Marshall BB-2 Bluesbreaker II

It"s not that difficult considering i only use the boost switch.Even though i have read the manual,i just use my ears to be the judge of whats good or bad.

I play a black les paul standard(w/EMG'S 81-85's)plugged into a marshall valvestate 2 head(100 watts).The only way this pedal gets real noisy if you turn the volume all the way up to 10.Keeping the Volume somewhere between 4 and 6 makes the pedal sound alot less noisier.Also it depends on the amp itself,marshall valvestates are pretty chunky sounding as it is so i dont need to boost things that much just a little extra/out of control sustain that my amp needed.The blues distortion mode sounds the best on the clean channel ala led zeppelin I,but i mostly prefer marshall amp tone.I dont use the pedal so much for tone it's mostly the marshall itself.However the boost volume control provides me more than enough sustain for those classic Rhandy Rhoades/Van Halen solos combined with Metallica meets Pantera kind of chunk that i get from the marshall which describes my influence on guitar tone.As far as effects i use either a dunlop crybaby or a morley bad horsie wah their all good in their own specail way and they both sound the best with the marshall bluesbreaker 2 pedal switched onto boost given the wah a much hotter sound for shred type of solos.

I have no choice but to depend on this pedal in fact it's always on.It brings the best out of my rhythm,leads,guitar fills and harmonic squeals maybe it's the compression of gain-related devices or how i adjust the amp to sound with the pedal vice versa.I have use this pedal before without a backup meaning ive never had problems with it.Every now and then i would have to tighten up the input and output screws which is normal with pedals of the constant plugging in/plugging out.Maybe sometime in the long run i will consider getting duplicates of the same pedal just in case if it does break down.

I NEVER HAD TO DEALT WITH THEM

I play a musical style somewhere between classic rock and metal.So far this pedal has been a great match with marshall valvestate amps every from full metal tone with a classic marshall crunch.I would definetly buy this pedal again probably more for backup purposes.I haven,t really expeirement with alot of booster type of boxes so i really cant say much about other pedals.The bottom line was that the tone out of my marshall was great but i needed a little extra crunch and sustain between my rhythm/lead playing and if was a little too much for my rhythm i would just simply turn down my guitar volume knob a little bit.I just pick this pedal because it was whatever was available at the time in the music store.

Only three pots and a switch, how hard can it be? It took me about 5 minutes to find the sound I liked. Mine came without a manual because the reseller apparantly lost it, but I really didn't need it anyway.

I play a Mexican standard Tele and a Lab7 100w solid state amp. I use the drive pot all the way up so I get maximum overdrive, and it amazed me how much gain it could deliver, a typical AC/DC like sound is what I get. That Marshall amp sound is absolutely there through this pedal.

Looks real solid, an elephant should be able to kick it without problems.

Haven't needed them...

I mainly play bluesy rock tunes and I definitely like the sound of a Marshall amp. Although probably not as good as the real thing, it gets me real close to that sound without all the disadvantages of a tube amp.

Very straightforward to use. As this is a dual function pedal, the manual makes it clearer what each pot does. Also includes useful setting suggestions.

Gordon Smith GS2>Morley Classic Wah>BB2>Danelectro Tuna Melt>Dano Cool Cat>Dano Dan Echo> Fender Princeton 65.

It's only noisy in the nicest possible way: It gives a fabulous boost for rhythm and solos. It sounds great through Marshall amps too (only tried the solid state ones and they sound fine to me). Gives you a very fat, brash, late-60's Clapton tone.

Utterly dependable. Made in China to a very high spec (steel case and very heavy duty footswtich). Would gig without a backup.

Wouldn't feel I needed to get in touch as I have total confidence in the object.

I play all sorts of stuff:Always covers but with the empahaisi on tunes and melody. If stolen or lost I'd get another. For the price it's superb. The best thing about it is that on the boost setting it adds an extra level of gain which will make any amp- however cheap- come to life. I hardly ever use the blues (distortion) setting. A wonderful piece of gear for people who don't want fizz but who want loud, singing tone.

I use a Marshall 8040 combo, with a TC 2290 and a Roland RSP-550 in the loop. I play a Fender std. Stratocaster.
It comes very close to real valve overdrive, and it's very quiet (also when activated) and the bypass is very good.
I just don't like the way it is pre-equalized. The midrange is boosted and that makes it a little fuzzy. At gain settings past 9 o'clock it doesn't work well, unless you only play one note at the time.
In boost mode it distorts a little when I punch a chord, and it removes a little bit of bottom from the original signal.

I play blues, rock, hard rock and country. I've been playing for 20 years.
It is only good at light overdrive settings, and therefore not very versatile. The pre-equalizer simply colours the sound too much.
If it were stolen or lost, I wouldn't even care.

Very simple

I use it with a Marshall 8040 combo with a TC 2290 and a Roland RSP-550 in the loop. I play a Fender std. Stratocaster.
It comes very close to real valve overdrive.
It's very quiet (also when activated) and the bypass is very good.
I don't like the way it has been pre-equalized, it should not have been pre-equalized at all imo. The lower end of the midrange is boosted while the high freqencies are cut off.
It doesn't sound good at gain settings past 9 o'clock, it gets a little fuzzy.
In boost mode it distorts a little when I punch a chord, and it removes a little bit of bottom.

I haven't had it for long.

I play blues, rock, hard rock and country, and I've played for 20 years.
I'm fond of the design, but I'm not mad about the way it colours the sound.
If it wasn't pre-equalized, I'd probably give it a higher rate.
It's not very versatile, it only does light overdrive well.
If you are looking for a versatile overdrive pedal, then look elsewhere.
If I lost it, or if it were stolen, I woundn't care.

Hmm well there is a switch, and you step on it, and its on, the rest is up to the imagination...

This is a very good overdrive pedal, and a great great value. I was looking for an overdrive to crunch up my cleans a bit, and fatten up my drive channel. I went first for the tube screamer but was very dissapointed. Don't get me wrong its alright, but limited, only starts to sound good when your amp is cranked to the max. More a booster than independent drive. Next i tried out the boss blues driver, which is an awesome overdrive, a little noisy, but great for the money. Other pedals like the sparker drive by voodoo lab and american od by visual sound are great to, but not enough crunch and like the tubescreamer more of boost pedals than anything. The marshall was great, nice creamy overdrive tones, versatile, has plenty of punch, quiet, and an amazing boost feature. This thing with crank your cleans and sustain your overdrives tones for days. Like anything else in my opinion tho, you have to have the right set up. I have this going through a fender Hot Rod deville 212, with a dunlop classic crybaby and voodoo lab trem, and it kicks. And for 80 bucks you really cant go wrong.

It seems pretty reliable, switch seems a little shaky nothing major, but we'll have to see with time.

Havent delt with them

This pedal is a great pedal, more kick than the tubescreamer, and very useful and versatile. It adds a great element to any set up

It's a pedal...very easy

pretty good. Suppsedly True Bypass so it adds no noise or detracts from the signal when off. When on...it sounded horrible through my old JCM 800 Marshall. I only used it rarely as a boost for some solos. However, I'm now using an older JMP from the late 70's and this pedal really works. It sounded bad through my buddy's Bedrock combo as well. So I guess, if you get the right amp combo, it has a really good tone.

Solid, but it is pcb so if it gets into trouble, good luck fixing it. So far so good and I've been using it for years. However, the backup that I bought at the same time was DOA.

N/A

I like this pedal now with my marshall jmp 50 watt head. I'm running a '74 les paul through this then into a Nobel OD-1 or TS9 and various other pedals into the Marshall and a 2x12 cabinet with a greenback and G12h30. I like it for a good lead boost and an interesting distortion sound. However, it never worked through my other amp, a JCM 800, 100 watter. Try it out on your amp before purchase. Overall, a great pedal though if it fits your style.

Great manual, not needed anyway

I use a guild bluesbird (EMG's) and a telecaster (quarterpounder at the bridge) in combination with a mesa boogie dc-5 and a hafler T3.
At the first start i should give it a 6 for the sound but after i did a mod on this pedal the sound changed enormous.
The original sound was a bit raw and harsh, though a good sound was available if you tweaked a lot but the tone wasn't smooth enough.
Now after the mod (changed to sparkle drive and fulltone specs), the sound is very smooth, but it can deliver enough gain, not like the sparkle drive, in my opinion, the sparkle drive doesn't deliver enough gain. Don't forget one thing, everyone likes his own sound. For me the BB-2 was a good choice because of his true bypass and the price, don't forget the looks, it is a beautifull stompbox. If you like good bluessounds and early seventies rocksounds, the BB-2 is something for you, but be sure you have the mod done.

Yes, reliable.

I play in a david bowie tributeband, i play for 36 years.

the boost channel is a god-send, the drive channel is Ok but I bought it mainly for the boost. 10 for the boost, 8 for the overdrive.

ibanez, gibson, humbuckers = screamin demon, jb, alnico pro-II, hiwatt, marshall, orange. I just finished a/b test with the boost quality with my maxon od-9. the maxon was much better for making cleans a little dirty, but for overall boost flexibility, the BBII would be my choice. much more full and round sounding, really makes all the tones coming from all of my amps much more lively. it sounds exactly like the dialed in tone, just "better" PLUS quieter than most other stomp boxes i own[ed] especially in boost mode

i like to play mostly raunchy overdriven guitar. maxon od-9, guv'nor II, modded sd-1, big muff (russian), crybaby wah, flanger. I think if you have a good sound to begin with i think this would be a great boost for solos and over-the-top parts. plus the overdrive channel is fairly usable if you're willing to tweak. A superb value in my opinion for my purposes PURE BOOST

Simple to use - its mainly intuitive but there are simple brief instructions complete with pictures and settings suggestions for types of blues sounds. Even the illiterate Yanks who proliferate this site shouldhave no problems.

Does 'exactly what it says on the tin'.

Balancing between sound volumes on 'pass-through'(thats wired up with the thing switched off - no pretty red light), 'blues' or 'boost' needs a little fiddling with. This doesn't take long and is all part of the 'sound check' process.

Exceptionally well built and durable - even the battery cover.

no need to contact them

This a is a blues breaker - it produces Blues tones. Its the one pedal that I always take everywhere with me for electric and acoustic sessions - it produces tones that vary from adding a little mellow 'grunt' to an electro acoustic to hot harmonics and sustains on a cranked up electric. This is one pedal that delivers what it says it does