BD-2

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Revision as of 00:53, 10 May 2018 by Zander (talk | contribs) (Phase Inversion:No)
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Boss BD-2 Blues Driver. While there is a complaint that some have regarding the pedal being treble-heavy, this is otherwise a well-respected overdrive pedal that can also veer into distortion tones when the highest levels of gain are dialed in.

Controls

Boss BD2 front.png
  • Knob 1: "Level": Pedal volume. Turn the knob fully counter-clockwise to turn down volume.
  • Knob 2: "Tone": Fully clockwise is maximum treble frequencies in the tone. As knob is turned counter-clockwise those frequencies are filtered out.
  • Knob 3: "Gain": Sets the level of overdrive/distortion of the pedal. Turning the knob clockwise increases the amount of overdrive/distortion.
  • Footswitch 1: "On/Off": Toggles the pedal on or off.

While characterized as a good-sounding overdrive/distortion, the Blues Driver is also known for being "ice-picky" in the tone department, with a preponderance of treble frequencies. Most players end up having to turn down the tone knob in order to roll off those treble frequencies.

Bypass:Buffered

All Boss pedals are buffered. The BD-2 is not an exception.

General Information

Having been created and released in 1995, the BD-2 Blues Driver is an overdrive/distortion pedal that is a late-comer to the Boss line-up of largely well-respected overdrive pedals.

In the middle of 2017, Boss appears to have changed the PCB that hosts the BD-2 circuit. Inside the updated BD-2 is a far smaller PCB indicating that the manufacture of the Blues Driver has gone to fully-SMD based fabrication.

There are modifications of the BD-2 that can change the tonal character of the pedal. Most specifically, we have bought a Monte Allums modification (linked below) for the BD-2. We have purchased the modification and are applying it to our own BD-2 in order to tame the "ice-pickyness" and deliver a smoother sounding overdrive. If you are intending to modify your Blues Driver, you're going to have to make sure you have a pre-2017 pedal so that the electronics are can be modified.

Pedal Manual

Phase Inversion:No

Our analysis suggests that this pedal does not invert phase.

Schematic ID Electronic Part Action Phase State
Q1 2SK184 Does Not Invert Not Inverted
Q2 2SK184 Does Not Invert (switch) Not Inverted
Q3 2SK184 Inverts Inverted
Q4 2SK184 Inverts Not Inverted
Q5 2SA1335 Does Not Invert Not Inverted
Q6 2SK184 Inverts Inverted
Q7 2SK184 Inverts Not Inverted
Q8 2SA1335 Does Not Invert Not Inverted
IC1a M5218 Does Not Invert Not Inverted
Q9 2SC2459 Does Not Invert Not Inverted
Q10 2SK184 Does Not Invert (switch) Not Inverted
Q11 2SK184 Does Not Invert (switch) Not Inverted
Q12 2SC2459 Does Not Invert (switch & buffer) Not Inverted
Q13 2SC2459 Does Not Invert (switch & buffer) Not Inverted
Q14 2SC2459 Does Not Invert (switch & buffer) Not Inverted
Q14 2SC2459 Does Not Invert Not Inverted

We may also end up changing out the IC that many consider cheap and substandard. We're thinking about replacing the stock M5218 for an OPA1642 for a better noise floor. However, it is also the case that the BD-2 is actually a pretty good sounding pedal in its own right and it may be the "cheapness" of the M5218 that provides the necessary character for the BD-2. We'll have to experiment and see.

Those items listed as "switch" or "switch and buffer" have to do with the footswitch toggling the pedal on and off and are somewhat irrelevant to the overdrive effect and tone. Of course, they could operate as a "tone suck" but this pedal hasn't gotten much blame for that.

Given the numerous amplification stages inside the BD-2 and given that the M5218 is but one of those stages, it's entirely possible that replacement would result in no discernable improvement.

Schematic

Assumed Public Domain, unaware of any Copyright claims.

Artists

  • Billie Joe Armstrong
  • Randy Bachman
  • Andy Timmons

Additional Sources