Great or Garbage? BOSS OS-2
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- čas přidán 13. 09. 2024
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This is a quality presentation because the camera is on the effect pedal, not the player. Great job!
The player is literally another pedal haha :p
And that is how you demo a pedal. You run through all the permutations of settings and sounds with a consistent riff, letting everyone know how the controls affect the end result, both individually and in combination. Good job.
PERFECT pedal demo. Like many others said, you played the same riff over and over but SHOWED us how each setting changed the sound. With more people followed this format. I'm subbing to your channel.
Much appreciated!
I have it and I really like it! - Level at 12, Tone at 11, Drive at 2, Blend at 10 -> Amazing for soloing over a clean channel.
One of my favorite Boss pedals, and I used truckloads of Boss pedals. I never turned the Distortion up because it would get too brittle and bright. I used it to give my amp an extra push when I already had a decent amount of gain.
What settings do you keep yours on ? I’m looking for the same effect honestly
I just bought one for $60 CAD which I thought was a steal. After two days, I'm in love
I have an OS-2 for years. I bought it because it supposed to mix SD-1 with DS-1 but I found out that it doesn't do well either one. The actual SD and DS sound more "alive" and raw, with notes jump out, while OS sounds like recorded SD/DS and then played back. I finally bought an SD-1 AND a DS-1 and I'm much happier.
So true!
Why Steve Vai designed the Jemini which is an Ibanez TS808 and a Keely modded DS1 in one...with some tweaks
OS sounds like recorded SD/DS and then played back. I like your statement!
A great synopsis of the character of this pedal. I’ve felt the same way for years. Too thin and brittle on the OD side, too scooped and fizzy on the DS side. Everything in between sounds like those two sounds combined, very unpleasant. Great idea, terrible execution.
totally underrated pedal ...it sounds great if you know how to use it and with the right amp/setting
Total crap
This pedal is versatile depending on how you dial the knobs. It can emulate any distortion and overdrive pedals...or any amp types. The color knob is the key. You can make it sound like a booster, fuzz, crunch...and bluesy overdrive. Rectifier tone for metal?...yes! (w/ the color knob @ 3:00. The amp you use also matters with the overall sound. Great demo by the way. Thanks!
Can you please share what setting it would be for use as a boost? I have two of these, and I use one of the OS-2's for heavy distortion behind a tube screamer and compressor/sustainer. Thinking to put the 2nd OS-2 in front of the tube screamer as a boost, but not sure what settings to have on it, and/or whether it should be in front of the compressor or behind it?
It may sound or affect differently depending on your rig/pedal chain arrangement but try this setting for booster: Drive = Min; Level = 1 o'clock; Tone & Color knobs at 12.
Been using the OS-2 for years. It's great with Strats. Mine sounds nothing like the one in this video. Maybe it's my amps. It sounds great with AC30's.
Going to try Strat - OS-2 - AC30 ASAP
Might I ask what settings you have on the pedal for your strat? I'm having trouble getting a tone I really enjoy out of the OS-2/strat combo
Billy Wagner Amen man. With a strat and the color knob set almost all the way to the left, you can get some amazing Deep Purple tones out of an AC30. One of the few pedals I’ve actually bought a second time.
i feel like some of the boss overdrive/distortion pedals only work with certain types of amps. i have a ds1 which sounds kind of mehh in a katana, ok in a jcm 2000 and absolutly stunning on a marshall bluesbreaker. on the blues breaker you can even turn the tone knob of the ds1 above noon. that pedal becomes my number one distortion pedal on that amp.
Agreed- mine sounds quite good with my AC30 - with an SG or Strat. Sounds nothing like this video.
I’m still on the fence about this one. I had it for several years, tried it as my main drive then pushed it to being a second little gain stage to push a blues driver a little harder for stuff that didn’t require use of a big muff. Later replaced both pedals with an ehx od glove, then ultimately moved onto an earthquaker plumes all these years later for my main drive. But nostalgia has me looking back into a blues driver or the os-2 to stack with the plumes
Didn't like it on distortion side at all.
However it sounded good for me before Big Muff at overdrive mode to get Gilmour lead tones from 80's
I like it a lot more hitting some dirt as you mentioned
@@LeonTodd I do something similar with a heavily modded SD-1 into a Triangle Muff. I actually prefer using that Boss with Fuzz/Muffs than a King of fkin Tone!
Ah, my very first pedal back in the late 90
This is an underated pedal. It's finicky, and sounds best wih level cranked and tone and drive completly off, color adjust between zero and 11. Push a broke up amp and it's as good as anything out there, especiall ds/sd pedal. By itself is tricky..
I love it. Either on its own or as a boost.
Mason Likes Punk Rock Yes finally i found someone use os2 as a boosting.thanks.
I've got an OS-2 and several other overdrive and distortion pedals. The OS-2 doesn't get much use because other pedals give better distortion or OD. If it fell out of the Boss lineup, I don't think too many folks would notice.
I don’t really agree. I think it’s under-rated. It’s got a very smooth character that will give you that David Gilmour lead sound and quite a few other sounds into a dirty amp. It’s got a lot of range and uses. It really requires tuning the amp’s EQ in harmony with the pedal when going into a clean amp. You can’t just tweak the pedal like this.
@@TheMasonator777 Ok - I’ll have to play around with the EQ a bit as you suggested.
@@TheMasonator777 I agree. There’s quite a bit of range you can get from it. Some people find it boring but it’s the pedal that’s been on my board the longest. I also recently got a boost pedal and putting a boost before the OS-2 really sounds great.
I think this pedal is super underrated. I have a Stone Deaf PDF-2 running as a clean boost into this and then into an EQ and it sounds amazing.
Not a big fan of the distortion side, though I really like the overdrive side. I mainly use it as a a typical overdrive for like 70s rock. I'll then push it a bit with an SD-1 when playing a lead.
Sounds more like a fuzz doesn’t it. No fatness to it.
Especially compared to the SD2, this seems like garbage. However, it blows my mind how Boss has been at the forefront of pedals - blending 2 dirt sounds and double pedals seem like boutique ideas, Boss has been doing them for 20 years.
Phillip Lindholm yes SD2 is the shezzile
The OS-2 is a fantastic pedal! It has been my main overdrive for well over a decade. The color option makes it really versatile.
Big BOSS fan here. Methinks their drive pedals are hit or miss though. Going to file this one under the proverbial "can of bees".
I dug the UFO more than the Pedal! But there are some nice tones in there regardless...
Leon, I had a look at the schematic for it and yeah you're sort of right. Basically after an initial buffer stage, the signals split:
- one side goes through an opamp, then hard clipped using a dual inverted diode clipping stage (like a proco rat) and then it looks like it's inverted to blend with the second path
- second path is an opamp and asymmetrically clipped with one diode and a set of diodes in reverse on the feedback (like a tube screamer except only one two diodes back to back)
The drive knob is a dual pot that controls the individual gain of both paths opamps. Once blended via the colour knob, it goes through the tone then to the level control and out.
So basically it functions either like a tube screamer one way (OD), rat the other (DS). Or a combination thereof.
BTW A Klon works in a similar way in that the signals are split in two: one path (like the rat), the second a clean signal and then summed before the tone control (but doesn't have a blend control).
Imagine modding this to sound like a Klon!
Yeah, you pretty much could if you change how the blend control works as it leaves the TS side alone (effectively it's on all the time) and shunts the DS side to ground (shutting it off effectively). By jumping it back to the output of the DS side opamp it would give a similar result (providing you cut the rest of the circuit out). Lot of work when you can buy a clone of a Klon (there's some irony) off ebay for about $50. You could vero board one for about $10 in parts and an afternoon.
I bought a OS2 today, i love the tone combined with my EMG 81 and EMG 85 guitar
Great demo,,,great riff choice! 👍🏻
I have the DS-1, never liked it but I have it. But this one OS-2 is gold compared to the DS-1.
The OS2 was my first ever guitar pedal. Bought it from a friend, but immediately knew that he sold it because he hated the tone. I dont like it either tbh. But I might keep it on my board for a while as a high gain pedal. High gain playing is not my style anyway so I guess it's not for me
That Drive knob might as well be an on/off switch!
I literally said the same thing Lmaoo
it actually blends overdrive circuitry with distortion circuitry, it’s a cool schematic to observe, and a unique circuit that no one seems to copy for some reason.
Dude! I have never in my life played Rock Bottom by UFO on a guitar until yesterday and today. And what are the odds I find this video! Freaky!
The Schenker is strong with you!
Love that fizzy acid distortion. Melt your brain!
Always informative. Thxz! From Arizona!👍🏻🎸🤘🏻
Thanks for watching, as always!
Another Arizonan in the wild
Ahh the sound of Sublime... as read on the internet. anyone know how Bradley set his controls?
Good to know i'm not the only one interested!
doubt that is obtainable at this point but you never know maybe he said in an interview something, if you know the amp & guitar get this pedal and take a weekend and dial it in
What a great video, brother! This is EXACTLY what I want in a gear review video! I don't like gear reviews where the reviewer feels the need to flex their shredding skills, instead of focusing on the gear and what it can do. Some of these reviewers do review videos as if they're playing in front of 100,000 people, all of whom have their cigarette lighters in the air! 😣😖😭! It's like their once in a lifetime moment to shine so they go for broke!
This video is great because it focuses on the on the pedal and the different functions and sounds. You demo'ed this pedal in a way that I needed to hear! I just purchased this pedal, $40 bucks, brand new as a Black Friday find, so I purchased it. I needed to get the most out of this new pedal, and your review certainly helped me out. You did a bloody fantastic job in showing how one can get the most of this thing! Thanks, mate! Super-giant thumbs up, my brother!
Thanks mate! I'm sure I've done plenty of those lighter in the air demos as well :P
@@LeonTodd Nice!
I run this pedal with a mesa boogie and a Marshall stack and it sounds amazing when you put the two together with some reverb.
It’s been on my board like 10 years it has a nice setting
i use it with my hughes and kettner tubemeister 18.and yes,i use the color around 9 o' clock just to add agression on the high end and to compensate for the low end.cheers from montenegro.
Cheers! My Dad was born in Yugoslavia so it's nice to hear from that part of the world. Would love to visit one day.
@@LeonTodd wait,what?where was your father from?i mean,from what country and what's his name?and yes,i do see the south-eastern european look you have at closer inspection.
The drive knob has all of its range in the first quarter turn. It sounded better into the distorted amp, but not a good tone overall.
This depends on how loud the input signal is, with soft input you can use full range.
Fender Twin Amp: Clean
Agile Tele - Ceramic PU - Bridge d.c.- 8.5
OS-2
Lvl: 12:00 -1:00
Tone: 1:00
Drive: 2:00
Color: 10:30
Eddie Hazel - Maggot Brain all day, everyday.
This was my first distortion pedal. I generally used mine more so on the distortion side and it sounded way better than your demo. Probably just the way I set up my amp. I always used it to make more of a grunge sound and it worked well for that.
I'm debating on going with the os2 or going to my roots with the ds1. Love that goku in the background btw lol
This pedal is pretty flexible but I always preferred the OD side. I recently just found an OD1 with the original 14pin opamp in it for very cheap (I think the shop just priced it with the non original OD1s) and I have to say that it's probably the best overdrive ive ever owned. Sounds absolutely wicked into the Marshall. I love boss overdrives. Good demo on this classic!
Would love to add an OD-1 to my collection. the SD-2 is pretty cool too.
I think this pedal sounds great if you use the color from 50% or less, because you can go from what is basically just the SD-1 to a cool parallel tone with the DS-1 that actually sounds cool. The distortion side is just a DS-1 with all the DS-1 problems lol
Great video Leon,love how you demoed the pedal,I like boss pedals, and this one is very useable, but I'm not big on these two in one overdrive /distortion pedals, to me the overdrive never seems transparent, and the distortion seems to harsh, in other words they always seem like distortion pedals, not overdrive, same with Fulltone Plimsoul
"Jack of all trades, master of none" syndrome!
OD Side okay, DIstortion side too fizzy for my taste, the yellow MXR Distortion pedal has a much better sounding distortion to my ears.
I agree with your preferred setting. The pure DS setting sounded great straight into the FX return. (But with a decent enough amp, a guitar straight into the FX return actually sounds none-too-shabby.)
I think this pedal sounds great if you use the color from 50% or less, because you can go from what is basically just the SD-1 to a cool parallel tone with the DS-1 that actually sounds cool. The distortion side is just a DS-1 with all the DS-1 problems lol
Try this setting at os 2:
tone 11 o'clock
drive 12 o'clock
od/ds 9 o'clock
single coil neck pick up
flat clean amp
And u will get Andy timmons kinda sound from eleftric gypsy 🤤
I use it for my OD sound and also stack it with my Boss MD2 (GTR->OS2->MD2->AMP) for that clear cut ear screeching noise.
I learned from Dave Simpson that these pedals sound their best into a slightly distorted amp. Not clean or PA
Sounds pretty good to me with the drive set low.
Has a usable limited tone, workable in a mix! Fine demo Riff!
Thanks for sharing brother! Be Well Leon!
I have had this pedal for a few years now. I have a Marshall DSL40C and mostly use the 'classic gain' channel set on 'crunch' mode. that is my main tone. I use this pedal with the 'color' set to the 10:00 O'clock position as a lead boost. This puts the sound almost into the range of the 'Ultra Gain' channel but not quite. I find it ideal for doing my solos where I need to step out in front of the band.
I have a Marshal DSL20CR and use this same pedal on the "clean channel" with color at max, dist close to max and tone at about 40%. Sounds way better playing though the Marshall on the Ultra Gain without pedals. Severely disappointed in the stock ultragain and speaker. Very fizzy and thin; thankfully the Boss pedal colors the sound enough to somewhat hide that
I use the pedal and only this pedal ALL the time, ie always on. It just makes my guitar sound better, a lot better. Even with drive on zero it has EXTREME tone shaping. Massive treble boost with mids lowered on the DS side and thats with drive on zero. Mids come flying back just by moving the colour dial back to 3 oclock. Still on zero drive. Then the tone knob gives even more shaping, lpf i think. The DS side gives a scooped bright sound that seems to sing fender amp. You just learn how to not use this pedal for it to be ok. Eg on the DS side never go above 9 oclock with the drive. I get that i am using it mostly as a eq pedal. I still think it has a great tone and a compression or tameing of the sound that makes my amp sound like a fender delux reverb, with a vintage strat on the neck pickup, and seems to even ADD yes i said ADD clarity and articulation, so i love it. And i love no ther pedal at all. I will mary it, yes.....
Hi Leon, I didn't mind the OD section, seemed quite compressed in full Distortion mode.
Take care mate,
Melbourne, Australia.
One of my favourite riffs to jam to!
This sounded pretty bad in the video, but mine sounds fantastic out of my Orange 20RT. Cleans blues sound with the od down low and real crunchy 80's tone with the distortion at about 3:00.
There is difference between recording processed sound and processing recorded sound. The demo demonstrates the latter - which obviously is easier to make - but does NOT provide proper representation of pedal capabilities. That applies to ahy demo done the very same way.
Yeah, I think that is a combo of the SD-1 (basically an Ibanez TS circuit) and the DS-1 (a hard clipping op-amp) with the color being a blend. I remember reading there are some mods for this pedal, but they don't really work as well as the mod for each of those individual pedals alone. Apparently it's supposed to sound best with the color completely to one side or the other.
yarg nad - the DS side is more like a proco rat or dod 250, not a DS1. The OD side you're right, not far off a TS or SD-1
@@peterschmidt9942 I read that from the Boss site.
Really? Those marketing people! I actually compared both schematics and didn't notice the clipping diodes until I looked at it again. So yeah, similar except for the tranny at the start to give it a bit more boost going into the opamp. I'd still compare it more to a rat style circuit though. Although at the end of the day, they're similar
Good boost pedal.
Not bad into the loop. Not great, but suprisingly useful. I'd like to try it with another boost and an EQ in the loop. Maybe OS2>EQ>Limiter
Could do some "faux sag" cranked amp stuff. Definitely a useful tool, but not a great standalone drive/distortion.
I think as a boost it’s very useful...good vid man
At least for me the problem with this pedal is not the sound, that is quite good, but the one I had, had TERRIBLE bypass. Might have been a faulty unit, but the thing took all the high end of my tone when it was on the signal chain. Does that happens with yours as well Leon? Cheers mate, great video as always!
If Leon could comment on this would be great as i'm looking at one for cheap on ebay.
I'll try it in a bypass loop and get back to you asap
Mate, you probably had a bad one and it was faulty as the bypass circuit on this is exactly the same as the 40000 other boss pedal variants.
I did love my BOSS OS-2 and had been using it constantly on my board until I switched to MFX units 8 years ago. The setting which I used for my softer driven sound (I have another dirt box for heavier tones) was always like Tone at 1.30 o'clock, Drive at 11 o'clock and the blend of OD/DS was more on the overdrive side, hm ... let say 10.30 o'clock or so :3 If I have a motivation to switch back to indiv. pedals again in the future, I will get another OS-2 or an upgraded version of it (if BOSS do) for sure! ^^
Overdrive side of it wasn’t bad.
Love mine! I use it as a distortion pedal for more "metal" leanings. I also have a big muff pi for stoner/fuzz jamming.
Everyone likes to go on about how you need the right amp to make this pedal sound good, which I believe is a critical weakness.
I’ve owned mine for a decade as well as a handful of DS-1s, SD-1s, TS9s and even a BD-2, all of which I’ve managed to get fantastic sounds out of time and time again. I like the idea of the OS-2, but it’s too grainy and thin sounding in either direction of the color knob. These days, I just run a TS9 into an SD-1 for high gain stuff…
great boost for your fav amp or drive pedal
I used to actually get great sounds out of one of these when I would run it through an SD-1 about 30 years ago. I have one now that I modded with a Monte Allums kit and it's a major improvement over the stock version.
Mine hums like crazy even when using humbuckers.
Get a noisegate and compressor
Half drive it sounds like a studio track
Leon, You've earned my trust thru these demos. Excellence is one of your attributes. I agree; I didn't even like it thru the clean amp.
Much appreciated!
This pedal with a JCM 800 will get you a great Slayer tone.
I have the boss od and dis... I love this pedal and the combination... and what can be done on roll off (I tend to find that distortions often need a little help from OD stacked anyway).
Great review. Mine OS2 is much noisier than my other Boss drive pedals. Yours too?
Yeah this one was a bit
Is seems very hard to find a nice tone. Not like my Rat or OCD or LA Lady - (A modeling Distortion Pedal) or Timmy. As a only and my first pedal it got me to quickly find an alternative. From reading below I do see that some people have found it useful in certain applications. That's why I brought it out to try again. During video, On or off couldn't tell what it was doing. I tested it on my Monoprice 15 watt amp which is exactly a Laney amp not a distortion amp, it's more of like a AC15 with a gain switch. Guitar was a G&L Telecaster. Thanks everyone for the comments. Love to learn from everyone.
Still like the DS1 better.
But let's be honest, nothing is better than a TS.
apakep i think the blues driver is better than the TS
Wow.. You saved me some money. I expected much more from it. The drive could be brutal.
As others have stated my OS-2 sounds nothing like this. I have mine in front of an Origin 20, using either a Les Paul or a BC Rich Assassin and it sounds sooo much better than what's on display here
I got It inside the Boss be5 and is diff to get a good sound out of It.
This pedal plus a mod kit from fromel = tasty metal riffage.
How can I take a David Gilmour gitar distorsion my friend?
lmao I love how you prop the pedal up with another pedal
This was my bread and butter pedal, till l got the Fulltone OCD V2...
I use this one mostly clean to slight crunch , it does his job good but if ur looking for sd1 or ds1 sound this pedal is not for you
Joey Santiago from The Pixies used to have one
Good
Leon...quick question. I have an ENGL Special Edition (nice bit of UFO, by the way), and a spare loop in my Boss ES-8. I'm torn between putting in either an Eventide H9 Max, to go with my other one, or a Line 6 HX Stomp. What do you reckon?
haha unity level s what, 3 o clock?! you can here the clean signal coming trough,so this kind of pedal is def more suited to a cranked amp
Hey! Who did that Goku painting in the BG? Its awesome! Nice video, too!
I found it on the side of the road!
@@LeonTodd that's sooooo cool. Lucky!
@@MichaelScottGuitar the person who painted it actually stumbled across my vids on YT and was like "did you find that on the side of the road? I think i painted that!" which was wild. Small world hey.
@@LeonTodd no way!? That's nucking futs! Well.... Christmas is around the corner. Ill send you my mailing address? :)
I have it for so many years, perfect to boost any preamp to add attack and brilliance, with all 4 settings to 9 o'clock. With an humbucker it adds some kind of single coil sound while keeping the humbucker sound. Color over 12 is too me not clean enough, a bit dirty..., and drive is even too much powerful then destroy the original preamp sound, so that's why I never exceed 9 ..
So you just use it as a boost? I'm newer to pedals, and recently I bought a bunch of Behringer ones to get my feet wet for cheap. I have three of their Boss clones and their ibanez tube screamer clone, in this order: compressor/limiter > tube screamer > Boss 0S-2 clone > Vintage Delay > looper > front of amp. But I have an extra Boss OS-2 clone sitting around, and wonder if I should put it in front of the other two overdrives as a boost? And if so, at what settings for it to be a boost only? And should it go in front of the compressor or after?
@@joeblough261 I'm not pro, but I play for 40 years and have tested many configurations. To me, it is not a good idea to stack overdrives and distorsions. Compressor then Tube Screamer, perfect choice, but no more. After that the amp must do the difference. When younger, I was thinking boosting everything was a good idea. In fact, not at all. The best sound I can have is always a good amp (modeling or not), preceded with compressor and overdrive (or distortion), but all 3 never to their max gain, in fact never more than half way for gain. And the Pod Go can do everything, no need for extra pedals, just hours to find the perfect tuning.. 😉
It's got some uses but lacks the liveliness of the pedals it supposedly simulates.
If you cannot understand the sound of the song either it is overdrive or distortion they probably have an OS-2.
Thank you Leon, I always wondered about this pedal. I think I'm gonna stick to my SD-1 and a separate distortion pedals like Guv'nor. Great video! Subscribed.
I have an old Guvnor somewhere here I need to pull out and demo
@@LeonTodd Please do! Thanks!
@@LeonTodd Please do! I only have a home built Guv'nor and I'd love to hear the original.
I don’t think running any pedal into a static clean sound is a fair way to demo it. To just turn on an amp and have a clean sound that just automatically compliments a pedal luck based, and takes a lot of it. I would never tweak an analog distortion pedal without tweaking the amp EQ as well. Amp + drive pedal is an interactive system so I think it must be treated as such.
Seems all knobs on 50% sound better...but it's just a matter of taste.
The os2 is easily my favorite boss drive pedal (I tried all boss). Mine sounds nothing like in this video though. It sounds very crisp but not as harsh as the DS-1. I use the os2 mostly for crunch. For higher gain, I have never tried a pedal that I liked as much as a tube amp drive, after 35 drive pedal test, I decided that pedals are not doing it on their own for higher gain anyway...
What amp do you use it with?
@@LeonTodd
Several amps, Peavey C30 Fender hot rod deluxe, epiphone valve jr head and cab. It sounds also very good with my roland cube 40xl on the blackface "edge of breakup" setting.
I like mine. I play it with the tone all the way on high, dist at 3:00, drive at 2:00.
This pedal needs a new version: dual knob for full control of the od and ds, better drive control and a Rage button... well, all pedals need the Rage button.
Thanks!
Is it me or the drive knob doesn't chance much from mid to top position? From cero to mid position it gives the more fat sound, but then i cant tell the diference
I have one, but it makes a lot of noise, is this normal for this pedal? Any recommendations besides the noise suppressor?
that DISTORTION waveform can be weaponised !!! Holy fk...
would’ve liked to hear it with the drive and tone (both) up..
Steve Vai used it around 1990...just sayin'