Boss MD-2

Pretty easy to use I guess, unless of course you mean getting a decent sound out of it which is impossible.

This has to be one of the worst sounding distortion pedals I have ever heard. I was pretty pumped when I ordered it because I thought I'd finally be able to get a good sound out of my 7 string going into a computer and BOY WAS I WRONG. The sound is very tinny and squealy at best with absolutely no chunk. When you turn up the 'bottom' knob all that happens is a you get a boom behind the thin squealy horrible sound, still with no substance whatsoever.

It's boss, i'm sure its a tank. Too bad it sucks...

Once again, its boss.. pretty good company.

I bought this for playing low tuned death metal and hardcore. I was hoping for a Meshuggah-ish tone, but instead this pedal is probably closer to what a dying seal might sound like. Do yourself a favor and get something else.

This is the BOSS MD-2 Mega Distortion pedal. It is orange like other Boss distortion pedals (except the metal ones, which everyone knows are black). It has an input, an output, an a/c connector (if you want to use an adapter or daisy chain if you want to otherwise you have to screw the footswitch open to get to the 9v battery connector)five knobs; level (controls the volume of the pedal), bottom (a bass control), tone (a treble control), Dist (distortion abbrieviated), and gain boost (additional gain). It takes some playing around with to get a sound one likes with it and you also have to work with your amp's eq.

I'm playing metal and experimental stuff with it. My guitar is a Washburn WG-587 and my amp is a Randall RG-100 classic head with a Randall cab. The manual gives some settings, but the solid distortion setting is the only good one. It is quite trebly on this setting since the tone knob is maxed out, which is why the minding of amp's eq was mentioned earlier. I use the pedal in conjunction with the amp's drive channel to make it sound more bad ass, and it makes it suitable for heavy rock and metal.

I would definitely rely on it, for the $134 I spent on it at the local music store it makes the FAB Metal Distortion I once used seem like a toy. It is built like a tank so I probably would use it without a backup

Never dealt with it yet so I won't know

I bought this to have a great sounding distortion for my 7, and it delivers. As I previously said, if you fork out the cash for it at wherever you got it, it will make the distortion pedal you had as a noob seem like a toy. I wish the manual had more settings.

Easy... so what it sucks...

I don't think I've ever tried worse distortion than this one... It produces messy, slappy sound... You cannot recognize your songs with it...

It is reliable...

You don't want this... except if you're def...

Boss! simple as. Easy, quick, shed loads of info on how to set it up nice on the boss website

Gibson Black Beauty Les Paul, Epiphone SG400 Custom (3 pickup), Jim Dunlop Cry Baby, into clean carlsbro amp GLX 150 T head and matching 4x12 cab/line6 spider II 112 75watt

I play alot of classic rock and heavy rock. And it sound amazing. Crank up that bottom end knob and give it a decent amount of top end and it's fantastic. Stick the gain level at somewhere between 12 o clock and 3 o clock to get the sensitivity up abit (not too high though or you get loads of feedback) and stick distortion at about the same. Amazing pedal. Only problem starts phasing abit once volume gets above 3 o clock, but that could be my crappy amp

BOSS!!!

Never dealt with boss, but that website is mint

awsome pedal! specially for the price. I've been looking for the perfect distortion sound for ages now and i think i've finally found it between the Boss DS2 and this it's amazing. Specially cranked through 4x12 75watt celestion speakers you get an amazing bottom end out of it and the tripple humbuckers on both my guitars helps beef up the sound :) only critism is that my jim dunlop cry baby sounds abit crappy when the peddal is on

Anyone who has ever used a Boss pedal can figure this one out easily. I read the manual but it didnt teach me anything I didnt know already. IMO even a Boss newbie can figure it out. The gain boost control could confuse a few, so I give it a 9.

I use this with a 1 channel, 100 watt Marshall tube head through a Marshall 4X12 cabinet. I use 5 different Schecter guitars (mostly all Mahogany with SD USA humbuckers)
I used a Boss Turbo Distortion previously, and this pedal seems to take the same basic distortion, removes some mids, adds the gain boost circuit and also the LOW control that is ideal for those of us who detune. turning the LOW control to about 2 o clock beefs my guitar tone up plenty enough to catch my low strings (I tune to C)
The gain boost circuit is interesting.....I tried turning the DIST control almost all the way down, then turning the GAIN BOOST up and I got a raw, vintage-like distortion. I usually keep it around 9 o clock because I keep the DIST turned very high. Anymore GAIN BOOST and I get some nasty feedback (with all due respect to the pedal, I am using USA Duncan Custom 5 or Custom bridge pickups so these are fairly hot to begin with). The gain boost doesnt effect the volume too much like you would expect.....just adds more sizzle.

It's a Boss pedal. In case of Nuclear Holocaust, cockroaches and Boss pedals will be the only things left.

I've had Boss pedals repaired before and they take great care of their customers......are they sure Roland is their parent Company?

If you detune and/or play aggressive rock/metal, you need a powerful, hi gain/sharp edged distortion with plenty of bass. many players like myself dislike the Metal Zone and Metal Core pedals because they are "cold sounding", "EMG-like", or simply too aggressive. IMO this one delivers the perfect amount of modern edge without sounding too far from a screaming tube head, sort of the "sweet spot" between the orange (Distortion, Turbo Distortion) and black (Metal Zone, MetalCore) pedals. I havent tried it on bass, but the LOW and GAIN BOOST controls should make this one excellent for that.

Its Boss and so its easy to use. Turn the knobs and away you go. BUT...getting a decent sound is difficult to say the least. Its way too muddy. You can't get a nice crisp clean distortion. Its either too heavy or too light if you turn the bottom end down.

I play with baritone guitars through a Marshall VS8100 Valvestate Half-stack. So maybe its because my guitar already has considerable low end. Its noisy. The feedback you can achieve is cool. Its very controlable so if you're looking for a cool feedback pedal this is it. The claim Boss makes to this that you can get the same sound or tones as you favorite hard-rock artists out there can't be further from the truth. I just bought this pedal and after only 1 day am considering selling it.

Again, its Boss. These pedals were built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. Its definately reliable to work, but not to sound great.

Never had to use it, so ???

Overall I would give this pedal a 3. I wouldn't replace it if stolen. I'm not impressed. Boss has let me down on this one I'm afraid.

Easy to get good sounds from this pedal - just start twisitng knobs. I will say that the two EQ knobs are powerful and minor adjustments do make a big difference. If you spend a little time with it you will get good results. The low end knob also seems to affect the mids - so, more low end also equals more mids.

This pedal is highly underrated. I have owned (and hated) almost all the Boss overdrives and distortions. I would not have given the MD-2 a second thought until I heard someone else playing through one. The sound really makes you sit up and take notice! I agree with others that this could be called a Mesa Distortion, because it certainly can be setup to sound that way. It is less noisy than the DS-1 I used to own, and also sounds much better with the added EQ function and additional gain.

I play through a Fender Strat w/ noisless single coils into a Fender Blues Jr. amp. Set just right it sounds fantastic! Here are my basic settings:

Volume: 12 o'clock
Low: 1 o'clock
Tone: 1 o'clock
Dist: 10-11 o'clock
Gain: 12 o'clock

I own a lot of other Boss pedals: delay, chorus, noise suppressor. This is the only distortion of theirs that I would consider after having owned and sold the BD-2, OD-3, SD-1, DS-1. My MD-2 sits alongside my MI Audio Blues Pro and Blue Boy overdrives. It gets a great aggressive rock sound. I play everything from blues to hard rock.

All of my Boss pedals are extremely dependable.

Never needed to have anything fixed. I like their website with clips and manuals to all their pedals.

I would give this pedal a 10 for value. You could certainly pay more for a boutique pedal that will beat it, but at this price point there is nothing that can quite match it. It definitely sounds like an upgraded DS-1, so you at least need to like how that sounds before you try this. However, it is superior to the DS-1 because of the ability to dial in more low and mids, plus more gain, plus less noise.

Quite easy to use. Level, Bass, Treble, Distortion, Gain Boost. Not difficult to get good sounds out of it. With that being said, it's also not difficult to get bad sounds out of it.

I bought this pedal used about a week ago, and I'm quite pleased with it's sound character thus far. So far I've used it with a 1988 Peavey Tracer Deluxe on the bridge pickup going into a Blues Jr. IMHO this pedal is a keeper. I really don't understand how so many people can give this pedal bad reviews. It's your basic two-stage-gain-type-distortion. The first stage seems to be a bit tighter with the gain boost (the second stage) being somewhat looser and louder. Overall, I can get nearly any sound from about medium distortion all the way to very heavy saturated sounds. The harmonic content is where this pedal really shines. The overall character of the tone with both gains set at about halfway is similar to my red Jekyll and Hyde, but with less noise. People who are saying that this pedal is muddy must be running all knobs maxed out -- duh. Overall a killer pedal for Petrucci type sounds. I also use it in front of a DOD 250 modded to grey specs, and there's minimum added noise, but killer feedback. I wouldn't exactly say "Nu-Metal" at all. Overall, I think this is going to make a fine addition to my board--tight, crunchy, lot's of sustain, ending in controllable feedback with rich harmonic content. Very musical. My only complaint is that the treble control seems to go a bit harsh when turned up high, and the bass seems a bit flabby when maxed out. Other than that, highly recommended.

Insert cliche here: It's a Boss.

Never needed them in the past, and I don't imagine I will now.

I play heavy, melodic, jam-type stuff. Think: Garcia meets Satriani. This pedal is well-suited to me. I've been playing for about twenty years, and this pedal is one of the biggest surprises I've found. The only thing I wish it had was maybe a little more mid-range, and not so nasaly of a high end with the treble turned up.

Like everyone else is saying, pretty straight forward on any standard boss pedal.

Um, I wouldn't say you could get the same tone as some of my particular fav artists....but everyone has there own guitar hero....so perhaps other's can get that tone but I like TOOL and BUCKETHEAD. In terms of Adam Jones, this pedal is actually pretty close. It's weird, because the un-modded DS-1 and this pedal, the md-2, sound close to his tone. The DS-1 lacks that bottom end Adam is know for and the MD-2 has that bottom chunk but gets too muddy sometimes. I have a 1989 Washburn (lawsuit) Les Paul WP-80. Adam has the awesome Silverburst LP from the 80's and respectively, Seymour Duncan JB's. I have the Dimarzio super distortion's. So it sounds close but unless I buy a Silverburst and some SD's along with a Diezel and Marshall NON-master bass head...well yeah! In terms of Buckethead, it sounds fat like his tone but again it gets too muddy. So if you try to do his signature, uh, videogame like fast licks it sounds pretty close. I know he's pretty much a Mesa Boogie whore. I've owned two of these and both are fairly quiet when the bypass is on (pedal off). I play outta a Fender 112 se solid state for all you tube snobs! lol I read a review of this pedal of someone saying they weren't able to try it with an EQ.I have an ibanez EQ and I highly recommend you buy one!Any Eq I guess, as Im sure each EQ has it's tone, but the EQ really fixes a lot the mud associated with this pedal.

Oh yeah. Boss is made out of well, super steel as far as I'm concerned.

Never contacted CS for Boss.

I play mostly hard rock-metal type music. TOOL, Buckethead, just a bunch of dropped d all day. It sounds pretty cool but I gotta admit I know there are cleaner sounding pedals out there. And not just those "boutique" expensive ass ones. I've never heard a proco brat or rat distortion but those sound great from what I hear. I read (the same reviewer on here btw) saying ppl knock the mt-2 metal zone too much.Dude, those pedals straight suck! Man, yeah there loud but just cuz something is loud does not mean a thing! My ex-gf was a loud bitch but her tone was awful lol. Anyway, metal zone's sound like crap compared to these. It still has that bottom end the metal zone has but no hiss! The reviewer was saying you have to really have to mess around with the settings for the metal zone...he must have listened to a modded one cuz I fucked with the thing all day once and omg, shrill! Idk how they could be selling so well according to the reviewer cuz dang, what an ugly sound! To top those off, they sound hella digital.

But i'd def buy another if I lost it (and have!). I love the bottom end and chunking. I hate that it mud's up a bit. I wish it had a bit more mid range..possibly another dial on the pedal. Def helps in the writting process. Sounds great when you layer the distortion.

Every Boss pedal is easy to use. It has a gain boost, which makes this pedal standout! But, it really needs a knob to control the mid. No mid control. That's why I just can give 8.

My guitar is a Gibson Les Paul. I use this pedal with several Marshall all tube amps in order to get a distortion heavier than Marshall's dirt channels. It does the job well. It can be noisy if I set it too strong, but this is not a problem because even the good amp's distortion can be noisy if you do that. I have many this kind of pedals, such as Line6 AM4, MT-2, HM-2, DigiTech Metal Master...atc. Only the MD-2 is still on my pedalboard. You gotta know that most of distortion pedals can be good sounding in the bedroom volume, but if you take it on the stage playing it in live volume you'll notice everything changes. some will get too bright or muddy or like plastic and some produce uncontrolable feedback. My Boss MD-2 is the one one that still function perfectly in loud volume! DS-1 can also do the job well,too. For more fluid shred tone, I really like the MD-2! The guitar volume knob can control the MD-2 well, that's another good reason that it beats many metal pedals.

Come on! It's a boss!

No need. It never die.

I'm a gig guitarist in a rock band. We play blues rock and hard rock 3 nights a week in a big bar. This pedal helps me a lot! Boss pedals are too normal and low priced so that many people doesn't like, but if you play music rather than toys, time tested boss is good enough! Many expensive pedals are just toys.

Its easy to turn the knobs.....thats about it.

Finding a good sound is extremly hard. you will either get a high pitch ear peirsing sound or a low bass sound where you cant destingish the notes. I found a good blues sound....exept for the fact that i dont play blues. I am forced to turn the pedal off every break in between hitting notes because the hum is soo bad. I use a gibson les paul, Ibanez gax-30tr, and a schecter omen. non of them make a difference, so I just use my amp effects on my line 6 spider 2.

Its reliable, no matter what i do i cant get rid of it. If i had any other distortion, I would plain just not use it at gigs, which i pretty well dont, I just use my spider 2 distortions.

never had to use it

I play rock, metal, and slow stuff, i cant use it for any of it, unless i use it for solos in a slow song or somethin.I've been playing for6 years and it was my first pedal, so i just use my other pedals. I am about to buy about $2000 worth of pedals and gear and I am trying to stay away from boss equiptment, because i also have a boss chorus and I dont like it either. I hope it gets stolen. I dont like anything about it. dont waste ur money, spend a bit more on a better pedal.

Hard to get something better than the presets from manual. Some presets are the maximum, which you can get, because then you simple add a bit more gain or something you will get a big amount of noise

It's quite noisy. If you trying to get some metal distortion you will get quite "sandy" sound. The only one decent sound, which I could get was useful for some old school heavy metal or hard rock (listened through Crate GTX212), but there are many better devices for that purpose.

Maybe it could be usefull for some kind of industrial or noise, I don't realy know much of these kinds of music, but it quite useless for any kind of metal.

Boss has managed to create another distortion box, I thought it would be a rehash of their older boxes but I was wrong. The Boss MD-2 Mega Distortion is just that, MEGA gain. There are 3 knobs other than Level, that allow you to customize your sound. The tone/bottom dual knob is similar to that of Boss' Metal Zone Pedal. I think this sounds more versatile and less treble heavy than the Metal Zone though. With a gain knob AND a distortion control, it's very simple to start turning knobs and figure out what sounds, if any work for you and what sounds to stay away from. A surprisingly simple and versatile pedal. Boss' simple little manual is included and gives some suggestions for sounds but it's not needed.

When I shop for effects I don't do so intending to emulate my favorite artists. I like things that have unique abilities, or pedals that do multiple things well. For practice and my 'noise' project, I've been running cheap Squier Strats through smaller Marshall combos at lower volumes. The MD-2 is nice for that, I have found, at higher "live" volumes through Ampeg heads and no-name cabinets that the Mega Distortion is surprisingly competent. I like the fact that when I turn my guitar volume down the MD-2's sound stays true in character at a lower volume, with the guitar volume down, a little of the edge is taken off, but the tone stays pretty consistently the same. I haven't noticed much excess noise, using a power supply or 9 volt batteries. I really like the fact that this pedal sounds good for pop, to punk and all the way down to Drop-D tuned metal like Helmet, and the "New Metal" that kids are playing these days. I play everything from experimental and sludgy to fast and technical and I have found the MD-2 to be useful in every aspect of my music so far. Try it with Boss' old "Enhancer" pedal for even more tone options!!!

It's made by Boss, their pedals are legendary for toughness. I have a Boss Enhancer (as mentioned above, the mint green one) that sounds great after the Mega Distortion that incdentally has been kicked around for 15 years by various careless musicians, and it's as good as new. I would and have used many Boss products to gig without backups and those little bricks never let me down. I've already dropped my new MD-2 twice but I'm not concerned, it works fine and Boss offers a pretty generous 5 year warranty now.

I have never needed help from Boss but I assume that after being in business for so many years, they must be doing something right. I have owned half a dozen Boss pedals over the last 15 yeard and they've all worked as promised, without fail.

I have been playing aggressive and experiemntal music for over 15 years, guitar and bass, and this is one of my new favorite effects boxes. I used to own the Boss Metal Zone but it was just too much treble heavy gain and hiss. The MD-2 can go that way, but only if you want it to. There's much more emphasis on low end, which I really like and for a hardcore/metal distortion, the tone is surprisingly warm. It doesn't have that digital fakeness that lots of new 'emulation/modeler' type pedals have. It sounds real. I have been using DigiTech's Clapton/Crossroads pedal on certain settings for metal guitar but the ability of the MD-2 for fine tuning blows it away. If the Mega Distortion were lost or damaged I'd try to find a replacement used, as, like most Boss stuff, it was a bit more expensive. I picked the MD-2 on a whim, as an exchange for Boss' compressor (too subtle for me). I didn't bother to try it out in the store, so when I started using it, it was a pleasant surprise that it fits in with my tone, style and nuances of my picking hand. Boss needs to get some fresh colors for their pedals, as this is ANOTHER orange brick. Seems like they only use shades of yellow/orange, blues and blacks! It's just hard to tell what someone's playing if all you see on their pedal board is an orange pedal, almost the same color of ther classic distortion. A minor gripe though, this pedal works well for me and my heavy handed rock.

This pedal is extremely simple to use. Just mess around with it until your happy.

This is pretty amazing, even without mods, even though I haven't been able to find any. Sound when not playing is very quiet and the distortion is wicked. Little boosts in tone and bottom are perfect. Then turn distortion low and gain boost high for thick rhythm distortion. Then turn up the distortion and turn down the gain and the sustain and tone for soloing is unbelievable. I only wish I had two or some switch so I could use both of the amazing settings. A little bit more tweaking and I could get a ridiculous lead sound so my TS7 (modded soon) and/or SD1 can be my rhythm.

It's built like a rock, like all Boss pedals.

Haven't dealt with them.

Between my TS7 and this, I choose this all the way. It's very versatile and I am amazed at how many different tones you can get out of it. I used to use it as a tone boost through my Crate VC3112 tube amp but I am away from it now and just have an old Kawai 60 watt keyboard amp. The tones I am getting are awesome. If only I had a good solid state amp with nice speaker and I'd be perfect.

I think it is very easy to use. But of cpourse you need to spent some time with it to figure out in what way the controles effect each other. Bur it took onmly about ten minutes to get a good first sound out of it. Fine Tuning took a a little bit longer.....

I was looking for some sound pointing towards Rammstein. This pedal does that well. It has ways more distortion than anybody will ever need. The sound cuts through a band mix quite well and is very agressive. It sounds very powerfull and strong but it might tire the ears after a while. The basic sound of the MD-2 is great for powerfull guitar work (Nu Metal and Rammstein sort of style)but not really designed for high speed stuff. The tone is not clear and well defined enough for that IMO. I like it for rhythm work but I would never use it for soloing.

I give it a ten even I just own it for 3 weeks. But due to the excellent reliability experiences I have made with Boss pedals all over the years I guess a ten would fit.

Never had to use cause i never had problems with any Boss pedal.

The style of music I play is somewhere between Rammstein, Black Label Society so sort of the Metal and Heavy Rock area. I use the MD-2 in front of the clean channel of an Marshall DSL 401 tube amp. This amp gives great Rock sounds but is not agressive enough for the metal stuff. The MD 2 is the perfect solution for that cause it sounds like the Marshall DSL 401 would sound like designed for metal. What I`m trying to say is the basic sound shape is similar. Thes two match and fit perfectly!!!! I play an Zakk Wylde Custom Les Paul (Epiphone) with EMG 81 and 85 pick ups and some other pedals (Morley Tremonti Wah/ Boss DD6/Boss CE5).

its easy

This is the worst sounding,most useless piece of circuit I have ever heard,no joke.It does nothing well,chunky palm mutes.fat leads,chords,forget it.I have tried everything to get a decent sound outa this thing on guitar,and bass,and didnt find one.The gear I tried it with was a 73 strat,and a 77 precision,and 81 squire jazz bass,amp was a 67 traynor yba-1,67 bassman+hiwatt dpr-504 into orig hiwatt cab w/purple back fanes.Bass rig was bassman head svt-810.For bass it overtakes your tone,and is muddy to the max.I have lots of the best pedals made,and always A/B them to new ones I take home.Even if a pedal only does one thing useable,I will keep it.I bought this pedal on saturday and returned it monday.I have never returned a pedal before.It may become a future collectible,because if BOSS is smart,they scrap this garbage,and nobody will own them.

If your starting out and not sure what to buy,please dont buy this pedal.If you want Boss get 3 pedals,sd-1,ds-1,and the metalzone,in that order.Also a graphic eq pedal after these or any combination of these will get you anywhere you want to go.Even just a ds-1 with eq after it,will make the md-2 mega distortion, sound like the joke that it is.The best distortion pedal I own is a Doobtone DS-1 mod.The Doobtone with a sd-1 or ts-9 etc. in front of it,into a point to point tube amp,and your search is over.My review is negative,but its my opinion.If you like this pedal,try a Doobtone ds-1,and then tell me I`m full of shit.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?

Not really that hard, for me.

if it is your first pedal, you might want to read the book that comes with it, to get an idea of how to use it.

Set up was as easy as most of the pedal out there; input, output, and power conetions (if you are using an AC adapter).

How is the manual for it (if there is one)?

Boss is great, when it comes to manuals.
It will explane everything to you ever wanted to know about "how it (the Boss MD-2, in this case)works".

I like the fack that they somehow managed to put a few sample settings. This gives me an idea of what the techs had in mind and what pedal is ment to sound like. It also gives you something to work from, if you are new to pedals all together.

It's a no-brainer, even for people who need one.

It has pictures!

A word to the buyers of the new units:

You will have to sort through the mess of papers that come with it, in order to get to your manual.

I went into "the lab" and pluged the thing in, as soon as I pulled it out of the mail box. I got it new off of e-bay and was waiting to pounce on the mail box, as soon as the mail truck rolled up, but I was out of town (on business) when it came (Doh!).

I had know idea what kind of sound I would get from it. I had a dim view of this pedal, when it came out on the market. Like the famed Bosss XT-2 and PW-2 (It sold for only nine months), I thought it would be short lived. I thought that Boss was following the trend of the "nu-metal" craze and that this pedal was going to be D.O.A. and flop out. "Take a picture... It will last longer."

I don't even know why I bid on it. It must have been two in the morning and I was half there. I picked it up for about $30 (US Dollars). In the world pedals, this is cheap for a new In-box pedal. Hey... I could always turn aound, sell it, and double my money. I could also traid it in on something else.

So...(to make a long s t o r y l o n g e r . . . )

Can I get the sound of my favorite artists?

To my wounder, I was able to do a lot with it. At low settings, you can get overdrive. If you crank the "Gain Boost" and "Dist"(Distortion), you will get a good fuzz-like that sound alright.

I played some Zep. though it and it came out sounding good.

Who are they?

Led Zepplen was the one used in the test.

Is it noisy? On what settings?

If you crank the thing up to "11", you'll get some noise(Fricking Duh!).

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) am I using this with?

I was playing my Custom Fender Standerd (at least it was at one time) Strat. I ran through, a Boss FV-500H Volume pedal, into a Dunlop JH-1 Jimi Hendrix Wah Pedal, through the Boss MD-2, into a MXR phase 90, through an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, and in to the amp(a Fender Blues Jr.).

Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?

Hey... I'm a beliver (I don't like something this much, all the time)

The low-end comes through and the highs don't mud up, but you don't get a "metallica buzz-crunch" out of this, But an EQ might get you there; However, I did not use one in this case, I wanted to see how it stood on its own. It held up and I did get a phone call from next door.

It could be used by roachs, after a nuclear attack.

I ware Biker boots, My pedals get stomped like crazy.

It is a Boss and Ive never had anything go wrong with a Boss pedal... Yet.

They must be over in India with the guy who helpped me fix my fathers dell.

I will let you know, if there is any truth to that statement, if I ever need to call.

What style of music do I play?

Rock, Blues, Metal, and Grunge.

Is this pedal a good match?

Yes, it is.

How long have I been playing?

Around ten years, now


What other gear do you own?

A lot more than I can list here

If it were stolen or lost, would I buy it again or get something else?

I would Buy another, as soon as I could do so.

What do I love about it?

I has a lot of gain, it keeps the low-end, and your highs don't get lost.


What do I hate?

I didn't get one befor now.

What is my favorite feature?

the gain boost

Did I compare it to other products and Which ones?

No... I did not really know what I was testing, let olone what to do a side-by-side with.

Anything I wish it had?

A sweepable mid (like the Boss MT-2).



Does it help me make music, or does it get in the way?

I like each pedal that I own. Each one gives me another tool or flavor to work with, I play many styles of music and need a wide selection to get the sound I want. If I have a pedal that "get's in the way" I sell it or traid it.

Where as most standard distortion pedals will go from a lite overdrive sound (that sounds muddy), to a mid-level distortion; this pedal will run from a mild distortion, to a high-gain distortion.
If I had to pick the top ten distortion (non-overdrive or fuzz) pedals on the market, this would be on it.


Anything else I'd like to share?

If you are in to Boss pedals, "this is a must have". It deals with the people who are always knocking the Boss MT-2. They think it sounds to thin (yes I said they think... They have not played around with it enough and set the EQ right). This pedal is also high-gain, and it is centered more for people who want more what I call "muffed-boom", then then "metallica-crunch". This is a pedal to make all the nay-sayers happy. I still think it's funny how these people knock the Boss MT-2, and yet, at the same time, it is Boss' best selling pedal ever (One Million units and counting). Someone is using it!

I like mine. I own a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier... am I selling my MT-2? No! I think it sound good going through my Fender Blues Jr. I can't play my half-stack at two a.m. and it is easyer to fit it into my Honda.

pretty simple to use just 5 knobs, really is no need for the manual unless you like using the suggested settings

you can get alot of diff. types of distortion out of this pedal, i play mainly hard rock/metal and some alternative music, i can get some good godsmack/deftones rythms out of it and i can get zakk wylde-esque pich's and squeals out of it, i'm into really heavy low-end distortion, so if your a "shredder" and like lots of highs and mids in your dist. then you probly wont like this pedal because it really favors the low end maybe something like the metalzone would be better for you......i'm using this pedal with a 2006 schecter c-1 hellraiser with EMG'S 81&85 in it, peavey valveking 100 watt tube head valveking 4x12 cab and ashdown FA 4x12 cabinet board is...this pedal IS noisy at gig level volumes, but it's not really a problem with feedback for me simple solution...step on the noise gate when your not playing...it's not very noisy if you keep the gain boost and dist. knobs pretty modest, but why would you want to be getting a pedal called "MEGA" distortion and then not turn the dist. all the way up,, just turn the pedal off, turn down the volume on your guitar or step on your noise gate when your not playing and you want have any unwated feedback ...with certain settings i can get tones that almost sound like they have some chorus or flange in the dist.with them, i think it's pretty cool actually...anyone else have that problem?

looks and feels really dependable, really solid pedal...i'd most likely use it without a backup

haven't dealt with them

i've been playing about 5/6 years i try to play a little of everything but mainly i play hard rock music and this pedal gets along with me pretty good it smokes the hell out of my ds-1 and the dist. on the valveking the metalzone and the heavy metal2 can hang with it to a certain extent, but i like the md-2 the most if it were lost or stolen i'd consider getting another one or probly try something else like the rocktron rampage dist. just for the hell of trying out since i've tried everything else but if i didnt like it i would send it back and get anothe md-2...the only thing i wish it had was a knob to control your highs, but i guess i can live without it...IMO it's a pretty good pedal if your considering buying this pedal it's def. worth a try if you dont like it then just send it back but i think you should atleast give it a chance to prove itself in stead of crossing it off your list because you read a couple bad reviews on it

5 simple knobs: Level, Tone (sharpens tone), Bottom (increases bass), Distortion and Gain Boost (for even MORE distortion).

When I first set this up I was blown away. Using the basic settings in the manual that came with it, I was nu-metalling it up like Korn on a bad day.

I used a Parker P.42 into a Laney LX65R on the clean settings. I wouldnt go higher than 12 o'clock on the Gain Boost though, because the amount of distortion you get beomes stupidly high (think a hissy, white-noise like version of 'Here To Stay' by Korn and you'ra nearly there.)

Built like a bloody tank, this'll last you YEARS!!! Even once nu-metal is out of fashion....oh wait....

*points at Reliabilty section*

I play a lot of hard rock, nu-metal and the like. Within minutes I was getting tones along the lines of Korn, Tool, CKY, Deftones and more. It does take some getting used to with the tone/bottom dials, but its a pedal I would gig with and not need a back up.

This review is being written for all those Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue Amplifier users that are having a difficult time in achieving a decent distorted or overdriven sound because their amps are so clean. Moreover,I am amazed by the low rating of this pedal at 7.7 out of 10. I have tried numerous pedals Boss OD-3, OS-2, SD-1, MT-2, Boss GT-5, as well as HAO Pedals, Ibanez Tube Screamers, the Jim Dunlop line and others. I simply could not achieve a sound that I could live with. Some were too noisy, scratchy, too expensive or just did not perform well with the clean nature of this amplifier! This Boss pedal is like all pedals produced by this Company - easy to use, well built, etc. Let me explain the set-up to achieve the sound I wanted using this amplifier.

I want some Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue users to try out the following amplifier and pedal settings listed herein, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed. If your trying to get a Marshall sound (which I was without buying the expensive Marshall Head)) you can to some degree with the aforementioned pedal and amplifier. In fact, it sounds much similar to the Marshall JCM 2000 Dual Super Lead using this pedal. If you want a sound like "So Excited" by SRV; "I Don't Need No Doctor" Humble Pie, etc. you can get it with this pedal. I had a Boss MT-2 which was excessively noisy and I was not impressed with it with this amplifier. The MD-2 pedal is NOT NOISY with this amplifier. Finally, I can hear what I'm playing without that loud background noise! Also, it gives you a nice sustain on notes.

The following are the settings used. Please be advised that you might have to tweek these settings to achieve your desired tone.

FENDER 65 TWIN REVERB REISSUE:

Use the NORMAL CHANNEL INPUT NUMBER 1:
On this channel, I have a Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb Unit set low on reverb. Probably less than 3 setting. That is, just enough reverb to be noticeable. Remember the Normal Channel on this amplifier does not have reverb.

Volume: Set at 3
Tone: Set at 6
Middle: Set at 5
Bass: Set at 7
Please note these values are set for a room environment. You would, of course, adjust the values differently for playing out in a larger venue.

MD-2 PEDAL SETTINGS:

Level: 10 o'clock
Tone: 9 o'clock
Bottom: 1 o'clock
Distortion: 10 o'clock
Gain Boost: 11 o'clock

Like all Boss Pedals they are built to last. Never had a problem with any I have owned. Currently I own 8 Boss pedals - Line Selector, Wah, Phaser, Flanger, Mega Distortion, Reverb, Octave, and Delay unit. Easy to use and sound great when used with the appropriate songs.

I currently play Surf and Blues. I use the above amplifier with two Ibanez 5 string guitars, and currently use a Boss Line Selector to split the "7 BOSS PEDALS" into either the NORMAL CHANNEL or REVERB/VIBRATO CHANNEL of this amplifier. The nice thing about this amplifier is that you can have the SURF SOUND on the REVERB/VIBRATO CHANNEL and the BLUES/HEAVY METAL SOUND on the NORMAL CHANNEL. The latter is achieved by using overdrive pedals or, as stated herein the MD-2 on this channel. Please be advised that you might have to get an additional reverb unit (Boss RV-5) for this channel to give you at least some reverb on blues tunes, etc. As stated previously, I have gone through numerous pedals trying to get something that works well with this amplifier. I believe this pedal suits the Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue Amplifier when used on the Normal Channel. I have been playing professionally and non-professionally for 30 years.
Hope this review helps........

not physical. Getting a right sound trial and err. Too much mud comes with this. Treble can shred you with white noise. This thing is monster. Be cautious.

hmmm... Terrifying. It is hard to tame

I use it to other distort. has much bottom, it can make up loss other pedals suffer. Use gain and distort cautious.

sometimes, it scares me. But it can be friendly too. Watch! It can make many sounds with a tiny knobs.

boss is tank

ok

Not typical distort. Use like cautious wind. Might like, might hate. Has other use than strict distort, like bottom boost.

You will get sound of hell ripping you half. Or you can mild. It has much range. And much pain. Be cautious.

This is not one of the easiest Boss pedals to use. However with a bit of experimenting, it's possible to milk some meaty tones, as well as some rather more subtle sounds to boot.

The hardest part to get the hang of his the tone/bottom controls, but apart from that, everything's Boss standard issue: level, distortion, gain boost knobs, and input, an output, an impossible to miss stomp switch and an easy to replace battery (very important!)

Although I have a Gibson LP Standard, I am currently using my Standard Fender Mex Strat (+ stock pups) with my new post-hardcore-psych band for the added bite. I just use a really clean amp model on my Vox Valvetronix amp, so i can get full use of my ever growing pedal board.

I play with the gain boost at 3/4 o'clock and the distortion control at 10 o'clock, which gives a far more natural crunch to proceedings. The distortion is quite noisy, yet far richer than the somewhat tinny Metal Zone. It's a rather quiet pedal in the volume stakes, and to get any real bite out of it, the level control has to be used liberally.

I've experimented with the MD 2 quite a bit, and although I don't play very much of them, the pedal can create decent Grunge and very heavy metal sounds using the bottom end eq control to make the tone far muddier. However, when using my prefered settings and the neck pickup of the strat, it creates a very cool tone for soloing (especially when combined with delay and wah).

Bought it second hand and it still works perfectly. Bomb shelter.

Never needed it.

I play very spacey post hardcore which calls for sparkling clean guitar to quickly build into a very powerful distortion sound.
I use it with a Boss overdrive for bluesier sounds, a Hendrix JD Crybaby, with built in fuzz, a Boss Loopstation and the delay/chorus/phaser built into my amp.
I compared it quite a lot with the Boss MetalZone which is vaguely similar. Yet I felt this was a far warmer alternative, if not quite as extreme. It seems to be incredibley underated.
I can't see me replacing it at all in the future, as I use it dominantly as a heavy gain boost, and not a traditional distortion pedal.
However, it will never be a substitute for a good natural valve distortion, so will undoubtedly get used less and less once I get hold of a Fender Super Sonic, or a Marshall JCM.

one of the easiest:)

can get muddy if the gain or distortion is too high, but overall this is an awesome sounding pedal. The bass control is amazing! Just be carefull not to over do it or it will get muddy.

Its sounds like a good amp channel. Think: mesa dual/triple recto

duh

Roland is good about delivering replacement parts. It may take awhile, but its worth it.

I've had this pedal for more than a week. And, I have to say, this pedal has changed my life. Dialing in heavy guitar sounds has NEVER been this easy for me :)

It's about as easy to get a bad sound out of it as a good. Which means it's extremely versatile. The only thing to keep in mind with this pedal is that it has a mid scooped tone. Mids are one thing you are not going to ge with this pedal.

That said, you can mess with the distortion and gain knobs to dial in the right amount of saturation anywhere from a mild distortion upwards into the "Metal Zone" territory. There's also two EQ knobs so you can dial in the desired amount of bottom (and plenty of it) and also the right amount of top end (and plenty of that too!).

I'm playing a strat with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail in the bridge into a Fender HR Deluxe. Actually, I would not recommend this with a single coil pickup in a strat. Anything high-gain with single coils sounds muddy and loose. This pedals strength is to be tight so it needs a strong compressed output pickup (i.e. Humbuckers). My current rig is a Morley Bad Horsie Wah, Toadworks Death Rattle 3, Boss MD-2, Line 6 DL4, Line 6 FM4, Fender HRDx.

First off, let me just say that if you're using this pedal to produce a cranked amp to 11 type natural power amp saturated tone, you need to take a step back accept the fact that this pedal is not designed for that and ain't gonna get you there. I got this pedal because I wanted a tight heavily distorted tone that would break up the signal with as little headroom as possible but not sounding too thin and metallic (no pun intended).

That said, this pedal is an awesome addition to complete my current rig. It's excellent for palm-muting, crisp-tight rhythms, and thumping drop-D metal chording. Tweaking with the EQ controls, I can dial in the right amount of bottom and top prefect my needs. Considering I'm using it with a mini-humbucker, I can get the fatness dialed in which wasn't possible with my other Toadworks Plexi Channel.

I'm giving this a 10 for what it does. Again, if this were the only distortion/overdrive pedal I had and thought it should be everything I expect out of an drive pedal, I probably wouldn't grade it very high. But hopefully you'll understand where I'm coming from. Use it as a tool for what it is, not for what you want it to be. If you need a crisp, tight, distortion in your rig, check out this pedal - hopefully it will do for you what it did for me.

Boss pedals are tanks. They always work!

I've been playing guitar for 10 years. I play all types of music and therefore love all types of effects and distortions (this being one of them). I'm meticulous and have been evolving my ear to different genres of music through the years. If this pedal was stolen, I'd go out and buy the same one. The tone is great and I love the EQ controls. I'm not a fan of the DS-1 which I knew wasn't for me right off the bat or the metal zone which the more I played it, the more I felt was just too thin (compressed sounding)... this pedal is the one I tried in the store for 30-40 minutes and the more I played through it, the more I dug the sound.

I play this through an epihone explorer and an ancient Laney of some description and i play metal in its varius forms. Setting both the Gain and Dist. at 1 o'clock, the level at full and then fidling with the Tone/Bottom to match your amp can get you a good hard, lond metal sound. However, it can take a bit of experimenting to work out how to use the Tone/Bottom nob propally and i still don't really see the point.

The sound is generally very good unless you do the stupid thing and put all the knobs to full which results in a bad fuzzing sound. I've also found that by turning down the settings with Dist and Gain at about 11 o'clock you can get a good overdrive (think Black Sabbath) whereas the settings above can get you Maiden or Metallica tones with ease. The pedals also good for heavyer stuff like Killswitch Engage. If you turn down all the knobs you can also use it as a simple volume booster for solo's etc.

It's a Boss. Before i bought this off my mate he hit it repeatidly with a hammer to prove its indestructability. Although the paint can wear a little around the edges the electronics can suvive anything. This has suvived many gigs and will certainly suvive many more with no need of a backup. Just remember to keep the battery fresh.

Never delt with. Their pedals never brake

As i've said before, this pedal does metal very well and thats what i use it for. This pedals been played for 4 or 5 years and has always given a good performance live or not. Its bright orange so pretty hard to lose and i don't see why you'd steal it but i'd definatly get another although probally still second hand. Overall this is a great pedal for a gigging musicion and is good value for money. There are always better affects and instruments out their for say studio recording but there also a lot more expensive. This pedal does a very good job for a very resonable price.

Fairly Simple. Level (Volume) EQ(Treb/Bass) Distortion(Grit) Gain(Warmth). Your settings will change with different amps.

My electric guitars include a stock Fender American Tele, and a stock '72 Original Custom Tele.
I was immediately blown away by how great this pedal sounds with guitars loaded with single coil pickups. As you may know, single coil pickups are finicky and tend to be really noisy with distortion pedals. The sound of a Tele plugged into this pedal is a meaty/growling distortion, with huge bass/ low midrange, and an aggressive yet musical treble sound. I would compare the sound to a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier.

Boss products are very reliable. I noticed that this pedal is light weight compared to my other effects pedals with similar size.

I called Roland directly to obtain a user manual on a used DD-20 I picked up. They were very helpful and considerate.
I would like to see more technical info about their products on the Boss Website.

The key for me was finding a badass distortion pedal that complimented the voice of my Tele. The MD-2 does that and added some serious growl with cutting harmonics, giving me a mean palm mute, and not being overly noisy. It's also versatile for a distortion pedal because of the EQ and both Distortion and Gain knobs.
At purchase I compared the MD-2 with: all of Boss' current dist/overdrive pedals. It won hands down.
I've tested and owned many distortion/overdrive effects pedals, and this pedal nails the heavy hard rock sound I was looking for.
I'm really happy with this pedal and cannot wait to tear up the stage with it.
I highly recommend the Boss MD-2.

Pretty basic stuff, as every Boss pedal.
Really don't need manuals for that.

I don't use this very much; anyway it's on my floor board.
Guitar (Jackson Soloist / Epiphone Slash Signature) -> Boss GE-7 Equalizer -> MD-2 -> CryBaby -> Laney VH100R tube head -> Marshall 4x12.
I just don't need it, 'cause the Laney already delivers monster overdriven sounds, so, if u have some all-tube, high-gain stuff, this one ain't for you.
Anyway it provides a very heavy and dirty distortion, even with the lowest settings. Sometimes I use it as a Boost for soloing, but it ain't great at this.
The sound is... think Creed, it's almost there.
It's not bad, but it is somewhat "artificial";
It comes handy for sure when u have to plug into some Fender-like clean amps, and delivers reasonably fair tone.
I strongly suggest to put some EQ before this pedal, since low-end and hi-end built-in EQ is not enough.
With some more mids and hi-mids from GE-7 (pre- MD-2), you get a sound which is similar to Boss Metal Zone, but heavier. Nice.
With better EQ it would be a 8, given the price range.
Almost forgot: does not have true bypass.

Rock-solid.

I mostly play blues-rock-hard rock, so it isn't really my kind of stuff, but I was sort of curious and wanted to give it a try.
I own it since last year, and overall I think I will keep it.

Semplice da usare, come tutti i pedali Boss, non si hanno problemi nel comprendere la funzionalita di ogni singola manopola. Il manuale comprende al solito dei settaggi orientativi molto utili all'inizio per capire le varie sfaccettature del pedale. Ottimo il controllo Bottom che brilla se usato con una chitarra a 7 corde

Provato con una Gibson Sg e un Samick da 60W. L'MD2 sa dare solo una cosa: una distorsione molto sporca e rozza. Principalemente questo e il suo suono base anche lavorandoci molto e con vari settaggi. Il suo campo d'azione e principalmente metal. Niente Metallica, niente distorsioni pulite e dure: l'MD2 se usato al massimo delle sue potenzialita ci dara una distorsione alla Obituary di Slowly We Rot, di quelle marcie per intenderci. Usato ad alti volumi o dal vivo tira fuori tutta la sua cattiveria, un muro sonoro vero e proprio!

Questi pedali sono notevolmente robusti, resistono a tutto, botte polvere ecc. l'unico neo puo venire solo dai due controlli sovrapposti, il piroletto piu piccolo tende alla lunga, ma non sempre, a diventare piu molle e a ballare un pochino.

Mai avuto bisogno. Sicuri del fatto loro alla Boss danno due anni di garanzia con tre aggiuntivi per chi registra il prodotto sul loro sito

Suono Death e Black, e questa scatoletta fa il suo lavoro benissimo. A mio avviso questo pedale puo piacere solo agli amanti delle distorsioni pesanti e sporche. Per chi cerca una distorsione metal standard piu alla Metallica se vogliamo o semplicemente un distorsore estremo e versatile e consigliato l'MT2, mentre per chi come me cerca un suono piu grezzo l'MD2 e decisamente meglio.

I have a stock Boss: MD-2 Mega Distortion. Setting up the pedal is pretty easy, there are 4 (basically 5) knobs: level, 2 tone, distortion, gain boost. There isn't anything overly complicated, and the knobs all do what they say
The manual isn't good, Boss supplies a big online one, and that has 1 or two basic settings, just follow those and change them as you want.

Humbuckers--->pedals (normal order)---->Fender Blues amp.
The pedal generally isn't very noisy, of course when you turn everything to 'idiot settings' there is an insane amount of buzz.
This is a really really strong disortion with a lot of bottom end. I was told it was designed for nu-metal, but I don't play that. There is no clarity for when playing 2+ notes even at moderate settings. Chords? Not even possible to understand.
If you are looking for a very heavy distortion, both tone wise and degree wise, this is your pedal. If you are looking for moderate distortion/fuzz type stuff, it's not really worth it.

It's Boss, the paint is chipped up on mine, and I don't even step on it anymore.
The quality is great, nothing to complain about, no backup needed.

N/A

It's a really heavy distortion, so nu-metal all the way. I wanted Led Zeppelin type distortion (the heavy kind) and this pedal does it way overboard. The low tone is great though, much higher quality low end than ANY other Boss distortion.
I wish I didn't get it now....but the power struck me when I first heard it and played it. I already replaced it with a Tubescreamer T808, that is the best pedal ever.

Simple turn the knobs to tweak the sound

Well, I wrote a review on this pedal back in March, in which I absolutely slated it. However, I have found a use for this pedal and now it is the only distortion that I use. It works brilliant in front of a valve amp as a booster...keep the tone controls down low, treble at 12 oclock bass very low, distortion set to 0 and add boost to match your sound...awesome for driving a valve amp at bedroom levels...over the top when the sound is cranked up, but for low level bedroom you can't beat it. Stick a GT6 through the effects loop to tweak the sound and you have a great set of sounds at your disposal.

Typical Boss

No experience

For use as straight forward distortion pedal in the clean channel of an amp...forget it, but makes an excellent booster for bedroom practise using a valve amp. I know give it a 7 instead of a 1, give it a try, but don't try and use it live, it will blow your amp and your audience.

Relatively easy to use, probably could do with less knobs.

Use an epiphone les paul and have tried it out on quite a few amps from a cheap carlsbro, to a marshall dfx to a jcm800 half stack and it majorly sucks with all of them! I cant get even a half decent sound out of it at all, it colours the tone of my guitar to the extent that it sounds like a keyboard! Problems with feedback too. Its a shame, I thought once I got a decent amp it might shine, but I was wrong...
If you want a heavy sound at all in my humble opinion stay away!

Sturdy as a brick, shame its about as useful

Never dealt with manufacturer.

I play hard rock and some metal and this thing doesnt cut the mustard at all. Some people obviously like it but there's no way I would recommend it if you played heavy metal, even my zoom 606 distortion sounds are infinitely fuller and more vibrant than the fuzzy synth noise you get from this.

Very easy to use. Manual offers all the information you need. Level, tone, bottom ajust, gain, and distortion knobs. Does take a while to get the right sound with your amp (I suggest don't dime anything at first).

Running an ESP SC-200 -> MD-2 -> EQ-7 -> Roland Cube 30. The pedal doesn't create any noise at all, besides a little bit of bass hum with all the knobs dimed. You shouldn't be doing that anyway, so don't worry about it. I keep mine at around Tone 3 O'clock, Bottom 3 O'Clock, Distortion 4 O'Clock, Gain 2 O'Clock. Gives me a good grind that sends me across the room every time I hit a chord. However, it does muddle anything beyond 3 string power chords, so be warned. Even power chords sounded a little blanketed, so I suggest roll off a little bottom and use an EQ if you have one. With the EQ engaged, I get a great Tool/Linkin Park/Deftones sound. For soloing, it's not the best (you won't get that shrill Judas Priest overdrive tone), but it does seem to have more heft than say the Metal Zone.

It's a BOSS.

Never dealt with BOSS, all their products are very reliable.

I play lots of alternative and art rock, and this thing fits the bill pretty good for my style. Think Incubus, Deftones, Tool, A Perfect Circle, ect. It's a pretty good match. Don't expect stellar tone out of a stomp box into a practice amp, though. If it was stolen, I'd be pissed and probably hop on eBay and get another one, since they run cheap there. I love the heavy, smooth, full distortion tones this thing offers. However, it basically sucks for that 80's metal palm mute riffage, so don't attempt to use it for that. Palm mutes sound muddled and fuzzed over.

I think that this peddal is easy to get good sound out of. It has a meaty sound, but sometimes can be too much. the manual had a standard set ups which were quite good at first. but i learnt more that u can do with it :D

im using it with a yamaha pacifica because i cant afford a gibson yet. i think its not very noisy. the effects are good for general play.... but it needs more when u play solo's, i cant find the right peddel to give it a really good sound when u play solo's.

its indestructable....

none needed, indestructable....

its good for general metal/emo play but during solo's it needs more meet and depth, but not to the extent all u can hear is the bass....

level, tone, bottom, distortion and gain boost. very easy to dial good sounds. a little patience to get great sounds.

just plain great!
this is a very chunky distortion pedal. think tool for example. I'm using a gibson SG with this pedal and a marshall in clean or semi-dirty settings. and this pedal has way better tones than the marshall I have (it's AVT20) which some people would laugh at me because of this! well, it's not like the amp, IMO amp is way clearer and less gain. the pedal is compressed and can be dialed to a scoop mids tone which you can't really have with a marshall.
anyway,
it's a fun pedal with a lot of versatility.

oh baby... kick it harder.

it's a very cheap pedal if you think about the quality!
it's versatile and has all the gain you'd ever need withot turning them all the way up. honestly I'm playing a lot of hi-gain stuff and I only set both knobs to 12 o'clock. that's all!
if you want gain you gotta have some hot pickups! get EMGs, SD distortions... stuff like that. nobody can get a chunky heavy tone out of some vintage sounding single-coils! not that I don't like them, it just doesn't fit.

MD-2 is a great dist./OD pedal. and it's cute, too!!!

There is small manual, some standard setups ... It's not hard to us but you need some time to set the best sound.

I have Hughes&Kettner Club Reverb 65W, Cort KX1F Katana. MD-2 work fine with them. It's noisy when you put it too high ... You need, a Noise Gate. It's very good for metal and rock because you fit it to yourself like a suite. It's better than MT-2 pedal.

Muhahaha ... Russian Tank - no way to destroy - BOSS :)

I never need any support ...

If you need good distortion pedal you need to test them but for me MD-2 is the best. MT-2 have too bad sound forme. DS-1 is not so powerful like MegaDistortion :)

5 knobs for tweaking, 1 button for stomping. Very easy to use.

If you don't know what you're doing with the gain knobs you won't like this pedal.

I own an ESP LTD F-50, I run it through a Boss NS-2, MD-2, and GE-7, into a Rogue 100W 2x12 amp.

One day I had the opportunity to try out every Boss pedal. Every one. I was looking for a distortion pedal.

The SD-1: Too weak. Went well with a good amp overdrive, though.
DS-1: Too weak. Tone control sucked.
MT-2: Very harsh and artifical, very thin sounding
MD-2: Woah...

This pedal is VERY full sounding. It has a highly tweakable bottom end, which when lowered will get you a nice thrashy tone. The highs are gritty, but not to the point that it'll hurt your ears.

The two gain knobs give this pedal a lot of versatility. You can go from a VERY convincing light overdrive with both knobs all the way down to a fuzzy, noisy mess with both at full.

You have to remember the difference between Gain and Distortion to use them right. Gain is overdriving the sound. Distortion is clipping it. The Gain will sound (somewhat) tubey and natural and the distortion will sound harsher. I prefer the Gain all the way up and the Distortion knob to be tweaked to perfect the tone.

This pedal gives me a perfect skull crushing low end. It's so much heavier than anything I could do with any of the other pedals.

For leads, it can sound harsh, but switching to a neck pickup or both pickups will give you a very smooth, very full lead sound.

It's built out of solid steel. I trust it to survive.

Never had to contact them.

I enjoy this pedal. It works very well with the heavy metal and hard rock that I like to play.

I do NOT agree with a few people here who said that this wasn't a metal pedal. It works VERY well for metal.

I have probably the cheapest set up you could get. Total I've payed 550 dollars for my setup ( guitar, amp, pedals, everything ). Right now I have a tone that's just as good as many amps costing twice as much as my entire setup.

I intend to upgrade to a Behringer LX-1200H Halfstack and an Edwards E-FR-120GT. I will probably keep my current pedals even with the upgraded amp and guitar.

This pedal is super easy to use just stomp on it and go! She only has one sound no matter where the knobs are set, and that is so FULL SHRED!

I run this lil orange killer into a variety of Rouge, Crate, Peavey, and Behringer amps....(you know the ones with all the killer effects built in). I only like to use "top drawer" gear if you can feel me.

Anyways....the only way I can describe the sound of this demon forced down the throat of my amps clean channel on 10 is that it is Super High Intensity Turbo! Or shit for short.....yep I said it!.. this pedal sounds like shit!

This monster is built like a Sherman tank. Great design. I Tossed it out a two story window onto pavement and it still delivers the Super High Intensity Turbo!

Roland and Boss................nuff said.

I only play tunes that totally kill.....nuff said. I have been playing detuned one finger power chords for 25 years now. Sometimes I use my first finger...sometimes my third. But they will all crush your skull!
I can't mention what would happen if it were stolen.......for legal purposes.
If you wanna annialate, and destroy everything in your path.........man this box has the S.H.I.T.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, it's got manual, but only for idiots...
Very straight forward set up, so I got into my set up in no time.
Some people will take more time to find right sound from their Guitar&Amp....Play with knobs then you will get it!

Firstly, my set up was suggested by local music shop based on my guitar and amp.
My set up is Epiphone LP stanadrd, Morley Wah, Boss MD-2, Ibanez CF7, Boss GE7, Boss NF1, to Marshall-MG30cd.
I tried only the MD2 into the amp, I was very impressed with the sounds, it's got plenty of bottom and middle, with warm, good amounts of tone adjustable...
After connecting all loops, there were very different sounds and tone, heavy distorted sounds are great...just love it!
I play 80' hard rock and 90' heavy metal...I can get exact sound of Randy Roads, and Guns and Roses.
Only thing you have to experiment is playing two knobs- dist and Gain Boost...It generates very different or crapy sound sometimes when you set up differently with these two knobs.

It's BOSS...!!!

Never needed help.

I've had this one for 4 weeks now, I've tried few different distortion pedals in different brands, but MD2 gave the best sound I was looking for. I also, loved Boss MT2(Metal Zone), but MD2 has got more natural wide distorted sounds, that gives you options to play 70~80 Rock, up to very heavy metal music.
If stolen, I will get another one without doubt.
I've read the reviews on this site, some people are not happy with this pedal and gave very low score. BUT...I must say that "Check your Guitar or Amp"...it's all depends on your basic equipment you have, it's only a guitar effect, it's not a magic stomp box!...

it is rather difficult unless you know EXACTLY what sound you want. so if you're going after a crappy distortion sound there ya go.

i have a gibson les paul standard running into a fender deluxe tube amp. this thing sucked. it muddied up my amp and made my guitar sound like a crappy squier w/ a cheap pick-up. I had it for 3 days and took it back to guitar center because i felt so ripped off and embarressed for even buying it. I got an ibanez turbo tube screamer and i don't regret that. The md2 just isn't "nu-school" or "old school" or any-school that matter besides muddy-rip-off-school. DO NOT BUY THIS HUNK OF JUNK!!!!

WEAK! VERY WEAK AND CHEAP SOUNDING...TONE IS DISGUSTING

Typical Boss, simple knobs to tweak the sound. User Manual supplied is adequate as with all Boss stuff.

Ahhh sound quality.....I wouldn;t use the word quality and MD2 in the same sentence.....this has to be the worst distortion pedal I have ever bought and it went back in the box after about a month of desperately trying to get any sort of half decent sound out if it....it is now packed away in the loft where it shall remain !!!

I have 3 valve amps all good quality, but no matter what you do the sound is awful and mushy, buzzy noise....nothing like the demo on the Boss cd. Maybe it would sound ok through a Marshall Valve Head with a 4x12 cab....but then why would you buy this pedal in this case ???

Built to last, like all Boss pedals.

No experience/

I would not recommend this pedal to anyone at any level....buy the MT2 if you want some kind of tone, or try one of the Marshall pedals like the JackHammer....or if you have enough money look at one of the boutique pedals....but please don't buy this awful piece of equipment !!

I've never looked at the manual and never messed with Editing patches. That being said, I play Horror Punk. Low-end driven punk and this works perfect for the 3-chord bop. I also play it, with different turns of the knobs, in a Classic Rock cover band and it screams just like it should. Very easy to get good and varied sounds out of the bugger by just turning the knobs.

I run this through a Fat Strat with a Seymour Duncan JB Humbucker and into a Fender Deluxe 85 for practice and a MG250DFX into a 1936 2x12 cabinet on stage. No noise whatsoever. The distortion is right on.

I wanted to touch on a few comments of my other fellow posters. If you do a search on this page for "Palm", you will see that it is about 50/50 on whether or not you will get good palm mutes and "chunks" out of this stomp box. I just wanted to mention that with my Fender the palming is horrible and waaaay to chunky to even try to make sound good at any setting. However with the Marshall it sounds great and hits like it is supposed to. I would suggest other people that have had troubles to try it with another amp to see if that might be your problem while giving it the palm.

I'm giving it an 8 because it sounds very different through different amps. I also played it through a Peavey Bandit 112 and it was better than my Marshall and Fender. Just putting that out there.

I've had no problems with it. I have a backup battery in case I need it so no worries. It is a sinch to change. Unless you have an AC Adapter for it, then you should be all set.

It was on sale at a Guitar Center so I picked it up new. I love those racks of pedals that you can play with while you are in guitar shops. It could provide hours of entertainment, if they didn't didn't make you get up after a while, that is...

It's great for Classic Rock, great for Punk, great for melodic hard rock and rythmic riffs. I've had no problems with it. Like I said, I mainly play Classic Punk tunes and this fits perfectly. Great bottom end with my 1/2 step tuned down Strat.

This pedal was easy to figure out, just hard to find a good tone for it.

The sound was awesome if all you want to do is open strings low on the neck, but the higher yuo go the weaker it gets. Also, palm muting is horrendous. There is no bite to it, so I teamed it with a Boss Super Overdrive which still did not help the sound.

It was reliable, but do you really want to use it?

N/A

The setup I tried with this pedal was:

Cort M200 plugged into Marshall Vibrato/Tremelo, Boss Super Overdrive, Boss Mega Distortion, Danelectro Octave, and Dunlop CryBaby Wah in that order. It all feeds into my Marshall 100W.

I play in a punk/metal band that relies heavily on speed. I switched from the pedal to my amp's distortion and found an improvement. The only time I use this pedal now is when I'm using my 15W practice Marshall because that doesn't have a footswitch. I would not buy one of these again.

Typically Boss- very straightforward and easy to use. The knobs are
pretty much self-explanatory IMHO.

Not great but not bad either- a typical Boss distortion in this
respect. It's almost like a "DS-3". It starts where the DS-2 left off
with a separate bottom control and a gain boost knob for added
distortion.

Typically Boss- rock solid reliability and construction.

Never had to deal with Boss/Roland.

Again, typical boss distortion- ok but not great. Worth the money.
Some decent tones to be had with some tweaking. You have to be rather
conservative with the gain boost knob. I don't think it sounds
particularly good with the distortion and gain boost knobs set too
high.

EASY...just a few knobs to turn. Find your sound...experiment.

Very good for what it does. Here's the chain: Morley BH wha, MD pedal, EVH phase and a dd-3 delay. Played with a Music Man Petrucci 6 string. A rockman smart gate in the effects loops of an Ampeg all tube combo. 50 watts. I don't try to cop the sound of my favoite artist...I try to find my own. ( alright...the EVH pedal...but hey...it sounds good!)

It's a boss....should be fine.

??????????????? for a boss pedal?????????????

I was trying out for a heavy detuned metal band. It did really well with the rhythm sounds. I needed more boost for the solo's so the jury is still out there. I really like the sound...it gives a good solid heavy tone. I read some of these reviews and I don't know what they're talking about. Hiss...well ya...use a gate. Thin? Get some real equipment....that's my opinion. Better than my Mesa?...different...and no. But that's OK. It's for my little combo that I truck around to jam with who ever. I makes my 1x12 combo sound really hefty. I think it's a good pedal.

This pedal is very simple to use. It features two gain/distortion pots (one gives it more gain and the other one gives it more fuzz ?)
and a basic EQ. The footswitchis large and responsive. This is a very good pedal as far as ease of use is concerned.

I played my BC Rich NJ Bich and Rave II Warlock (both good guitars) through this pedal and into a Marshall Valvestate 8080 amplifier with no other effects, compressors, noisegates etc. what so ever and the basic sound was beyond disppointing.

Basically, what you get is a very extreme fuzz box. There's no definition and no 'chunk' when palm muting. The whole thing just sounds raspy. Don't get me wrong, I listen to Mayhem, Venom and Darkthrone regularly; all bands with less than pretty guitar tones, but this pedal just sounded cheap. It sounded better when I tried it in the store. However, if you use this pedal with a bass guitar, you do get a rather gruesome grinding sound which is, in fact, rather useable should you happen to be in a grindcore/gore band or a Necromantia tribute act. I'm not a bass player though, so I have to give this a low-rating. If I were a bass player I might be a little more pleased with it. It might work better with other effects however. Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, it's just my opinion.

I didn't use this pedal too much and I dropped it a couple of times but the thing's basically indestructible. The electronics are solid and very reliable. I can't really fault it on build quality.

I have never dealt with the company.

I play mostly extreme metal (primarily black metal) and I can safely say that this pedal was absolutely useless to me. I never found a good metal sound on it and, no matter how much I tweaked it, I never got any kind of decent distortion sound. The only reason I even gave it a rating on sound is because, for some reason, it makes bass guitars sound absolutely skull-crushing. If you're after a fuzz-box for some 70's style fuzzed-up stoner/psych rock then maybe this would work better for you but metalheads should steer well clear.

Easy just as every other boss product. There's nothing absolutely idiotproof, but this comes pretty close.

The chain I use is: LP Slash (w/Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck in the bridge) / Jackson Soloist (w/2 custom made stratocaster single coils and a bridge SH-8 Invader) -> CryBaby -> Boss GE-7 -> Boss MD-2 -> Laney VH100R -> FX Loop (Boss DD-6) -> Marshall 4x12 Lead 1960 w/GT-12T-75.
It has a little hiss, but nothing worth talkin' about... except if you crank both Dist and Gain Boost to max...
It has a good basic sound, when connected to tube amps (tried it also with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a vintage Fender Twin)...
You can with ease obtain rock lead sounds, and rhythm also, but be careful when raising up the gain boost. This thing has really more gain than you might need. Not entirely usable, though.
The eq is rather simple and delivers an almost excessive amount of low-end.
Good to have the kind of sounds from Creed, Nickelback and so on...
But nice also when playing electric chicago blues, being a little careful with the settings.
It preserves dynamics and touch pretty well in respect of some other dist boxes, like MT-2. Bear in mind that this AIN'T a MESA rocket bottle or a Brunetti Overtone. You can't expect too much.
But, considering the cost, it's a good deal.
I give it a 7 for the cost/performance/ease of use balance.

Rock-solid. It's a Boss.

Never had to contact them.

I've been playing for 10 years, more or less.
I play R'N'B, Blues, 60's / 70's Rock, early Hard Rock & Southern Rock.
I'm not the guy with a ton of rack equipment, aural exciters, compressors, gates... I like pretty much the true sound I get from my guitar and from my amp when cranked.
This is a good match for my style, obviously.
Try to match it after a little eq like the GE-7 for some more punch in the mids (that's for metalheads).

This thing is quite easy to use. There's a Level knob, a Tone/Bottom knob, a Distortion knob, and then my fav, a Gain boost. I didn't need the manual, as the lead guitarist in my band owns one, so he explained everything.

The ol' MD-2 suits what I play just fine. The lead guitarist in the band uses one too, but he has his bass dialed right up. I play a Fender Jap Jag with a DeMarzio heavy blues pickup in the neck, an' a Semour Dunkan hotrails in the bridge. I used to use a Big Muff, but my guitar disagreed with it, and it was hard to get a "chunky" sound out of it. (Plus my amp ain't too good, a Warp 7) But the MD-2 has a bigger sound, and it gets that lovely "chugging" sound when yer palm muting. We play slow, sludgy noise and this pedal goes well with my Blue Box and Small Clone. I can't really think of anything negative, the damn thing is near impossible to kill as well, having copped many a drop.

Like I said before, boss pedals are pretty hard to kill. Once, as an experiment, a friens and I tried to destroy a DS-1. After throwing it onto the road, dropping it off the road of my house, and running it over with my car. We gave up, and the damn thing still works (The only damage was the knobs falling off) I'd be quite happy useing this without a backup, we've done a few gigs an' I've never even thought of the thing konking out on me.

I've never had to ring support, and, from what I've learned I won't need to.

We play horrible sludge, and this pedal suits perfectly. I've been playing fer 6 years, and I recently bought a Fender Jag, after playing a decrepid Magnum. (Although the Magnum has a muddier sound due to humbuckers) I have a Warp 7 halfstack which is always bugging the hell outta me (It was cheap and loud, that's why I bought it) I have a Small Clone, a Big Muff, a MXR Blue Box, and, apart from the Big Muff, all these pedals sound great together. (Don't get me wrong, Big Muffs are cool, it's just that my guitar and amp hate them) I don't get any bad humming or anything, and the feedback it creats is reasonably controlable. All in all, a pretty damn good pedal, if yer playing "Heavy" music.

Excellent pedal. Some people said that It was too confusing, or uneasy to cahnge on the fly. To them I would say, what single effects stomp box do you know of that IS able to change on the fly? and I'm not talking about tap tempo delay or trem for you smart asses out there. ;)

Love, love, love it. Mine has a little hum, but I'm sure it's just my particular case, and you'll see that in the next box. If you want responsive, then I would just say get a tube amp. No pedal is going to give you the response of a tube amp as far as dynamics, and losing a bit of gain when you roll off the volume.... delicious. but yea, I like to do that, and couldn't with this pedal, no surprise. :/. Still sounds nice for driving rock, to blues.

Oh yeah, I can't go by without mentioning the neat little tone knob on this thing. For you Single Coil guys out there that are unsure of getting a heavy Dist. Pedal, this one has a little low-end boost knob that really beefs up the sound of your strat or tele.

I got that damn buzz in it (probably from stepping on it too much ;) ) and it's so annoying. I didn't read all the reviews, but I'm guessing my problem is unique.

NA

The only amps I've ever played it on were tube. Got a sweet single channel All tube combo and looking for a nice meaty gain that will get you from blues to classic to modern rock? this is it.

well, there are different things about this one, but it's pretty easy to use if you are logical and not trying to put everything on max.

the key is to find the ballance between dist. and gain boost

dist gives this pedal a DS-1 type of distortion.
gain boost gives a more OVER DRIVE character.
cranking up these two will result in huge sustain thus hum and noise and bad things, so don't do that. it's like using two dist pedals at once.
do not go over the top, just have some moderate settings and you will find yourself in pure gain heaven.
this type of distortion will fit wonderfully for alt rock, rock, blues, even some slightly dirty jazz
I would use something else for metal though, like MT-2.

if you want incubus, limp, deftones, linkin park sort of distortions this is the right box. not for shredders or other music types under the name metal
for that you need a mid-scooped, trebly pedal, like MT-2, MXR dime, etc.
I've been playing for 8 years and I'm pretty picky about the tone, MD-2 is just a great pedal.
Mega Distortion produces a very warm distortion. cleans up very nicely and with mindful settings can give most wonderful tones you'd want.
and always try something before you buy.

It's a distortion pedal, pretty simple.

Only one word can describe this pedal...MUDDY!!! It does not matter if the tone knob is all the way up, the mega distortion still sounds muffled. I thought the gain boost would give the sound extra shred, instead it just garbled it. The sound was grainy, much like cheap single coils played through a pawn shop practice amp with a blown speaker. Palm mutes were lost in the pedals own grind. The only good thing I can say about it is it had killer sustain.

After a nuclear holocaust only three things will be left: cockroaches, scorpions, and Boss Pedals! They're invincible!!!

Due to their reliability, I've never had to deal with Boss customer support.

I play hard rock/metal,not the nu-metal junk, real metal. I was looking for the heaviest distortion on the planet. I went for this pedal because of the gain boost. I thought the gain boost would give the sound extra shred, instead it just garbled it. I put this up against a Boss Metal Zone, and the Metal Zone sounded tremendously better!!! This pedal would be great for a super grungey alternative band, but terrible for metal/hard rock. The metal zone has much cleaner highs, and a smoother, more pleasing sound with just as much distortion!!!