Boss TR-2 Tremolo

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.