BOSS BC-2 Combo Drive (Impressions/Opinions)



Moderator: Ghost Hip

Re: BOSS BC-2 Combo Drive (Impressions/Opinions)

Postby StormJH1 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 11:21 am

greigoroth wrote:Storm, if you're still interested in ILF, just hang around for a while - you'll start to get the tone of the place here. People are chill, even when they come across as harsh. The internet is a funny place. I've said this in one of your other posts, and ILF is cliquey about what pedals get a lot of love here, but that's the case at any forum, and when you have a look at the hosted forums here it kinda makes sense. TGP has its holier than thou pedals, as does HCFX and probably plenty of other places. It's the nature of the beast that a new Fuzzhugger is going to get way more excitement than a similar product from... well... pretty much anyone. But again, a lot of the builders are really active here and people develop real (or as real as you get on the netz) relationships to the builders. I loves me some Boss, I've got two on my gigging board at the moment and they're probably not moving any time soon, and two on the home board, but I have zero relationship to Boss. I buy their stuff from whoever, I use it, Boss never hears from me, I don't influence the design process, they don't care if I want to influence the design process, the art is pretty well secondary to the functionality etc etc. Compare to my Dr Scientist Elements, where I know Ryan's wife designed the aesthetics of the enclosure, I got a birthday discount, the pedal is signed inside, Ryan (the Doctor of Doctor Scientist) knows me by name, I followed the thread where Ryan discussed the features people wanted in a distortion etc etc etc. This isn't unusual, it's how the builders roll here, and it does engender a certain rabidity to one's pedal nerding.

ILF = good people for the most part. There's plenty of Boss love around here - check out how many people have BF-2s on their boards in the "Show us your pedalboard" thread - you've just gotta find the "right" way to talk about Boss or other large scale manufacturers (or even non-ILF manufacturers, like Wampler), knowing the audience who's reading your posts.

For my part I hope ya stick around, this place is good fun and you'll get the hang of it.


I appreciate that. I didn't say I was leaving the board - I would still would read what other people had to say even if I didn't post. But like I said: (a) I'm not a universal "lover of BOSS", that's just not a fair characterization of me at all; and (b) It was the fact of being told what I should and shouldn't post about that had me annoyed, not the fact that people might have thought the BC-2 was a bad pedal. If everyone hated the pedal, that would actually be useful information to me. I think the internet is about acquiring information in ways that are not possible without it. I was just on the Telecaster forum and somebody there bought a DS-1, and then asked if it was a good pedal. Dumb question? Maybe, but he was honestly looking for input, so I helped him out.

Anyway, I was doing some research on the Catalinbread Galileo, which is definitely a "sexy" looking concept, and got a lot of hype several months back. But as you read more and more about it, people who actually used the thing had a lot of complaints about the tone, and particularly the "top boost" mode. Here was a pedal that seemed to seemed to be too good to be true (combination of CB30 and Naga Viper, with additional gain. If I could be reasonably certain that a pedal like that is a "sure thing", I would consider spending $199 for it. But my research leads me to believe otherwise.

Image

So, for now, the Combo Drive is still my "Vox in a Box" of choice. I'd love to try out a "Top Boost in a Can" someday, but guitar stores don't carry the things, so that's a big risk.
StormJH1

interested
interested
 
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2012 4:52 pm

Re: BOSS BC-2 Combo Drive (Impressions/Opinions)

Postby Chankgeez » Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:15 pm

StormJH1 wrote:... I'm not a universal "lover of BOSS", that's just not a fair characterization of me at all...


I don't believe anyone was seriously suggesting this. You just came across as being a slightly evangelical fan.

StormJH1 wrote:... I'd love to try out a "Top Boost in a Can" someday, but guitar stores don't carry the things, so that's a big risk.


Not really. I'm with you on the "try before you buy", but there're plenty of dealers with generous return policies. It's not that much of a risk, it's more of a hassle.
psychic vampire. wrote:The important take away from this thread: Taoism and Ring Modulators go together?
…...........................…
Sweet dealin's: here
"Now, of course, Strega is not a Minimoog… and I am not Sun Ra" - dude from MAKENOISE
#GreenRinger
Chankgeez

User avatar
IAMILFFAMOUS
IAMILFFAMOUS
 
Posts: 41881
Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2011 1:40 am
Location: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGhbeHujNZQ youtube.com/watch?v=V-2l7kkBURc

Re: BOSS BC-2 Combo Drive (Impressions/Opinions)

Postby goroth » Sat Oct 27, 2012 2:49 am

Prymaxe = the shit.
ALLisNOISE wrote:you can dial in some wonderfully smeared 12bit cascades of cicadas leveling a hail of rockets against an army of rusty box fans!

Latest album out on all streaming services and bandcamp and what not.
Spotify /// Apple Music
My band /// Instagram ///Bandcamp ///
goroth

User avatar
HERO
HERO
 
Posts: 13478
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2012 3:50 am
Location: Eurothrash: Frozen northern outpost.

Re: BOSS BC-2 Combo Drive (Impressions/Opinions)

Postby ryan summit » Sat Oct 27, 2012 12:15 pm

i kinda feel bad you got the impression anyones biased here
solely on what brand you got on your board
what ive found is that alot of bigger pedal companys
have started crankin out there shit in bulk using shittier components
and to hell with the subtle awesomeness that made them so good in the first place
its made people want older models that were made well
or mod newer ones to get them sounding good
now the other option is a small builder whos doin it right from scratch
without the hassle
im sorry if anything that i said sounded elitest
a year ago i was trying to decide between a tubescreamer and a zack wylde ocd
my addiction started with a used devi ever electric brown i got for $70 on ilf b/s/t
watchin devi demo everyone of the pedals she builds
made it feel less like buyin a new air filter for my truck
that may or may not increase performance depending on which review you read
the builder was right there,impressed as fuck with her new creation
i go on that boss site
with that thing where you choose between blues and rock clips
and its somewhat of a bummer
even those ehx peter stroud demos feel kinda lame
im pontificating again
storm,dont go
i got a boss sticker on the mirror in my bedroom
and whatever negative impression you,or anyone else got
is the opposite that i got when i first posted here
i gotta know what that combidrive sounds like now
if this thread doesnt end with your review of it
something went terribly wrong somewhere
ryan summit

User avatar
Supporter
Supporter
 
Posts: 6194
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:11 am
Location: charlton hestons cold dead hands,exit 21,NY

Re: BOSS BC-2 Combo Drive (Impressions/Opinions)

Postby Zander » Sun Oct 28, 2012 3:59 am

Chankgeez wrote:Sometimes "cheap" comes with "baggage". Sometimes "boutique" does too. I'd rather support human beings than large corporations though.

Someone, apparently much smarter than me, who is so much smarter than me he's running for President said, "corporations are people too, my friend."

If he said it, it's got to be true.
Her: "Why do you need to build 'some more' amps?"
Me: "Because that will make me happy. That's important for you, right? For me to be happy?"
Zander

User avatar
committed
committed
 
Posts: 129
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 8:31 pm
Location: Long Beach, CA

Re: BOSS BC-2 Combo Drive (Impressions/Opinions)

Postby Communarchy » Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:13 pm

Now, back on topic, I played this thing yesterday, I own an AC30 and have owned an AC Booster. This thing SLAYS the AC Booster on my JCM800. Kills it. The clean setting is pristine, chimey, and beautiful. Has more output than the AC too. The gain range from about 7-11 o clock is awesome, 90% nails a Vox.

Past that the gain range is sort of "unique." It kind of artificially introduces the mid-resonance peak that the Brian May lead tone is known for around 1-2 o clock. It's interesting, but kind of gimmicky, sounds best when stacked before something else with a better tonality. The thing is, that "Brian May" lead sound is not from the AC30, it's that he wired his HB pickups in parallel and rolled the tone knob back, making that distinct vowelly mid bump and then boosted that with a treble booster. You can get that with any high gain pedal/amp and parallel wired HBs; it's not exclusive to the Vox sound, so it's kind of silly to have it included in this pedal, but whatever, it's different at least.

The high gain end kind of sucks (2:00 to Max) as noted earlier in this thread, it doesn't sound natural and, in theory, it isn't; no AC30, no matter how hard you push it, will get the gain that this pedal does. So between 7 and noon is where this guy shines. The EQ controls are not over the top either, very tasteful and easy to dial in exactly what you want. My only other complaint (and this is only really because I own an AC30) is that it doesn't have the softer compression and sag you get from the tube rectifier in the 30, and I like that. Some people don't, so take that for what it's worth. I'm picking one up, and probably putting it clean, first after compression, and making it my new clean tone on my 800. It's just that good.
Communarchy

User avatar
committed
committed
 
Posts: 492
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:41 pm

Previous

Return to General Gear



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests


Sponsored Ad. (Please no inflated/repetitive clicking. Thanks!)



ilovefuzz.com is not responsible for user-submitted content. Users participate at their own discretion and risk.