Boss TR-2 Tremolo

Typical three knob stomp box. Sick green color. Rate-speed /depth-intensity/ and wave-shape of the waveform. AC adapter port is on the topside where ALL AC ports belong! BOSS battery compartment with the thumbscrew. Typical BOSS quality. Very easy to use. I had my sound going in about 30 seconds. Totally silent switching with a red LED to tell you it's on.

Sounds just like an old Fender circuit. I have no idea what all the volume drop is about. Mine is an older unit and I notice zero drop in volume when I step on it. As for all the mods-it don't need no stinkin mods, amigo.
Les Paul into Wah-wah, into TR-2, into BOSS ME 5, into Roland Blues Cube or Fender Blues Junior or Fender Blues Deluxe RI. For surf-o-licious wobble it kills! I'm perfectly satisfied with it. Compares favorably with pedals costing much more. (our other guitarist has a boutique trem stomper for comparison) Trem circuits pre-date reverb...it ain't rocket science and it's been around for 50 years.
Honestly I cannot fault it in any way. Simple, easy to use and it delivers the sound I was looking for.
Handles bluesy overdrive real well and the cleans are not colored at all, whether the TR-2 is on or off. Very quiet-no noise.

Good stuff...no worries.

You're kidding, right?

I'm playing in a classic rock/surf/blues band. I needed trem for some of the tunes we play. I came here to HC and scoped out a few pedals. The TR-2 seemed like a reasonable unit for a good price ($40-used). No regrets.
I read a lot of reviews here on the TR-2 that discussed the mods on these. I have no need for any improvement, myself. Others swear by the mods-good for you. I try to buy my stuff based on the sound/utlity. I don't swap parts if I can avoid it. Almost all of my gear is stock. In my opinion, no improvement is needed with this pedal. It does exactly what I want it to do with no issues.

Three controls- rate, wave, depth.
Super easy to use!

I bought my TR-2 but in the mid-late '90s and I've run it in several different setups with several different amps and guitars through the years.
Not noisy at all, in fact it runs very clean.
The only problem is what the TR-2 is notorious for; it's volume drop... but even with it's volume drop I'd still recommend it.
If boss managed to fix the volume drop it would easily get a 10 rather then the 7 rating.

Boss pedals are tough... everyone knows this so I'm sure I wouldn't have to try and convince anyone.

It's your basic tremolo effect- it will work well for any type of music you throw at it.
If it were lost or stolen I would grab another over the competition but I would (as I have been meaning to with my current unit) have the keeley mod done (analogman's mod is also very good) and that would fix the volume dropping issue.

3 knobs for rate ,depth and waveform.couldnt be easier.
Tap tempo would be nice but did blackfaces have it as a feature? Of course not !!!!

The volume drop on this pedal is only a percieved drop as all trem effects do this.Its a psychoacoustic thing.
It does a good job of emulating a nice subtle fender amp trem right up to stuttering morello type stuff by way of wobbly surfy cramps.
my only complaint would be that it is a bit hissy but you cant hear it when your playing and you could gate it when your not...problem solved.
overall a very usable pedal which isnt leaving my board any time soon.

its boss so will last a long time.ive had all manner of boss pedals in my time and only one died (a dd2)

never dealt with them

apart from the hiss its a great affordable way to get some swampy wobble into your sound.
you could always spend way more on a demeter or similar but give this a whirl 1st and you may be pleasantly surprised.

This review is for the pre-2008 version. It's my understanding that Boss has corrected the main problem I encountered with mine in the newer version.

Of course it's an easy unit to use. It's also pretty versatile.

I'll do my best to describe as accurately as I can just what I personally encountered with this unit. I wanted a tremolo to make up for the lack of tremolo in my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I sound I wanted was based on the sound Robbie Kreiger got on the solos on Riders On The Storm, not for that song specifically, but to use on some other things. The TR-2 does this sound very well and is actually a pretty versatile unit overall.

Now, there are various reviews on here where people talk about a significant volume-drop. In all fairness to Boss, I have come to the conclusion that this depends on your own personal system. Up until recently, my pedalboard was audio-wired traditionally, that is, one pedal into the next, into the next, etc. In this configuration, I did not notice any volume-drop when the unit was engaged. I used the unit for about four years in this configuration with no problems. Recently, however, I aquired a Road Rage 8-channel true-bypass looper and routed all my pedals into individual channels on this looper. Now, with each effect isolated, I have encountered a significant volume-drop when I engage the tremolo patch. Not just slight, but very significant, to the point where I've had to replace it with a Catalinbread Semaphore.

I'm not a technician so I can't say why there would be this kind of difference due only to the audio routing but it is the case, nonetheless. I have not encountered this problem with the Semaphore, which has a volume control.

I used the unit for four years without a problem, and it's in the typical Boss enclosure.

I have never dealt with Boss.

I've been playing professionally since 1974 and still am. It's my job. And I can say with certainty that this sort of volume-drop is not in one's immagination, as suggested in one of the other reviews here. If that were the case, it's doubtful some of the other companies would goto the trouble of building volume controls into their units to compensate for this very thing.

My overall opinion is that if you run your pedals traditionally, you're probably okay using this unit, although I might suggest buying a new, post-2008 version just in case. But if you're isolating your pedals with a looper, I would suggest looking elswhere for a good unit with a volume control.

Very Easy! 3 Knobs, Speed, Depth, and wave shape.

This is a very natural sounding Tremolo. Doesn't color your tone too much and is just subtle enough. I can get a great SRV tremolo sound with this pedal.

Boss... Built like a tank! Nuff said!

I play blues rock. Playing for about 25 years. My signal chain is Fender Strat with Fralin Blues Specials, Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive, MXR - Phase 90 - Dyna Comp - Classic 108 Fuzz, Boss Tremolo - Dynamic Wah, Maxon AD-9 analog delay, Korg Pitchblack tuner, into a Peavey Classic 30 combo w/ Celestion Vintage 30.

This Pedal is a perfect compliment to my overall "Power-blues" sound!

Three controls, Rate, Depth, and Wave.

Probably a 10 for someone familiar with Tremolo pedals, 8 for the newbie. It is easy to get a "good" sound out of the unit, maybe slightly harder to get exactly what you're hearing in your head.

The Wave control goes between Triangle and Square wave and is mostly a "color" function to be set after Rate and Depth. [What I'm trying to say is to not be intimidated if you don't have any idea what its supposed to do. :) ]

My rig:

Epiphone Sheraton II >> MXR DynaComp >> Vox 847A Wah >> mXR 10-Band EQ >> BBE Green Screamer >> EH Big Muff Pi (Russian) >> MXR Phase 90 >> Boss TR-2 Tremolo >> EH Holy Grail Reverb >> MXR Carbon Copy Delay >> BBE Boosta Grande >> BBE Sonic Stomp

There is a slight volume drop when the pedal is engaged.

It sounds good on ultra clean settings and light-to-mid distorted settings. Haven't really tried it with heavy gain, but supposedly Tom Morello uses the TR-2 so it must not sound too bad. :)

Unlike a lot of other Boss stuff I've played with this pedal has a definitely personality; also between the three different controls you can go from vintage, 50-60s like warble (Sleepwalk) to the big E minor chord from Mary Jane's Last Dance (Petty) to modern stuff like Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day) or Guerrila Radio (Rage Against the Machine).

Use it as a hammer or self-defense device in a pinch

Excellent tremolo. It is digital and buffered bypass so there is a small amount of tone difference but nothing too terrible.

I'm thining about getting mine modded by Analogman, which supposedly takes care of the volume drop and gives the trem a little more presence.

If anything, I wish this unit had been 25ish dollars cheaper and/or came with a power supply.

3 controls, pretty easy to get a good sound out of...

Since I had never used a tremolo before, the manual was quite helpful in trying out initial sounds. Of course I went on my own once I got the hang of it. I did perform the C4 mod...more on that below

2004 Ibanez S470 into a Peavey JSX head with GT6L6 tubes. For the record, I have my TR-2 placed in the effects loop, not in the main line.

Haven't had it that long, but as we say here on H.C., "it's a Boss..."

Never dealt with Boss.

The main reason that I decided to post a review on this is to let everyone know that it seems that Boss has reverted to the older style boards in the TR-2. I just picked mine up new about 2 weeks ago, and I did have to perform the C4 mod on mine. It has been mentioned on here previously that Boss changed the circuit boards and that you can't perform the C4 mod on new TR-2s/the mod has no effect on new TR-2s. Mine was brand new out of the box, and the C4 mod was needed. I can't say that I noticed any "dirtying" of my tone after the mod, but the volume drop problem is solved by performing it.

Pretty simple -- 3 knobs. Rate, Depth and Wave.
Wave is square or rounded. Didn't take 2 minutes to figure out how to do what I wanted to do.
The manual has some sample settings that I liked: Vintage Tremolo, Electric Piano Sound, Swtiching Technique Sound, Rotary Speaker Sound. Didn't care for the last one: With the Rate turned up all the way it sounds like Outer Space setting, but the rest are useful.

This is the category that prompted me to write this review.
The only trouble with most of these reviews is they're all about about the C4 mod. Sounds like spinal surgery. I bought mine new in July 2008, today.
After reading the reviews I decided to thoroughly A/B it. I play a '99 Les Paul Studio into a Fender Twin. I put the TR-2 into the effects loop and my guitar straight into the 1 input, switch down for 25-watt sound instead of 100-watt (hey, I'm in my living room).
I had my wife repeatedly twist the Mix knob from 10 to 1, wet to clean.
With the effect turned off, I noticed no change in tone, playing full E-chords, A and B chords; playing chords further up the neck; noodling up high on leads. Don't know if it's a true bypass, but it's close.
I think the effect is at least an 8 on transparency even when on, playing in all those situations (chords or single notes, bass or treble). No dropoff in volume and tone was preserved between clean and tremolo. Maybe it's a 9 or 10, but I'm reluctant to claim that.
I'm playing a Gibson Les Paul into a Fender tube Twin, so tone is important to me. This pedal passes, at least the 2008 version.

It's a Boss. I've had my PH-1R since '84 with no problem, so I'll say this one is probably reliable.

Hope I'll never find out.

I like this pedal more than I thought I would. "Until We Sleep," from Dave Gilmour's first album: Set the Wave to square and the Depth all the way up, Rate about 1 or 2 o'clock and you're there.
I like Rate about 1 o'clock, Depth around 1 o'clock and Wave around 11 o'clock for an average setting.
I'm thinking this might be one of those effects I use most of the time. Set all the setting shallow and it's a nice background vibrato.

It's easy enough to use. No problems. I have no idea if there are upgrades available. I doubt it.

It works and does what it's supposed to do. I'm not that much of a tone freak to know if it's the best one available. There may be better trem units out there, but I haven't found a better one yet. If I do, I'll buy it. I use trem on maybe 2-3 songs per night.

Boss's stuff is bulletproof. Or so they say.

The first TR-2 I bought died after about three days. The second one didn't work right out of the box! In a fit of anger, I called Boss directly and after some difficulty (I had to go "up the ladder" to the director of customer service), they sent me a replacement direct from the factory. This one, finally, worked fine.

It's very good, obviously.

If it were lost of stolen, I would check out other trems before buying this one again. If the TR-2 turned out to be the best one, I would buy another. I wish it oscillated faster. That's my only complaint, but it's not such a big deal.

Very easy to use.

This is on the new TR-2:

In 2007 the Boss TR-2 has undergone some significant changes in the cirquit design. The new version is easily recognized by a "R" sign on the box. The new model is still all analogue.

But finally Boss has reacted on the complaints about volume drop. What have they done? They have exchanged R9 for a trim pot. The way it is set up from the factory (around 2 o'clock on the trim pot) there is no volume drop. By turning the trim pot counterclockwise you can further boost the volume level. By turning it clockwise you can set it to unity gain like on the older models (which had no volume drop at all, by the way. It was all just psycho acoustics, as a trem is supposed to sound weaker because of the drop outs during the pulsating).

The C4 Mod can be done on the new models, either. But there's no need for the C4 Mod anymore. I did the C4 to both - old and new - models and I can assure you, that it is the wrong way. It doesn't boost the volume but increases the transients and just makes it sound harsh, sterile and cold. Totally useless. Takes all the warmth out of your guitar every time you step on the pedal.

The folks at Boss may be dumb, but most folks on the internet and in the forums are even dumber. Everyone with an ear or two should hear the negative efffects of the C4 Mod. Just snipp one leg of the capacitor - then put this leg in an out of the board and listen carefully. Everyone who has done it this way has soldered the C4 back in again asap. Do yourself a favour and keep the pedal intact. There's a need for this capacitor in the cirquit, otherwise Boss would have dropped it.

The sound? Nice vintage style tremolo.
Just two minor complaints: It can't do the more extreme helicopter throb kind of thing and there's a little hiss, but that's about it. All in all a great pedal.

It's a Boss.

I play since 30 years and had it all. This is a good tremolo. Not the best, but it's rather cheap and a great value for the money. No volume drop on the new models and an internal trim pot. What more could you ask for?

Very straightforward, although i'm not sure if it's really ok in very high speeds - sounds out of tune somehow. To me that's not a problem, i want it between 10 and 1 o'clock anyway.

I did the C4 modification because most people recommend it, i even got an older TR-2 to be able to do this and did it right away after testing. Can't say if it's better because i didn't listen to it properly before. Anyway, after that - no volume drop, no loss of frequencies, maybe even a bit better with it on and depth on 0 than off... As for the sound - there is a discussion if it's vintage enough, i was disappointed on my small Fender transistor amp (FM25DSP or something like that), even thought about upgrading the tremolo, but using it with my Peavey Classic 20 which has been out of use for long but today got new tubes, it's lovely for being a modern pedal - don't think i'll bother to upgrade now... With the Peavey and my vintage SG i get the mid 60's English R&B sound i want, so next thing would be a proper reverb...

No doubts about this although i've had other Boss pedals causing problems in the past...

No experience

Only thing against this is that it - like all Boss pedals - is a bit ugly. When will they give up on that large square switch in favor of a more distinct and better looking vintage switch? If i would replace this it would be either if it stops working or to get a prettier pedal - and god knows only Behringer makes them uglier.

This review is for the older TR-2, the new one seems not to be reviewed yet!

I think the sound quality is very good. I also have a Behringer Ultra Tremolo UT100, which I think is excellent value for the money, but the TR-2 is superior, some in sound based on the amp sound I like, but much better in construction. I bring this up as well because of the mod issue. When I did the mod I found that my TR-2 started to sound more like the Behringer unit. I put back in the capacitor, or whatever the part is, in my TR-2 after I found that I did not like the sound of the mod. The volume difference was almost not noticable. The people at Boss are not idiots. That part keeps the pedal sounding more like a real tremelo sound you'd get out of an old amp. It keeps the sound more mellow and less artificial. Yes, I agree that the mod creates a more pronounced effect sound but I prefer the sound to be more subtle and less artificial, or digital. If some of you are having problems with your pedals, such as major volume drop, then I would say go for it. In my case, the pedal sounded fine to begin with, with no major volume drop or other issues. If your pedal sounds fine and has just a small bit of a volume drop, and you like the older more realistic sound that you get from an old Fender amp, don't bother messing with your pedal. I think the people at Boss weighed the difference and thought the pedal sounded better the way they set it up. I agree.

Based on my limited knowledge, I'd give the pedal a 9 because it does everything I'd expect it to do pretty well. I base this on the fact that you get a good deal on it as well, if price vs. value is implied in this category. In my case, I got a very good deal. I would say that used goods such as pedals, but especially amps where a lot can go wrong, shouldn't go for more than half of what you can buy it for new, if it is something currently being sold new and available. This does not mean half of list price, this means half the discounted new price that anyone can get online. People always make me laugh when they say that what they are selling is a good deal because it is half off of retail.

I found the controls to have a good usable range and to do what was expected.

This review is based on a test I carried out in a music shop's demo room, using a USA std strat straight into the TR-2 and with the output of the TR-2 fed into a 100w valve amp combo, set to give a warm, clean tone.

I liked the controllability and range of the controls, but found the tremolo effected sound quite thin. I was also testing another tremolo pedal in the same demo session, as an A/B (a T-Rex Tremster). The other pedal gave a far warmer sound with far more bass response.

On closer listening it transpired that the TR-2 was effectively cutting out most of the low end bass of my guitar signal.

However.... this was not the reason why i'm giving it a 1 rating, as one could argue that a thin sounding tremolo is what is required/desired (for some uses).

The reason I'm giving it a 1 rating for sound, is that I then moved on to test the TR-2 with it in bypass mode. I found that the same low end rolloff was happening in bypass as well. I'm not talking about a slight bass frequency drop here, but something pretty major. I tested a stright connection to the amp and also a A/B comparison with the T-Rex unit, just to check I wasn't mistaken, but sure enough in bypass mode the TR-2 losses a whole load of low frequencies.

I don't use phrases like 'tone suck' because they mean nothing descriptively. I'm talking about a severe bass frequency rolloff at I'm guessing anything below about 200hz. It would be interesting to hook a frequency sweep test set up to a TR-2 in bypass an see what happens at the lower end of the guitar's frequency spectrum.

Unless the TR-2 unit I tested (brand new) is faulty -adding this in your effects chain is going to ensure your guitar's signal is well and truely altered (for the worse). I can't see how anyone can use this unit effectively unless it is put in a side effects loop and swiched in/out when needed - even then, when you switch it in you are going to get a thin, bass light sound, which does not resemble the guitar's original signal or tone.

My advice - steer well clear of this unit. there are far better choices available.

I'd class the TR-2 as being unusable for serious guitar usage, for the reasons stated above. I know some 'name' players use the TR-2, so perhaps there is a mod I'm not aware of, or perhaps they use it in a switched loop and make do with the thin sound? I've used other Boss effects in the past and enjoyed them, so the TR-2 is a real shame.

Totally easy to use; no manuel needed! Speed/Depth/Waveform
end of story

Sound isn't colored much by the Boss TR-2 Tremelo. This unit isn't very noisy either. I can't give it a 10 on tone sucking or noise, but
pretty decent. Now before I removed the C4 from the circuitry it was warmer, but had a smothered sound. After the C4 "mod" it is opened up
more responsive, more powerful, not quite as warm. But removing the
C4 is definetly the way to go. The square wave could almost jerk your amp while pulsating, slow it down to a snail's pace if wanted, or hyper speed if wanted.

Boss has a reputation for solid, reliable units. I did have to insulate the battery wires; they were worn by stepping on the footswitch and had a naked space on it.

I have always liked tremelo. It's not going out of style like say
flanger, ring modulator, or space sounds, I'm content totally with the (modified) Boss TR-2 Tremelo. I have no plans to buy another brand or look elsewhere for any other tremelo unit.

Start with all knobs in the middle position. Sounds great - your standard tremolo sound. Start tweaking from there.

My pedal does NOT have the volume drop problem. I'm guessing that Boss heard about all the griping and fixed it in the newer models? Mine sounds great. Doesn't suck tone too much (at least not recognizably in live situations - but it probably does a little bit... as much as any other non-true-bypass Boss pedal).
The tremolo effect and tone is very tasteful and useful IMO.
In case you're wondering, my signal chain is: Strat -> Homebrew Power Screamer -> Maxon OD9 -> Boss DS-1 Keeley Ultra Mod -> Boss TR-2 Tremolo -> Vintage EHX Electric Mistress -> Ibanez AD9 analog delay

it's a Boss. Never seen one break yet.

don't know.

I play rock, jazz, pop... whatever pays the bills. Been playing 20 years. I'm not a huge Boss fan, the only other Boss pedal i use is a Keeley modded one. But this sounds great, and doesn't suck as much tone as I thought it would. I was pleasantly surprised, and this pedal has found a home on my board. I don't mind spending $$$ but this is an awesome value for $40 used. (Again, mine doesn't have the volume drop problem - maybe it's because it's a newer model?)

Dead easy. 3 parameters which provide a variety of very use able tremolo timbres. No need for a manual.

Ive just done the C4 mod.

Before C4 mod: 7/10

The overall effect was good however, my overall guitar tone was 'sucked' and a noticeable volume drop occured when the effect was switched on. This was especially noticable when playing loud through an amplifier. This was all due to the C4 capasitor. (Capasitors by definition have a 'mellowing' effect on a circuit....apparently!)

AND SO...

After the mod: 10/10

All my gripes with this pedal are gone! The volume drop has disappeared and now the pedal sounds much fuller, with a slight emphasis towards the bass frequencies, which I really like!

It's a Boss pedal - it will outlive me. 'nuf said.

(in a gig situation, my backup rig is a Pod XT so I wont be buying a backup pedal.....even if I could afford one......im quite poor!)

Never dealt with them.

To test the effect this mod did to the pedal, I recorded my PRS Custom 22 into the TR-2, then into a Pod XT and finally into Pro Tools LE 7.3 via an Mbox. This was then monitered through a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT-150s (sick headphones! buy some lol). I was careful to use exactly the same parameters on all the equipment involved to make this a fair test. I recorded a simple chord sequence and then a lead part to examine 2 different ways this pedal could be used. This was recorded twice; once before the pedal was modded, and once after. (and yes I did my best to play with the same velocity)

The results were great! after listening o the modded tremolo sound, I was really impressed. Looking at the Pro Tools session file also showed that the waveform from the modded recording was larger than the original signal, proving that the volume drop has been removed.

This pedal is a fantastic addition to my effects arsenal! Now that the C4 mod has been done, the TR-2 will be on my pedalboard for a very long time! Dont get me wrong, I am not a tremolo pedal expert and no doubt that Fulltone or EHX or whoever probably make a better tremolo, but FUCK IT. I like this one and for the price I payed, who can argue! End of.

Completely idiot proof. I got mine's second hand (the previous owner modded it) unboxed and without a manual and was having fun with it within seconds. There's even a handy diagram of the wave shapes next to the middle knob.

Sounds great but suffers from a slight volume dip without the mod, definately get this done if you have one of these pedals or are considering getting one. You can change the shape of the wave and get some pretty cool surfy sounds out of it. I play a Mexican Fender tele' through a solid state Laney head and marshall 2x12 which sounds ok, but i've also messed around with it through my mates Orange AD-30 and it sounds just grand.

Boss stuff in general is pretty solidly built and dependable.

n/a

I'm not a massive gear head or anything but this sounds, to my ears, as good as anything i've heard and is pretty fairly priced. I don't think a pedal twice the price of this one would be 100% better. I spent about a month mucking about with mine's til' i started using it legitimately, I really hitting chords with this plugged in after a delay pedal and mucking about with the knobs on both. Great fun!

Good Pedal. Simple to use. I recommend doing the C4 Mod (see other reviews) - makes a good pedal even better.

Sound good. No noise. Nice tone (espedially after Mod).

Boss - verywellbuilt - even my taiwan model is - just as solid as any of my other Boss pedals.

Never had to contact Boss.

Does just what I want it to do - nice vintgage type tremolo tone - even better with simple mod (clip the C4 capacitor - takes 30 seconds - and I am a techno idiot). And with the square wave option and a little ditortion you can even nail the "How Soon Is Now" sound byt The Smiths.

Very simple. The wave form knob is subtle. I got authentic tremolo sound right away, very much like Fender vibrato.

I thought the effect was bold enough right out of the box. It could be that mine is a newer one or perhaps I better understand the perceived sound level of a tremolo (half on - half off) since I've had the gold standard Fender Super Reverb vibrato.

Mine has some hiss when engaged (on the "on" cycle of the modulation). Mine is in a board with four others though. It's not heard when playing, only when quiet. Not good for a quiet recording.

It's a Boss-virtually indestructable. I was considering cheaper pedals but this Boss matches my other Boss pedals in my array.

I've never used them but I hear they are responsive.

I play classic rock, country, some light jazz. This sounds nice on old surf instrumentals and pretty chord melody stuff. Only a handful of hits used this but I use it more than I thought. I like this pedal.

Look at it. It does not get any easier than this.

I have never modified any piece of music gear before today. I don't even know what a soldering gun looks like, but I know when a tremolo pedal sucks tone. And before 10 minutes ago, my TR-2 (purchased new in the fall of 2006) sucked the life out of any guitar that I ran through it. It was actually purchased for me by a company paying me to play in a musical theater show with all 60's music. Six months later (after not using it since the show) I was about to put it up for sale on Craigslist when I decided to check out this "C4 mod" that I read about last fall before I told the guys which one to buy. There were on a budget and I figured the TR-2 would at least not malfunction.

So I followed the instruction below which I cut and pasted from a review that's listed just a few before mine. Believe me, I was a bit nervous before I snipped. Who am I to be modifying effects pedals?
I snipped the C4 capacitor, plugged it back in, and suddenly it's my new favorite pedal. Holy crap. It sounds fantastic. I can actually hear the tone in my Strat neck pick-up... LOUD and CLEAR. Do it folks, follow these instructions. I'm rating it a 9 because I never tested any other tremolo pedals.

HERE IS HOW YOU PERFORM THE C4 MOD:
Materials:
(1) Phillips-head screwdriver
(1) Bowl or cup (you don't want to lose any screws)
(1) Pair of small scisors, wire cutters, or nail-clippers.

-Take the battery out of your pedal, and/or unplug it from a wall outlet adapter.
-Unscrew the bottom 4 screws from the pedal, and put them in your cup or bowl.
-Take the bottom panel and plastic covering off underneath that.
-Pull out the circuit board, keeping in mind you will have to pull out at an angle so the 9v adapter box can slide out of its hole with ease.
-Locate the larger of 2 small "silvery pillow" objects (capacitators, if you know what they look like) and cut/clip both leads from the circuit board.
-Tape the C4 inside your pedal somewhere so that you don't lose it. (Encase you decide that you hate a good sounding pedal, you can solder it back in.
-Put the circuit board back in, replace the plastic cover, screw the bottom panel back in, and you're done!

I have 3 Boss pedals now. They are strong and reliable.

Haven't needed it.

Like I wrote earlier, this pedal is fantastic after the "C4 mod." I will be using it tomorrow night for a gig. But it's the only tremolo pedal I have ever used, so it's gets a highly satisfied 9.

It has three knobs, two more than me, it's that simple

I tried it out with my U.S.A Telecaster and a Vox VR30 amp.
At first it sounded pretty tinny/empty, I've just done the C4 modification, and it's been brought back to life.

I'd give it 2 before the mod, 10 after, i'm really pleased with it.

Since the C4 mod, it responds better than before, it's got a nice warm "worn in feel" like a good pair of shoes.

It's a Boss pedal, so it's really reliable, if it ever did die on me, i'd buy another and use this one as a doorstop.

Never had any call to use Boss support

My style varies a lot, i play 60's, Punk, Indie etc. I'd definatley buy another one if it was stolen.
The only thing is know, is to sort out my other Boss pedals, is there any diy mods you can let me in on.

3 knobs, easy.

SINCE I DID THE C4 CAPACITOR...... lovely and warm, very smooth old school sound, wraps you up in a mellow tremolo sound.

BEFORE THE C4 MODIFICATION..... sucked out all my vintage gears tone. I use '60's Fenders with '50's Fender amps and as with 99% of new Boss products it 'moderned' my sound to much.

It's not as good as old tube or boutique tremelos, but you wouldn't exactly want them on your used and abused pedal board! I was about to sell this Tremelo when i stumbled across the modification.

FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS OF A GREAT GUY A FEW REVIEWS DOWN FROM THIS, BUT IT ONLY WORKS ON OLDER TR-2's.

***** CHEERS FOR THE HELP MATE *****

Boss = RELIABLE. Most of my Boss pedals are pre 1985 and still work as they did then.

Never needed to use them.

But, in the 'Boss Book' the founder of Boss says that the new ones are just the same as the old early Japanese ones... we all know thats B.S.

Now i've modded it, i'm chuffed as punch. If you like the old school and roots, you will too.

Before that, just another 'ok' new Boss pedal.

If you don't know what i mean, Pepsi challenge the new Boss against the old.

Important update on the C4 mod...

I wrote the original C4 mod instructions back on 11/27/04, and apparently many HC readers have been happy with the results. However, I started getting emails from people saying that the couldn't find C4, and that their circuit board didn't look like the picture I sent them.

From what I gather, Boss has "upgraded" the TR-2 to a new design (possibly all digital). therefore, YOU CANNOT DO MY C4 MOD ON THESE NEWER PEDALS! I do not have a new TR-2 myself, so if anyone out there has more info on this issue, please email me or post it on HC.

Unfortunately, you cannot tell the difference between the old style and new style from the outside. You have to open the unit up and see if it has the new board or the old board. If you really want this mod, I suggest you find an older TR-2 from Ebay. I just saw a bunch listed, including units with the C4 mod!

Email me if you have questions. I can send you a picture of the old style circuit board showing where C4 is.

Three dials....it doesn't get any easier, just listen, rotate to taste and serve.

Well I was very cautious about this magical C-4 modification to stop the slight drop in volume. I had thought maybe the folks doing this mod really did not remember the old trem sound as I did.
OKAY, I bit the bullet and did the simply snip, snip on the C-4 and OH am I glad I did. The sound really cleared up and became much more vibrant so I'd have to recommend this modification to this pedal to anyone. I'm using it currently with a Roland Blues Cube BC-60 and with a Fender Highway 1 Strat, Samick SAT650 (355 clone) and a Tele.
All sound very very nice. Smooth.....like velvet. Tremolo is a very nice effect IF used selectively. I used it with a touch of delay and a little chorus and it surprised me and sounded like Danny Gattons Magic Dingus Box......well...close.

As they say 'Like a tank'. I have seferal OLD Boss pedals and they have all stood the test of time.

Never had to use it.

I've played a variety of music in several bands for more then 30 years. If this pedal got away from me I'd get another (and do the C-4 simple mod). Great value for just the amount I ws willing to spend and then some.

-Three knobs (typical boss pedal set-up), Rate, Depth, and Wave.
-A "check" light tells you if the pedal is on or not.
-Two 1/4" jacks for input and output, which are CLEARLY labeled.
-9v power adapter port on the "back" of it.

This setup (like all other boss pedals) is about as basic as you can get. My only complaint with ease of use is with the wave knob. If I did not know what they were referring to with the use of the word "wave," it would not be self-explanatory. Although everything is clearly labeled and explain in the user's manual, this could possibly concern a lesser-educated musician who perhaps bought the unit used and without a user's manual.

SEE "SOUND QUALITY RATING" BELOW:

I bought this pedal to get a "warm-and-fuzzy" feel for the softer songs by my indie rock band. First plug-in, and I felt like the pedal fails. I noticed a definite output level drop when the pedal was turned on. At first I figured that I was imagining things, as the pedal was MADE to swell or alter the output, but I clarified this by turning the rate/depth knobs all the way off, (which causes the pedal to do nothing) and the output was in fact lower.

The actual tremolo effect itself seemed to be dry and boring, almost as bad as some low-end digital effects. I took the time to research the pedal online, hoping I just got a defunct one... which is when I found out about the C4 mod!

HERE IS HOW YOU PERFORM THE C4 MOD:
Materials:
(1) Phillips-head screwdriver
(1) Bowl or cup (you don't want to lose any screws)
(1) Pair of small scisors, wire cutters, or nail-clippers.

-Take the battery out of your pedal, and/or unplug it from a wall outlet adapter.
-Unscrew the bottom 4 screws from the pedal, and put them in your cup or bowl.
-Take the bottom panel and plastic covering off underneath that.
-Pull out the circuit board, keeping in mind you will have to pull out at an angle so the 9v adapter box can slide out of its hole with ease.
-Locate the larger of 2 small "silvery pillow" objects (capacitators, if you know what they look like) and cut/clip both leads from the circuit board.
-Tape the C4 inside your pedal somewhere so that you don't lose it. (Encase you decide that you hate a good sounding pedal, you can solder it back in.
-Put the circuit board back in, replace the plastic cover, screw the bottom panel back in, and you're done!

Benefits of the C4 Mod:
-No output drop when the pedal is on
-Warmer, more vintage tremolo sound (think 60's/70's psychedelic records)
-Less "hiss" from the TR-2 in your pedal chain

SOUND QUALITY RATING:

WITHOUT THE C4 MOD: 4

WITH THE C4 MOD: 9

It's made out of some kind of heavy alloy or metal, so the casing won't break. The inner circuitry is protected by some soft plastic, and is held tightly in place, so its not going to wiggle around inside the pedal. Overall, I trust the dependability of this pedal 100% and wouldn't even think to ever need a backup.

I've never dealt with boss's support line, but I've heard the good the bad and the ugly about it. I'm sure it's on a case-by-case basis that you get good or bad service.

Coming from a guy who plays anything from jazz to heavy rock, I find this pedal pretty useful and versatile. I believe in moderation and variation of effects, so I try no to over-use them in my music. The great thing about this pedal is how many different sounds you can get out of it, from a warm-and-fuzzy love song feel to a heavy Mars Volta jam-esque sound, this pedal is a must-have in my opinion.

it's that simple even a bass player* can work out how to use it...

3 knobs Depth, Speed, Wave Shape which ... um.. well... surprisingly...control the
A: depth
B:speed
and...
wait for it...
wait for it....
C: wave shape.



* I AM THAT BASS PLAYER... :P
well I mostly play bass but I swap roles with the Rhythm guitarist, playing a Rick for our "jingle jangle" indi pop or a Bass VI for trashy swampy rock tracks.

Perfect for classic 60's surf, UK pop/rock and 80/90/00's inti/alt rock


Set up - Fender Aerodyne Telecaster , Rickenbacker 350/6, Fender Bass VI.

effects - Line6 DM, Crybaby, boss chorus ensemble.

Amps - Laney VC30-212 + Vox AC30 run together in stereo, and, occasionally, a Roland Jazz Chorus.

I put the TR2 last in line in to the Laney VC30 after the stereo split on the chorus pedal so the Vox AC30 uses it's own built in tremolo unit, I deliberately run the TR2 and the VOX with slightly different speeds (al la Johnny Marr style) which causes some crazy stereo volume shifts (insert evil grin)


Look I use one unmodded and it still sounds great - honestly when your cranked over six tenths on your valve amp and the other guitarist, bass player and drummer are making a racket a bit of hiss is not going to ruin your day and a slight overall volume drop... meh I never noticed it on stage or in rehearsals, when I'm practising I just ignore it knowing it won't show up in the final mix .

It's a Boss do they ever, really, break?
love 'em or hate 'em these things (even the newer non Japanese units)... never ever seem to break...
I still have and use units I've owned since school days which means they are close to (cough) 30 (cough) years old - no problems bar the occasional lost plastic knob and the odd broken battery connector and one slightly split case (due to an Ampeg 8x10 fridge falling on it). Never had a "catastrophic" failure.

see reliability... I've never needed to take a Boss pedal in for repairs but I've dealt with Boss/Roland for synth and amp repairs if they are the same guys then I'd give them the overall ratting of "generally very happy"

a great basic effect that's cheap enough to be in any guitarists kit....

It will take some time to get it set just right. A lot of it has to do with the tempo of your music and what application you're using this for. However, the controls are really straightforward.

I did modify this unit by cutting out C4 or whatever that piece was. What a difference! Much more responsive. Sounds like a vintage trem pedal now. It's really clear, and there is no volume drop. It also works extremely well with other pedals. It's not noisy at all in my setup. I run it first in my chain, and then it goes through about 8 or 9 other pedals.

My only gripes about this pedal are the lack of volume control, and the subtlety of the effect. You really have to crank the depth knob to get the effect to stick out. But, most trem sounds are supposed to be subtle, so this is a good replication. Without the mod, I'd give the sound a 5. With it, the sound is an 8.

Boss.

Boss.

A really, really good trem pedal. Just do the mod! It's bonehead simple if you have a functioning frontal lobe. Don't spend $200 dollars or something on a trem pedal. This is the real deal!

This "review" is more about the much hyped-about C4 mod. I love modding and bending equipement, and even build my own little noise boxes. I'm not an electronics pro, but I get by for simple non-DSP stuff. I had some time to kill last night so I thought what the heck! I also devized to add a switch to toggle the C4 cap circuit "cut and uncut". Fun little project.

When I got it done and plugged it in, I was a bit confused to hear absolutelly no difference. I had a simple circuit done so that I could AB back and forth it in an instant to compare. I went back to the table and checked each wire and each solduring point with a multimeter, and to make sure that no solduring points were accidentally bridging to others. I was using a low-watt iron and was quick with my solduring, no chance to burn out the cap.

I test again. I crank the volume on my Peavey C30 and SOS a riff so that I can try different knob settings while Abing the mod. The differencs I DID hear are very slight boost to the low-end when using a square wave. It's so slight that you really have to look for it with no distractions though. This is definatelly not the night-and-day difference I keep hearing about.

So I'm very confused and dissapointed. On one hand, I hear no difference (I only knwo of one other person on another forum that heard no difference with his), on the other hand, dozens (hundreds?) of people are raving about this mod. So many that it's impossible that it's fake.

Could it be some TR-2s are built differently than others?

Very straightforward design. This pedal is ruggedly constructed like all Boss pedals, and is very easy to understand and use. Anybody can add it to their effects chain and dial in their desired tremolo sounds in seconds.

This pedal does exactly what you would want a Tremolo to do: it operates cleanly in that it does not color the sound of your instrument in any way, and it can create all the vintage tremolo sounds of the 50's and 60's in one package. I have had this pedal for years and played it with various amp and guitar combinations, and the results are always the same. Since the pedal is so transparent, it will sound great in any rig. The only reason this pedal gets an 8 for sound quality is the slight loss of overall volume that occurs when the pedal is engaged. However, the difference really is slight and probably inherent with this type of effect.

Boss pedals could survive a nuclear holocaust along with the cockroaches. They are virtually indesctructible, thanks to their design and rugged metal housing. Buy one and give it to your grandkids some day.

I've never dealt with them, because their products are so damn solid and reliable. (think of those commercials for Maytag with the out-of-work repairmen!)

This tremolo is designed to fill a particular niche in the guitar effects market. It's not for every guitar player, only those whose styles (country, blues, surf, etc.) call for tremolo sounds in the first place. Within this small category, however, this tremolo does it all. Whether you want the choppy aggressive sound of a helicopter taking off or the smooth warble of juke joint blues, this pedal absolutely owns the competition.

Super simple interface.

You gotta do the mod that people are talking about here. Clipping C4 and swapping R19 for a 4.7k ohm are HUGE improvements that cost less than a buck. Big ups to Zuff (11.27.2004) for posting it. The differences are: 1) No volume drop when effect is engaged (which was annoying) and 2) A lot more response from the wave knob, especially down at the square-wave end. Chucka-chucka-chucka...

It's a Boss built brick.

See above.

Bought it used, paid a good price, and post-mod it's a great shaping tool.

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.

As usual for boss pedals this is pretty easy to use. I mean, if you can handle three knobs...

I bought it, tried it, and brought it back to the store.
What a poor tremolo pedal!
It`s terribly noisy, as if you implant a miniature Steamtrain in your amp that does anoying choo-choo-choo-choo sounds.
The other big problem is that it has a ridiculous low output, so you`ll have to install a boost or volume pedal to get along during live gigs. - Unacceptable.

The effect itsself is OK, though pretty cold, but you have a lot of options and can go up to helicopter trem sounds.

Boss pedals are always reliable. - Unfortunatly most of the time you can also rely on poor sound.

never did

Boss pedals are reliable, we all know. But that`s nearly all for the TR2.
It is noisy and weak.
Save some money and go for a T-Rex Tremster or even better a Fulltone Supa Trem.
They are worth the price- the Boss TR2 is not!

I play an Ibanez SZ520 and a baritone-tuned frankenstrat into a Rivera M-100. The TR-2 sits last in my front-of-amp chain, which goes vintage Morley VCO --> Boss GE-7 --> MXR Distortion+ --> MXR Phase100 --> Boss TR-2(it is a tad too subtle when it sits in the fx loop). It is very quiet...I do believe the newer TR-2's have had some sort of manufacturing change that makes them less hissy.
I did a pre-mod check, and yes...the sounds are shall we say...uninspiring.
So, I got out some snips and said goodbye to capacitor #4.
The mod is as good as advertised. You will not regret doing it.
The only thing I wish it had was an expression pedal input to change the effect rate.

I've got a silver-screw DS-1 and a CE-2 from the seventies that still work and sound like new. 'Nuff said.

You have to remember just how large a company Roland/Boss is.
Maybe I am just lucky but the two times I've needed them, I recieved prompt, friendly and accurate info.

I play mostly classic and hard rock. This pedal is versitile enough to go from "Born on the Bayou" to all kinds of nouveau chopped-up mayhem. After doing the C4 mod, I truly love this pedal.

Very easy to use and get a good sound out of it. It's a nice mod that takes a great, built like a tank, pedal and makes it more prominent. Love the blue light that is added. Step on it and go

The boss trems are normally dinged for their volume drop when engaged, with this mod there is a slight volume boost so the trem really stands out in the mix. I've read about some people modding these themselves by cutting some capaciter thing, but I wouldn't trust myself to do that. This is a good mod that makes a great trem even better - no real complaints.

built like a tank - no issues

don't know

solid trem - solid mod

Pedal sounds too dark and undefined when its stock. The volume drop was also a pain in the ass. To be honest, I was going to sell the pedal until I found out about the modifications available. Not the greatest sounding stock tremolo.

As Spider already posted, this pedal sounds quite a bit better when you switch out some of the stock component with upgraded parts. I had a local tech modify the pedal for me using Spiders instructions:

"To sort the drop in volume issue replace resistor (R9 10K) for a 4.7K resistor or better still install a 10K trim pot and tweak to the desired volume required."

4.7k is way too much gain. I even tried 5.6k but, which was a little bit better, but still too much. I wanted a enough of a boost to create a unified gain sound. The problem I also ran into was that when using the tremolo as the last in my effects chain, the volume boost of the tremolo drowned out the other pedals. I gave up on the idea of a resistor and the tech suggested that he install a trimmer on R9. This method works a lot better and basically performs the function of a volume control via the resistors output. It can also be installed on the board instead of having to drill for a new volume knob, or having to order a dual pot.

"To make the pedal have a more Hi Fi sound reduce noise remove (C3, C5,C20,C21 1uf)electrolytic caps and replace with 1uf metallised film capacitors/Mylar.Also replace(C2 and C6 10uF) electrolytic caps for tantalums."

No real comment. The caps are what alter the overall tone of the pedal. It pisses me off that Boss couldn't spend a dollar or two more and use the above caps to begin with. The pedal sounds awesome right now, and all I did was change 6 capacitors with better quality ones.

"To add high end sparkle remove completely (C7 10pF capacitor).Try it, if it is not to your taste put the cap back in."

I have a strat, tele and a Rivera Knucklehead. I have enough treble as it is, not applicable to me. I don't know if it's possible, but it seems like a toggle switch allowing two different tones: stock, and low cut would be cool. What I "hear" as tremolo in my head is a warm, wavey sound though, so it's all subjective.

"If you feel you would like to increase the rate lower the value of (R31 50K)try say a 10K to start with.I personally left mine as stock value.The above requires a bit of knowledge and the use of a soldering Iron...Proceed with care."

With the above mods, the pedal can get very "choppy" if you turn the rate and depth all the way up, as well as turning the frequency knob to sawtooth. If you're into that sound it would be cool, just not functional for me.

BTW, if you are going to do the above mods and have removed c4 from the board, you will need to replace it. I talked to one of the people at Keeley and he said they do nothing to c4, he actually asked me some questions about it and how it affected the tone.

Boss...hells yeah.

Waka waka!!!

Awesome with the mod, not so hot without it.

This is an update to my review on 11/27/2004, where I described my C4 mod to the TR-2. Since then, I have helped dozens of people make this mod, and everyone seems to be pretty happy with the results. I have also noticed a number of positive reviews for the mod here on the Harmony Central site. The C4 mod puts alot more pep and personality into this little green guy.

Here are the C4 mod instructions:
1. Remove the bottom plate and the insulating plastic piece which is just inside.
2. Carefully fold out the circuit board and find C4 in the middle of the board (it looks like a little silvery pillow, and the board says "C4" next to it)
3. Remove C4. You can use wire cutters, nail clippers, or even scissors. You can also bend it back and forth a zillion times until the two leads break.
4. Replace the circuit board, insulator, and bottom cover. Done!

Don't forget- this will VOID your warranty.

If you have any questions, please email me. I can send you a scan of the circuit board showing the location of C4.

-zuff

This pedal is composed of only three knobs, so it's very very easy to use and the controls are pretty immediately understandable

I felt only a little volume loss. But this tremolo can offer to the player a huge variety of sounds. The sound is dark and psychedelic. We can never set the tempo, but that's the best of tremolos!!! :-)

Ok. Just as the Boss guarantee teaches us all!

I don't know

I play pink floyd and oasis. anyway the sound is adactable to every stile!!! Since the sixties' piano to the interrupted voice tremolo!!! Great!!

Three knobs - rate, wave, depth. Doesn't get any simpler, really ...

I play pretty much exclusively a Fender American Deluxe Strat ---> Marshall AVT100 (soon to be replaced by a decent 30/40 watt tube amp) with various used in between ... Crybaby 535Q, Ibanez Fuzz (rarely), and the Boss TR-2. Before the C4 mod I was quite satisfied with the sound; it was a sort of soft vintage-style flutter/swell, quite nice. However upon reading that it could be improved, I made a rash decision and cut out the C4 cap (a silver 'water-tower on 2 legs' type thing right near the centre of the board, next to a black rail-looking thing) with some little scissors. When I set it all up and plugged in again, I immediately thought I had botched it; there was this crackly choppy signal for a split second ... but then, checking the leads and junk were all plugged in, it worked like dream. The upgrade in tone post-mod is remarkable! It kept all the sparkle and there was no volume cut ... also the variation are a tad more prominent, you can get more extreme tremolo sounds now.

Previously, yes - built very solid. Now, with voided warranty and all - have no idea. I only did the mod 30 minutes ago!

Pointless now, anyways ...

I've been playing nearly 7 years ... heavily into blues and oldies rock, some alternative stuff (Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Jeff Buckley, etc.) As I said, I was quite happy with the thing before I modded it, but the mod turned the TR-2 from a really good pedal into a superb one. First and only mod I've ever attempted btw, really easy. Before the mod I might rate about 8, after mod would be 10; so in between I shall go!

Using with Fender Blues Junior. Marshall AVT50H head and 1960AV cab. Or sometimes with Peavey Blues Classic amp straight in and with only TS-9 Tube Screamer.

Guitars: Jay Turser JT-50 (Goth copy) and Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan strat.

Honest and open: Unless you'll remove the C4 capacitor cap, don't buy this pedal. Sucked all tone and volume. Removed the C4 with scissors. Awesome. That easy. HOwever, bear in mind that you void the warranty when you remove the C4 cap. I don't get in to other mods, though. Again, keep in mind that this is the only way to have this pedal, so say just go to hell when they tell you at the shop you can buy an extended Boss 2 year warranty plan for an extra $20. Boss don't break.

Once the mod is done, tone is great. Anything from Flamenco to the Leslie Cab twirling horn sound. From ska to funk to rock to reggae to SRV's "Cold Shot"

Not noisy at all. Nice and quiet with as much true bypass as possible.

Now the effects sound great.

5 before the mod, 8 after the mod. I mean c'mon, for a trem pedal there may be not be a '10' on the market.

Can absolutely depend on Boss. No questions. Gig without a backup any day.

n/a

Great match for any type of persons and music. Playing over 15 years. Own Fender Strat/SRV; Jt-50 Jay Turser; Yamaha Flamenco Guitar; Fender Metal Resonator guitar

Own Marshall AVT50H head (valvestate) with AVT CAB; Marshall 1960AV cab 4X12; Fender Blues Junior Combo amp (tube); Peavey Blues Classic 40W amp combo (tube); Fender FM212R solid state combo;

various pedals (crybaby; TS-9 tube screamer; NYC Big Muff; Digitech Delay (don't buy one...all they do is suck volume) )

AGain, 5 rating before simple mod; 8 after

It's a quite easy effect, 3 knobs:
-rate, increases the speed of the tremolo;
-wave, controls the waveform of the effect;
-depth, when counterclockwise no effect in created.

I use it with my rick bass -> all tube ampeg and the effect is very good. I bought it four years ago but I was not satisfied at all. I have to admit it was thinking to sell it until I read about this C4 mod: I did it and the effect improved so much I decided not to sell it anymore. Just cut that big silver cap with some scissors. No more volume drop, and the general sound was not altered. I am really satisfied now! I don't find it noisy at all. I have to agree with lots of other rewievers, 6 unmodded, 9 modded.

The pedal is sturdy and really dependable.

I never had to get in contact with Boss, as said their pedals are reliable.

I play rock and progressive rock and effects are an important part of my sound. I think I found the ultimate tremolo effect and I won't ever think to sell it anymore. If stolen I'd buy another, maybe used since these are not so cheap!

Easy to use. Three knobs

My set up consists of: Vintage Fender Strat > RMC 1 Wah > Axis Face Fuzz > IbanezTS9 > Fender Reverb > Fender Deville(4x10)Amp.

The Boss TR2 in original condition is a good pedal BUT, with the help of a gentlemen named Dan Wiley (an electrical engineer)whose comments I read (see below) about the C4 mod, I proceeded to amputate the tiny damn thing located in the center of the board and the TR2 became a great effect with a "meatier,warmer tone and no volume drop". I do not get involved with electrical boards but this operation was easy. Went from a 7 to a 10 in quality.

Built like a tank. No problems

N/A

Blues, vintage rock, jazz. I have been playing for 20 years. The TR2 is a great addition to my peddle board with true bypass and the C4 mod.

Three controls Rate,Wave and depth.

The TR-2 is a pretty good pedal in its own right but with a bit of internal component tweaking it sounds better than the "boutique trems" and is quieter, richer, fuller than the stock pedal-definitely a keeper!
To sort the drop in volume issue replace resistor (R9 10K) for a 4.7K resistor or better still install a 10K trim pot and tweak to the desired volume required.
To make the pedal have a more Hi Fi sound reduce noise remove (C3, C5,C20,C21 1uf)electrolytic caps and replace with 1uf metallised film capacitors/Mylar.Also replace(C2 and C6 10uF) electrolytic caps for tantalums.
To add high end sparkle remove completely (C7 10pF capacitor).Try it, if it is not to your taste put the cap back in.
If you feel you would like to increase the rate lower the value of (R31 50K)try say a 10K to start with.I personally left mine as stock value.
The above requires a bit of knowledge and the use of a soldering Iron...Proceed with care.

Its a Boss

Pretty good when I have asked for parts.

In modified format definitely a keeper.

like everyone said, really easy.

my setup is gibson les paul (i got 1 standard, 1 studio and 1 special) through crybaby-rotovibe-oc2-tr2-jcm800 split channel head+cab

i bought the tr2 some 7-8 years ago. ive always loved tremolos. my unit was never noisy, perfectly silent, and never suffered major volume drops, it is just perfect.
anyway just yesterday, reading previous customers reviews i thought about doing the c4 "mod". i did it today, i cut out the thing with a simple pair of scissors and i must say it improved the box. the effect is more intense and "warmer", dont really know how to explain it but that operation improves the pedal.
ill give it a 9 just beacause ive never really tried a different tremolo pedal (well i used some old fenders but its a completely different thing) but i love this thing

i play a lot of gigs and never had a backup. we all know boss are die hard!

never dealt with boss

i play rock'n'roll, with my band we do original stuff along the lines of aerosmith, gn'r, black crowes, stones, ac/dc with some covers thrown in for good measure.
i love the effect, i dont use it that much but theres certain things where its just magical, you know, slow ballads, arpeggios and stuff... at first when i was checking out a trem i was thinking about buying a univibe but the price was (its) just too high so i relied on this one and it just does what i bought it for and does it great.
i can understand some people complaining about it, maybe theres just some unit that didnt came out good, i suggest to try it if possible i avoid buying via internet if i cant try things out.

Pretty much a piece of cake. Took me a while to find a good balance between the triangle square settings, but other than that...

Okay, I bought this on a whim (dumb, I know), got it home, and was a little disappointed. What I was looking for was a way to liven up my sound, what I got was a fairly weak rendition of a Fender amp trem unit... I'm using it with a G&L Legacy with SD Alnico's and a '74 Fender Telecaster Deluxe, a Peavey VTM and Traynor YCV80, I got a decent at best sound. HOWEVER! After reading up on the pedal here, I saw the mod for the C4 capacitor and figured that I might as well, so out came the toolbox, gone was the C4 capacitor (looks like a relatively large silver tongue in the middle area of the circuit board). Major, and I repeat major, improvement (for me anyways). The effect isn't weak at all anymore, quite the opposite. Also, the volume drop isn't there anymore (the primary reason as to why people use this mod in the first place), which is kickin' too. So now instead of a slightly weak sounding, non-unique tremolo sound, it's got a personality, making it sound a whole world bigger and more alive. By the by, I've never modded or opened up a pedal before to do anything other than change the battery, so don't sweat it, it works (guaranteed) and it's easier than a drunken cheerleader, so give it a go if you want a little more from the TR-2. 6 unmodded, 9 modded.

Boss stuff is wicked-awesome type reliable.

Never dealt with 'em, but I suppose my warranty is void now that I've dicked around with the circuit... oh well, it'll outlive me, so whatever.

I play a lot of rock styles - classic, hard, surf, rockabilly, psychedelic, alternatice, etc. Been playing for 7 years, been a gear head for 6 and 1/2, and have a pretty critical pair of ears. I'd certainly replace it if stolen, but not before I tried the Voodoo Labs tremolo and Rocktron Pulse.... I hear good things about both, though both are intended more for subtler vintage tones, and the BOSS can pull off some tres' cool experimental vibes that would be tough to compete with. Bottom line, if you dig tremolo and haven't gotten one yet, you'd do well to check this green monster out. Again, if you're disappointed with the sound out of the box, get a phillips head screwdriver and a pair of wirecutters and go to town (just take care not to fuck up anything else!). I guarantee you'll enjoy the results.

I bought this on ebay for #40 - mainly coz I read about the C4 removal mod in these reviews and thought 40 quid was not bad for a trem effect.

The C4 is big capacitor in the middle of the circuit board - I cut it out with a pair of nail scissors - with trepidation I plugged it back in and hey presto one awesome, top quality tremolo pedal in action.

Its good - I use it with the following set up Fender Strat or Esprit into a Bad Monkey, Dano Milkshake Chorus, TR2, Dano PB&J Delay, Digitech X Series Digiverb into an Vox Valvetronix 30 (or computer speakers for quiet practice).

No hiss as report, quiet operation, slight drop in volume when turned on.

As to effect quality - with the C4 in - quite subtle - not a great amount of trem, but a genuine Fender/Vox sound.

Witht the C4 out - all the same as above but more extremes - the old subtle sounds are still obtainable but the depth and rate actual do something.

So the moral of the story is - dont be scared take the C4 out.

Its Boss - so its supposed to be reliable - it is made of heavy duty material, so no complaints in this department.

Dunno - its secondhand so i doubt I get customer support.

I play late sixties folk-rock, surf guitar, etc.

If it was stolen I might buy another, but i'd check out other pedals on the market.

Overall its great fun, has a nice 50s tremolo sound and with the C4 cap cut out has a bit more range - it can now go to 80s indie stuff like the Smiths.

All in all v. good - I give a 9 but a 7 without the C4 mod.

not too hard, 3 knobs. mess about for a bit and you'll find something you'll like. same as any other pedal.

i play a Ibanez Jet King 2 (with Rio Grande Punchbox PU at the bridge)
that runs through: Pro Co Rat 2 -> Dunlop JH-1 -> EHX Big Muff (US) -> Boss TR-2 -> EHX Deluxe Memory Man -> Behringer GX210 & Behringer BX300

it's a good tremolo, i like the sound that i get from it, warm and round. fanatastic, really, if you take the price into consideration. just like a 60's tremolo amp unit. the colume drop, however, is quite annoying. i tried the C4 resister removal and it got rid of the volume drop, which was great. however, removing the resistor made the sound slighty brighter. i just compensate by rolling of my tone knob a bit. it's a much better than the volume

all in all, a good tremolo, very warm and subtle. not enough volume compensation makes the pedal less useful. with the C4 mod, the volume drop is gone but is more digital sounding...less warm.

HEY! BOSS! Boost the volume on output a bit and you'll have tremolic gold on your hands.

Boss = No Break

But just remember, don't stomp on your boxes, step. you're boxes'll live longer.

Boss has its good days and its bad days. Usually good though.

I play cathartic, shoe-gazy-type rock. it used to be just for my own enjoyment but now i'm playing a few shows.

the trem was worth the purchase, but if this one breaks, i'll do some shopping around before i come back to this one. i hear the line 6 trem is good but the Boss is a great value.

Easy enough to use. Twist the knobs for 10 minutes and it ain't hard.

The effect is great. Pulsating tone, smooth trem. The Tremolo itself is exactly what I was looking for.

But.

Mine added hiss. Enough that once your note started to fade out it was overtaken by pumping white noise. This rendered it completely useless for any sort of slow playing and just annoying for anything else. no good.

Dunno, returned mine 3 hours ago.

Haven't dealt with 'em

I like Tremolo. I dislike white noise. Boss should really try hard not to combine the two. I used this with 4 different guitars (Strat, Tele, archtop, SG) in 3 different amps (Marshall, Roland, Pignose) in 2 different houses with 5 different cables. It wasn't a conditional problem. The effect itself was great, the hiss was awful.

Simple layout. Depth, rate and waveform knobs. Electronic bypass.

I play a Reverend Rocco or 66' Fender Duo-sonic 2 (larger scale)
through various tube amps. Pedals are all true bypass. The original sound was a little dull: loss of highs and percieved loss of volume, etc. I considered sending it to Analog Mike but figured I might as well just save for a fulltone, voodoo Labs or Demeter. Also, it could just be my ears but I have spoken with reputable pedal makers who agree: the bypass sucks some tone (highs and attack suffer). I read below about a simple fix to the bland trem of the tr-2. I opened it up, found a big silver thing with the label "C4" next to it (near the middle of the board) and cut it out. This simple "mod" really does make this box sound better. It sounds stronger and has more personality. About the hiss debate... I am no expert but my gear is good and my power is conditioned. I played it through my old 65 (blackface) princeton reverb and it added that awful hiss that so many others have talked about (before and after I cut out C4). I even had slight hiss when the pedal was off. I also played it through an old epiphone tube amp (early 70's). Through this amp there was no added hiss that I could detect. I cannot account for this, sorry. The trem of the tr-2 (after cutting C4) is faster and stronger than the trems found on both of these amps. That is to say that I prefered it's trem to the other two. Not as warm and natural as the fender but faster and stronger. A 5 before the c4 and a 7 after (I worry about that hiss).

Solid. I would gig without a backup. You can replace the switches if they fail.

?? no idea. Never dealt with them directly.

I play folk, indie, country, post rock and brit pop. I like a good trem and I really like the way the tr-2 trems after removing C4. The hiss issue worries me and I don't really care for the tone sucking that occurs when the pedal is off. I bought it a few years ago for keyboard and it did a decent job at that. If you have one laying around, open it up and take out C4. If you are looking for a trem, shop around and maybe save some money for something that has more options and doesn't have as many issues.

getting the sound you want is easy. knowing what sound you want is the hard part. where to draw the line with the depth, how to set the rate, those can be tricky.

after reading the reviews below about opening the circuit board and removing c4 i decided to try it. it was easier than i thought (i dont know anything about circuit boards) and the pedal sounds a lot better. like it's been let loose. i haven't tried any other tremolo pedals but i can get pretty much any sound i'm looking for. "how soon is now" by the smiths is a piece of cake. that's all i expect out of a tremolo pedal anyways.

e-mail the guy towards the bottom that talks about the c4 thing. he was very helpful.

yup

i wish it had a pan mode but i can live without it. if it were stolen i'd buy another. i write songs just so i can use this. i think it's a great pace setter for a jam too.

3 knobs? Should be a doddle.

G&L Legacy or US tele > ds1 od3 ce2 tr2 gt3 > Laney VC30 or Hughes and Kettner Vortex, depending on the gig.
I'm a huge fan of the twangy classic trem sound - 50's country, Hank Marvin etc. But this pedal was very disapointing. The effect is weak and the loss of level too great, and there is little defintion. However I read the guy below talking about modifiying the pedal by unsoldering/disconnecting the C4 wire - Now I've never modded a pedal before, but I figured what the hell, it's just sitting at the bottom of my gear bag. Anyway, I did it and hey presto I've got a kick arse trem, with better output and great defintion. This is now exactly what I wanted. The pedal is still a little noisy however. I'm not recommening you do it, but I'm glad I did. I'd give it only 6 unmodded. 9 with the C4 wire taken out.

No problems so far. Sturdy ey?

n/a

Rubbish without the mod. The trem on my stupid GT3 kicks this pedals butt. But with the mod - it's excellent. But noisy...so only 8.

Plenty easy to use and intuitive. Turn the knobs till it sounds good. Not hard.

It sounds fine and is pretty transparent for the most part. You can use it to get some cool organ-like effects or just a nice shimmery tremelo if you want. My major beef with the thing is you can't do anything time based with your band based around it since it isn't dead-on rhythmically. Also, when you have the depth cranked, you lose volume. You can solve this just by backing off a bit and it still sounds pretty much the same.

Well, it's a Boss. If you trust Boss, trust this pedal. If you don't, don't. I've gigged without a backup with it many times.

It's fun to use as a poor man's delay and for some interesting effects. It sounds good in a lot of situations but the fact that it doesn't hold a steady beat really turns me off. If I didn't want that capability, I would buy another one in a heart beat. As it is, it mostly just sits in a box.

3 knobs as stated in previous reviews. Very easy to get a good sound. Also the lower and upper parameters are not 'safe'. IT's easy to get some extreme/unusable effects as well.

I'm using various guitars, amps and pedals. I need a tremolo to do subtle and helicoptor.

It's ok. The other tremolo I used was on an AC15 (which was recently sold). It doesnt compare to the Vox. It does suffer from a slight volume drop. This doesnt always occur.

I've used various Boss pedals since 1980. I've had 3 instances where the pedal failed and each time it was an intermittant fault with the switch. Might even have been user error.

Having recently decided to build a modular system (various heads, one cab, no combos) one of the casulaties was the tremolo on the AC15. I cannot justify the # on a Supatrem, so I got this. It was cheap, it works, it does the job.

It doesn't get close to amp tremolo, but neither should anyone expect it to.

Nothing to it. There are only 3 controls and they're self-explanatory. Twist the knobs, get the sound.

My setup is a couple of Strats and a Tele into: TU-2 -> Budda Wah+ -> Budda Phatman overdrive -> Line 6 DL4 -> Boss TR-2 -> Boss CE-2 -> Marshall JCM 900 SL-X head (100W, running in the 50W mode) w. a home-made 2x12 or a 4x12 cab. First of all, I did not hear ANY increased noise with this pedal - and my rig is quite noisy, especially when I'm at home (old wiring in my house). Perhaps the problems other people reported plagued earlier units and were later fixed by Boss... In any case, my pedal is dead quiet. The sound is, of course, subjective. I rather like the sound of this pedal - it's very clean and lean, without a tone of its own. The VoodooLab tremolo had a warmer, woosy tone, which I didn't like. I want the tremolo to affect the volume of my signal and not the tone: no modulation, rolled-off highs, etc. TR-2 does pretty much that. I do find that all Boss pedals degrade the sound somewhat. To remedy this problem, my TR-2 will eventually be sent to Keely or Analogman for the volume and circuitry upgrade mod, but I find it pefectly usable as is. I usually use it all the way through the song, so I can always adjust the amp volume a bit to compensate for the volume loss.

I'd expect it to be as reliable as any other Boss pedal out there. I've only ever had one problem with a Boss and it was my own fault (power supply with the voltage set WAY too high - oups!). Boss may not make the best sounding pedals, but no one ever doubts their reliability. I'm sure my TR-2 will last a long time.

Nice sounding, reliable little tremolo. I compared it to the VoodooLab tremolo (too "soft" sounding for me). I was very happy with the sound of TR-2 and <gasp!> did not see the need to shop further. Most of the highly regarded tremolos out there cost quite a bit more and I'm not a huge tremolo freak. TR-2 does the job just fine. It's not a vintage or boutique piece, but it doesn't cost as much, either. If something happened to it, I'll gladly get one again. I'll have it modded - I hear that both Robert Keely and AnalogMike do wonders with TR-2 and the final cost is still very decent. A tap tempo and/or an expression pedal input would be nice, but I'm quite happy without either.

The TR-2 is on of the simplest tremolos on the market today! it has a thre control set up (or if modded, four!). Rate, Depth and Wave . The Wave, which is the most interesting control of the bunch. It controls the attack and decay of the tremolo from subtle (sawtooth wave) to stuttery (square wave). This allows you to dial up something nice and warm like the old Fender style tremolo or something almost Pink Floyd- like. The rate and depth are quite self-explanitory.

I picked up my TR-2 quite a while ago, but never reviewed it here simply because there was always one thing that bugged me- the effect volume! This was a subtle thing to me at first, but gradually became VERY annoying! You could be playing along and the pedal off, but when you turn on the effect, the average volume level drops just enough to not drive your amp as hard as the straight signal. That annoyed me to no end! but I've since "fixed" the problem with a little and logical mod. You can find the info out on the web just about anywhere, and if you have a small soldering iron, some dexterity, and time, you can make the pedal sing! While I won't give out the total details of the mod, it can cost as little as 2 or 3 bucks to buy the parts for and may allow you to add an overall effect volume control to the pedal (internal or external, depending on how ambitious you are).

I personally love the tremolo effect of this pedal. I've read here and elsewhere that some people complain about noise. While there is SOME noise, I would think that this pedal doesn't like being at the front of a high gain amp. In this set up, of course there the noise of ANY effect will be multipied as a result of the increased gain of the downstream amp! I use my TR-2 in teh fx loop, AFTER any gain stages and have no problem with noise.

As said above, the effect seemed a little weak at first, but after the modification I did, things sound incredible!

I use this pedal in the top end signal chain of my bass rig, after a Sans Amp GT-2 and Boss DS-2 distortion pedal. The tremolo effect is set somewhere between Pink Floyd and Yes style (and yet I DON'T play progressive rock, it just seems to sound that simliar to those sounds!).

Even after the mod to the pedal, its behaved like a champ (shows what good and proper electrical theory can do!). I've never had the box crap out yet!

Not needed! Boss pedals are built to be headache free!!!!

Because I take on a guitar like role in my group sometimes- playing lead like lines and filling in where a second guitarist would be- this pedal in pretty good at helping the top end of my bass guitar sound like a second guitarist.

Since the pedal is still in production, I wouldn't be too put out is someone tried to steal the thing! I'll just buy another one. The only thing that WOULD piss me off is the time I took to the modification to it!

I think its a great value, and after the mod/fix, its even more so!!

ANYbody can use this thing. Very easy. The manual for it is unnecessary. Within 5 minutes, i came up with much better settings then the ones there.

I don't know why everyone seems to think it's so noisy. I don't notice any buzz. Probably, everyone has noisy pickups and distortion, and they think this pedal is causing it. I may be a little biased towards this pedal, due to the fact that i LOVE tremolo, but I think this little thing is great. Sure it only does one thing. But so does a fuzz pedal. So does a reverb pedal.
But that's beside the point. The point is: This makes great sounds. I like to set the depth all the way, and then set the rate to whatever speed i need for eighth notes. I play mostly rhythm, and this pedal is great for atmosphere and can help more amateur players keep time well. It's nice to set it just to any speed, put distortion in front of it, and play some bluesy leads, too. No group that i listen to really uses a lot of trem, but even so, i'm very glad to have this. I like to put a little delay before it, timing set to the same as the trem, and it sounds very good for some arpeggios. If you've got a phaser, you can make a fairly convincing "Won't Get Fooled Again." It gets a nine, cos nothing's perfect.

...

Never dealt with 'em.

Just let me say that this a good trem pedal. It doesn't have tap tempo, but it's really not too hard to find the speed you want. It goes really well with my rickenbacker guitar. If it were stolen, i'd be mad. I'd buy another one soon. It's a great pedal, but it IS a bit expensive. If you don't like trem very much, don't get it. If you're like me, you should definitely consider it.

Very easy. 3 knobs, if u have it/ can see the pic above then u know what they're for. the manual isnt really necessary. u just have to figure out for urself the right setting/s for the song ur playing. although the hardest part is getting the right speed of the tremolo sound.

the pedal itself does a very good job in delivering the tremolo effect. if u are having noise/buzzing sound check ur connections and the placing of ur pedals (which one should be before the others??) the boss website has a great tip on which pedal should come first in relation to the guitar:(guitar>wah>compression>distortion>EQ>Modulation>Delay>AMP)
My set up is as follows:
EPI LP>>>CRY BABY>>>BOSS MD2>>BOSS CH1>>BOSS TR2>>BOSS DD6>>Marshall MG100 head + AVT cab
absolutely no noise IF the pedal is off, however, a tremolo effect buzz is heard if the distortion pedal is on (of course its the MD2) other than that its simply fine

like all the other reviewers here say: ITS BOSS!

never dealt with them so NA

overall its about an 8. i bought it because i wanted to cover sevendust's "black" and it pretty much does so with the wah and distortion. ive tried the line 6 tap tempo. great pedal except that i hate having to step on the pedal a little extra hard to switch it on/off--it can cause delay between switch it on/off. just stepping on it sets the tempo for the tremolo speed. the tap tempo IS very useful because its another way of setting the speed. so u dont have to guess by turning the knob. another feature that the line 6 have is its stereo in/output. i dont really need it for now thats why i switched to this boss pedal. however the line 6 is $40 more. there is another trem pedal from electro-harmonix (PULSAR) so if ur looking around u might wanna check that one too. i havent tried it because none of the stores around my area carry that one. its about $10-20 more and it has a panning feature. hopefully this review helped u out in deciding which trem to buy/use

Couldn't be simpler- there are only 3 knobs to tweak.

Tele or Strat -> Ibanez 808 tube screamer -> Boss DD-6 delay -> Boss TR-2 Tremolo -> Boss RV-5 Reverb -> various Fender tube amps

I read other reviews of the TR-2 in this forum, and I was intrigued by the lukewarm response. Boss generally does a pretty good job with pedals, so what's the problem with this little green guy? It's just a tremolo, for gosh sakes!

When I first tried it out it seemed, well... bland. Really bland. It did exactly what it's 'spozed to do, ie, make the volume go up and down, but it didn't have that "shimmer" I was looking for.

I found a schematic and quickly identified the culprit. For some very odd reason, the LFO (low frequency oscillator) had a big capacitor on its output which rolls off the edges of the waveform severely. The result is that the modulation is either a mushy sine wave (with the WAVE control full ccw) or a very mushy square wave (WAVE control full cw) with no impulse or ""pop" to it at all. I confirmed all of this with an oscilloscope.

Easy fix: Remove C4 with wire cutters. That's it! If you don't trust me on this one, then unsolder C4 instead of cutting it out, so you can replace it if necessary.

With C4 out of the picture, the TR-2 sounds much bettter. With the WAVE control full ccw, the modulation is a real triangle wave. Those sharp changes in direction at the points of the triangle give the tremolo much more character. And with the WAVE control full cw, the square wave is MUCH sharper! You get a really great "stuttering" modulation effect. And, of course, you can still set the WAVE control to some nice setttings in-between.

As reported in other reviews here, there is a slight volume reduction when the effect is turned on if the depth is set fairly high. This can be alleviated by changing R19 from 10K to 6.8K. This mod makes the gain a few dB higher at the peak of the modulation, which makes perceived volume of the modulated signal sound about the same volume as when the effect is turned off. I only did this R19 mod out of curiosity, and would consider it strictly optional.

If you have any questions about these mods, email me.

One more thing- lots of other reviewers mentioned that their TR-2 was noisy. Mine is very quiet. Maybe there are problems with particular units, or perhaps an earlier revision of the electronics had a noise problem that Boss later fixed. Be aware, though, that if your signal going into the TR-2 is noisy, you will definitely hear the noise being modulated by the trem.

My Sound Quality rating before mods = 7, after mods = 9

A bunker buster might scratch the paint.

Don't know, never needed it.

With these 2 mods, I really like this pedal, and I don't plan on looking for another tremolo. As with any trem, it is crucial to set the depth control carefully to get the "right" sound.

I now use the TR-2 all the time. For big clean chord strummin' or arpeggios, I set it slow and deep. It sounds great in conjunction with some slap-back delay (no feedback, 100ms) and a little reverb. For overdriven power leads and crunched chords, I set it fast and shallow to give the tone a some drilling power.

I haven't yet used the full stuttering square wave modulation (WAVE knob full cw and DEPTH turned up high) but I'm sure something Radiohead-ish will come along some day... It's nice to know it is there if I need it.

If lost, I would definitely get another TR-1 and mod it.

3 knobs, no big deal.

I was terribly dissapointed with this pedal. Sure I got trem sounds from it, but the stupid thing hissed so bad that it was not useful at all. I know that trems sometimes have noise, but this pedal was impossible to control. I read some other reviews and saw that some people suggested putting it in front of a boss tuner. I tried that on mine, it did cut down on some of the hiss, but not enough. I took this pedal back the next day and traded it straight up for the new line 6 tap tempo tremolo pedal. Talk about a difference. The line 6 is amazing. For $30 more you get stereo, tap tempo, and a freakin' tank. Man, spend the cash and make it happen.

Don't waste your time. Buy the line 6 tap trem

The old Boss srategie again:
A simple pedal for simple minded people ...

It plain sucks! It's a rather noisy pedal with a mediocre sound. The old PN-2 was way better. You don't need a high class boutique tremolo: The EH Pulsar or the new ToneCore Tremolo will both eat this peace of shit for breakfast.

Yes, it's reliable, but what for? I wish it would just die and stop working...

They can't help you and they won't help you!

The new Line6 ToneCore series of pedals is a Boss killer. Who needs this hunk of junk anymore?
For years customers pleeded and begged Boss to redesign the Tremolo and the Delay. Did Boss care? - No.
Now Line 6 gave them the wake up call with the ToneCore Tremolo and the EchoPark.
Shame on Boss, but I don't care anymore...

Pretty simple. Three knobs. Has been outlined in other reviews.

This pedal is "ok", as I've spent more and more time using the pedal I've become increasingly less pleased with it. Yeah you can dial in a pretty decent sound, but I've noticed that it pretty obviously flattens the dynamics of my tone when engaged. The term "tone sucker" has been said of other effects and I'd say that it applies here as well. The pedal is hush quiet and doesn't otherwise color the tone of my set-up, but like the rest of the guitar playing world I work hard to get a good sound out of my rig and I'm not excited about losing any tone.

Boss has always been reliable for me... I've gigged weekly with this pedal for over 2 years with no issues.

n/a

I've been playing for 9 years or so. This pedal is not a good match for me.

My set up consists of '00 Fender Custom Shop Player Strat w/ SD hot stacks and JB jr in bridge > Hughes & Kettner Tubeman Plus pre > 535Q > TC SCF > TR-2 > 6166 Volume pedal > DD-3 delay > DD-5 delay > Peavey 50/50 tube poweramp > Custom Stillwater 2x12's.

The TR-2 just doesn't fit. I think I'm going to pick up a Voodoo lab uni vibe instead.

If it were stolen I wouldn't think twice.

Very easy. You've got the Rate which will adjust the 'time' of the pulse, if you will. The Depth you can think of as the 'strength' of it, and the little knob adjusts a square type tremolo and a triangle type trmolo, which opens up your pulsing options a little more.

My set up is:
Shecter Diamond Series Guitar >> BOSS PH-3 Phase Shifter >> MXR Flanger >> BOSS AC-2 Acoustic Simulator >> MXR Micro Amp >> BOSS TR-2 Tremolo >> BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner >> Line 6 Spider II 120-Watt Amplifier. There is no nosie at all that I have noticed.

This is a Tremolo pedal, and that's all it was meant to do. It doesn't do very much at all, except exactly what it was made for. So, if I had to rate it for versatility, it would be low, but since this is for how the pedal sounds and what it should sound like, it gets an 8.

Boss makes the most reliable pedals ever. No doubt about it.

You are probably wondering how all of the other ratings were good but this one only got a five. That is because this is a very limited pedal, and it is expensive for the fact that it only does one thing: Tremolo, and I don't even use it that much.

If you loooove Tremolo and you want a pedal for it, then get it. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Couldn't be easier. Wave adjustments give more control over tonality. Rate speeds are adequate for anyone's needs (no need to go any slower or faster). This unit has not been tampered with, but it is an older unit (going to guess around 93 or so).

I am currently using an early (aluminum lined) Sliverface Twin w/ a '98 American Tele converted to a '92 Tele Plus (red-blue lace sensor).

I don't hear the noise that everyone seems to be talking about (tried my fender Lead III guitar as well). Perhaps it is the patch cables people are using/dying battery/wallwart/poor grounding/etc? I'll give you my setup so maybe we can iron things out here:

Guitar - TU2 Tuner - Digitech Whammy IV - Crowther Hotcake - SD1 Overdrive - Small Stone RI w/true bypass - DOD 460 Minichorus - TR2 Tremolo - DD5 Delay - AMP

All of the pedals, with the exception of the 1100 mAmp eater Whammy pedal, run off of a single International 1000 mAmp wall-wart. All cables used are Pro-Co 6" patch cables (with the exception of a few point-to-point connectors from boss to boss pedal).

Even when i run guitar-tremolo-amp with, I've yet to hear this "hiss" or "noise" everyone speaks about. I compared this tremolo to my amp's built in vibrato... Obviously, tube vibrato has warmth and body that can't compare to the TR-2. You would want use the tube vibrato in a studio session. But for the love of god, nobody is going to notice if you're using the built in vibrato on your amp or a TR-2 pedal live. By the time the bass starts, that subtle "warmth" you would have heard will be gone. Besides, after your amp is run through the SM-57 and into the PA...

Case Closed. It does everything I need it to and has never failed to perform.

Of course. Has been working flawlessly for 10 years.

I have no clue. Never needed to. Besides, the parts are user-servicable if you have any know-how on electronics.

I give it a 7 1/2-8. Yes, it's not a tube vibrato... Yeah, there is no compensation for volume drop. But it does what it claims to do. Sounds and has worked wonders for me. No noise, no problems.

This is a simple unit (like most BOSS stuff).

A nice tremolo sound, even extreme settings produce usable sounds. But It's a one-trick-pony, pulsating throbs are not possible. The worst thing: It's rather noisy, because it hisses no matter where you turn the knobs. I think that is because it's all analog and cheap trannies, resistors and such are used? The DD-5 or PH-3 for example, are dead silent, but this here is really annoying...

At least it's rather dependable!

I wouldn't buy it again. I've got a high class rig and don't want to ruin the overall sound with hiss and noise. I've got me a Mayer VoodooVibe instead, which is all analog but so silent, it plays like a dream. I know the comparison is unfair, but compared to the VoodooVibe the TR-2 plain sucks.

easy to use in theory. only 3 knobs. but it took my a bit of tweaking to get a useable sound.

using a squier fat tele into a laney lc15 all-tube amp. the volume is a bit low on this pedal. i dont gig though so it doesnt bother me. it is not noisy. at least not with my setup. i didnt like it at first, but after 30 min of knob twiddling... i'm sold. do not buy one new though. go used. not worth 90 bucks.

it is a boss pedal man. i think the army is throwing these at bad guys as we speak(type). jokes aside, it is a very dependable device.

good solid pedal. send it to Robert Keeley www.robertkeeley.com if you want to upgrade it to a perfect 10. he adds a volume knob and makes the tone much better.

Three knobs. Unless one has excessive brain damage, stumps for arms and/or no hearing ability, it shouldn't really be hard to figure this one out.

I'm using this little green machine between a CIJ Jazzmaster, a Hendrix Wah, a Marshall Jackhammer and a Hiwatt Studio/Stage head.
Noise? In yer head that is. This particular unit is silent as a sniper. The only annoying thing is the volume drop, which seems inherent in tremolo's but still bugs me sometimes. Not enough to replace it with a more expensive brand though.

I have a slight feeling this thing will outlive me.

I won't even try.

I play everything from the Beatles through Pearl Jam to Aphex Twin. I've been playing for 4 years now. My impressive gear list can be found under "Sound Quality". If this pedal were stolen, I wouldn't run to the store and get a new one, but I'd want a new tremolo eventually. Maybe I'd buy this one again. Maybe I wouldn't.
I love that it does what it should do. I hate the volume drop. My favourite feature is that it makes makes your signal louder and softer in a certain tempo. I tend to like that in tremolo's.
I compared this one to a few others that either were more expensive or had less features than this one. The TR-2 was the perfect middle road. I wish it had a volume knob and wouldn't be 170 bucks as a result of that though.

Conclusion: it's a nice tremolo for people like me who don't totally rely on tremolo but still like to have the effect available sometimes. A 7 seems in place here.

Thank you for your patience. That's all folks!

very easy. Everyt boss pedal with only three knobs is very easy to understand and get a good sound out of.

...well, it will give you what you want... good tremolo. The little knob allows you to decide whether you want a smoother or choppier tremolo, which I like. But in the end, especially when you're playing with other people, with the depth on full, I can barely hear it. I don't even use it anymore. I think people would be better off improving their skills with a tremolo bar. After all, your fingers make you a good musician, not some silly effects pedal such as this one.

boss = tank

don't use it

it will give you a great tremolo sound, but it is weak and somewhat useless. You're better off improving your skills with a tremolo bar.

I play a Les Paul Standard, Am Standard Strat, Les Paul Studio through a Fender Blues Deluxe. I was looking for a good tremolo and I like Boss pedals in general. I like the sound of the TR-2 but like a lot of folks, was bugged by the volume drop. I have a Boss CE-2 Chorus that was modded by Robert Keeley and I loved what he did with that pedal so I ordered a new Modded TR-2 Directly from him. His mod adds a volume control to the pedal so not only is volume loss not a problem you can turn the Depth down all the way and use the TR-2 for a boost that really fattens up the sound. Great tremolo sound and dead quiet.

I haven't used it long enough or hard enough to know. But it's a Boss!

I've not needed to deal directly with Boss because I've had no problems with any of my Boss pedals. I ordered it direct from Robert Keeley and had it within three days...amazing. He's also very pleasant to work with and answers his email personally and promptly!

I play rock and blues and it works wonderfully in those styles. I've been playing 34 years. If I lost it I would be crushed...and would promptly order another from Keeley.

Its got 3 knobs so no problem at all - plenty of range

I love this pedal - its very easy to get a wide range of tremlo sounds from gentrle vibrato to harsh volume cuts - works well either in front or behind the FX loop.

Works particualry well after a distortion pedal (eg and OD-3)
Have a listen to it on one of our tracks (about 30 seconds in)
http://www.revealonline.co.uk/downloads/04-Reveal-Downpour_EP-All_Your_Lies.mp3

Ive never noticed any noise at all - compared to other trem effects I've tried (Line 6 MM4) its just easy to get a top sound out of it

I gig it every week with no problems - its Boss innit!

New rang em

Go and try it out - if you want a good trem effect just get it :-)

Gareth
REVEAL
http://www.revealonline.co.uk

Three knobs. You can't do nothing wrong with it. If you've got two ears on your head you'll get "your" sound out of it quite fast.

I use a Rickenbacker-replica with two Semour Duncan-Pickups that blows everything away. I bought this replica because it just felt right. It was so damn good to play. But the pickups sucked. So I replaced them by the Duncans. Man! The sound now is just. My favourite guitar.
My fx-setup: Guitar - BOSS TU2 - Ibanez Stereo Chorus - Ibanez FL 301 Flanger - BOSS Tr-2 Tremolo - ProCo Turbo Rat - Dunlop Cry Baby - Amp.
My Amp: Peavey Bandit 112 (the old, not the new)

I've read most of the entries about the TR-2 posted here. And the problems with the noize of it. Man. I just can say: If you get noize out of it you're doing something wrong. I don't know WHAT you're doing wrong but it's obvious.
I love the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' clean sounds and the BOSS TR-2 does well.

I use BOSS pedals for ages. None ever broke.

Never dealt with them.

I'm very satisfied with this pedal. It does a good job. I guess there are better tremolos you can buy. But not for that money. I tested a Marshall-Tremolo pedal (abt.80,--EUR) but I didn't like its sound.

It's easy to use - just 3 pots. Wish it had a volume pot also...

I use a '52 RI Tele, '67 Gretsch Anniversary, Rickenbacker 350 and some others through a Fender Vibroking, Budda Stringmaster and a Matschless DC30. Some of my pedals are the MJM London Fuzz, Fulltone Fulldrive 2, Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe, EH Deluxe Memory Man and lots of others.

I think the sound this little puppy produces is quite alright. Not great, but ok. A little lame and bland maybe, nothing to get excited about.

This is the story: I got my Voodoo Vibe, which has a Chorus (Uni-Vibe), Vibrato and a Tremolo setting. But you have to change the settings to go from Uni-Vibe to Tremolo, which is too complicated in a live situation.
So I thought about getting an extra tremolo and got the TR-2, because it didn't take up much place on my board and in the end it's just a simple tremolo, isn't it?
Boy, was I wrong: The TR-2 can't even touch the Tremolo setting of the Voodoo Vibe. The Voodoo Vibe can do all sorts of tremolo from subtle to pulse and is absolutely noiseless. The TR-2 can't do the pulse thing and is very hissy.
I gave it to someone who can't tell the difference between a TS-808 and a Metal Zone ;-)

I like Boss pedals because they are small and reliable. I don't think this pedal would be an exception.

Never dealt with them.

I make music as long as I can remember. I don't like flashy high gain shit but pure tone coming from your heart and your hands. All it needs is a simple guitar and a simple tube amp. Less is more. But some pedals can do the job (not to interfere but to improve).
The TR-2 was the first Boss pedal that let me down on this. If it is engaged, there is a volume drop and a very annoying hiss. The trem effect is ok, but nothing spectacular.
If you want something extraordinary get yourself a Voodoo Vibe, Fulltone Supa Trem or a Prescription Throb.
If you just want a great pedal get yourself the EH Pulsar, which is in the same pice league as the TR-2. Compared to this, the TR-2 is a joke and won't even come close...

Like most Boss pedals, this one this one is easy to handle.

The effect sound is decent. Though it's not a Fender Tremolo (mislabeled as Vibrato), of course.

But it is a rather noisy pedal, making it absolutely useless for studio dates. Maybe the other who don't complain about the hissing are deaf already...

It's a Boss.

Do they have customer support?

I'm a pro since more than 15 years. Started in cover bands and got quickly adopted to the local studio and session player scene.

Over the years I've played all kinds of equipment, you name it - I've had it. For most studio jobs, the guitar is taped without fx at all, which are brought in later in the mix (Rocktron Replifex, TC G-Major and other 19" racks). But for sessions, live gigs and such, I prefer the old stompers.

I've got a great array of vintage EH and MXR gear, but most often I use simple Boss pedals. They are very reliable, easy to handle, sound good and are very silent. My favourite Boss pedals at the moment are the OD-3, PH-3, DD-3, TU-2 and a modified BD-2. I really wanted to like this pedal because I need a tremolo effect. But I just couldn't use it because of the noise it produced. It was noisier than all my other pedals together. Exchanged it and got a Voodoo Labs Trem instead and am very glad I dead. Believe me, the Voodoo Lab eats the TR-2 for breakfast...

I dont'have any problem getting a good sound from this pedal

I dont' find the T R 2 noisy at all,i use it on a home made pedal board with Boss- overdrive SD1 , phase PH2 and delay DD3, used with a Fender HRD Valve or a Colsbro 45w ,52 Reisue Tele and a Deluxe Tele with Joe Barden T-Style and a Yamaha AE1200 Jazzer.

Sure without a doubt ,I always do.

Never had to call boss with a problem.

I play RnR Blues Rockabily Bluegrass and Country
I would replace all my boss gear if it went missing.
I have been playing about 30 years.

a simple 3 knobber - rate, depth and wave.

the pros:
sound is quite good and usefull. more in the vintage corner, though not quite like the real thing (fender). you can't do any of the modern, more extreme things with it (stutter, machine gun etc...).

the cons:
there is a volume drop that should be expected with every tremolo. but it can't be compensated (no volume knob), which makes it unusable for many occasions.
furthermore, it's very very noisy. most tromolo pedals are dead quiet, cause in the end it's just a simple on-and-off-effect. but this thing hisses more than a vintage germanium fuzz face, oh dear...

it's a boss pedal und should be very reliable

do they have customer support at all?

i play all kinds of music and use too much equipment to be mentioned here. just to name a few: '52 tele, '64 strat, rickenbacker susanna hoffs, '66 gretch double anniversary, marshall 50 W plexi (1987), fender 4 x 10 bassman RI, mid 70s deluxe reverb, 65 vox ac 30 with blue bulldogs...

i wouldn't buy it again, in fact, i gave it back the next week. i like boss pedals, but this sucks bigtime. boss should go back and make their homework on this thing!

Easy to use - 3 knobs for dailing in speed, waveform and intensity. However, it doesn't have a light showing the speed of the tremolo effect, so I gave it a 8.

This thing kills way too much volume. Some reduction in volume is expected with a tremolo effect, but this pedal kills so much volume that it isn't usable to me for live shows. I'm going to get another tremolo pedal, just don't know which one yet.

Boss pedals are build well. This follows the same construction of Boss' other pedals.

Never dealt with.

The cool feature of this pedal is the way you can control the shape of the waveform - a lot of tremolos lack this feature. However, I cannot recommend this pedal beacuse it kills too much volume, even for a tremolo pedal. Get something else for your tremolo needs.

come on people-a damned monkey could figure it out.

unfortunately, the monkey couldn't get a good sound out of it. this thing really is trash. sorry boss. i mean, i didn't want to sound like a jerk; i even tried to make myself like it. not only does this pedal sound thin, but it's noisy- it couldn't even get the machine-gun stutter sound that i wanted from it in the first place. i actually sold mine a long time ago. i just want to do my part in making sure nobody else buys this thing. before i got it, i was all excited about getting a trem pedal. then i plugged it in and i went instantly limp. i decided to go with a fulltone supa trem. now that, my brothren, is a tremolo pedal. it's worth the extra hundred bucks.
take my word for it. it's amazing. stop your friends-or enemies for that matter-from buying the tr-2!!

it might not sound good, but at least it won't die on you.

never dealt with 'em-

this thing blows y'all. please, don't buy it. for goodness sakes, you can get a freaking dunlop ts-1 cheaper than this pedal if you get it used, and that's a bad ass trem-and it's stereo!in closing, i'll give this analogy. boss tr-2 is to pedals as battlefield earth is to movies-think about it folks-dunlop! fulltone!

Piece of cake, just spend some time to find the sound your after. There are some great tones to be had, and also some awful ones. Simple controls.

Ok I've had two of these. One was impossibly noisy, it clicked in time with the Tremolo even when it was off, whether I used a battery or power pack. I took it back and got a refund. Then I heard about BOSS using buffered inputs on there pedals. So I stuck another boss pedal before one and all the noise goes and the pedal sounds great. It doesn't do everything , but you can get rid of the noise but sticking even a TU-2 tuner or something infront of it. Sure you shouldn't have too , but in my set up its not a problem.

Its not as warm as I'd like, its not stereo and there is no throbbingh LED or tap tempo. Basically boss its time for a new 'modern' version, with the features that are in recent pedals like the phaser.

A deffinate try in your setup before you but pedal.

I did take one back, but if you read above you'll understand that that pedal was probably 'ok' ( at least normal for a TR-2 )
Only ever had one dead Boss pedal, and that was an OS-2, and was replaced.

Fabulous if you speak to the right people, but I've heard the horror stories.

Can't quite get Ry Cooder with it, so I'm looking for a replacement.
It may be right for you, but then again ....
If it was stolen I'd be looking for something better, but it wouldn't suprise me if I replaced it.

This pedal is very easy to use. Just 3 knobs. Easy to operate and understand.

This pedal is
1- very, very noisy
2- you can't have any deep depth with it (just mellow swell)
2- you don't see any blinking light that tells you the tremolo speed.
4- it is not stereo

It's hard as a rock.

Never have to repair any boss pedals...

I'am playing lots of style (from folk to country, from blues to rock). I have a Tremolo pedal by DUNLOP and it's a much more useful pedal with more features and a better sound. So don't buy that crap...

Straight-foward.

This pedal sounds pathetic. I'm thinking Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams... nice lush chorus. Instead I get about 1/4 the quality that I'm looking for. Doesn't even come close to amp tremolo. It's noisy too. My other pedals-- even an Electro Harmonix pedal which are know to be noisy isn't as noisy as this one. This pedal (like many other Boss pedals) fails miserably when it comes to sound quality.

Very reliable. Great news guys!!-- this hunk of junk will last forever!

Never had to call them.

I guess you get what you pay for. Overall I am just really unimpressed with Boss. Having used Analogue pedals for a while now, I'm used to very dynamic, lush, clear effects. Most Boss pedals get a "you gave it your best effort; maybe next year" award from me. I would not suggest this pedal to anyone.

Like most boss pedals very easy to use.

I've tried this one with a Danny Gatton Telecaster and a Fender Vibroverb. Other Fx are a Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe, Fulltone FD 2, MJM London Fuzz and some other Boss pedals (BF3, PH3, OD3, BD2, TU2).
The sound is nice and not unlike the real deal (Fender amp tremolo, mislabeled as "Vibrato"). Just one BIG minus: It's noisy! It's very noisy compared to the other FX (Voodoo Vibe, BF3 Flanger and PH3 Phaser are dead silent). I think this is too much for a tremolo, makes me want to buy another brand, sorry Boss.

Shame on Boss. This thing is a dog. The noise is not so much to make it unusable, but too much for me to bear. Why should I ruin my first class sound with a wall of unnecesarry noise??? Maybe the ohters who don't complain have poor equipment so they don't notice the noise, I don't give a damn.

Easy to use only three knobs: rate, wave and depth. The Wave knob blends the style of tremolo from square to triangle. The depth control acts as a balance which blends the original signal to the processed tremolo signal. The rate controls the period of the wave. Yes, it is easy to use.

My set up is Fender Jaguar (Japan reissue) --> TR-2 --> Fender Blues Jr. w/reverb cranked. Also Fender Bass VI --> Ibanez TS-9 --> TR-2 --> Boss RV-3 --> Harke kick back bass amp. Great surf sounds. The pedal is dead quiet when turned off. The effect does not interfere with the tone or overall volume of the signal.

Built like a tank.

never needed

Great for Duane Eddy, Ventures, ect... It seems like Boss has taken a step backward. The predisessor to the TR-2 was the PN-2. The PN-2 featured stereo outs for a panning mode. The TR-2 is mono.

Three knobs - one for depth, one for speed and one for waveform. It gets a 8 because it is sometimes hard to get to the right tempo for your song. The PN2 had a second LED that blinked in time with the speed which helped.

I use a tele with a BD2, DM2, Rat, MXR Blue Box, and EH Frequency Analyser. I was hesitant to buy this pedal after reading the reviews here, but I decided that I wasn't going to use Tremolo enough to warrent spending twice as much on a Dunlop or Voodoo Lab trem, and this pedal would do.

I was pleasently surprised with this pedal. There is no noise added by this pedal as some people have suggested. However if there is any noise or hiss in your set up already then this pedal will tremolo your noise and make it more noticeable. The noise is in your set up and it's nothing to do with this pedal.

There is a slight loss of volume if you max all the knobs to 10, but it's to be expected, because of how this pedal works. It fluctuates the volume and if it's going really fast at maximum depth then it will make you sound quieter. If you are dropping out of the mix then lower the depth knob a little bit.

There's a good range of speeds and waveforms. I like the fact that it has a knob for waveform rather than a hard/soft switch. The "square" end of the knob could be a little more square but it's still very good. You can use this pedal to get a nice shimmer, a vintage tremolo sound or computer stuttering noises for industrial type noise. This pedal goes much faster than the PN2 and is very useful to get that harsh stutter sound so loved by industrial and experimental types. I usually use this pedal to soften my pick attack and get a smoother sound for some more ambient songs, or sometimes to get that industrial stutter if I'm messing around.

It's a boss pedal and as such should last forever.

hahaha.

This is a good tremolo pedal and will get the job done at a nice price. It is not as good as the higher end tremolo's but it's OK for the price. This is a very simple "one trick pony" type pedal, but I wasn't expecting any more.

If you want a better tremolo then you'll have to spend more money, but that's kind of obvious. If you are going to use tremolo all the time and use it as your signature sound then maybe you should think about getting something else. But most people will not leave this on all the time like they would an overdrive pedal, and couldn't justify spending all the extra. There is nothing really wrong with this pedal.

As one person said here that if Boss were to release a TR-3 with tap tempo, Panning modes, expression pedal options to control the speed and a booster option to compensate for the volume loss then they'd really clean up and destroy all the competition. Are you listening Boss? I would also like to have seen this pedal go slower than it does to make very very slow gentle throbbing, like the PN2 did. But anyway, this pedal is absolutely fine for what it does and does me fine. It's basic and simple - yes, but I've no problems with it and it does it's job. I would say it's much better than the PN2 for modern music because it goes faster.

Good pedal and I'm not disappointed with it. Don't listen to the bad reviews here - this pedal really isn't that bad.

This is mind-numbingly simple to use. 3 knobs, with a knob for blending between sawtooth and square wave frequency. This really could not be simpler. You plug it up, tweak a knob and you've got a usable sound.

I use a Gibson Les Paul through a small stone, boss tr-2 and boss super overdrive and then switched between a 68 fender bassman head and a marshall jcm 900 into a marshall 1960B 412 cab. i play post-emo, indie shoegazer music a la stratford four, death cab for cutie, gloria record etc. this pedal is perfect for subtle trem sounds as well as well defined, broken square wave tremolo. Some people complain about noise. Maybe they just got a bad pedal, or they use crappy gear. If you use cheap pedals, cheap pickups or a crap amp, then no pedal is going to salvage your tone. Mine is always studio quiet.

boss=tank

it never broke, so i never needed it.

This pedal is perfect for me. I couldn't be without it. If it were stolen I would get another one the same day. It does have a tendency to round off your attack, but that's a small price to pay. Great pedal with countless options from only 3 knobs. You want this.

3 knobs - rate, depth, and wave - very simple: just turn until you like the sopund. It won't take long!

Used with G&L ASAT SH and Les Paul Studio DC both thru a Peavey Bandit 65.Here is my main reason for writing this review:

NO NOISE!!! NONE ZILCH DIDLEY SQUAT. I have NO idea where the other reviewers heard noise. No clicking, humming, buzzing, NONE. Just Tremolo!
IT DOES NOT SUCK TONE NOR DOES IT CAUSE VOLUME LOSS.

I do wish the depth knob had just a bit more range but that's all!
Lots of range, Wave choice is continuously variable and all positions are good!
This really sounds like a Fender or Magnatone (remember those) style amp tremolos.

Uh - It's a BOSS - need I say more?

I was considering other brands but bang for the buck goes to BOSS. I do want to try the Dan-O Wasabi pedals tho.

Easy to use..comes with a guide for a few different sounds...play around with it and you'll find your favorites..........

I use a Peavey 25 watt Bravo with a Celestion 30 that I put in to replace the lousy stock speaker....I have another Peavey single speaker cabinet with a Celestion Greenback in it. I play a 57 reissue strat with a 62 neck..I replaced the stock pu's with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage's.. and a new Standard (Mexican)Tele with DiMarzio Twang Kings........I use a Dunlop Rotovibe, Dunlop Crybaby, and old DOD fx65 chorus and a TS-9 reissue tubescreamer.......I'm an old-school from the barrio and most of what I play is surf /beach boys/ Los Lobos/ Ritchie Valens stuff....I get really great sounds and the tremolo pedal is dead quiet,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I don't play out anymore...just at home jamming with my sons and friends

Never dealt with them...I bought the thing from a friend who bought himself a modeling amp.so it's second hand

I have heard that Boss pedals are excellent.it looks like you could drive over it and not hurt it.........I was actually going to but a 65 Deluxe Reverb reissue or a Delta Blues 210 just to have a tremolo but I'm happy with my little Bravo set-up and the Boss TR-2 tremolo pedal was the answer!

3 knobs, so it's quite easy.

Man it's just a tremolo (on-off-on-off...). What do you expect??? Can be faster or slower, stronger or more subtle. Cause it turn's the sound off periodically, you get the overall impresion that you lose volume when engaging the pedal. Better pedals compensate this effect, but not this one, which is a minus. Furthermore it is quite hissy. Unusual for a pedal that's supposed to turn the sound on and off! T put it short, this one really blows...

It's a Boss, what should I say which hasn't been said already?

look above

It's too expensive for the quality it offers. the sound is decent but you loose too much volume and gain too much hiss. Bad deal! There are better tremolos out there (in fact, I rewally think you'd have a hard time finding a tremolo that's inferior). Get anything else!

foolproof

Good tremolo but bad noise! I hear that hiss, too.
My amp (Fender Twin Reverb) is absolutely clean and doesn't hum or hiss at all. I put some FX in front (MJM London Fuzz, Boss OD-3, VL MicroVibe) and there you go! Can't beat that set-up.
Most pedals make some slight noise, for sure. But the TR-2 was a nightmare. Could't live with it.
Don't try to tell me it's my set-up, the guitar or the cables. I checked another one of these suckers in the store and it was just the same. What a shame .-(

Boss is reliable.

I play since 20 years. All kinds of music, as long as it rocks.
I like the sound of teh tremolo, but I hate that damn noise. I gave it back, would never ever try it again. I am very disappointed.

easy - man it's just a trem!

sounds great. there is a slight volume drop, but that's part of the nature of the beast (turn on - turn out). but I couldn't stand the noise, at first I thought it was broken, tried another, but again: terrible hiss (white noise). to put it short: unusable!

it's a Boss.

Never dealt with them.

could be a nice effect, but because it is so noisy it is absolutely unusable. I don't understand why others can't hear that hiss (I'm not a snob, I play a lot of vintage gear - Marshall, Vox, EH - but this is way too much).
I like Boss FX in general, but this has got to be the worst thing they ever produced. don't waste your money on this, get ANYTHING from ANY other company - you won't regrett it.

Very simple. Rate, depth and wave form knobs, two jacks, how can you get any simpler?

The sound quality of the tremelo itself is pretty good, but as many others have said, there is a volume drop when activated. It's not horrible if you're using it on a clean channel, but it can definitely be annoying otherwise. I thought for a while that maybe it was just the nature of a tremelo effect, but I've played through several other trems and never had a problem. Its for this reason that I give it a 7.

Seems rock-solid, never had a problem

Never dealt with them

Decent trem but the volume drop is annoying. I'm getting a line 6 mm4 in a few days and its trem doesn't have the same problem with my setup, so I may switch to that.

Fairly easy to get a very useable tremolo sound. The shape, speed and intensity controls are all very straight forward and easy to use.

I got mine used, so there was no manual. I don't think one is necessary, but for people new to using tremolo, it might be helpful.

I'm using a strat, asat classic, robin avalon, gibson es-135 and a hamer specialp90 through a maxon compressor, fulltone fulldrive2, boss tr-2, digitech digiverb and digitech digital delay through a Fender Bassman 10 that has been blackfaced.

The sound using any of the above is very good. I honestly don't know what the huge complaint was from some of the other reviewers. Tremolo is tremolo. I don't want to use it all of the time and can't justify spending $200.00 on one. For what I use, the sound is fine. Also, I don't notice any huge sound drop off when turning it on, like some of the previous reviewers have stated.

Anyway, for a $55.00 pedal, I think it sounds great.

Mine was used. It looked beat to hell and it still functions like the brand new one I demoed before buying the used one. Boss makes great stuff, and I feel confident on using any of their pedals heavily. Even with my big butt stepping on it.

Never had to deal with them.

I play anything from Jazz to country to old rock and blues. Close to 20 years of playing, and I've mentioned most of the guitar stuff I own. I can tell you, for the money (especially used) this is a great pedal. I had a tunamelt and was highly disappointed. I like the VoodoLab Tremolo and some other higher end pedals, but couldn't justify the sound quality/cost ratio. I'm not saying this pedal beats the higher end stuff, I'm just saying this pedal is qualified to be used in just about any set up I feel like whether it be recording or playing live. It's quite, doesn't cut my signal and it holds up. That's about all I can ask for. These units are pretty abundant on ebay and in music stores. There's nothing wrong with buying brand new (support your local guys) because even at retail, this is still a good pedal for the money when compaired to some more expensive tremolo pedals out there.

This requires, like most pedals, a little bit of teasing to get the right sound that you can use for your tunes. Once there, it's just a case of remembering where everthing is!

With my setup(Big Apple-Cry Baby, Rat 2, Digital Metalizer, Super Phaser, Tremelo-Sonus SC-10)there wasn't any noise with batteries. Introduced last in the chain(I use one of those link cable things)it sounded like bees in the distance, so beware. No tone colouration, which is nice. My delay broke recently and I wanted to replace it, so I got this. Great!

I've only just got it, but my Metalizer is about 10 years old and i've gigged it tons so I guess it'll be cool.(i got it second hand too!)

Like I said, this was a welcome substitute for my delay(a VERY old Digitech RP2000)and it's inspired me to write slightly lighter music again, without worrying that the tone sounds thin or too wimpy. used in conjuction with gain it produces some Morello style stuttering and bouncy nonsense, if used correctly. I'm really pleased. For #50, excellent, and not a one-stomp-and-it-breaks number like the Dano one(great sound though, and excellent bypass-if only it hadn't been made of paper)

Very Easy. No manual needed--note that sine wave can be changed (from softer to sharper wave form) via one of the controls. A nice feature.

A 7.5 of 10. A great workhorse. NOT noisy. **To the reviewers complaining about alleged "noise" from this pedal--maybe cheap cables and/or cheap amp have something to do with this alleged "noise" problem, or maybe your tinnitus is so bad you hear noise all the time** No more noise than any other pedal. Very good (versatile)sound control.

Used for at least three years gigging--no problems.

I've never had problems with Boss pedals. Never had to call BOSS.

I rate this a 7.5. Like I said great "workhorse"--very acceptable sound quality for most club work. TREMELO is not just for surf music, it can be used very effectively in many styles of music. I have used this pedal on different settings for "surf" trem, SRV "Cold Shot" Leslie-simulation, and in extreme settings for a "volume pedal" type effects. This has been like an old friend in the pedalboard for quite some time. There are better trems, but a good investment for the price (suggestion: find one used for $50-$70).