BOSS BD-2W Waza Craft Blues Driver, The Ultimate BOSS TOne Experience

Product Information

A distortion pedal can be a guitarist's most defining tool. Learn to pair it with other effects and expand your sonic approach. Read more… Getting the Most Out of Your Overdrive Pedal In short, this is the DS-1 grown up. It seems that, after years of seeing other companies clogging up the internet with mods and DIY kits to make pedals like the DS-1 sound less scratchy, Boss has decided to stop sulking and join the game. Chorus adds an extra dimension when paired with other pedals. Here are some dynamic suggestions for combining it with different effects. Read more… Getting the Most Out of Your Overdrive Pedal

The new customer accounts will very clearly show what Roland/Boss products the customer owns but also pull through any relevant information or services available to the customer in support of their product(s) In fact for some strange reason the Blues Driver has ended up as one of the world’s most modded pedals - key pedal-makers Brian Wampler (Wampler Effects), Josh Scott (JHS Effects), Mike Piera (Analog.Man) and Robert Keeley (Keeley Engineering) have all supplied modified versions at some stage, and Mike Piera still does.Flanger has been a swirling presence in music throughout the decades. Learn to combine it with other effects for incredible results. Read more… Pedal Partners: Combining Octave with Other Effects Both pedals provide outstanding clean boost functions with the level control cranked up and the gain/drive control turned all the way down, with the SD-1W providing a greater range of midrange textures via its tone control. The BD-2W’s tone control has a less dramatic effect on the overall tone, maintaining more of your guitar’s inherent character. With the gain/drive control turned up, both deliver luscious, harmonically rich distortion with silky smooth sustain, particularly in the stellar custom mode, which pushes the front end even harder without ever sounding fuzzy or gritty. Boss have released the Waza Craftseries of pedals, giving you boutique brilliance with all the modern perks of guitar effects! If you need a more flexible tone from your Boss BD-2 the Waza Craft model is the one for you. Retaining the same original tone, the BD-2w adds another dimension in a second mode, offering buffed upbody and sustain.

So beyond the ones mentioned we have the more obvious inspired-by-Blues-Driver - Barber LTD SR, CMATMods Signa Drive and Mojo Hand FX Bluebonnet, while I’m not 100% sure about the Katanasound Albatross and MI Audio Super Blues Pro - as they seem to have elements of each really. So this category should really be called ’Blues Pedals’ or perhaps Blues/Breaker/Driver pedals! All three pedals feature all-analog circuitry that’s designed to provide improved dynamic responsiveness and more natural overall tone. Octave pedals carve a path for guitarists to veer into synth tones and big bass riffs. Find out how to utilize this expansive effect. Read more… Pedal Partners: Combining Distortion with Other Effects Crafted with an ear for highly refined sound, the BD-2W takes the classic Blues Driver grit to a new level with all-discrete analogue circuitry. Standard mode captures the classic BD-2 tone while Custom mode delivers new body and sustain. The Blues Driver is a drive pedal for blues. Incisive, eh? Of course, it doesn’t have to be limited to blues: it’s for anyone who wants tasteful levels of gain without the thinning effect of a Super Overdrive. Our Waza Craft version is exactly like the SD-1W, with the same Standard/Custom switch in the same little gap, but Drive is now called Gain.

Carbon-zinc battery (9 V, 6F22) Option (sold separately) AC adaptor (PSA series) Size and Weight ( incl. battery ) Width 73 mm Nominal Input Level -20 dBu Input Impedance 1 M ohm Nominal Output Level -20 dBu Output Impedance 1 k ohm Recommended Load Impedance 10 k ohms or greater Controls Pedal switch

It does have one limitation, though. Because that switch takes up almost two thirds of the surface of the unit, there’s not an awful lot of room left for the controls. It isn’t a problem with just Level and Drive plus the slightly skinnier Tone dial, but there’s only a half-inch gap for the Waza version’s new Standard/Custom mode switch.

It’s too tight – you cannot access it without touching the other controls, unless you have tweezers for fingers. Surely side-mounting it would have made more sense. Still, there is plenty of resistance in all the knobs so you’re unlikely to mangle your settings by accident. The Japanese Boss manufacturers have developed a special breed of pedal that not only flawlessly reproduces all of that vintage, authentic tone of the older analogue circuitry, but also offers the razor-sharp benefits of modern technology, in one single enclosure.