Boss TR-2 Tremolo

This unit is very easy to use just find the right settings and go.

This is where i read about the very simple mod of just clipping out the C4. also i read about replacing the resistor which i haven't done yet but will soon. but just simply cutting out the C4 brought this pedal to life. so to anyone else reading these reviews that has not done this mod, DO IT! It really makes a difference.

I haven't had it long enough to give an opinion.

N/A

With the mod it really becomes a great pedal. i can't wait to replace the R19. If lost or stolen i would buy another one off of ebay do the mods and have a great pedal for minimal money spent.

Never had one before so I read the instructions. Not hard to use at all. However it's like Texas hot sauce: you don't need a lot to get the effect.

Didn't want to spend a lot of money and Boss a well known name. Got it home and liked it but it had a lot of hiss and sucked tone. Then I read the reviews suggesting clipping C4 and switching R19 to 4.7k ohm. WOW! BIG DIFFERENCE! No hissing, no drop in volume level. I accomplished this mod in 5 min. on the kitchen table for .99 cents. Now this sounds like a $200 pedal!

No problems so far!

Never had to use them.

I wanted the rich lush tremolo tones your hear in the doo-wop music music of the 50's & 60's. This does it in spades after I made the mods. I would say 5 before the mods, a 9 after.

Simple enough to use.

I'm using this w/ a Yamaha RGX A2 and a 25 watt tube amp. I'm going to hit on two points: cabling and mods.

First, cabling. I've read a lot of guys are having noise issues with this pedal. I'm starting to believe there is a problem with these pedals. Maybe some bad batches came out. Mine sounds fine, but I do know what people are talking about. I've heard some nasty TR-2's when bypassed. There is an ever so slight tone loss when this pedal is bypassed, which is why I chose to put it into my true bypass loop. Now, about the cabling: If you use quality cabling, you will see a dramatic improvement. I use George L's for EVERYTHING including my Guitar and out-to-amp cabling. If you want to see that noise disappear, use cables like this.

Second, the mod. See the review by Zuff on 11.27.2004. Yes, remove the C4. Just do it. He recommends switching the R19 from 10K to 6.8K. I used 4.7K and WOW! I say do it! A five pack of these cost 99 cents at Radio Shat. A 50 dollar mod for a buck! Do it.

I love this pedal now. I was so disappointed and frustrated with this pedal that I never used it. It will now boost the signal (top end of the wave) just a hair above the bypass level. In other words, it cuts through the mix now but doesn't do it obnoxiously and doesn't push it anywhere near "peak" territory. The wave forms are so much more defined now that the Cap is out of the picture. Quieter noise overall.

It'll be fine...

Never worked with em.

I was about to send this POC off to be modded. I'm so glad I found that review. I love this pedal now. Heck, even my WIFE noticed it. She thought it sounded great. I would replace this if stolen, because it will last forever, and with the 99 cent mod it's worth buying again compared to an expensive tremolo pedal. An adjustable trim pot for the peak volume would be nice, but I'm satisfied.

Without the mod, a 4. With the mod, a 9!

Trem has always been the most basic of modulation FX in my opinion. You don't much simpler than speed, rate and wave. I have actually sold it now, because I wanted something with a touch more vibe and without the wave knob.

Fender USA Lead 1/G&L tele/Fender Cyclone and others through a ton of mostly MXR and Boss pedals to a Roland JC-120 and a Fender Super 210 tube combo. No complaints about the sound whatever. The volume drop...I think people are hearing things. Maybe there's variations between induividual units (although Boss aren't know for production inconsistency) but it's the nature of trem that your volume drops in cycles so if you engage it and it's at the bottom of a cycle, you're going to get a vol drop.

Boss...

Boss...

We play indie but when you're talking about trem, it doesn't matter. Trem is in practically any type of music except metal (although I'd welcome someone to prove me wrong on this!). It is my favourite effect and Boss, as usual, nailed it. I wish it didn't have the wave knob but that's purely a personal thing and I'm quite sure most players want it there.

All you need to use this pedal is eyes and ears...and some musical sense. A monkey in a space suit could use this. 3 dials, 1 input, 1 output!

This pedal is JUST what I was looking for in a Tremolo pedal. Boss says this "Reproduces the classic tremolo effects of vintage 60's amps using a Low Frequency Oscillator(LFO)". Yup! That's exactly what it does! I don't play Metal or use distortion. I may use some Over Drive but I usually even like the clean end of that. I play mostly clean stuff (Jazz, Country, Blues, Oldies, etc.). This pedal sounds GREAT!! This pedal sounds JUST like the old Fender amps. If you CAN'T get it to sound right, then either you don't understand what tremolo is supposed to sound like so you really don't want tremolo anyway (but you THINK you do)--OR--you have it hooked up wrong. When I hooked it up through my Effects Send/Return loop, it was noisy (but ALL my pedals were noisy when hooked up that way). If I hook it up between guitar & amp. It's quiet. Also, keep in mind that if your effects (like THIS ONE) don't sound good, you may want to blame your amp, you guitar, or your own lack of knowlege in using effects. I wouldn't be shy about gigging or even recording with this pedal. You can go from a very subtle, soft vibrato (just enough to add some movement to your notes) by putting the Wave dial all the way to the Saw Wave side and bringing the Depth down to around 9 or 10 o'clock--to a very obvious and abrupt stutter by twirling the Wave all the way to the Square Wave side and bringing the Depth all the way to the max. There's a whole world of great feels in this pedal between those 2 dial setting extremes.
One thing to keep in mind (especially if your a Newbie); tremolo is an effect to be used in SMALL DOSES! It is a VERY noticable effect even when dialed in on the "light" side. If you don't like the way it sounds, then you probably just don't understand what tremolo is supposed to sound like.

Boss pedals have a GREAT reputation for being reliable. I DID have a pedal once that didn't work but not because I broke it...it was a factory defect.

Only dealth with them once and they were not helpful at all. Usually you WON'T have to deal with them 'cause the pedals are tough. I word to the wise. Boss doesn't play around with their policy. You'd better buy your pedal NEW, from an AUTHORIZED BOSS DEALER, and you'd BETTER have your original sales receipt if you want any kind of warranty service or help.

Easy to use. Very tough, well made pedal (it's metal not plastic). SOUNDS GREAT!! (if you are looking for a vintage tremolo effect). Very versatile (there are a lot of "sweet spots" in this pedal), it's very flexible. Personally, I just love this pedal! It's not one you'll use in EVERY song but if you want a really GOOD sounding vintage tremolo effect. BUY THIS PEDAL!

you can't get much simpler than this

it sounds great, although i don't use it too much because simply of what it does. i can see myself someday all of a suddent using this an awful lot though and experimenting heavily, just i haven't gotten around to spending too much time with it.

you'd have to intentionally be trying to break a boss pedal for it to break

it's weird implementing this effect into songs, but if/when you pull it off this pedal will certainly be do its job well. lost or stolen, i'd buy it after i buy a few other pedals i'm interested in, but eventually i'd definitely have another.

Very easy to get the good tone.

Everyone else here is complaining about the pedal's tone - but did any of you read what Boss said the pedal is supposed to do for your signal before you bought it? Its supposed to mimmick the tremelo on those fender amps from the 60s - and it does it perfectly and then improves upon the effect. If anyone has a problem in any regard with this pedal's sound then they didn't really want a tremelo pedal to begin with and they are an amatuer who is still figuring out which effects do what for their tone. Its a 60s tremelo sound - if that is what you want then this is perfect - quit complaining - for the $90 effect unit class this is as good as it gets. Its either this or the Digitech unit for that price - otherwise you can go pay $500 for some TC Tremelo unit - you get what you pay for. And the volume output? Insignificant - everyone is nitpicking and falling besides the point - the effect is pristine - its not a $500 TC Unit that you would ideally use for recording - but you don't own a studio anyway so what does it matter? Its perfect - when you get signed and go into a million dollar studio you can borrow their tremelo unit instead of your pedal. And if this effect is too noisy its because your amp is a cheap piece of crap - and any effect with heavy metal distortion used in conjunction will be noisy - what don't you people understand? Look, if you have an ounce of musical talent and a half-way decent musical ear you will hear the wonderful wave of dreaminess this pedal produces. If your amp and guitar suck though you will probably not like any effect. Through a tube amp and playing a mahogany guitar its magic.

its very light - my digitech pedals seem much more reliable - but my last boss pedal was from the 70s or early 80s and it still works - i trust it.

10 - if you know you want tremelo then this is a good unit. if i was recording i would go for something more expensive because a more expensive unit is guaranteed to sound better than a less expensive unit. This unit helps me create a dreamy effect that i use in short bursts or for drones or hits - its not a major effect - its used occassionally in some songs of mine and in that regard i could not create the sound i want to in a live scenario without this pedal - good buy for $89.

Very easy to use like all BOSS FOOT PEDALS.

Used it with a Fender 65 Twin Reverb. Vibrato was turned off on amplifier. Played it with reverb both on and off.
The effect is too noisy for tremolo!!!! Had a Boss GT-5 and the tremolo was outstanding along with the other effects. But the GT-5 is too difficult to change from various tone types. Wanted something simple. So I traded the GT-5 in for some other BOSS PEDALS. This is not one of the pedals you should purchase from BOSS!!!!

BOSS builds equipment that lasts. Yes, if it were a good sounding pedal. This one is a big, big, disappointment!!! I took mine back after playing it on and off one day. Background noise (as others herein have mentioned) was terrible. I exhanged it for a Boss Phaser.
I'm giving this category a 10 (NOT for this pedal) but for other pedals BOSS produces......

Dealt with Roland once regarding the GT-5. The customer support was excellent.

Currently, I play Surf and Blues. I have played various other types of music on and off for 30 years. I thought the tremolo on this pedal would be similar to the GT-5. In no way is it similar. It is too noisy and drives you nuts after a while. Also, you should not have to be tampering around with it, cutting the C4 thing, or whatever!!!. You void your warranty when you do these types of things. A 5 year warranty is a tremendous warranty period. I currently have a BOSS DD6 (Digital Delay), PH-3 (Phase Shifter) and a LS-2 (Line Selector). I am very pleased with these products. They get 10's across the board. Boss should take this pedal off the market and concentrate on achieving the degree of clarity of tremolo as found on my past GT-5. I suggest strongly that you do not purchase this effect in a Boss pedal until that occurs.

It was good. Its gone now. Simple to dispose of.

I used this for awhile til I got sick of playing. And breathing.
Alot of reviewers below talk about taking the C4 out of it. I decided to put some C4 in it. I plugged it in and BLAMMOKABOOMKERBOOSH!!!! I blowed it,my amp, my guitar and myself the f%*#$ up!!!

Cant depend on it anymore. I won't be gigging anytime soon seeing as how I am DEAD!!

They sent their condolences. "RIP TR-2 and its suicidal owner.

I play gothic music from beyond the grave. Very subtle and silent. I don't think I will be buying one again anytime soon seeing as how corpses can't make their way into Guitar Center or handle currency very well.

The TR-2 is really easy to use, most trems are, I think.

Stock the tr-2 is an okay sounding trem, it's competent, nothing to write home about, but a good standard trem. I did notice a slight volume drop, but it was something that I could live with.

And then I read about the mod in these forums. Basically it involves removing the C4 capacitor thing. I was a bit leary about doing it so I emailed one of the other reviewers on this site and he reassured me about doing it. I just spent 89 bucks on it and didn't want to mess it up.

So I went ahead and opened up the box and with a wire clipper I snapped off the C4 thing - it's a big silver thing in the middle, it's easy to find.

Turned on the pedal and it did sound better! not as much of a volume drop and the trem is just a bit 'something' - I don't know, but it's a better pedal and I'm glad I did it.

boss

na

I've owned a lot of great trems - and with the mod this is another great trem.