Boss CS-2

Three knobs Blah. blah. blah. Pretty easy to use.

I'm using this with a Ibanez GAX70, through alot of pedals to a Marshall 9004 preamp. it's kind of noisy but I'm using headphones so yeah it would be kind of noisy. Other than that it's a great pedal with a warmer more organic sound and it's not as harsh as the CS-3. I use it to even out string volume and get more sustain out of my relativly weak pickups, works like a charm. I give it a 9 begause of the noise.

Yup i can depend on it.

I play rock, metal, alt rock, and alot noodling. I've been playing for about four years. I would find another if lost or stolen.

As it's been said before... 3 Knobs, could it be any easier?

I've got a Japanese Black Label one, had a few issues with it occasionally giving off a crazy buzzing noise when you turned it on/off but after investigation it appeared someone had taken out the plastic sheet that seperates the circuit board from the metal backing plate and I think the fact they were touching was causing it to buzz.
Anyway, Sound wise this thing is far superior to the CS-3, much warmer in sound, and as I said, because it's only got 3 Knobs it's so easy to dial in a sound that suits your playing.

Well, Im not totally sure how old mine is but Im guessing early 80's, the paint work is chipped all over and it's rather tatty but it STILL WORKS after all this time. Also, Dave Gilmour still uses this thing on his pedal board...now, Im not a betting man, but if I was I'd put good money on that fact that Dave Gilmours CS-2 is the only CS-2 he's ever had... bearing in mind how many gigs Pink Floyd/Dave has done over the years I'd say you can't get much more reliable than a BOSS

Never had to deal with them...

It's very suited to my style and my musical influences... U2, RHCP, The Cure, Pink Floyd etc...It was stolen, I'd cry...'cause these things are so rare and If I did find one I'd end up paying way too much.
I wish there was some firm that would "refurbish" the paintwork for me, as It stands out amongst my other Boss pedals as being rather scruffy, yet the most important thing is the sound it makes.

I will spare you the "Duh it only has 3 knobs" talk. As if the amount of knobs has much to do with it at all. If you understand the concept of compressors, it is almost too easy. I find the CS-2 to be far easier than any other compression pedal in dialing in for great tone and not over squashing.

Custom Shop Strat/72 Tele Thinline -> BOSS CS-2 -> ProCo RAT 2 -> Maxon 808 -> BOSS CH-1 -> BOSS DD-6 -> Fender HR Deluxe. Low noise. The sustaining and enhancing characteristics of the pedal may bring some of the amps tube noise up front, but it is little to worry about. It certainly is not as "transparent" as other compressors, but I really like that about it. Texas Specials in the strat, played through the CS gets a really great percussion to it, very SRV. Fuzzing out the rat and and cascading the CS through other effects can give you some wild feedbacks.

Its a BOSS. This thing is at least 5 years old and still kicking just fine.

Never dealt with BOSS/Roland. I heard its no good though.

Wonderful for all the types of music I play (I at least try to play everything). 8 Yrs playing, and I consider myself to have a pretty good ear for nice tone. If it were stolen or lost I would certainly look for another. It's a shame these are discontinued, but if they were not I'm sure they would be made in Taiwan now anyway. Don't bother with the CS-3, its not worth the box it comes in. I put the new CS-3 and my used CS-2 (for about 35 dollars less might I add) next to each other at the shop and the results were very clear. Go Japan if you can.

Easy...levels are...

Adds a punchy,percussive,sound with more brilliance that does somewhat diminish your true tone. I use it for guitar,bass and vocals to add presence and clean up the stray decibels. Recording or live this is my all time favorite pedal. In this order I use boss cs-2,sansamp gt2,ibanez dfl flanger into anything with reverb. Helps to make me sound better than i am. It and the samsamp really punch up the bass and makes it stand out. On the guitar it does the chili pepper funky swatty thing pretty well. I dont think it sustains all that well which is ok with me. Nothing gets a 10.

Boss is beefy. no backup

not applicable

If i could only have one pedal this is it.

2 buttons! give me a break! haha
made in japan (just the BEST!)

i use several vintage fender guitars, with a Sound City 50+ head, a fender super twin reverb or my '74 marshall super lead.
pedal is quiet as a dream... sounds lush and soft.
stick it in front of your twin and you'll swear you're playing through a roland jazz chorus amp. sounds EXACTLY like the chorus on that amp, without having to buy one (they're great amps, anyway!)
i'm a lot into exerimental space rock (a la mogwai etc.), and of course, the old pink floyd stuff. this pedal fits my style perfectly, i leave it ON all the time, but very soft and sobtile, just to add some "space"...

oh man... if you can depend on one brand of pedals, it's the old BOSS!

haven't needed them yet...

i paid less than 40 bucks for it, a great deal for the price. jap boss peds are ALWAYS a great deal! i've seen the ce-2 on ebay selling for more than 100 bucks, get one if you can, they won't get cheaper!
basically, if you're looking for a roland jazz chorus sound, get one of these pedals! it's great sounding, cheap, and even nice to look at... haha

Read harmony central's great explanation of compressors and it becomes easy. Even if you don't, there are only three knobs and it won't take long before you figure it out.

This is why I wrote this review. It seems a lot of people who review have good setups and have been playing for many years. I have been playing for many years but it remains a hobby and I am more at ease putting my money into my tuition than guitar gear. So, I am sitting at home jamming away with a little 10-watter with an 8" speaker and am perfectly happy.

SO... this is for those who, like me have a cheap amp.

The question people like us have to ask when we buy gear (usually second hand ; ) is whether or not it will sound like utter rubbish through our little transitor amps.

The answer in this case is yes.

The effect is not quite as pronounced as some I have heard but that suits me fine. When you first get a new pedal you usual set everything to full to hear a change. I know I do!

When you do you will hear the definite change - the pumping, almost stacatto like compression of the notes. I don't like that personally but if it's your bag - then it's there. I prefer a much more subtle setting.

I use:

Level: 2 o'clock
Attack: 10 o'clock
Sustain: 10-11 o'clock

I find this is just nice, especially good with a wah.

What I find that pleases me the most is the warmth of this thing. It's a silly concept of course and one that is hard to quanitfy, but it is there. It makes my somewhat brittle amp just that little bit nicer, and for that, it is one whenever I play clean.

It is not transperant, nor is it supposed to be.

this is my first boss pedal but it is 20 years old and working fine. It seems very surtdy but also quite light, which is very good.

n/a

These are not all that common on the used market (in Australia!) so I would be very unhappy if it went missing and I would try my hardest to get a new one!

The bottom line is that this pedal is designed in a certain way. It is NOT transparent and it does NOT go to extremes. It IS however a great pedal for subtle, warm compression effects and a GREAT clean lead boost.

Not that easy.........requires some thought and balance....Doesn't squish the way I like....But you can get feedback induced at lower levels for bedroom playing...Had to read up on compressors before hand.

Sound quality OK.....Just needed something a little more.........Good attack, But I
Need an Orange Squeezer or Keeley Comp or whatever.........
Strats to a Delta Blues.....

Sure thing Boss man!

Don't do that ever!

Good pedal, but I need a little more in my rig........
Everyones' rig is different, keep trying compressors until your rig is right!
Otherwise, punch it up on Ebay!

Easy to use. I play Heavy Metal and like this Pedal. We tend to get carried away with soo many pedals and effects and what I got going is just this BOSS CS-2 and a Distortion pedal now.

Holds the note for days A +++

It's a Boss Made in Japan. A +

I also have the Zack Wylde EMG pickups. The Boss SC-2 is great with these pickups. Playing Heavy Metal one needs punch. This pedal creates Compression which will PUNCH it out. I guess you just have to test things through trial and error to see what you like. The last guy made a comment that it works best on the clean channel. I wouldn't know because I don't play clean. It works great with distortion. I've tried the 20 year old OD-1 distortion pedal, DD-3 delay to add thickness, Ibanez tube screamer, metal zone pedal, Marshall amps blah blah blah. This pedal is a keeper. I would buy another if stolen.

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.