Boss HM-2 Appreciation thread

[backwardsvoyager]

My HM-2 must be ugly as shit then - it's like new and in the box. Seems that I have to start kicking it around and throw it down the stairway for aesthetics' sake!

Nothing wrong with a clean Boss pedal either! I'm just partial to things that look a little rough.

when the nuclear holocaust comes and everything turns to dust all we'll have left is boss pedals and old peavey amps, it's less an aesthetic thing and more a sign of respect for a pedal that has proven its durability i think.

[tashiattack]

My HM-2 must be ugly as shit then - it's like new and in the box. Seems that I have to start kicking it around and throw it down the stairway for aesthetics' sake!

Nothing wrong with a clean Boss pedal either! I'm just partial to things that look a little rough.

when the nuclear holocaust comes and everything turns to dust all we'll have left is boss pedals and old peavey amps, it's less an aesthetic thing and more a sign of respect for a pedal that has proven its durability i think.

If boss and peavy is all we're left with, I'm okay with it.

[WeHuntKings]

I've had an hm2 4 separate times. I loved it every time, but I could never really get it to do what I wanted. I think if I had one now, I'd just let it take me for a ride instead...

[rfurtkamp]

The thing that pushed my HM2 off the board a second time (after I replaced the first one with an original run Dano Fab Tone when they were new) was the Boss GL-100, which is a rackmount on crack that does the HM-2 with para EQ and even more available gain. It goes beyond buzzsaw into crackle.

It into a Lexicon Vortex and Midiverb II: instant return to my 90s evil.

[Bon Hoga]

I use it as a low gain bass OD. Love it.

[Pepe]

Boss GL-100, which is a rackmount on crack that does the HM-2 with para EQ

Blasphemy! The HM-2's EQ with the 100Hz and 1kHz frequency bands is just perfect for me!

I use it as a low gain bass OD. Love it.

Yeah, the HM-2 is great with bass as well!

[greeny23]

so i recently discovered the magic of using a Boss PQ-4 behind a HM-2 and it's fucking amazing. gives you full control over the mids and makes it super super cool.

[gaussgunn]

will be soon in that club 8)

[Gone Fission]

MIT here. Gain low bass up does fun early 90s stuff.

[WeHuntKings]

I'm really interested in trying out the abominable electronics throne torcher. That mid knob gives you some cool options.

[odontophobia]

I'm really interested in trying out the abominable electronics throne torcher. That mid knob gives you some cool options.

Yeah. So many times I've been tempted to pull the trigger on that one.

[gordian knot]

Maybe someone else can explain the technical details but it seems like there's an out of phase sound that makes it sound like "3Dish" on some EQ combinations. I like that.

it can be a little hard to map what someone is aesthetically describing to the technical specifics. But my firs thought is that you might be hearing (at least in part) is the crossover distortion (there are a couple of diodes in there laid head to tail right in the main signal path that get their forward bias from the signal itself...ie no DC bias offset voltage)
The thing about crossover distortion is that it's not clipping the top off the signal so it doesn't really have that same "compression" effect that max-level clipping has -- IOW the signal above the crossover threshold can naturally "float" and you hear a change in character as the signal goes through it's dynamics [sort of the "ratio" of the crossover distortion to the above-crossover signal varying over time]

The H2SO4 was a gem as far as that went. but good luck finding those.

But my guess is that's the phasey thing you are hearing, at least in part

[rfurtkamp]

Boss GL-100, which is a rackmount on crack that does the HM-2 with para EQ

Blasphemy! The HM-2's EQ with the 100Hz and 1kHz frequency bands is just perfect for me!

Well, you can dial in that very same thing, with more boost on bands available.

It's a HM-2 with headroom *and* options, some of which put the chainsaw in it in splatty ways that nothing else I have does.

The second channel on the unit will do baseline rock stuff (or be a damn functional clean preamp, I love it for general sculpting and the I/O options - it's the master brain of the signal split from hell that is my three amp setup.

[IG88]

Boss GL-100>HM2

[grindonomicon]

I've had an hm2 4 separate times. I loved it every time, but I could never really get it to do what I wanted. I think if I had one now, I'd just let it take me for a ride instead...

Maxxed out swedish chainsaw style, it's a fun ride.

I'd like to try the Abominable one, or more the Dunwich... In a custom etched box.

The rackmount or a lucky Arion Metal Master is more my budget.