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jconway
Copper Member
3 Posts |
 Posted - 09/17/2006 : 13:22:23
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Hey guys!  Was looking at the site and got intrested in boss pedals, and have a couple questions. If you guys could help me out, that'd be great. Here goes:
1. There's a SD-2 Dual Overdrive in pretty good condition at a local shop for $55. Is that a good price? How does it sound and is it worth it? Is it analog or true-bypass?
2. I've also seen an XT-2 Xtortion at the said store for $65 and in pretty good condition? Is that a good price? Worth it? How does it sound? Is it analog or true-bypass?
3. How is the BD-2 Blues Driver? I know it isn't true-bypass, but is it possible to make it true-bypass?
Thanks a lot guys! Cheers   |
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Basstyra
Gold Member
France
523 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2006 : 15:42:01
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Analog OR true bypass ? I don't see the point, here. Why or ??
No Boss pedals are true bypass. That does not mean theyr bypass are bad.
No boos OD/Dist/Fuzz are digital. |
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StratoSphere
Double Platinum Member
Canada
2232 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2006 : 18:26:03
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as BassTyra said, no Boss stomps are true bypass, but that doesnt mean that theyre not good. i have 24 pedals in my chain (none are true bypass) and it sounds fine.
to answer your question, everyone has different opinions on pedals but according to the price market, i would jump on the SD-2, but hold out on the XT-2 as you can probably find it cheaper elsewhere.
The SD-2 is very good since it has the Lead and Rhythym settings. you can get a wide array of OD tones, and is surprisingly getting hard to find.
The XT-2 is definately an aquired taste. i have mixed feelings on this pedal and just kinda depends on the day. it is not a regular distortion but does have a rather interesting, experimental sound.
hope this helps. good luck  |
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lazzrath
Bronze Member
Canada
103 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2006 : 03:23:41
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jconway, it sounds like you've been doing your research. This is a good thing, but try not to get caught up in the whole 'true bypass' thing. If you want to spend some time sifting through some of the previous threads in the forum, we've actually gone over the whole buffered bypass vs. true bypass debate a few times, and reading through some of the threads might give you a deeper insight as to the actual aural effect of these differences.
To give a relatively short explanation of what I'm talking about, I'll explain as follows. True bypass is a good thing, because when the pedal is turned off, the sounds gets unaffected and hits the next pedal more 'pure'. But don't forget that that means your signal get's that much weaker. if you have 10 true bypass pedals in a chain (and assuming that was the entire chain) and a 20 ft. cable before and after, you're basically looking at hitting your amp with a 45 ft. cable, which will experience some signal loss along the way. Buffered pedals actually counter this by (as the name implies) buffering the signal. So having a couple of buffered pedals in your chain certainly doesn't hurt (especially if their Boss - they have some of the cleanest buffered bypass circuits in them, as fas as I've been told) to help your signal out, and keep it strong. |
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lazzrath
Bronze Member
Canada
103 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2006 : 03:25:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Basstyra
No boos OD/Dist/Fuzz are digital.
I might be mistaken, but I thought that the MZ-2 and the OS-2 were digital. |
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Basstyra
Gold Member
France
523 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2006 : 09:41:05
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The MZ-2 have a digital part for the chrous/doubling part, indeed. For the distortion part, I doubt. The result is a digital pedal anyway, you're right.
For the OS-2, I don't know. I know Line6 make digital OD/distortions, but I assume they're the only one that crazy (excepted the whole "emulation" kind of stuff by others, like Vox for example). An OD is sooo simple in analog, and sooo complicated in digital... |
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jconway
Copper Member
3 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2006 : 23:45:06
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quote:
Originally posted by lazzrath
jconway, it sounds like you've been doing your research. This is a good thing, but try not to get caught up in the whole 'true bypass' thing. If you want to spend some time sifting through some of the previous threads in the forum, we've actually gone over the whole buffered bypass vs. true bypass debate a few times, and reading through some of the threads might give you a deeper insight as to the actual aural effect of these differences.
To give a relatively short explanation of what I'm talking about, I'll explain as follows. True bypass is a good thing, because when the pedal is turned off, the sounds gets unaffected and hits the next pedal more 'pure'. But don't forget that that means your signal get's that much weaker. if you have 10 true bypass pedals in a chain (and assuming that was the entire chain) and a 20 ft. cable before and after, you're basically looking at hitting your amp with a 45 ft. cable, which will experience some signal loss along the way. Buffered pedals actually counter this by (as the name implies) buffering the signal. So having a couple of buffered pedals in your chain certainly doesn't hurt (especially if their Boss - they have some of the cleanest buffered bypass circuits in them, as fas as I've been told) to help your signal out, and keep it strong.
I have read up on this, but I will only run 4-5 pedals, so I won't have that much cable. |
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lazzrath
Bronze Member
Canada
103 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2006 : 08:03:50
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| Then having the odd buffered bypass pedal won't hurt your sound. Plus, knowing this gives you a lot of really cool (Boss) options that you'd otherwise be forcing yourself to miss out on. |
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pawnshop_trash
Gold Member
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2006 : 07:25:21
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can't comment on the OS-2, but the distortion section of the MZ-2's circuit is entirely analog.
regarding 'true bypass', indeed all Boss pedals are 'buffered bypass', *not* true bypass. however, most Boss pedals do not cause your tone to suffer when bypassed (unlike my non-true bypass Vox wah pedal... grrr.). in fact, if I were mixing and matching several pedals in a chain (say, including a 'true bypass' ProCo Rat pedal with a few Boss pedals), I would make sure the first pedal in the chain was a 'buffered bypass' Boss pedal (like the PQ-4?).... |
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jconway
Copper Member
3 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2006 : 02:17:26
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| Sorry to bump this topic but I've got some cash and thinking about going and picking up that SD-2. Does anyone have any soundclips of this pedal? Is it good for a Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, bluesy overdrive sound? |
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A few questions
