knowledged.

I've been playing guitar since I was 18, about seven years, but only seriously in the last eighteen months. I play indie rock and alternative lo-fi and this pedal works a charm for those. Having said that the BD-2 is probably the most versatile pedal I've used and I've sampled a few.

I got it second-hand from a guy who was consolidating his guitar gear (his wife left him because he spent more time on his guitar!) and it was about 3-4 months old when I got it - had the box and manual and had barely been used. It was a spur of the moment buy, but one I have been very happy with.

I've compared it to other overdrive and distortion pedals from Boss - namely the Overdrive, Super Overdrive, Overdrive/Distortion and Hyper Metal - this one has a far warmer and more solid tone and is far more versatile. If I were to have this stolen or lost, I would probably buy another one despite the huge $249 price tag in New Zealand as it has opened up my sound setup so much more.

If you only ever buy one overdrive pedal, it's either this or a TS-9.

Super easy.

Nice warm tone, broad range of possibilities; subtle to severe...

THE BYPASS IS JUNK. It definitely colors my tone (MCI D-10 Pedal Steel, into a Session 400 LTD). I've gone through an A/B/Y switcher to deal with it, and that seems okay, but it shouldn't be necessary to achieving an un-altered clean tone, which is most of what I'm using. Hence the 7: when it's on, all is right with the world, when it's off I'm irritated if it's straight through the signal chain. Hence the 6...

No trouble yet... seen it's share of "chuck it in the trunk" punishment without a whimper

Not a clue. Never broke on me.

I use this box for lap steel and pedal steel guitar, for a change in complexion; that whole "variety is the spice of life" thing. It adds the swampy bottle-neck slide tone on top of the clean crisp country and jazz sound.

Wah pedal through the switchable effects loop, for the same reason, otherwise straight clean playing into a super-clean 115 combo. Have to do some tapdancing around down there to turn things on and off, but it's cool. The only thing I detest is the crummy bypass, which I can't understand Boss not eliminating. Thus the 7. I dig the tone, and with an extra $50 in gear (A/B box), I have built my own bypass... but that's inexcusable. I would recommend this one, though, definitely.

Very easy to get good sounds out of this thing. What more does one need except LEVEL,TONE,DRIVE ?!

Im using a Gibson Les paul standard,Gibson SG special faded,Epiphone LP standard(w/tony Iommi pickups)going through a Fender Hotrod Deluxe 1x12.First off let me say I tried this in two different stores and i got the EXACT SAME SOUNDS! both were being played through small fender champs (the deluxe is at home) . THIS PEDAL IS WITHOUT A DOUBT BOSS' BEST OVERDRIVE/DISTORTION UNIT. why?? let me explain. First I sized this pedal up against the DS-1 Distortion, the OD-3 Overdrive, the MT-2 Metal Zone, the SD-1 Super overdrive ,the OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion,the PW-2 Power Driver and the MD-2 mega Distortion. Well my friends the BD-2 Blues Driver SMOKED them all on every level of judgment. The Volume on this thing is AMAZING, I tried all these pedals with there level on 5 0'clock and the BD-2 on at 12o'clock...the BD-2 was WAAAAY louder than them on half volume!! BUT not noisy at all...at least to me. Also the tone knob is better than all as well... why? the BD-2's tone knob really is versitile. Not like all the rest that sound razor sharp past 12o'clock and all fat bass below 12o'clock...this thing really can GRADUALLY get brighter or darker as you turn the knob right or left. Finally the drive is the best as well. You CAN actually get a boost,mild overdrive,or flat out distortion...(natural distortion that is). To me this pedal can handle most metal bands ala' black sabbath,COC,DOWN,BLS ,some metallica,early Van Halen, and espially classic rock and blues.

hell yeah...its boss

Please realize BOSS really advertised this thing VERY POORLY. It can be used for ALL types of music...really. I tried all of boss' Overdrive and distortion pedals, this thing ruled all! Dont get me wrong all the pedals i listed i think are fine( i own the DS-1 myself and love it...this is better) Myself , i play all types of music but mainly tuned down southern styled METAL. this thing rocks hard. great sustain...not as good as my proco RAT but still great, tone on this finally gives me the natural distortion sound i've been looking for I.E. van halen,frank marino, some-what Zakk wylde . just good hard natural distortion. I plan on using this as either a boost for my DS-1 or vise versa...either alone or as a boost this thing is wonderful. If you want to sound as the great ZAPPA put it "an electric ham sandwich" then get something like a metal zone or mega distorion, if you want to sound like you,your axe and amp... get this thing. i cant believe I didnt try this out before...like i said poor advertising. By the way BOSS says when you roll down you guitars volume pot you get a nice clean sound...there right...BUT! they and all who have made a submission for this product failed to mention this thing is LOUD (in a good way however) Need volume and natural distortion?? the BD-2 is the best.

Easy

this is definitely one of the boss' most organic sounding overdrives. i use it with Gibson LP / Fender Am Strat + shitload of other boss pedals into Peavey classic 50. i don't really understand why people keep complaining about how it lacks bass - it has tons of low end, enough for Deftones, probably. if you want even more bass, you'd have looked into basses ;))
anyway, it sounds quite smooth, set all knobs to 12 o'clock and tone to 10 o'clock - instant Robben Ford tone. it sounds fat, doesn't have much compression, or sustain for days - just enough of each to keep you fighting for each note, just how it is supposed to be. just pay more attention to your picking / fretting technique and you'll be find.

Usual rugged design by Boss, very good. mine has a little faulty gain pot, i don't know, may be it just needs to be cleaned

no opinion

a very nice and smooth overdrive / distortion sound that doesn't cover up your mistakes, doesn't impose its own character over your tone, and doesn't ruin it with ridiculous amounts of compression, very natural sounding and easy to use. works nicely as a solo boost - boosts volume and mids (a little). your alternative to TS9.
recomended.

Easy as it comes! 3 knobs.

I've owned/own several boutique overdrive pedals but have always been interested in the Blues Driver and bought one this week. I've practiced with it for a week, A/B it with a Keeley Mod'd TS-9 and a Pharaoh Amps Rodea Drive and gigged it (blues rock covers band playing a Tele). I'm writing this review to tell you that this pedal sounds as good as pedals that sell for a $100 more!

In use, the pedal is quiet with both battery and mains power. The controls do what they say and the tone control doesn't seem to color my sound to any noticeable extent.

It's a Boss, I'm sure it will be fine.

Never had to deal with Customer Support at any major guitar or effects company

Great blues overdrive! If my pedal board was stolen, this would be the first (maybe only) overdrive pedal that I would replace.

A VERY GOOD OVERDRIVE.

Easy to use.
Adequate battery life (compared to digital Chorus).

Fabulous sound quality - for blues only.
Settings will need to vary, a bit, when switching between single coil and humbucking pickups. Also, when switching between tube and solid state amps.

Bought it in '97.
I always gig without a backup.
Danger is my middle name.

I never call the company.
I don't want them to call me either.

This pedal is quite adequate for me. I play blues, oh, for about 35 years. I use a home-made strat, '77 LP, '99 PRS McCarthy. I gig thru
a '77 MusicMan 210-65, or 2 Fender blues Jr's in stereo (1 if it's a small venue). I use the BD-2 into an Boss Chorus, then into the amp.
I set the amps to have a 'brown' tone, i.e., gain around 6~7, Master
around 3~5, treble at 6, middle at 3~4, and bass at 2~3.
The BD-2 Vol and Gain at around 10 o'clock, its tone control at 9 o'clock. The chorus' leftmost 3 knobs are at 12 o'clock and the rate knob ist at 3 o'clock.

If it were lost or stolen I'd steal another lost one.

I compared the BD-2 against Cheezy-Poofs and Snacky-Smores.
Neither Cheezy-Poofs nor Snacky-Smores passed the On/Off tests.

I do wish that it had a built-in keg tap.

Three knobs, it doesn't get any easier.

I play a Strat that I put together myself featuring a Warmoth swamp ash body, '63 Jazzmaster neck, and Joe Barden pickups. I also play a '81 dot neck re-issue Gibson ES-335 and a '80 Gibson Heritage Series Les Paul. All of these guitars go through a '68 Fender Super Reverb. I have not found this pedal to be noisy at all and I have not found that it sucks tone as other users have experienced. The beauty of this pedal to me is that it doesn't color my tone at all but instead provides a little bit of gain for solos. It is probably more noticable to me, the player, than it is to the audience. In addition, this pedal is touch sensitive so even if it is on if you play lightly the natural sound of your amp and guitar is preserved.

I have never had a problem with a Boss pedal and would not hesitate to gig without a backup. In fact I don't bring backups to my gigs.

Never had to call them.

I play blues and jazz music in an organ trio. For blues, this is a wonderful pedal. I was going to buy a Tube Screamer. So many people love them that I thought that I was missing something and perhaps I am but I feel that this is a better pedal tone wise than any of the new or modified TS 9's that I tried. I have been playing for 25 years and I also own a Russian Big Muff, an old Chandler Tube Driver that the Blues Driver replaced only because the Tube Driver just got too many miles on it and became unreliable in live situations. I would replace it if it were lost or stolen. I set the volume and gain at about 10 o'clock and the tone at about 9 o'clock. This seems to give me the gain that I want without coloring the sound. This is an underrated pedal in my opinion which will certainly help a player make music. It's not for metal at all but why would anyone think that it would be?

Absolutely self-explanatory. Just 3 knobs and a switch that do exactly what say exactly the way you expect them to.

Duh! This thing like totally sucks, man. Like I turned everything up full and my axe still sounded, uh, y'know like a GUITAR, man! - er, yes, so certain contributors would probably say. But seriously, that is where this little blue box really scores - transparency! At all gain settings (and there's plenty enough there for serious wailing when you want it) you always still hear the dynamics of your playing style and the tone of your guitar and amp, NOT the pedal.
My own set-up varies as I am lucky enough to own quite a collection of quality gear, but typically I play a Strat or Tele (both seventies models, but much tweaked and improved to undo CBS's "product development" efforts - whatever some people will pay nowadays, mid/late 70's Fenders are NOT serious vintage instruments, simply old ones and not particularly good ones at that in standard fettle!) and either a Gibson Lucille or a 1964 SG Special (totally original and absolutely lovely!). Amps are Orange (70's Overdrive 80 model) or Fender (pre-CBS "Blackface" Super Reverb or "Silverface" Princeton Reverb). Other FX are Dynacomp, Expandora, Crybaby, Univibe, Vox flanger, HH tape echo and Orange stand-alone spring reverb (extremely rare!) - all with bypass mods where necessary to preserve the basic guitar/amp tone.
I use my fx sparingly, and my number one priority in a main overdrive booster for solos is to preserve natural tone as far as possible. Previously I was using a DX9+ Tubescreamer that fulfilled this function pretty well, but imparted a hint of nasal muddiness and slightly "artificial" sounding compression when added to clean-ish amp settings. The BD-2 does none of this, but simply has a similar effect to cranking the amp full-on, except with the addition of subtly enhanced sustain (and the facility to control the boosted volume of course!). Excellent! - and a bargain too at not much over half the price of the Tubescreamer. And the natural-sounding way the BD-2 allows the player to boost or soften the drive through picking dynamics is really like not playing through a pedal at all.
However I can't give a full 10 because, as other reviews have said, there is a very significant level of background noise. Facing away from the amp a few feet away it isn't too bad and is OK for most live situations, especially on moderate gain settings. But this aspect could prove to be a pain for recording. Overall though, a great little pedal (unless you actually WANT to sound like a chainsaw underwater - nu-metallers beware!).

Too early to say, though it is sturdily built and Boss do have a good rep for durability.

Who cares? When it does eventually die, it's probably cheaper to replace than repair at this price anyway.

I've been playing for over 30 years, using a variety of good, bad and indifferent gear, playing various cover and original rock/pop/blues/prog etc. Nowadays I play mainly blues and blues-rock (Hendrix, ZZ Top etc.), where style and expression are all-important. And this pedal suits that purpose near-perfectly. In the UK these retail typically for around #65 (but SoundsLive in Newcastle turn them out for #56 by mail order), which is an absolute bargain. Would I buy another if it was lost/stolen? I think the answer to that is pretty obvious from the rest of this review!

3 knobs, turn it in every way and you will always get a good sound. The manual are two pages, the most interesting part is "how to change the battery"

I'm using it with sucking amp and veeeeeery good guitar (Gibson SG voodoo) and I always get a good sound. I played with my bd-2 on sucking guitars, and they sound good. TIS PEDAL HAS NO SUSTAIN! IT ONLY CRUNCHES! If ya want to play like Angus young or Ritchie Blackmore, forget this pedal. If ya want to play like Clapton, take it.

How can I broke a pedal? To broke my bd-2 I will have to jump on it or throw it to my fans, so it will hit the ground...

Good.

This is a stupid question, 3 knobs.

I use a variety of guitars, a fender jagmaster, fender startocaster and an acoustic electric. I use this pedal for a booster really, it does have that bluesy tube amp sound and I like to use it for that.
It can growl like a mofo though. I run it through my amp with the amps bass all the way up and everything on the pedal on 10 and look out it's nasty and BIG!!!!

Well as far as reliability, let me tell you this.
Currently it has some random replacement knobs on it and it looks like shit all scratched and dented. Blemished is not even an educated thing to say here. I have dismantled it many times and have used the box and circut in all different ways. I finally put it back together and I installed a new switch cause I lost the real one. Anyway it still sounds as nasty and ballsy as the day I got it even after all I put it through. Now if you can send a pedal through hell, and destruction and it's still alive and kicking, doesnt that pedal deserve a 10?

Never needed them its a boss duh!!

This is a monster I could never trade it in or sell it, I just have that much respect for what it's been through and what it still dishes out.

If you can turn a knob youre set.

This was my first distortion pedal. With my strat and little practice amp this thing was just blindly crunchy. However, when I ran it through a Princeton Twin it was just magnificent. Plugged it in, set the knobs offhandedly, and played. Now that Ive toyed with it a lot Ive noticed a few things. It really picks up the noise off my mexistrat bridge pickup and makes the hum Really obvious. However, in the middle positions its just great. I like to play it with the distortion and tone most of the way up through my bridge and middle pickups to get a really hot and creamy SRV type sound. Also, through a marshall head with the tone all the way down, this pedal gives a very crisp but mellow lead sound.

Boss. Nuff said.

For the sort of rock/blues I play it gives a great tube screamer sound without making people deaf. Id be hard pressed to play without it, as its an integral part of my setup. A good trick is to run it after a DS-1 type pedal with a tinny crunchy distortion and use them both at the same time. If you've ever heard 'One' by metalica, the DS-1 on its highest tone setting is a great solo tone... but the BD-2 on top of it gives the low end some serious bite.

3 knobs level, tone, gain.
It seems as though the way to get distortion from this pedal is related to how you use the tone and gain knobs. And of course if you want more fullness you can turn up the level knob.

I use this pedal with my washburn strat copy through a peavey rage III. I don't really know any blues songs, but it sure sounds like I'm playing the blues when I am jamming along with a blues cd.
The ad that Boss has for the blues driver says that the bd-2 is for playing blues or for full on distortion. If you crank the gain on the bd-2 to get the full on distortion it will sound like crap. If you want full on distortion buy another pedal.

Boss pedals are pretty reliable, but I've had some problems with them. Yes, I would gig without a backup.

Like I have read from other reviewers, customer support is what you expect for the price you pay for these very well made, but low priced pedals.

This pedal is a great match for blues players. I have been playing seriously for about three years. The other guitar equipment that I own is a boss ds-1, and a Boss tu-2, and a boss bcb-6 pedalboard. If it were lost or stolen I would definately buy another bd-2. I love the ease of use (hint to Boss: 3 knobs.)
It definately helps my creativity when jamming.
I gave this little devil a 10 because of the quality you get from Boss pedals even though you can get them at such an inexpensive price.
One more thing try it unmodified before you pay to have it modified!

Easy 3 knobs. Like all boss pedals not making the fabled 29 day boomerang back to guitar center.

This thing is as good as a transistor box gets. Use It with a strat and a boogie nomad plus a wall of celestion speakers. Good boost sound with gain on 5 and the level at 10, It gives a very heavy metal distortion sound with the gain at 10 and the level from 5 up. Yes I said met. This pedal lacks the goofy midrange that the other boss distortion/od pedals have. The bypass blows, as you can hear the bypassed sound change as you turn the tone knob. Sounds best hitting a tube amp set on crunch. If you don't have a tube amp, you are foolish to be wasting cash on pedals.

Let me say this as a warning to potential buyers. If you are looking for thick sustain and compression THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT THE PEDAL FOR YOU!. The thing I like about this pedal is its lack of compression, thats why it maintains pick dynamics, which is what I really like about it. Plus, the gain is highly agressive. At high volumes through a tube amp, sustain is really not a problem in any event. As a boost its pretty transparant for single coil guitars. As a distortion effect It will give a very agressive mean distorted tone, but no lower midrange thikening (which I like like, as will most strat or tele players. I don't have any humbucker equipped guitars anymore to try it with.)

For beginning players looking for a distortion box, this thing won't cover your butt like a big muff or tubedriver will. Rhythmic inaccuracies will be magnified, as will poor technique. However if you have a very dynamic pick attack and solid rhythmic chops (or just like to shred) you will love this thing, as it will play to your strengths. This thing will punch your guitar into the high midrange where you will be free from much of the frequency interference of the bass and rhythm guitar. Basically it will scream rather than sing, and bite rather than chew.

One of the output jacks nuts was a bit loose. It gets a nine. Old boss pedals would get a 10.

Never Dealt with them.

Overall a good hassle free pedal. Recommended for players:
a) looking for a dirty crunchy rhythm sound
b) a brutal metal rhythm sound in concert with an amp with some gain potential.
c) Single coil players looking to maintain the character of their instrument distorted or boosted.
d) experienced lead players looking for an agressive hassle free distortion that doesn't mask or interfere with their chops.

A note on mods: I haven't played a modded version of this pedal, but the mods as they are described (more bass etc), would completely destroy the reasons I like this pedal. However they obviously work great for some players, so more power to them. My advice with any stompbox is buy it from GC and keep returning them until you find one that works. But a good guitar and tube amp are far more important to your tone than any effect. Of course chops are the most important, but the better you get the more picky you will be about your gear (and the less effects you will probably use.)

3 knobs. A switch. That's IT.

OK, before I continue, I have to mention the fact that this is a MODIFIED BD-2. It isn't an actual Keeley pedal, but it has all of the Keeley mods. If you have no clue what the heck I'm talking about, you can go here: http://robertkeeley.com/audio6l6/KeeleyBD2.html. That should give you a good idea.

My main set up is a Telecaster through a Hot Rod Deville...throw in a Boss DD-5, a Boss equalizer, an Electro-Harmonix Small Stone, and a Boss Tuner, and BAM!...you've got my rig.

Now, I've never actually heard a stock BD-2. From what I understand, they're pretty good on their own. However, I would have a *TOUGH* time believing that they sound THIS good. I'm not a tone professional, and I haven't been playing since dinosaurs ruled the earth, but I KNOW what sounds good and I know that I've gotten a TON of compliments from other people on how good my sound is. I highly recommend getting in touch with the man who made my pedal...Steve Dudley ...I don't think he'd have any problem drumming one up for you too. He recently told me that he's adding ANOTHER switch aside from the "phat" switch that will allow you to choose between the stock symmetrical clipping and asymmetrical clipping.

I've never looked forward more to playing my guitar than since when I started using this pedal.

It's a Boss pedal...built like a tank.

Steve is a GREAT guy. Responds quickly to emails. Plus, he sells this pedals for a LOT less than Keeley does...thats why I bought mine. Contact him to find out...

I know I'm gushing, but I really love this pedal. Contact Steve and buy one.

3 knobs. Easy to use just everybody else has said.

TONE TONE TONE TONE!!! I've been playing through a Boss SD-1 (Super Overdrive) and an Ibanez TS-9 Re-issue, and borrowed the BD-2 from a buddy of mine. All I can say is TONE TONE TONE!!! This pedal brings out a whole new dimension to my playing and Tele tone. In fact, I like it so much that I sold the SD-1 on eBay! Yes, it's more costly, but for the extra $30ish that the BD-2 costs, I think it's WELL WORTH IT!

I play lead rhythm guitar in my church's worship team and have been looking for a pedal that allows a good bluesy/overdrive sound while simple rhythm strumming - as opposed to a "marshall distortion" sound that the SD-1 produces. This BD-2 sounds fantastic! It really brings out an incredible clean tone, but still with that crunchy bluesy overdrive! It's pretty fantastic! Combined with my TS-9, it offers a pretty decent palate of overdrive tones. I'll likely re-purchase an SD-1 at some point just to offer some more flexibility, but for now, the BD-2 and TS-9 combo is great for me.

It's a boss pedal. Not much more needs to be said.

n/a

I play primarily clean tones (Fender Twin-ish) but like to have the option of having some mild overdriven tones in there. Combined with the TS-9 and a Boss CS-3 compressor, it sounds fantastic. I did end up needing to buy an NS-2 to take care of the buzz that the CS-3, TS-9 and BD-2 create (especially when they're all on at the same time), but it's great still. I'd certainly keep this pedal on my rig full-time. It really does a great job at creating that bluesy overdrive as opposed to the SD-1's more "Marshall-ish" tone. They're both great, but when you're on a tight budget, I'd choose the BD-2

This great distortion box sounds great at most settings. It's way easy to use with just three knobs: Level, Tone, and Gain.

I have used this stomp box with everything from a Marshall stack to a small solid state practice amp. Even used it in front of a Zoom 505 II (a small multi-effects box best used as a cheap recording direct box or as a headphone amp (dubiuos value in front of a loud amp but good with a small practice amp)). In every case the Blues Driver performs well.
Here is the bottom line... any effect box, especially a distortion/overdrive type needs to be transparant. By that I mean that it retains the sound of YOUR guitar. It should not add its own personality. This does that in spades!!! Fantastic! My Strat sounds like a strat not like a generic overdrive or distortion sound. Your guitar and set up is not changed except for the added overdrive.
Here is the next most imporant thing that you need to evaluate in an overdrive/distrortion, is it dynamic. Does it respond to touch and your guitars' volume setting?
I can easily set this box to give great sustain and overdirive with the volume knob full up. When I turn the volume down it cleans up real nice and sweet, all the while keeping the inherent sound of my guitar intact. It also responds well to your picking attack. Pick hard and it gives you the grit you want. Pick softly and its nice and clean. This is one of the main benefits of a tube amp turned up loud. This box emulates these characteristics better than any other distortion box I have used. An Ibanez Tube Screamer does this as well but what I like about the Blues Driver is that it can deliver a lot more gain if you want it.
If you use a box like this as a clean boost than this one cannot be beat. It keeps the sound of your guitar intact and just boosts the level to your amp to get a bit of extra preamp distortion.
I have been playing guitar for over 40 years and I cannot think of ANY overdrive pedal that performs better. It is my favorite stomp box and can not imagine playing with any setup without it

I have used this pedal since it first came out... 7 years ago?... and iyt has never needed any more attention than changing the battery. Boss boxes are as sturdy as they come... almost indestructable!

Never needed it.

If you can't tell from my other comments I think this box is the best of breed. If I lost it I would run out and get another the next day!
It does not need other features it is perfect.

If you are in the market for a great overdrive that wont mask your playing run out and buy one today. This is an essential pert of my setup and I think you may feel the same.

Three knobs for volume tone and drive. Very easy to use.

Better than the Marshall pedals but maybe not as good as the Maxon pedals. It does sound like an old tube amp, but its a bit bright and harsh and the tone knob needs to be kept down low at around the 9:00 setting. At full drive the pedal has more gain than the Maxon OD-808. Good volume boost available- I found unity gain at around the 10:30 setting on the volume knob!

Built Boss tuff.

Boss is Roland. Roland is Boss. Boss is good.

This pedal is great value. I also like the Boss SD-1 very much. I play Strats and Pauls into tube amps.

It doesn't get much easier than this. Three knobs. If you need help stop reading this.

I mainly play a fender strat through a Rivera R55 combo. I was never much of an effects pedal user until, while looking for a boost pedal, I stumbled upon this from another guitar player in my band. Well what a surprise. It sounds great. I keep the tone all the way down because it seems to retain the original tone of my amp this way. The gain is at about 11 o'clock. I find myself leaving it on most of the time now. It gets a "9" because I don't think "10" exist for sound unless you are Stevie Ray.

Boss is great quality, unlike my experiences with DOD.

Tube screamers, SD1, Guv'nor original, Fulltone fulldrive, to name a few that I have tried including "boutique" pedals. This is one of the better ones. I've been playing for 32 years. All of these pedals are good and serve their purpose. For rock/blues this is for me. P.S. the secret to the "holy grail" of tone is right there in your fingers.

It's pretty easy to use. Has 3 knobs.
The booklet has some good info on each knob but isn't really needed to use the pedal.

This has a really nice overdrive sound. It has a nice warm distortion, when used in a moderate gain level (the gain knob about 12 o'clock to 2 o'clock) in this setting the pedal is not noisy. As you turn the gain up past 3 o'clock it starts to become a little noisy (but 95% of all distortion / overdrive pedals I've played get a little noisy when the gain to cranked up).
This pedal works really great as a clean boost (having the gain off and using the volume just to push the level up for solos).
The tone knob really doesn't do much unless you move it past 12 o'clock.
I've used this pedal with strats, teles, Les Pauls, etc. going through a Peavey Transtube 112 and an Ampeg Superjet.

I've used this pedal for years and have always been happy with it, but ever since I've been getting into tube amps, I wanted something with a little more tone control (plus I like to have different overdrive sounds for different songs).
But overall this pedal is 100% reliable.

They have a great website ... but I've never had to contact them about anything.

Overall a nice overdrive pedal. Really great for blues playing and classic rock type of guitar playing.

3 knobs. Sometimes I think it's TOO easy to use... :)

I use an Epiphone Explorer through this stomp box which goes straight in a Marshall 8100 head and a Laney 4x10 cab. Settings on the Blues Driver:

Level and Tone: 12 o'clock
Gain: All the way up

This pedal sounds like both a valvestate and an all-tube amp at the same time. Amazing how Boss was able to achieve this with a simple pedal effect.

A noiseless distortion device doesn't exist. Personally, I DO need the noise that comes out of it as I use it with a flanger or a phaser to create ocean-like sound effects.

Whether you play metal, punk, grunge, rock, blues, jazz, or only need a sound boost, the Blues Driver is for you. It fits all kinds of music.

I own several Boss stomp boxes and I NEVER had and trouble with them, and God knows how rude I can be with my gear at the end of a gig...

This is now my main distortion device until I can get my dream amp (won't name it for now).

Never needed to.

For someone like me who plays in an alternative rock/grunge band who needs a very dirty and kick-ass crunching distortion, this is the perfect stomp box distortion to use. Before, I was using the distortion of my Marshall 8100 but the Blues Driver has a juicier, dirtier sound that fits my musical style better.

When I listen to my favorite artists such as Slayer, Silverchair, Creed, Fear Factory, STP, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Chuck Berry, their distortion all lack something... they need the magic touch of a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver!

Very easy to use - no manual needed.

I have gone through hundreds of overdrive/distortion pedals, ranging from boutique to dirt cheap (many times cheap doesn't mean cheap sounding). This Blues Driver pedal is EXTREMELY impressive. My gripes in the past have been that "distortion" pedals generally don't have enough mids, and "overdrive" pedals are almost ALL mids with attenuated highs and lows. The Blues Driver seems to be right in the middle, with plenty of lows, mids, and highs (I guess that's what you call full frequency response) which I believe is perfect. You can use low gain settings for mild boosts that really sound transparent, or higher gain settings that are really "juicy" and rich. I usually don't go past about 2 o'clock on the gain, though, as it will start to mush out. Also, the pedal is on the bright side, so I usually have the tone knob down around 9 o'clock (sounds great). This pedal is so versital that I am considering getting another so I can run one as overdrive (low-gain setting) and one as distortion (high-gain). Sounds even better when the battery starts to die (???) I gave it a nine because I can't bring myself to give anything a ten in the "sound quality" category. A "ten" is the sound I hear in my head.

Seems totally reliable - BOSS, you can drive nails with it.

I have played professionally for 13 years. Rock, Jazz, Funk, Reggae. Way into Steely Dan, Old VH, Beck(Jeff), Eric Johnson, Danny Gatton, Kenny Burrell, Marley, lots of classic rock. This pedal can cover just about all of these styles - legitamately. Go get one.

Three knobs, one for Volume, one for gain and one tone knob. Just like any overdrive pedal. Extemely easy to use.

Today I use a tele into a Laney amp with a colorsound volume pedal, Blues Driver, DOD Grunge, Vintage Rat, Boss DM2, MXR Blue Box & an EH Frequency Analyser. My effects change a lot but I don't use too many, just a selection of fuzz's and subtle delay or ring modulation. I don't get on with most effects.
This is a great overdrive pedal. It has lots and lots of gain. I use it as a boost, last in my chain and I pretty much leave it on all the time. You can add a slight amount of grit & sparkle to the boost too which is nice. I use it to get a pavement-ish boosted clean sound and to make my distorted sound better. It does make everything sound better and makes me stand out more. It's got plenty of gain and you can boost it more than with EQ pedal. I prefer it to the other OD pedals I've owned because I've found them all to be too grainy or trebley. Unlike the SD1 & the others this pedal sounds full and responsive. When I used an SD1 or tubescreamer as a boost my sound became too thin and trebley so I had to put the overdrive first where it got lost.
You can get distortion out of it too which sounds good with a band. It actually has all the distortion you actually need, if you don't use amp distortion you will only get a good tone from something mellow like this. At high distortion levels this pedal does get a bit fuzzy. I prefer my RAT for general distortion/fuzz though. It sounds fuller and has more character. If you use this pedal for distortion it can sound a bit flat.
As a booster it is a bit noisy but anything where you boost the sound will result in some noise. It's much quieter than an EQ or SD1. I think it's the quietest boost without going into zvex SHO territory.
The tone knob doesn't do that much.

Boss pedal. It's solid and you can step on it and it feels good.

Never tried but I very much doubt they would help.

I play all kinds of music, mainly in the alt rock/noisy side of things. I love this pedal and I leave it on nearly all the time to boost and enhance my sound. I can also step on it to turn it off between songs and I get quiet to stop me feeding back. This is my favourite overdrive pedal and it's a great booster. It's quieter and more useful than an EQ pedal and it's not grainy like all the other overdrives I've tried.
As a distortion pedal it's pretty good, but I prefer my other pedals. I normally prefer FUZZ to distortion/overdrive. But you can get a good tight defined distortion sound from this.
Great pedal and a MASSIVE and fantasic boost. A Fair distortion. You can easily add 25bd to the sound with this. Good pedal.

The blues driver is a straightforward overdrive pedal, one knob for gain, one knob for volume, one knob for tone.

I use this pedal with an Epiphone Dot (Semi-hollowbody guitar with humbuckers) and a Fender Twin. It gives an excellent overdriven sound through the clean channel at lower settings (I cant really crank my twin up to naturally overdrive in small clubs). I should mention that I liked the sound of this pedal when I first started to use it, but it seemed too grainy at high volumes. My friend and I spent an evening resoldering about 15 different components (given below). This made the most amazing sound difference . . . as far as I'm concerned, this is the best overdrive pedal that I have ever heard after the mod. It really lets your guitar tone shine through.

(This is basically the mod that Robert Keely does. I think he throws a switch in for a fatter sound? . . . if you have this pedal, go to your local electronics shop and do this 10$ mod yourself!!!)

D3 -> Change this 1SS133 to a different (1N4002) diode for asymmetrical clipping. This adds second order harmonics. This adds to the tube type sound. I like the sound of this change.

D7 and D10 -> Change these diodes from 1SS133 to 1N4002. More second order harmonic distortion. Although the change is slight, I like it.

C1, C7, C6, C12, C13, and C15 -> Change this electrolytic capacitor to a 10uF tantalum. Tantalum capacitors sound better than electrolytic capacitors. It would be best to have a non-polarized cap here. I like these anywhere there is signal coupling at this high a value. Tantalum capacitors are easy to find in this range.

C14 -> Increase input coupling capacitor value to 0.1uF for increased bass response from your guitar.

R1, R2, R18 and R19 -> Here is some magic. Change the resistors to carbon composition. These old resistors probably have some frequency dependent component, which means that there is a capacitive element to the resistor. This is because of the spacing in the material. Add these for vibe, MOJO, and magic.

C100 -> Here is where we can affect the tone control. I prefer a little more lower-midrange and bass frequencies through the tone section. You can increase the lower frequencies by increasing the capacitor value to 0.033uF.

Well, I did modify it . . . however I still think that the heavy casing should keep this pedal in good condition. Never had any problems with it after two years of the mod . . .

Dont think that they would help me after I screwed around with the guts of the pedal . . .

I play blues, rock, surf, punk, and even some metal. After the mod, this pedal can accomodate a WIDE avriety of tones very well. It can give an exact Ckuck Berry sound to a good Dick Dale to Jimmy Page to a fair Randy Rhodes (it's not quite creamy enough for metal). If it was lost or stolen, I'd get another pedal and do the mod again. It is cheap, easy, and makes a huge difference.

Also . . . CHEAP!!! To get even close to this kind of sound you could easily be paying in excess of 100$ . . . wouldn't you rather be playing than paying?

Everyone familiar with overdrive/distortion devices should have no problems with this pedal. It takes some time to uncover the pedal's full potential though. It's NOT a one-trick pony.

I've used this pedal with a number of setups, my current setup includes a Strat, a Tele, about ten other pedals and a reissue Fender Twin.

I play everything from George Harrison to Slash, and this pedal is probably the most versatile overdrive/distortion device I own. It works well as a gain booster (although a Super Overdrive is better at that), but really excels at medium to high gain sounds. It actually sounds pretty amp-like - lots of touch-responsiveness and great tone - and with the gain at max, it gives a totally convincing high gain distortion (with a powerful input signal).

I've owned both the JMP-1 and V-Twin in the past, and, honestly, I sold the V-Twin because the BD-2 actually sounds better at what those preamps is supposed to do.

I don't at all see the need to modify it. Fizzy? No, not at all, but remember it's NOT a Super Overdrive/Tuber Screamer type of pedal. Those pedals contain separate distortion/clean circuits running in parallel, and are far more middy than the BD-2, which gives what I'd call "true" overdrive, with no clean signal mixed in. Thus it's my main overdrive/distortion unit, and my SD-2 is used in front of it to boost it.

It's been reliable so far like the rest of my Bosses. They're a far cry from the Russian-built E-H pedals I reviewed for a musicians mag, which were broken on arrival.

Roland Scandianavia are helpful, but I have never approached them with a guitar-related problem.

A great, versatile pedal which can sound really expensive through a good amp. Just don't expect it to be a TS-9, because it really is of a completely different breed.