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

Product Information

This time there’s no drop in bass, and the overdrive is smoother all round. Any blues-minded stompbox should sound nice at low gain settings, acting as a booster for an amp that’s waiting to be pushed into overdrive, and the BD-2W handles that task like a pelican handles fishing. It still sounds surprisingly amp-like when you let the pedal do all the work, and there’s no loss of fatness with the dirty stuff cranked. Carbon-zinc battery (9 V, 6F22) Option (sold separately) AC adaptor (PSA series) Size and Weight ( incl. battery ) Width 73 mm

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.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. Each Waza Craft pedal is a complete redesign of the classic circuits by the original designers. Find out exactly what makes them so unique. Read more… Waza Craft Ultimate Rundown! The new Boss Waza Craft BD-2W is a new take on this classic stomp-box, which faithfully recreates the sound of the BD-2 and adds some new features. Built using a refined, discrete, all-analog circuit, the BD-2W has 2 modes; ' Standard' and ' Custom'. Standard mode is the original circuit found on the BD-2 and custom mode features a new overdrive, rich in body and sustain. Waza Craft demo featuring BD-2W, SD-1W, and DM-2W in combination with a variety of guitars and amps. Side by side with the standard SD-1, it feels just a little more full and pure, with less wiriness in the high notes. It’s an improvement, but not a dramatic one. The gain range is moderate – you can crank Drive to full without being dragged into psycho country – but it’s aggressive enough for screaming solos and menacing power chords.

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 switchBoss’s colourful stomp boxes are the most recognisable pedal range in existence. For over 40 years, guitarists from bedrooms to stadiums have put their boot down on a Boss effect to transform their sound. Several models have passed into guitar legend and early examples can fetch extremely high prices. Happily, Boss have maintained their stellar reputation for world-class effects in bomb-proof casing with their current range and have fended off the imitators for decades to remain the pre-eminent single pedal effects manufacturer in the business. If there’s an effect for guitar (or bass, vocals, keys…be creative!) then you can bet Boss have a pedal of it in their range or even invented it outright! Every guitar player should get to experience the joy of selecting a pedal from Boss’s exhaustive roster, plugging it in and unleashing their wildest sonic dreams. 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.

I personally have 9 of these pedals featured here - obviously the FZ-2W is speculative. I do feel that we will get that at some stage - albeit fans will probably need to start up another petition to Boss - much in the same way as happened with the HM-2W. Based on the success of the TB-2W - we will almost certainly see more Fuzz variants, while the next in line may not necessarily by the much anticipated FZ-2W. Boss moves in mysterious ways and Yoshi Ikegami and gang always have their own agenda - which is typically not influenced by prevailing public opinions! The whole HM-2W consultative process was something very new and different for Boss - who historically have tended to work more in secret. I’ve still to get the DM-2W and TU-3W - which I will probably get eventually for sake of set completion. While I tend to only deploy stereo delays in my rig, and use the Roadie tuner over and above any sort of tuner pedal. As my setup is entirely home-based I really don’t need to have a tuner in the chain - taking up a valuable slot! Since the beginning, the engineers at BOSS have been committed to achieving the finest guitar tones using any technology necessary, from old-school analogue circuits to high-tech DSP. Continuing this enthusiastic spirit, we are pleased to introduce the new Waza Craft series. In Japan, “Waza” is the term for art and technique, and these special edition pedals proudly carry the Waza symbol to represent the pinnacle of BOSS design and craftsmanship. With final sound approval carried out by BOSS in Japan, the Waza Craft series brings you exceptional tone and touch response through carefully-selected analogue components, refined circuitry, and meticulous attention to detail.

The Boss BD-2 was originally released in 1995 as a response to the growing blues revival headed by artists such as Eric Clapton and Gary Moore. Boss realised that people were starting to look for the classic tube driven sounds of '50s and '60s valve amplifiers which could not be faithfully replicated with the more modern solid state amplifiers of the '70s and '80s and the BD-2 was born. The pedal has been in production since it's release and it's circuitry remains unchanged. In this article, we are going to highlight both the original Blues Driver BOSS units and the various mods, clones and evolutions, and also some similar-sounding drives based on a similar FET circuit. ORIGINAL BOSS BLUES DRIVER PEDALS I love the two brand new ones - where otherwise my long-term favourites are the BD-2W, DC-2W and MT-2W - or a little bit of everything really. I will do a follow-up article as mentioned - where I speculate on the next most likely Waza editions - besides the likely FZ-2W - there is still a lot of demand for those classic analog modulations so we may well see a BF-2W to PH-2W possibly at some stage. The BD-2 Blues Driver simulates the sound of a vintage tube amplifier, giving you instant access to timeless tones. It also responds to your playing dynamics, so you can pull out a range of tones to give each note the perfect flavour and feel. All in all, you'll love the warm overdrive and emotive distortion the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver adds to your rig.