Review quickie: BOSS DC-2w

BOSS' DC-2w has an interesting history. It began as a feature in Roland's rackmount unit, SDD 320 aka the Dimension D & this was way back in the early  1980s. Come 1985, some of the SDD 320 features were manifested as an effects pedal, the DC-2 aka Dimension C. This didn't last long, the DC-2 was laid to rest before the '90s. About three decades later, the DC-2 was resurrected as the DC-2w, the difference here being that extra option to re-live the SDD 320 goodness via a switch option. 

Likes

• clarity
• ease of use
• works well clean & driven

Dislikes

• battery eater
• lacks editing features
• price

This is a tricky pedal to define; it's a chorus unit but not labelled as one. For this appraisal's sake, I'd refer to it as a chorus. Comprehensively, the DC 2w, to me, is a modulation pedal steep in its chorus function with hints of flanging & reverb in the mix. It's not readily audible unless you plug in a pair of headphones like I did. With this in mind, your clean tones will benefit the most but certain driven settings still sound good & won't get lost in the typical chorus slush. On that note, the DC 2w won't be good friends with the metalheads or anyone favouring intense distortion. Also, if you wish to tweak your settings to suit the music you peddle, that won't be possible as no editing features exist here; you either embrace the presets on board or move on with other chorus pedals. Nirvana's Come as You Are is impossible to mimic with this one. However, if you want an impressive clean tone that is rich in clarity, chorus-inclined but not entirely chorus laden, then all the on board settings will appease you. Yes, you can activate the presets in combo / various permutations. Do invest in a power adapter if you decide to embrace this one because it's a battery eater - normal dry cell will last you about 20min, alkaline will get you by longer but it won't reach the hour mark. Also, at this price, some of us would be happier with the regular chorus pedals out there.

Final rating: 75%

BOSS: Dimension C (DC 2w)

List: $299

Availability: Swee Lee Co.

Pic: MR

BOSSes (2)

So the new BOSS pedals are DS-1s. Predictably, one is the WAZA incarnation but what's the other?

The other DS-1 is the Malaysian version which I bought to prove myself right. I had a casual conversation last year with a certain someone who said the Malaysian version had a slight tonal difference. I disagreed because when I tested it in the store, there were no differences to be heard; the reason I didn't buy one then. So this purchase was to enable me to test the pedal out with my gear at home to maybe discover that difference but again, I hear no differences between the Malaysian & the Taiwanese. So, there.

Orange WAZA

Fresh off the press - BOSS announced the WAZA version of it's fabled DS-1. In its C mode, the pedal manifests a volume boost & fatter midrange. I have to hear this in person, I am currently happy with the standard version. Some 'fat' boost tweak (on any pedal) might just be distasteful & missing the mark. Hope to hear good stuff from this one as soon as it gets here, of course. We all want one, we don't need one, yes?

Pic: BOSS

Heavy does it

If you happened to be browsing Swee Lee's online store on Thursday (30/9), you would have seen this pedal updated at their online store. Do I need another distortion pedal? Heck, no. But I went on to purchase this anyway.

On that same day, after dinner, which was just a 2hr difference from the last time I checked the pedal out, it was already sold out / unavailable. Why did I do a re-visit? To check if the HM-2W costs more than the MT-2W (Metal Zone). There is a $50 difference.

Today, during coffee break, it arrived at the premises. Have yet to plug it in.

Pics: Swee Lee

Tone Bending

This happened last weekend; BOSS released the Waza Craft Tone Bender pedal in collaboration with Sola Sound. In guitardom, the TB is a celebrated fuzz pedal in similar reverence to the Big Muff & Fuzz Face.

Compared to the original TB, the Waza version is virtually half the size & will attract interest from the pedal geeks in view of its space-saving dimensions. It also features voltage variation to alter tone & of course, a germanium transistor for all your preferred fuzziness. Note the original label font & colour / texture were brought over to the Waza incarnation for that much needed nostalgia. 

I'm not much of a fuzz fan. I'm just not into its lack of clarity especially for muted notes but I know fuzz units are preferred for some sonic applications. I will be checking this out nevertheless. If you are interested, be informed that only 3,000 units are manufactured for worldwide distribution.

Pics: Boss

Heavy resurrection

 

Folks, the other anticipation at the close of 2020 is the HM-2 pedal. What's the big deal, you ask? This was the pedal that single-handedly gave birth to the so called Swedish Death Metal tone. It's also noted that David Gilmour had one in his pedal board once upon a time so there's more to the HM-2 than being an exclusive slave to heavy music. 

However, the HM-2 would be released as a Waza Craft model. It means paying a little more than what it should list for without the WC extras. This is currently dividing the HM-2 camp into the purist vs revisionist movements. BOSS did a clever thing by asking fans to contribute to the design features of the pedal so the final manifestation has some user ownership rather than dictating the revised features per se. 

I would hear what the new HM-2 has to offer before committing to purchase. If there's any dissent for a good, angry distortion pedal, it would be a lack of midrange. 

Re-zoning

I used to own the non-Waza version of the Metal Zone (MT-2) during my early days of playing. It used to be my understanding of the most worthy metal type distortion out there. It delivers crushing riffs, heavy, doom-laden fills & searing solos- it was everything an angry guitar person would need without paying too much. In context, back then, the pedal market here offered very limited range of distortion pedal. BOSS & DOD were the staple, everything else was unheard of. Also, the amplifier market did not quite move beyond Peavey & Fender. Marshall was still in its Valvestate days & those were hits/ misses. 

Along the way, I began to incline towards the amp drive & pedal drive became a last resort. I can't stand how pedals turn distasteful once you bring the level up. It requires a setting recalibration of  other units in the chain as well. My pedal set up was bare minimum; a drive unit acting as a booster mostly & a tuner. That's it. The MT-2 was sold off to a friend (Zahid, are you reading this?) & it wasn't missed.

Come 2018, I'm pretty much still amp inclined but BOSS re-interpreted the MT-2 to become a Waza offering & it was worth checking out. The Waza treatment gave the pedal a modded voicing so players could choose between the traditional signals & the beefed up Waza mode. I do not wish to re-iterate how the MT-2 sounds like. It's a safe bet that many of us here have come across the MT-2 once & ended up as proud owners. The strength of the MT-2 in my opinion is its dual midrange control. Ironically, many players notch this down to zero for that mid-scooped voicing which always fail in a band setting, relegating the guitar tone to trace level signals, leaving the drummer in much limelight. The MT-2W offers a beefed up midrange, first & foremost. This means that players are more inclined to have midrange in their EQ considerations & not wiping it out entirely. There's a tad more poke here too so overall clarity is good, nothing muds out at higher level settings. Through my set up, I was more into making the treble end useful rather than messing with a tight/ loose bottom end & a useful midrange inclusion. 

The MT-2W is a keeper in the mean time. I'm using it in its Waza mode rather than the original circuitry but more importantly, it's not a reason for me to give up my amps. The pedal domain is still secondary to me, amps come first.

Return to the destruction zone

My BOSS re-visit continues. I told myself I would never go back to the MT-2 unless a re-interpretation takes place. Now that it really had taken place, I don't mind getting one. More details soon. I might have gotten the last piece because there's no more. 

Waza Zone

The Waza Craft version of any standard BOSS model is the manufacturer's take on going boutique. So the latest 2 pedals to be WAZA-ed this time are the Metal Zone & Dimension C. The DC-2, when it was still in active production, had quite a following for being rather futuristic. The MT-2 is the manufacturer's proverbial intense distortion unit which currently has a dichotomised following. Regardless of the situation, I'm keen to try them when they are available here. Soon. I hope.

Waza chorus

I'm not a chorus fan, but had been reading some positive feedback on this new BOSS chorus debuting  at Summer NAMM 2016. It's made in Japan unlike its other Waza siblings so here's how it will serve you:

Boss: Waza pedals

This Summer, the good people at Roland are not sitting still & letting others steal the limelight. I'm saying this because for every NAMM event, what was the last intriguing product you can recall offered by the manufacturer? Still scratching your head? Leave that be, then. The BOSS Waza Craft pedals are the company's Summer offering for all ye effects dweebs. You've seen these pedals before- that's for sure. The added goodness here is that they've been tweaked by the manufacturers themselves offering you 2 usable modes: Standard (S) & Custom (C). So if you still love the traditional tones, stick to the Standard mode, if you wish for some kick, engage the Custom channel. Neat?