Review - Boss BC-2 Combo Drive Pedal
Boost, Crunch and Distortion 22/12/11No flash plug
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7:46 mins |
The BC-2 is another affordable, robust and good quality pedal from Boss. The pedal
gives you three basic functions; a clean boost; a crunch tone; and a
heavier gain tone.
Imagine the tonal range of a good blues combo amp, and you can begin
to build the picture of what Boss are trying to achieve. The BC-2 has
the now familiar function of a 'blend' style control, using this
control, you can take your tone right from clean boost, to very slight
break-up, to bluesy crunch, hard-rock crunch, heavy distortion, and
everything in-between.
Most people know what a basic Boss pedal looks like, they usually have
four knobs, this one is no different, they usually take up a small
amount of footprint on your pedal board, and they are usually housed
in a sturdy metal casing - again the BC-2 is no different.
In terms of sound, which is what we all really care about, the pedal
excels where previous Boss distortion pedals have maybe left you
wanting more. Boss are famous for their modulation and time-based
effects… and pretty much every guitarist has owned a DS-1 distortion
at some point in their lives.
The BC-2 will perhaps be another flagship Boss pedal. The frequencies
chucked out by the higher gain tones deliver more high and low-end,
but without any of those nasty 5-10kHz harmonics you often find from
digital pedals. The more mellow crunch sound leans more towards the
high and low-mids (as it should do), to offer you a very practical and
smooth drive.
Even the clean-boost was tonally intriguing, inspiring me to play some
gypsy jazz and early Les Paul style chops.
Overall, the one thing I'd always like to have a bit more control over
is the EQ, but I think this is all relative to how you are as a
player. Younger guitarists often go for the familiarity of Boss
products, and with too much control over EQ this can actually
sometimes make it harder to find what you are looking for… especially
if you don't know exactly what you are looking for.
I've always felt the most important knob on a distortion pedal is
actually the mid EQ knob, and the BC-2 doesn't have one. As I
explained earlier though, they sort of take care of this for you in
the crunch section of the pedal, and the high and low knobs are great
for heavier distortion sounds.
Boss has certainly done a fantastic job here, even my analogue-junkie
cameraman was impressed by the tones being kicked out by the BC-2.
Definitely worth checking out if you are in the market for something
with versatility and… well… balls.
Shipping imminently.
Price: £89/$189.50
heavier gain tone.
Imagine the tonal range of a good blues combo amp, and you can begin
to build the picture of what Boss are trying to achieve. The BC-2 has
the now familiar function of a 'blend' style control, using this
control, you can take your tone right from clean boost, to very slight
break-up, to bluesy crunch, hard-rock crunch, heavy distortion, and
everything in-between.
Most people know what a basic Boss pedal looks like, they usually have
four knobs, this one is no different, they usually take up a small
amount of footprint on your pedal board, and they are usually housed
in a sturdy metal casing - again the BC-2 is no different.
In terms of sound, which is what we all really care about, the pedal
excels where previous Boss distortion pedals have maybe left you
wanting more. Boss are famous for their modulation and time-based
effects… and pretty much every guitarist has owned a DS-1 distortion
at some point in their lives.
The BC-2 will perhaps be another flagship Boss pedal. The frequencies
chucked out by the higher gain tones deliver more high and low-end,
but without any of those nasty 5-10kHz harmonics you often find from
digital pedals. The more mellow crunch sound leans more towards the
high and low-mids (as it should do), to offer you a very practical and
smooth drive.
Even the clean-boost was tonally intriguing, inspiring me to play some
gypsy jazz and early Les Paul style chops.
Overall, the one thing I'd always like to have a bit more control over
is the EQ, but I think this is all relative to how you are as a
player. Younger guitarists often go for the familiarity of Boss
products, and with too much control over EQ this can actually
sometimes make it harder to find what you are looking for… especially
if you don't know exactly what you are looking for.
I've always felt the most important knob on a distortion pedal is
actually the mid EQ knob, and the BC-2 doesn't have one. As I
explained earlier though, they sort of take care of this for you in
the crunch section of the pedal, and the high and low knobs are great
for heavier distortion sounds.
Boss has certainly done a fantastic job here, even my analogue-junkie
cameraman was impressed by the tones being kicked out by the BC-2.
Definitely worth checking out if you are in the market for something
with versatility and… well… balls.
Shipping imminently.
Price: £89/$189.50
- More Information
- Boss BC-2
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2 Comments... Post a comment original story
Rocky Dennis Said...
Artamus Said...
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Rocky Dennis Said...
Since this is an AC-30 inspired pedal, I'm surprised you didn't try to get a Beatles sound or a Brian May sound in the video. I mean, since this is what Boss is advertising as the selling point of this pedal, this is what we want to know - particularly how it stacks up to something like the Tech 21 Liverpool.
22-Dec-11 01:35 PM
Artamus Said...
Nice demo, thanks. I don't think Boss is "Running out of colors" tho, they obviously made this one burgundy/brown to match the control panel on the Vox AC 30. If Vox had been a partner with Boss on this one, like Fender is on their pedals, they probably would have used mini chicken head knobs as well.
01-Apr-12 04:45 PM
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