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.

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).