Boss OD-2R Turbo Overdrive

I've played this pedal since I first started playing guitar (which was probably about 8 years ago), and I've never really wanted to replace it. I've been through a boss distortion pedal, and a proco rat (which I understand are different effects, yes) and have decided to stick with this one. It can add a little buzz or a rediculous feedback-ey roar, which I consider a good thing. But like I said, takes a long time to really "get" what you like out of it.

I'm sure there's better overdrive out there, but I haven't found it. As with other boss pedals, and I don't think I'm the only person who feels this way, the tone that comes out of the thing can be annoying. I always keep it at less than half. Something about boss pedals and their tone knobs... I don't get it. Other than that, great sound.

Mine has been through a lot. Used to play in a punk band, beat the living piss out of it, it still works. It's a boss pedal, which means it's thick, metal, and durable. BUT it also means the stupid input/outputs come loose all the time, and maybe once every couple years will require the wires to be soldered back into place. Sometimes it picks up radio frequencies. Hasn't happened to me at a show yet.

Never had to call boss for anything

I play a lot of alt rock, I've been playing for 8 years, and if you can find one of these pedals buy it. They don't make 'em anymore. Solid tone, nothing cheesey or cheap sounding.

It's an overdrive pedal. This is guitar effects 101. Set your overdrive to mimic the sound of your amp, and you're done. Turbo mode creates distortion like a DS-1. Although this one has alot of volume, so getting it to not burn your eardrums off can be tricky. At one time it was known as the engine of feedback.

I've had this pedal for a long time now, played it with my first amp (barely working Vox Pathfinder), then into my 16 year old wet dream of a Guild S-100 (Dude, your guitar is just like the guy's from Soundgarden!!!!!) Sunn Concert Lead complete with matching 4x12. Well, long story short, I decided the distortion on that Sunn out competed this pedal any day, and I was already so loud I got screamed at by the heavy metal kids I played for, so it got shelved. I broke it out when I needed to get that feral volume/oversaturation with my Fender Twin, which distorted naturally at a high volume, but I needed a clean and transparent boost. It did that very well. Absolutely hated the Turbo mode though.

Now I'm just using a little Peavey Bandit 65, and I must say the tonal character is dramatically different through this amp (still have the heavy metal guitar though), the first mode is pretty identical, except I can hear the tonal coloring that this pedal imparts on the sound much more. Maybe it's the amp, maybe it's the volume drop, or maybe my hearing is more acute from recording music very intensely (almost daily) since then; but I can definitely hear alot of color on my sound. It doesn't bother me too bad because it's not like I spent alot of money for the thing anyway. The turbo mode has a great "thrash metal" character to it that's very incongruous with the rest of my sound.

It's also sounded really good for the Farfisa organ I bought a few months ago. Very reminiscent of the first Suicide album. I also remember reading that Jim Thirwell said that he used this effect constantly on everything, percussion, electronics, vocals, even mastering. I wonder if he still does.

Well, this is a tricky subject. When I got it, it worked great, then it crapped out, which is part of the reason it got shelved so soon in lieu of the Sunn. I took it to the Amp Doctor in Hermitage, TN, (Great guy, look him up!) and he re-soldered the connections and it once again screamed. It's worked good the little bit I've used it since then, but I don't feel I can trust it 100%. But then again, this thing is really old, but it's actually survived longer than some of my buddies' brand new equipment. Go figure.

Never ever dealt with them. Why would I on a $25 used pedal?

I play alot of unique song based material which uses alot of loops, and requires some unusual guitar technique that's very much rooted in punk music, folk, jazz, and minimalist composition. So I generally tend to use effects for utilitarian purposes only because most of my "sound effects" come from what my fingers and the strings are actually doing. This little trooper has definitely done it's duty for me without too much argument.

That aside, I've got tons of stuff that everybody wants to own as well; the aforementioned Guild, a Gretsch acoustic, an upright bass, Farfisa organ, Electro Harmonix effects, Logic Pro, some slick recording mics, and so on and so on. I'm the half talented guy with the gear addiction. (Although not near as bad as some people I've seen)

Recently I've been getting into building/modifying effects and I just grabbed this one to see if I could find any mods, but then I remembered what a good sound it has already, and figured "Why bother?" Eventually when I decide to actually build a SuperFuzz clone, this one will probably make it's way off of my pedal board and onto the shelf, where it can be on-call. Or it might make a good distortion unit for the organ in my band if the DS-1 mods don't make the sounds needed.

I shopped around for a long time to get an overdrive pedal, and this one was definitely the nicest for the least money. I mean, I believe this is a for-real Japanese unit. And where else are you going to get a Japanese Boss Overdrive for $25??? I doubt that I would buy another one if it got misplaced, unless I didn't have any other pedal.

I use mine with an extra footpedal to switch between modes, its very easy to use. The two modes share the same controls so you have to find a happy medium between the two for live use, personally i just turn everything up to full on and roll some of the tone off, this works for me. I use a telecaster with this into a fender hot rod. I give it a 7 for live use because the two modes share the same eq and stuff. The good thing is the volume of the two settings are matched so that when the turbo mode is switched on the volume increases which is good for when you want to blow some faces off.

Dunno when mine was made, they only made these in the 90's for a few years, previous to that they had the OD2 which was essentially the same pedal but without the remote switch option. I had two of those also and they sound exactly the same except this version sounds more like my Japanese od2 as opposed to the tawain OD2 (which i sold now). Also the old OD2 wasnt very loud. The OD2r is stupidly loud so no problems there, in fact its the loudest overdrive pedal i own. When the turbo mode is engaged there is a further volume increase. The sound of pedal is your typical overdrive sound, it goes from very light to extremely saturated. I have owned the following overdrives/distortions - boss ds1, boss sd1, boss od1, marshall guvnor2, marshall jackhammer, Proco Rat (1987 LMN08 chip), Keeley modded proco rat, Proco rat 2004, Boss od3, ibanez tubescreamer, Roger Mayer Axis fuzz, EHX big muff. They are all great in their own right and will suit different guitar set ups etc. However in terms of the boss stuff i think that it has been an absoloutely massive mistake by boss to discontinue this model, a massive mistake. I've been trying to work it out but i cant. The reason is that this overdrive basically sounds the way a guitar overdrive is supposed to sound, but you have the added bonus of the turbo mode, i used to use a proco rat and an SD1 for boost, but now i just use the od2r cos it does it all. out of all the boss stuff i've tried its the best, hands down. The od1 has no bass, the sd1 sounds flabby, the od3 sounds good but sounds a bit synthetic, the od2 is the only one which sounded natural enough. its mint. Of course this may be my set up, it may not sound like this with others. The sound im hearing would be described as natural, bitey, warm, buttery, cuts through very well, nicely rounded (if you what i mean). no shrill 'icepick on the ear' here. Its very similar to a proco rat, but its much more pleasant on the ear. Its got LOADS of gain. on the turbo on mode its brilliant for that "massive wall of sound". I will never use anything else, ever. I'm giving it a 9, i spent years searching for the perfect overdrive and in the end i gave up, tone and stuff is all in the fingers which is true, but if you dont like the sound coming out of your amp it makes life difficult sometimes. I liked my guitar tone with a rat but sometimes there was that little thing which made me screw my face up, it just didnt sound very nice sometimes. Now with od2r i plug in and smile like a huge smiling smiley thing. Again i must stress that may just be me. But i really have tried owned all those pedals and i really couldnt find one to settle with. the other thing about the OD2r is that it responds to your guitars volume control much like an old fuzz will do - its perfect, for me.

I hope this thing never breaks, i reckon they may dry up on ebay soon. its a boss though

i tried to email them, no response

i wont say anything else other than Boss has made a mistake discontinuing this pedal, it makes no sense. They go for less than ??30 on ebay. Unbelievable

Really Easy. Level, Tone Drive, turbo On or Off, which can be remote pedal controlled (hence the R in the title!)
Easy to dial in sounds, much interplay between settings but bonehead simple.

Superb. Nice and crunchy or seriously Overdriven with Turbo mode. I dont know why others dislike this mode as it is the main selling point for me. Maybe they dont like to hear the industrial death that it produces at max drive settings. Better than a RAT! dial the tone down a bit and you get rid of some clang but still retain the vicious punch of this overdrive.

Doesnt look like it will EVER break down!

Never needed it.

You want overdrive? Maybe you have a footswitch to use with it for maximum utility?
Well done Boss. A true sleeper classic

dead easy as soon as i got it there was no problem i just just stuck it on my pedal bord and made my my windows shake lol

i play an ibanez sa 160 qm the transparant gery one and a dean two tone razorback with a danelectro tripl wah,behringer cs-100,digitech hyper phase,mxr zakk wylde overdrive,marshall guv'nor 2,boss turo overdrive,boss chorus ensemble,line 6 echo park,behringer 7 band eq, behringer noise gate. and a peavey 5050 head with a peavy 4x12

this pedal sounds brilliant you can get the sound of joe walsh to the sound of michael angelo batio to the sound of kirk hammet. i put the turbo on the tone at 9 o'clock the level at 2-3 o'clock and the gain max. the setting for me is just what i need to get a craking sound of a heavy overdrive.!!!!!!!

built like a tank one of the first pedals i got and it still is inperfect order you could propbabley run it over will a steam roller and it would still be fine. lol

never needed it

it works for me especialay with a echo and a sustainer on my sweep picking comes through perfectly i am in a very versitial band the play shred to pantera to joe walsh (the blues king). if your looking for a high gain overdrive this is the best to get

I had no manual for this... it was my dad's old one. It's been my extra booster for a lil crunch w/o the turbo. With the turbo, it gives me a punk-rocky sound which is fun but one i don't use too much.

I use this with my Fender american strat hooked up with 4 or 5 other pedals. For now im stuck with my lin 6 spider amp, which although its convenient, I'd take a marshall tube w/o effects any day. Not terribly noisy... When I OD on effects it gets a lil shakey tho. I can get the sound I want.

Boss nuff said

never had to deal with them

I like this one a lot. It's my mid song crunch booster. It gives me the extra distortion that I switch in and out of during and even between songs. I'm keeping this for as long as it works

Dead easy. If you can't figure this pedal out you should probably stick with acoustic guitar. I never read the manual - just threw it over my shoulder and plugged the thing in. I bought it because I was at a blues club and I really like the tone the guitar player had. I got up to take a piss and walked by the stage to see what he was using, making a mental note I bought one the following week to replace my DOD Tube Screamer.

I use this pedal with Fender Tele & Strat and vintage tube amplifier. Works like a champ. Very low noise even from single coil pickups. Tone is spot-on for that nice thick bluesy tone.

No problems in 10 years of use. The only distortion pedal I really need.

Never had to call 'em! Come to think of it, I've never had any musician friends kill any Boss guitar effects pedals.

I play many styles but bought this pedal for my boogie and blues more than anything else. It does work with more vintage metal though if you goose it up full blast. I'm rating it 10 because I've yet to hear a better sounding overdrive pedal.

I bought mine over 10 years ego. It is a same thing only doesn't have remote control socket. Easy to use unit anyway.

It is not a transparent sound pedal, it has it's own sound suitable for from soft to hard rock. If you got crappy amp than the normal mode is good for rhytm and basic leads. Will do blues too. Turbo mode is suitable for more demanding stuff.
Settings on both modes are best at 2/3 to 3/4. Anymore specially on the turbo mode will sound too muddy and thin.
When I use this pedal, my settings are: from the pedal to tube amp drive channel set only to slight break up (for rhythm). I have the pedal set on turbo mode which I set 1/4 to 3/4 depending on what I play. NOTE - that low settings at turbo mode will produce decent somewhat tube like break up. When the pedal is on, the sound is good and full but not mushy. It does depend on the amp and if it takes the pedal well so best bet is a tube one. With this simple setup I do music from clean country to blistering rock with only push of a pedal and use of my guitar volume knob. No hassle. Off course nothing can beat going straight to tube amp. I play gigs with music from 50's to 90's so with combination of amp settings and this pedal I get a good average sound for all types of music. WWith the pedal I do loose some the subtle bits only a tube amp can produce but it is a fine for live gigs. For recordings forget it particularly for low distortion rhythm but it is usefull for some leads if the amp can't cut it.
It is a bit sterile sounding pedal but that's why I use it
because I can do for example James Burton or Satriani leads without having totally inapropriate sound to them.
Over all, it is the only pedal that I've kept in my 25 years playing history and in my opinion it is an "industry standard" - meaning that no matter what, I can always get an average sound with it for any music.

No problems in over 10 years.

Didn't need any.

Mostly said above...but if I was to compare, there was only one oter pedal I liked and that was Ibanez tube screamer which is lot more transparent than this pedAL. How ever the Tube screamer won't do all kinds of music so i's not versatile enough for me.

Easy to use. I don't consult the little manual. This is actually an update of an earlier review, as I am using the pedal more than I used to. I like stuff with knobs. This has knobs...four of 'em.

I use a Strat with Fralin Vintage Hots and a Samick "Greg Bennett Design" SG with humbuckers. I also use a Boss compressor and Boss stereo chorus. Pretty basic setup. I plug these into either a Peavey Classic 50/410 and frequently use a Peavey Studio Pro 112 solid state amp at church.

Lots of the reviews have favored the Turbo Off mode of this little box, and rightly so. I can dial in a very warm, bluesy drive with slight volume boost that's great for blues type leads and just great for slide guitar.

However, recently I've used the Turbo On mode a lot more and am enjoying this thing a lot. With the SG, I prefer the pedal to the overdrive on my Classic amp, as the amp's overdrive sounds great with the strat but is not quite crisp enough for with the SG. Enter the OD-2R. Turbo on mode, a tweak of the tone for more high end and a moderate dose of crunch and the SG sounds great thru any amp I use.

Last night I played the Strat with the Studio Pro amp (solid state), used the OD-2R with Turbo On, got really thick crunchy power chord stuff that also sounded great with the guitar volume backed down a couple notches for playing lead. This morning I used the pedal in a similar fashion with an old Peavey Backstage Plus amp (single 10" speaker), playing the Strat. Thick, juicy crunch (cuz this amp's crunch sound is too transistorized sounding) and a sweet, sustained sound for some slide playing when I rolled guitar volume back.

Some reviews have rightly noted that the Turbo Off mode is much more transparent, particularly with single coil guitars. However, the coloration that this thing adds in higher overdrive settings and especially with Turbo On settings, I think is minimal. My Strat still sounds great (love those Fralins) and the SG sounds great as well.

Recently a young guy heard my band and asked me if I was using some sort of drive pedal on a song where I played some slide. I told him about the OD-2R (I used it in Turbo Off mode that day for slide) and he went out and found one on Ebay for $31. They're available there for 30-40 bucks.

I'm very happy with the versatility I get with this pedal. I use it in both modes and am equally happy with either. I was GASsing for a Barber Direct Drive, but I think I'll direct that money to something else I need more. My overdrive bases are nicely covered, from warm boost to bluesy grit to thick power chords. Between my amp and this pedal, I get what I need.

I'll give this an 8 because it's not totally transparent, but I like what it does and I'm keeping it. In fact, I might try to find another one on Ebay just cuz I like it so much.

Reliability? It's a Boss pedal. Basically a yellow metal brick. I've used this pedal for 7 years or so...no backup. Just keep a fresh battery in...and BTW, this thing isn't a battery hog like the Dual Overdrive/Distortion pedal. But I do unplug it when not using it to conserve battery power.

I've never dealt with Boss. No upgrade needed. If it broke, I might try something else just for curiosity (OD-3 or Barber Direct Drive), but would not hesitate to buy another one.

I play classic rock, blues, some country, some pop and uptempo praise and worship (many styles). I been playing a bit over 30 years. Other Boss pedals (compressor, chorus, soon to add delay and acoustic simulator).

I love this pedal's versatility. It's thick and fat and crunch if I need that, or it's sweet, warm and singing if I need that. I chose this because it sounded better than the DS-1 to me, way better than Danelectro Fab Tone and was yellow. It definitely helps me with my music and is part of my sound, coloration/transparency not an issue for me. I've really come to rely on this thing more and more over the past few months. It sounds awesome into the Peavey Classic amp. I'll give this one a 9. Maybe there's better stuff out there, but it does just what I need it to do and I'm happy with the sound.

Pretty simple to operate, however controlling the effects on this one isn't as good as other products. See remainder of review for details on this. I give it a 7, and you'll see why later.

Running with Turbo off, it sounds good. Warm and crunchy through my Princeton Chorus, with enough gain to make itself heard. Well balanced. Not quite a TS-9, but comparable to the crunch channel on the SD-2 (I couldn't tell them apart really).

Switch on Turbo, and the sound changes dramatically - gets a lot harsher and less controllable. You lose the warmth and most of the crunch for a very hollow tone. Useless for the most part IMO.

My main beef with the quality is to do with the LACK of controls on the Turbo mode. Why couldn't this pedal have been built like the SD-2 with a double pot to adjust at least the level of both modes independantly. Plus the inability to switch between Turbo and Normal (not that I ever wanted to use the horrendous Turbo mode) mode without a footswitch is annoying - again, couldn't we get controls a-la SD-2 here ?

Sound on Normal, judging pedal as a single mode overdrive = 9.
Overall = 6

Can't fault Boss here - its damn near indestructible.

Never needed to.

I used to run this pedal with an Ibanez RG470, Kramer Shadow & Squier Strat - Normal mode sounded best with the Squier by a good margin, however the RG was able to coax a semi-reasonable tone out of the Turbo mode (but only just !). I tried to include this unit in my rig, but alongside the SD-2 it just paled in comparison, so I sold it. I find that any worthwhile sounds on the OD-2R are easily matched by the SD-2 - I can honestly recommend passing on the OD-2R and getting the SD-2. You won't regret it !

C'mon folks, if you made it this far on the internet, you should be able to figure out even the most slightly complex pedals. This pedals is pretty easy to use and tweak...shouldn't cause a problem for most.

I'm using this pedal with a variety of Strats and Telecasters through a SS/tube Vox hybrid.

I really dig this pedal on lower drive settings with Turbo off. A very good, crunchy, classic sound which could probably overdrive a pure tube amp very nicely (I plan on acquiring one very soon). It's very clean on lower drive settings, with just a little touch of grit. This is probably my favorite setting to use it with. Higher drive setting yield a pretty cool overdrive, bordering on distortion.

The pedal is very bright. I usually keep the tone between 9 and 12 o'clock. But I've found putting the treble all the way up on a Strat gets a very cool, almost filtered sound. Very plucky and bright, but not icepick-in-the-brain.

With the Turbo on, it sounds like the gain is kicked up. It's kind of distortiony, kind of overdrivey, but not really either one. I almost think of it is as a fuzz-distortion hybrid. I could see it being very cool for a Kyuss wall-of-distorto/fuzz type of sound (and I think Josh Homme still uses one of these). Great for "headscrathcer tones" ("What is that? A Fuzz? A distortion through a fuzz?")

For comparisons sake, I AB'd it with my unmodifed TS-9 RI. The OD-2r is definitely capable of some Tube Screamer-type flavors. I was pretty much able to match most medium drive TS-9 settings on the OD-2r. I think it would be extremely hard to tell the difference blindfolded. Settings with more Drive had the TS-9 sounding a bit more livelier and natural than the OD-2r. The OD-2r definitely sounded more "add-on" and synthetic, where as the TS-9 kept the character of the amp and guitar intact.

Lower, semi-clean boost drive settings had me digging the OD-2r much more...had a nicer edge and sounded very transparent. I also liked the pluckiness and brightness here more than the more rounded-attack of the TS-9. The TS-9 sounded more comfortable with the Drive closer to 12 o'clock.

Ralph Nader should lobby to have all automobiles designed by Boss/Roland. They could all look like Boss pedals with wheels. Of course, then he wouldn't have anymore safety issues to whine about.

never dealt

I've been playing for 14 years and have kind of dipped my toes into everything.

If this pedal were lost or stolen, I don't think it would be difficult to replace.

I really love this pedals versatility. It's not a highly smooth or refined pedal, but it does a lot of things very well. I don't use the Turbo mode much, but I think it's a terrific option to have. I do click it on every so often. Folks churning Nu-Psychedlia type stuff should definitely check this pedal out. Also sounds great for droning, heavily reverbed sounds. Great flavor option to have if you already have a fuzz pedal.

Mostly, it does very well what few pedals I've owned do: the semi-gritty bright/clean boost. I love the tone. Very aggresive and responsive. I haven't had a chance to overdrive a real tube amp with it, but I could see it being very nice and effective with those settings. Sounds great with my Telecasters. The TS-9 does the medium drive thing very well, but it just can't touch it in this area. To me, it's not even in the same ballpark (I can't even believe I'm saying that). Plus, the fact that the OD-2r can cop some TS tones quite easily in medium drive settings is a cool bonus. If my TS-9 ever went down, I could quickly dial up the OD-2r to pull medium gain duty. If the $99 price tag of a TS-9 RI is a tad much, these little guys can be had for around $40 or $50 used and I think it would be well worth the look. Folks who like TS-9s driven harder will probably find more satisfaction sticking with the Ibanez, as the OD-2r loses ground there. The OD-2r definitely has it's own sound and character in these areas, but I like the Ibanez better here.

The turbo footswitch takes a bit to figure out, but other than that it's extremely simple. I don't have a manual for mine, so I don't know how good it is, but it's controls are generally very easy to figure out (how hard can they be, it's an overdrive pedal).

I'm running a Strat into the OD-2R into a Morley Wah, into my Fender SS amp.

It can get really quite a wide range of sounds, and they are all quite good. It adds surprisingly little noise to the signal. When in non-turbo mode, it sounds more like a classic or bluesy overdrive, and when in turbo mode, you can get a more crunch or modern, almost distortion-like sound. When run into the dirty channel of my amp, it can get a super-heavy distortion sound. Very versatile overall.

I've only had it for five hours.

See "Reliability".

I play jazz, funk, and rock, and this pedal sounds gret for all of it. I like how versatile it is, and how great it makes my wah sound. It's much better than my amp's dirty channel, and I would recommend it as an overall distortion/overdrive pedal.

I love the remote footswitch for the turbo mode, because it's exactly the type of feature I would use on any pedal (I hate bending over to change settings, and like being able to change on the fly).

For 50 bucks including a footswitch, I figure it's a pretty damn good deal.

Pretty Simple folks, level, tone, drive and turbo control. Wish my sex life was this easy to operate...

Ok, sound quality. Getting a good tone is easy but it may take you some time to coax a great tone out this pedal. Initially as i was used to amp distortion i found the tone of this pedal not as natural sounding but once you balance your setup and put this pedal in it's correct perpective (it's overdrive, not distortion!) you'll really get this puppy to sing.
I am using this pedal through either a Marshall Bluesbreaker 2x12 combo or a Peavey Classic 50/410 combo. It sounds great but different through both. Guitars are an American Strat, Tele, EB Musicman and Epi 335.
With the Strat I can get an almost Eric Johnson sound out of it (on a good night)I NEVER USE TURBO MODE, I HATE THE SOUND! The tone really lets the guitar sing, usually I set the tone to a touch under halfway and the drive to about 75%. It's important to note that I "daisy chain" this pedal with a Boss BD2 Blues Driver as well. This really opens up your options if you use pedals exclusively for your dirty sounds as you can go from lightly distorted (BD2) to that singing lead tone (OD-2R) and everything in between depending on how you set each pedal (each pedal will afeect the sound of the other). I only use them both together for solos or heavy riffs. My signal goes Guitar - Jim Dunlop Wah - Boss BD2 - Boss OD-2R - Boss CH2 - Boss Tuner pedal - Boss RV3 - Boss Line Selector and finally either one of the above mentioned amps.
The pedal is a little noisy but you really have to expect that.
I usually get a lot of comments on my tone and how "sweet" my rig sounds

Well had it now for going on 5 years. I've dropped it, had lead singers walk on it and it's been in my car's trunk sometimes for weeks on end.
I have made a carry case for all my pedals so this protects them but I have total confidence in the reliability of this product.

Never had to, I'm sure they're as good as anyone else.

It's a great unit, very much open to your playing style. It doesn't really make me sound like anyone but It does have a hint of that Eric Johnson violin tone in there somehow.
I may or may not buy it again, I'd love to check out some of the newer pedals out now like the Boss OD3 and the Line6 distortion Modellor etc
I am a pro guitar player who does all styles and has been playing for 9 years, currently Music director of a church, doing my Jazz degree and just generally playing my ass off and loving it!
This is a good product for a reasonable outlay

it's pretty easy to use i guess no one has problems with it, just 4 knobs

I use a Washburn guitar, and a marshall g30rcd, it doesn't sound that good, i mean is good but sometimes i think i'd need to be more distorted, i use it with all knobs to the max, and sometimes i don't feel it when i switch between clean and this overdrive, also it maybe need some other knobs, like punch, contour, i don't know something else.
I think the distortion of my amp is a lot better.
Needs a little more drive, it's all i ask

i use it in all my gigs, 'cause i don't have anything else but it's good

Have never dealt with them, but it's Boss so i guess it should be pretty good.

I play pure grunge (Nirvana, SIlverchair, Bush) and specially it isn't a good match for Nirvana, 'cause Kurt was very noisy (actually the pedal has lots of noise, and i like it) so the od-2r isn't enough to play Nirvana.
I'd not buy another, i'd rather buy an Boss Turbo Distortion DS-2, the one that Kurt used, just because i was very disapointed when i was about to play in a gig and in the sound check i played something and sounded distorted, then i looked at my pedal and it was off, so i turned it on and sounded clean, compared to the sound before, i checked the pedal and everything was ok, the drive amp was very much powerful than this overdrive, so i tought it should be a turbo cleaner or something like that, because it just cleaned the sound and trashed the dist.
Anyway i guess it's good to people that don't need so much distortion.

Yellow Boss stomp box. Four knobs...Level, Tone, Drive, Turbo On/Off. I don't need no stinkin' patches!

I have used this pedal to get warm bluesy grit or a singing classic rock type lead sound. Does decent crunchy chord stuff, too. Pretty easy, I'd say.

I play a MIM Strat with Fralin Vintage Hots and for slide a Hohner ST-59 Strat copy with a JB Jr. I plug these into a Peavey Classic 50-410. I use batteries for the pedal, don't want extra cables to trip on, but may end up using a power source to eliminate batteries. Sometimes I play thru a Peavey Transtube Studio Pro amp...when I do, I don't use this pedal, I use the amp's overdrive instead. It sounds a bit tinny thru the solid state amp, but great thru the tube amp.

The pedal of course has some noise if I use the Turbo On setting with a high amount of drive, especially with the single coils. But it doesn't add a lot of noise, no more than any other pedal. I'll forego the usual number rating thing here and just say that I like this little pedal a lot.

Currently, with the tube amp, here's my set-up: guitar - Boss compressor -- Turbo Overdrive (turbo on - moderate drive) -- Boss stereo chorus. I use the amp's overdrive to get a more bluesy, less overdriven tone. I really like this pedal for my leads. With the compressor in front of it, I get a really sweet, singing, sustaining lead tone. Think Dickey Betts playing the second solo on "Blue Sky." Or Clapton playing the lead on "Badge." Much better than when I tried using the amp's overdrive for leads. I have the Turbo circuit on with a pretty healthy amount of drive. Tone control about 11 o'clock to straight up. Fralins are great pickups and really hold together great with a decent amount of drive. This pedal might not work as well with humbuckers, but a little tweak on the tone knob and some experimenting might yield some very useable tones. This pedal does what I want it to do, and then some. I really like the Turbo on/off feature. I can get a nice warm rhythm tone with Turbo Off, but am using the amp's overdrive to do that now (except when using the solid state amp - and that's partially a logistics/space limitation issue). It sounds great with the compressor in front and the Super Chorus behind it. All in all, a very good sounding overdrive pedal with more than enough guts for classic rock. Definitely not for metal or shredding.

Reliability? It's a Boss stomp box...it's a little yellow brick! I do depend on it. I do use it at gigs without backup. Very reliable...I've owned it for about 5 years...just keep a fresh battery handy. Very reliable in my years of using it.

N/A.

I play original blues/rock/country-rock, modern praise and worship (many styles). I prefer a vintage tone (not high gain shred) and this pedal delivers what I like.

Been playing seriously for about 25 years. Eek! My age is showing! I have the two Strats, the Peavey Classic, various home recording gear.

If lost or stolen, I'd probably get another one. I'm satisfied with the range of sounds it produces and can't see paying huge bucks for another type of botique pedal.

I love that it's a Boss foot pedal...practically indestructible. Hate nothing. Favorite feature is the Turbo On/Off circuit. I haven't tried the extra switch option...no use for it yet. I did compare it to some other things at the time. Marshall Guv'nor was too metal sounding. Fab Tone sounded putrid, really dark and heavy. Tube screamer cost more. This pedal definitely helps me get a sweet, singing lead tone.

I've noticed that among youger players (generally speaking, of course) there are fewer true "lead guitar" players. I see lots of guys with a bag full of pedals or an all-in-one processor trying to sound like Korn or Limp Bisquit or whatever. Guys, do yourself a favor. Put the pedals away for a while. Focus on your clean tone. Learn how to get sustain, emotion and nuance with your fingers and your instrument before unleashing a floor full of pedals. Try playing with just a compressor for a while. That'll open things up. So what if your heroes don't play anything clean...play your own stuff. Noodle around for a while with the neck pickup on whatever guitar you play. Use your tone controls and see what happens. I'll shut up now.

Easy to use...Level, Tone, Drive and Turbo on/off knobs. Just tweak 'em till you get what you want. The little pamphlet that came with it has some sample settings. I don't worry about those, I just go with what sounds good to me at the moment. It's a stomp box...no brainer type of stuff.

I use a MIM Strat with Fralin Vintage Hots (great pickups!). Also use Boss compressor and Boss stereo chorus (guitar into compressor, then OD-2R, then chorus, then to amp). I use a Peavey Classic 50/410 or a Peavey Transtube Studio Pro (a 1995 era model) amp.

When I use the Transtube amp, I don't use this pedal, it sounds a bit nasal and tinny. The Transtube distortion circuit just sounds better than this pedal. With the Classic amp, however, it sounds great.

I've used it both with Turbo off and Turbo on. Currently I use it with the Turbo circuit on for leads and slide playing (with the Classic amp). While I really prefer the amp's overdrive for crunchy chords, I get a more singing lead tone using the Turbo OD. I've used it before in Turbo off mode to get a bluesy grit, where I can back off the guitar volume to clean it up. Worked well, very nice and authentic blues tone. And, of course, it's a Boss pedal. Rugged and well designed. I'll give it an 8 because I find it easy to dial in a variety of authentic and useful tones...but there's probably something better (and more expensive) out there.

I;ve depended on it for 5 years. And I always use it without a backup. I do make sure I always have spare batteries, though. No problems with it ever. So it gets a 10 for reliability...I figure 5 years of steady use qualifies it as reliable.

Never dealt with Roland or Boss. Upgrade shmupgrade. Never needed repair.

I play contemporary Christian (many styles), rock, blues, country, folk-rock, country rock, etc. Works great for these styles. I've been playing 25 years or more. Own the usual gamut of guitar player stuff. If it were lost or stolen, I might look for something else, but am very satisfied with this pedal. Love - it's a pedal, not a puppy dog. Hate - nothing. My favorite feature is the Turbo circuit. Gives more tonal options. I chose this because I wanted an overdrive pedal...not fuzz...not distortion...not a metal thing.

Basically, I'd say that guitar players these days look for gadgets and gizmos to help them with their "sound." Learn to get a good clean tone first and don't waste time trying to sound like someone else. Then add an effect if you need it. I know this is pretty old school advice and lots of young players wanna sound like Limp Bisquick or whatever is trendy. I grew up on Clapton, Allman Brothers, Rory Gallagher, The Who, Steely Dan, Hendrix. That's the tones I go for. The modern ultra high gain dropped D stuff just sounds like noise to me.

Overall, the pedal rates a solid 8. It's sturdy, it's flexible and does what I need it to do. I like the nice singing leads I can get with it.

It is a very versatile pedal. With turbo off, is a great overdrive, for me is better than tube screamer because it has much midrange so the sound is more creamy and it has more gain too.
With turbo on it become a distortion but it keeps his overdrive caratteristic, with a good booster such as compressor you can play metal with turbo on. I like it very much !!!!

It's Boss Ok !!!

This unit is good for almost any kind of music.

The OD-2R is Boss's (Roland's) standard Turbo Overdrive unit. It takes practice to get the sound you want, since the variable resistors are very sensitive and offer a wide range of selections. I wouldn't reccommend trying to copy someone else's sound with this, because it's a very general piece of equipment and it's hard to nail a specific tone.

With my Strat and Fender Champ amp it works fine. It is a decent piece of equipment that produces good standard overdrive distortion. The Turbo is an inclusion of optional Feedback to add to the distortion - the feedback is more of an addition to the sound than its own separate entity. It sounds decent, but I don't have much to compare it to. Gives a good screech when you want it too, so it's fine.

I got it nearly brand new as a gift last Christmas and it has performed faithfully ever since. I don't know much about battery power, but Roland suggests buying the adaptor; I agree. It seems like it would be difficult to break; few moving parts, just a footswitch and knobs.

I've never had to deal with them. The adaptor is a standard 9V, so it was not difficult to find at all.

It's a good distortion, neither here nor there. I don't have hi-end equipment, so I couldn't tell you about things relating to that. I reccommend it as a good supplement to your rig. Rather expensive; you'd think they'd give you a footswitch for the Turbo and an adaptor for how expensive it is brand new.

Incredibly easy, and totally effective.. extra footswitch is a must for full capabilities.

Excellent. I have 4 other OD pedals and a boss vf1, including a marshall Jackhammer, and although the jackhammer & my Boss VF-1 have the ability to sculpt the sound more, this remains my favorite overdrive. Its very warm on low gain, and incredibly crunchy with higher gain. This pedal with my 7 band graphic EQ is unbeatable for tone, the overdrive is very natural, even through a solid state amp.

its Boss... enuff said

Its boss, it doesnt break, so I have had no contact with the company

After all the OD/distortion and fuzz I have tried this remains my favorite. Its a classic OD used even by The Edge, and with a 7 band EQ I would happily take the pepsi challenge against any other overdrives. The high gain is good enough for heavy stuff like limp bizkit thanks to the turbo mode, and the low gain is beautiful for chording and slower stuff...

A lovely pedal, just make sure you get the footswitch for full features!

Boss makes some of the most technueqly advanced foot pedals out there. Not only are they techniquely advanced they are also easy to use. This pedal works great for all types types of music. I use it for mainly Metallica stuff(they are some of the best musicians that ever lived). However I do use it for Led Zeppelin. Since you can turn the turbo on and off, it makes it easy to switch betwen two types of music. Since I got mine on sale for a great price It was one of my best buys I ever made. I recomend Bach to Rock on Rout 23 in New Jersey the guys there are great.

This pedal sounds so sick especially for metal music but good for all types of music. I'm kind of limited on what I can say because I have to be off the internet soon. This pedal is awsome!!!!!!!

Of course you can, it's made by Boss. I have just resently bought it but I have heard many good things about it.

This pedal has a great sound, it's easy to use and it's worth the money so I recomend I to all guitarists that play all types of music. What more can I say?

Ok i just thought you guys would like to know that i wanted a remote switch for this sucker too...

but guess what, i just took a plain old keyboard pedal and it works as a remote... so all you need is an on/off switch.... so i thought if you would like to save some cash then this might be useful...

Three knobs (drive, tone, level) and a switch to turn "turbo" on or off. Red LED. One in, one out, both in mono. One footswitch jack that overrides the "turbo" switch when the switch is left on. Functionally, the easiest layout imaginable for a keyboard player. I've used this with a guitar and dialing in a good sound is really easy. The turbo feature just makes what you play a bit louder and a bit more distorted, that's all. It's a bit more difficult to control sounds on it with my keyboard, which is what I use it for exclusively now. No manual needed, I sincerely hope, this thing is dead simple.

I'm currently playing a Yamaha CP-30 (vintage '70's electric piano) turned up really loud, into the OD-2R, into a Morley Pro Series Wah, straight into a DI to the PA, or at smaller gigs, into my 200-Watt Yorkville keyboard amp. This setup rocks. It's only noisy when the wah is all the way forward, which is mostly the fault of the wah and the keyboard. It makes a nice feedbacky tone on certain keyboard tone settings, which I use a lot. I use this effect all the time on my keyboard, I never turn it off. It fits perfectly on the side panel, and I tweak the knobs with my right hand slightly while I play. I leave the turbo feature on all the time, and adjust the three parameters as needed. I don't use the remote footswitch jack.

We're a jam band who play mostly Medeski Martin & Wood, John Scofield, and other funky instrumental fusion-jazz, some originals, check out our website at euphoricside-effects.musicpage.com . This effect is perfect to get that raspy overdriven raunchy electric piano/clavinet sound that Medeski uses. Just in general a great overdrive for funky old electric pianos.

Because I leave it on all the time and don't step on it, this thing wouldn't need to be that strong. But I've used it with guitar before and it's stood up well to stomping. I gig with it regularly without a backup and feel safe doing so. It gets thrown into a bag with a bunch of other pedals all the time and takes a lickin' and keeps on drivin'.

Never had to deal with them, I'd probably just fix it myself if something went wrong. But it's still in production and popular enough that they'd probably fix it if need be.

I play jazz-funk-fusion, Medeski Martin & Wood, '70's Herbie Hancock, funky stuff like that. Chameleon. It's perfect for all that stuff, gives my piano a bit of edge so it sounds like a distorted Wurlitzer. My rig is the piano through the OD-2R and the wah, an old organ (think poor-man's Hammond), and a vintage analog synthesizer. We've been together since November but we're moving fast. If this were stolen or lost, I'd use one of the other overdrive/distortion pedals that I have lying around until I figure out how to set it like this one. If none of them worked, I'd buy it again. I've tried my fuzz face and my DS-1 distortion pedal in its place, but they're both too harsh and fuzzy for this, where I need a warm overdrive sound.

So any vintage keyboard players looking for a good sound to make their electric piano a bit more driven would benefit from this pedal.

This thing can't get any simpler, 4 knobs to control the level, tone, gain and to switch between turbo and none turbo channels. I'm looking into buying the optional footswitch to interchange between turbo and none turbo channels, rather than always squating down and turning the knob, not a good idea when you're playing live. The manual that came with it contained afew nice settings but it's all up to you to find the exact kinda sound you're looking for. 10 for being so simple.

Normally, I play this pedal through my Epiphone Les paul standard together with afew other Boss effects and then to a Peavey practise amp. I must say that this thing sounds good especially when I'm into modern rock and pop, so there is no real need to have something with alot of gain. Metal players or people searching with something with alot of gain can go look somewhere else, this pedal is not for you, it doesn't have the kinda "heaviness" when palm-muting. This thing is very trebly, even with the tone turn to zero, it still sounds kinda thin, I alter that by using my Boss GE-7 and turning up some bass on my amp's EQ, I can't really turn up too much bass, considering the muddiness of a Les paul. This thing is quiet, even at full gain, no unnessacary hissing. But what's most important is that I can achieve the kinda overdrive I want, and I got it with this little thing.

Yeap, this thing is build to last, except that it's kinda hungry for batteries. I would definitely use it for a gig without a backup, I've never actually heard of Boss units breaking down.

Nope, never dealt with them.

I got this effect 'cause I was looking for a pedal versatile enough to play the kinds of stuff I play, which are mainly modern rock, pop and sometimes dream-pop, I'm not into metal. I'd advice guys who wanna buy this thing to look into other Boss overdrive units too, see which one suits you better. I'd maybe buy the Boss OD-3 if this thing got lost or stolen.

4 knobs! But I only have 2 hands! :)

Contrary to popular belief, I prefer the Turbo Off mode. That's because I always run compression before dist/od. With some compression, you can get great Marshall sounding breakup sounds, and cleans up with the guitar volume knob. Turn Turbo On only without compression, or it will sound too solid statey. Good for crunch. But not good for boosting as this colors the sound significantly. It sounds more crunchy than the OD-3, but with a smoother attack than the BD-2. The OD-2R has a lot of 'middle midrange' in its sound, compared to the TS-9 tubescreamer which emphasis upper midrange.

Boss.

It's cheap and good. If you're just starting out and playing Clapton style blues-rock, this is a good one, especially with a compressor. It's not too FAT sounding like the Blues driver or Marshall bluesbreaker. Gets my vote for the Cheap Perfect Generic Overdrive pedal of all time. Sure, you can also get a TS-808 which really costs ten times as much.

Very easy to use. Settings in instruction manual are great. Especially the ones called "American Blues" and "Hard Rock"(I think). Those two are great for SRV and AC/DC. Somewhere in between you can get Zeppelin's Moby Dick, Heartbreaker, Black Dog, etc.

I use this with a Crate BX25 bass amp and a MAKO Explorer copy. This is my school rig. At home, I have my California Stratocaster and my Hot Rod Deluxe. Have not tried it much on the Fenders because I bought the pedal at school and only took it home for a week on spring break. But if it makes a Mako guitar sound like a gibson, that's saying something. Sounds great. Great crunch when drive is up/turbo on. Bridge humbucker like this gives you instant AC/DC. Little buzzing when on but you are not playing. I do not have the remote footswitch. I don't think I would use it. But it might be good if you go from rhythm to lead and switch from neck to bridge pickup, back up, you may scorch yourself! I wish I had a TS-9 to compare it to. Then I feel I could give the ultimate review.

I once saw a guy with his car in his front yard up on Boss pedals instead of cinder blocks. Talk about an ingenious redneck.

Never needed to(Big Surprise)

I like hard rock, classic rock, blues. Even new music like RATM. You can get a pretty good sound for all of these. I got this pedal new for $50 because boss decided not to make it anymore. Get yourself one if they are still around at that price. I would buy any boss pedal at $50 because that's about half price. DOD pedals cost more and they have that weak plastic switch. I have been playing 4 years. I would not let this get stolen. I would beat the guy with it if it did and they plug in and play out.