Boss CS-2

This pedal is as easy as it gets. Very simple. Just do the tweaking, to suite your taste, but I only avoid turning the sus. up past 2 o'clock to keep the noise level down.

Here is the bottom line. This pedal is organically warm and natural sounding. I bought this off Ebay just because, and I put it in the place of my Carl Martin compressor, and that's the way it will stay. This compressor sounds better, and is sooooooo much easier to find a great setting....I have other compressors to compare it to, such as the CS-3, which is only satisfiying if you put a VHT Valvulator in front of it, a Ibanez 10 series unit, and a MXR Sustainer. This pedal won the spot on my pedal board hands down, and I may even sell the Carl Martin simply because it is such a pain to set up, and it may sound transparent but it is so sterile compared to the CS-2. I just recieved the pedal this week, and I'm so impressed that I wanted to submit this review, and I don't usually do this for at least a year after using a pedal. I have the chain set lit this, VHT Valvulator, CS-2, Ernie Ball Vol., Fulldrive II, Fulltone Fat boost, Fulltone Chorale Flange, to a Boss DD-6 going into a Fender Super Champ and Fender Princeton II. I haven't pluged into all of my amps, but like I said, this pedal is natural and warm, so it's a keeper. The guitars I have used for the testing are as follows, Fender Custom Shop Robben Ford, Gibson Les Paul Standard with Rio Grande Texas BBQ pups, Zion Classic with Anderson pups s/s/h, a 69 RE thinline Tele (Japan), excellent Fernadez Tele (52 Fender copy), and a Peavey Predator with EMG SA pups. Every instrument sounds great in this pedal, no they sound Excellent with this compressor. I can change guitars and leave the settings in the same place and I can play without having to bend over tweak the compressor, then stand up and stare at it for a minute to try to figure out what is wrong with my sound. I play various styles in my Church Praise Team, and in my band, and this is so far the best compressor I have found. I want to try Analogman compressors, but they are costly, and now that I found this pedal, I'm not in a hurry to get a Comprossor/OS. This pedal interacts smoothly with my other pedals, and I don't find myself nearly as frustrated as I was when I used the Carl Martin.

It's a Boss. There last forever it seems.

n/a

I play everything except very hard rock/metal styles. From Country, Jazz, Classic Rock, and what ever comes to my hands, and the smooth natural sound of this pedal works so well that I don't like to turn it off. If it were stolen, would I replace it? Don't steal from me, God can find your butt wherever you go, so don't mess with one of his own. I would replace it if damaged.

Very easy to use. Of course the CS-2 works best when your amp is set clean. If you have a master volume control on your amp, set the gain so it's just sweet and let the master volume be the driving force behind your tone. To get that natural CS-2 sound, set the 'Sustain' low enough to let it ring and compress organically without sqashing your tone. I found it to work really well at around '10 o'clock'. Set the 'Attack' between '9 and 10 o'clock'. This will prevent that "zing" when you hit a power chord. Then adjust the 'Level' so it's on the same volume as your bypass sound. Remember, when comparing the two sounds, hit the chord with a bit of punch and then set the level accordingly.
I found this particular compressor to be very good and very natural. There's a lot of versatility, but most importantly, when my clean sound needs more sustain and compression without being altered in any superficial way, the CS-2 does a great job. Very good when combined with modulation effects.

I run a straight forward setup. The signal from my guitar(s) goes into my wah-wah, tuner, the CS-2, all my modulation pedals, then delay pedals and into my amp. I found the CS-2 to be relatively quiet when the 'Sustain' is set low. If you think about it, it's not the effect itself that contributes to noise. It's the circuitry and character of the amp. The effect just increases the compression and sustain of the already present signal. I actually found the CS-2 to be quite transparent. My amp is all-valve and is hand-built the same way like amps used to be built in the 1950's and 60's. So hum is just a natural characteristic of a typical all-valve amp. It's not very noisy. It's only really noticeable when I'm playing in a quiet room by myself. But when I play with a band, it makes no difference.

I got my CS-2 because I know David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) uses one and I like the way he applies it to get that nice lenghty sustain from his Fender guitars. It's a very good effect to use with single-coil pick-ups.

I bought this effect second-hand in an excellent condition. It's over 20 years old and it still functions like a brand-new Boss stompbox.

Never had the need to deal with Boss because their effects have always been consistently reliable.

I play everything because I play in various cover bands. But no matter what kind of music I play, there are certain effects that just come in handy in all situations. The CS-2 is one of them. It always gets used. I look after my gear and I carry all my stompboxes in a pedalboard/case, so I don't really have to worry about anything bad happening to any of my gear. But if worst came to worst, and it happened to be one of my effects pedals, I would be looking around for the oldies because as much as the new ones seem more versatile and have more features, they just never seem to have the tone and natural character of the old ones. I think that's why most guitarists end up going back.

Not too bad at all. I read some other reviews and got the impression it was going to be really difficult - just reduce the gain on your clean channel and set the level of the compressor and then take it from there - it's well worth the fiddling about.

Once you get the gist of what it does (i.e. trying to make all your notes the same volume) it is fairly simple.

I got it 2nd Hand and there was no manual and I consider myself a bit of a no-hoper with technology, but I managed!

I use a 72 re-issue Telecaster > Boss NS2 > Boss CS2 > Marshall DSL100. The pedal has really sorted out any "dullness" that I was getting with the clean channel. I now get a lovely smooth sound that (dare I say it..) sounds pretty professional.

I use my amp for distortion and the compressor neither adds or detracts from the sound I get and I was kind of hoping it would improve it, but the difference it has made to my clean stuff makes it well worth the money.

GOOD TIP - I use the NS2 to reduce a bit of the noise the pedal creates and it seems to work really well.

I haven't had it that long but it hasn't given me any problems

Never had to ask for any!

I've been playing for about 7 years now and have only just started to really splash out on some decent kit. This pedal has definitely introduced me to the idea of "sculpting" your sound more meticulously. I have always just been the sort who plugs in and turns everything up full but I'm trying to be a bit more professional about my sound and this pedal, along with the NS2 has really helped my sound and tone. I would definetly recommend it to anyone who uses a Marshall for their clean stuff.

I'm italian, sorry for my english. Just three knob, very easy job if you know how a compressor works. I buyed it used, without a manual, not a problem.

Gibson Les Paul and Fender The Twin Red Knob amp. 20 years of playing. I tried a cs-3 and i think it was a waste of money and time; it had a awful "click" anytime i picked a string, it seemed very fake. I find the cs-2 (made in japan) much more natural and musical. It helps sustain, it's no intrusive, gives brilliance and smoothness to sound. I keep it on all the time, attack at 2 o'clock, sustain at 11, level according with the volume of the amp. I don't think it's noisy, considering how noisy a compressor is normally, maybe a bit if you turn up the sustain. I play mostly blues-rock, it helps me on clean solos and gives the right boost in more distorted sound. I give it a 8 because i don't know many others compressor, so maybe there is something better.

I think Boss boxes are very strong and circuitries are good. I go without a back up. (well, i can do it without it, anyway...)

Never dealt with the company.

20 years playing around, i mostly go for guitar and amp, get distortion from saturation of the tubes, with a little help of a TS-9 for more drive, a Proco RAT for different distorted sounds, a cry baby wah. The cs-2 makes my life on stage easier, the guitar with it is more playable the notes just comes more fluids,the bending is more soft, chords more equilibrated. If it were stolen i would get another one. I love its sound, i hate Boss because they now made that cs-3 and no more this box. Don't make mistakes, get one of these old japan pedals, the taiwanese new ones are no good.

Simple enough.

This is not totally useless but it is the worst compressor I ever heard (Ibanez, Yamaha, ADA, homemade, etc.). It doesn't really even sound like compression. You get the attack let through even on minimum setting, and then the compressor kicks in and takes away all the high end. Only if you hold the note does anything sounding like increased sustain come in, the first portion sounds like all attack and no sustain.

Boss does define reliable.

Tried it on bass and guitar. Could get some useful enhancement (mainly using unusual configurations) but not near as good as other compressors.

I see a few people really like it, but I'm guessing most are Strat players (can use some treble reduction) with an amp that can absorb attack transients.

25% simpler than a CS-3 (no tone knob!), just level, attack and sustain. What more do you need for a compressor?

I can't fault it, seriously. Used a CS-3, a Marshall ED-1 and various other rack units over the years. This is the best guitar compressor I have come across. Never tried a CS-1 (heard they are good too), but the CS-2 seems near-perfect to me. Very musical, with more character than the CS-3 but less intrusive than the ED-1 for example. The guitar tone seems be brought to life by the CS-2. OK, it may color the tone slightly, but in a good way! I set all controls to about 2'oclock generally...

Quiet in operation too. If you like a more transparent compression you may prefer the blandness of a CS-3 or a decent rack unit, but I am completely sold on it. I use a Strat and a beat up old tube amp and it helps the whole rig to sing, I have to give it a 10.

20 years old and still going strong. Taken a few knocks without breaking sweat.

No experience. Bought used (and maybe 20 years old) so not gonna happen...

If the CS-2 got broken, lost or stolen I would have to find another one. Would be bad news since used CS-2's are getting more expensive as folk realise they are better than the CS-3.

I love what the CS-2 does for my Strat and I truly don't know how it could be improved, but I'll give it a 9 overall - there must be room for improvement somewhere...

The Boss CS-2 Compression pedal is very easy to use and I found that once I had a good setting I just left it there. Uncomplicated and self-explanatory controls.

I tried many other compressors and nothing compared to this unit, not even rack mount stuff. This is my favorite and must versatile pedal. I was influenced by artists like Talking Heads, Andy Sommmers and Adrian Belew and was trying to achieve that tight compressed, driving kind of sound that could float on top of the band sound. Also, I played many guitar parts written for electric guitar and that used a smaller portion of the guitar's range. These parts sounded thin alone but fit in with the band great and occupied less space. The CS-2 was essential in enabling me to make this approach stand out. In conjunction, I used a wah-wah and a Rat distortion all played on a Strat through a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 (now a Marshall Valvestate). I found that once I had the setting I wanted, I never moved the switches. The CS-2 was also such a part of my sound that I almost never turned it off. The CS-2 can also provide a little bit of distortion which can really give a cool edge to your clean sound if you want it.

The metal case is great and (other than a lost knob) this pedal lasted forever. Boss does not make them anymore so I bought one whenever I saw it. I now have two. I also tried the CS-3 (with one extra knob) once in my life and I was surprised by how poor it was, it did not come close to doing what the CS-2 did for sustain, punchiness and tone enhancement.

Quite easy. Attack nob abit weird...

JCM800, 52 Telecaster, Les Pul Custom, junior, Ibanez. I am a pedal collector. I have ross compressers, Dyna comp, oranger squessers and many more. It is noisey, since it is a comppresser.It is not the nicest comppreser I have but IS the most versitile and the one I use moth. I used to have a cs-3. That was total crap compared to this. This has less sustain BUT it is much more natural, well made and MUCH creamer and smoother than the newer one. If you see one, buy it!! They are cheap! Unfortunately, this alre always 2nd hand because they are not made anymore. I must say although the ross adn orange squeeser sounds better, they are not as practicle and is more for recording than live work. I always have 2 comppressors ready, with different settings. David Gilmour had/has one on his board, along with his Dyna Comp. It is useful for boosting clean signals of Single coil guitars. Works BEST with my telecaster!

It is a boss pedal and they ARE pretty tough, not as tough as some others though. Nobs a remuch better than cs-3. I do have backups though.

//

I play alternative stuff. Lots of classic rock too! I collect colorsound pedals and ANYTHING that is good sounding. If it was stolen, I will go and find another one. I love it cause it is sso easy to get a good tone from it and it is so versitile. It is more used live, as I said. The ross and others are harder to set up and I just find them not so comfortable to use live. These are also made in JAPAN, not Taiwan, therefore better made. The values of these will also go up!

3-knobs compressor - the best one.

I use it with my ESP J-5 bass - and it is really good. I put attack and sustain to the maximum and get a slightly distorted and very bright sound which suits my aggressive style. The harded I beat the bass the better the sound. It's almost always on - and the best result is with slap. Nothing to compare with limiters/enhancers. There's a bit of noise out of it, but I used it on two studio albums and in the end it was okay.

It survived more live gigs and studio sessions than any other pedal I've got and I never had any complaints about it. I use it with AC adapter.

never needed one.

If you're a bassist I woul deffinetly recomend this thing. It's more useful with metal, funk or rock than with ethnic or blues stuff. I think I've got this effect for something like 7 years, and it's my favourite pedal. I wish it could have a cool looks - like danelectro or something. But I love it anyway.

Three knobs and a footswitch!

The compression on this pedal is alright. It is almost completely noiseless and has an OK sound. And then you go and turn the sustain level up. This brings on SO MUCH excessive noise and also distorts the tone. It does sustain a hell of a long time, but this brings the sound quality way down.

This pedal was enclosed in strong metal case.

This pedal is fairly good. There a lot of CRAPPY compressors out there on the market, and this one is not that bad. Be careful with that sustain, Ugene.