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DF-2

  • Features:
  • Sound Quality:
  • Reliability/Durability:
  • Ease of Use:
  • Customer Support:
  • Overall Rating:
  • Brand:
    Boss
  • Model:
    DF-2
Tags: brand#boss tax#aqb

Reviews

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PERFECT! : )

Review By:
Smart Patrol
Smart Patrol on 10/7/10 3:08 PM
Reviewer Background:
Amateur, but this pedal helped me to be a better player.
Purchased From:
I bought a HM-2 and I made a direct trade for a DF-2
Price:
$100.00 USD USED
Features:

The first 3 knobs do the same as in DS-1. The fourth knob is for controlling the feedback tone.

The feedback even allowed to keep on playing while I stayed with my foot holding it.

I wish I had stayed with it for a longer period. I think I didn´t even scratch the whole surface... : /

Sound Quality:

I used a Les Paul guitar with a fair Brazilian made amp, also with a BF-2 flanger from Boss and a Digital Sampler Delay from Digitech. DF-2 showed its value when I first played with it. It replaced the metallic sounding HM-2 I had prior to it. I needed a pedal that I could use for mild and classic/hard-rock tones. Since the Feedbacker had more treble, I realized I made the best trade possible, and the other guy took the HM-2 happily.

The pedal had a very pro tone, to be proud of. In addition, it was surprisingly quiet for a distortion pedal. Every experiment, a new pleasant surprise. The feedback feature was very good, although by that time I used it almost just for intros. Awesome all the way.

Reliability/Durability:

I could depend on it even for saving my life. As usually in Boss pedals, that thing was a Tank. If I were holding it in a chest pocket, and it got a random shot, it would not only spare me from death, but would also be working. It could be just one more Urban Legend about the sturdiness of Boss stompboxes.

This thing didn't need a backup. The backup would only be, maybe, for the power supply.

Ease of Use:

Although it was only the 2nd pedal I had, I found it very easy to use, much easier than the Heavy Metal. It covered many more styles, from Blues to Metal

Give it a pick, a chord or even a harmonic and step it to bottom and hold. The "feedback" will last as long as you want to. When you release it you don't change it to clean, so you will have to step it again to turn it off. It was a really Perfect Pedal.

Customer Support:

Had no time to test the guys at Roland Brazil. : /

Overall Rating:

20 years ago I was a beginning guitar player who had a great rig. But I was forced to give up of DF-2 and its companions.

During all these years I only had some vocal performances and practiced some acoustic guitar and sometimes played some other people's guitars in rehearsals, studio and jam sessions.

Now, I'm trying a comeback, but only as an occasional and strictly amateur and fun guitar player. Meanwhile I have a Behringer's Ultra Distortion (not as bad as people say), a Brazilian Onerr Nytrogen HF-1 flanger (which sometimes reminds me of my beloved BF-2) and a rack-mounted Digital Delay. My guitar is an Eagle strato, with Ibanez S3 pickups and an Orange Crush 15r amp.

That are only 2 reasons I wouldn't try getting another one: First, since DF-2 has been discontinued, people here insist on selling those MIJ pedals for ridiculous and absurd prices for very used and abused units. This, in an country where ANY music instrument is much more expensive than virtually anywhere else in the world.

The second reason is DF-2 has some very interesting replacements among Boss family. I could enlist Ds-1 (for its price), Ds-2 (the 2-mode distortion, which UD-100 is cloned from), and OS-2, which has knob that makes an overdrive/distortion gradual mix.

Overall, DF-2 is one those products I still try to understand why it has been discontinued. Although I wouldn't care too much about feedback nowadays, it was perfect in features. A Perfect 10.

0 Comments Tags: brand#boss tax#aqb

DF-2

Review By:
JT-QOqIq
JT-QOqIq on 9/10/09 1:00 AM
Reviewer Background:
Purchased From:
Some pawn shop in the USA
Price:
Features:
Sound Quality:
I have used this pedal for many years as my primary distortion (tried many others, but always came back to this one). I play mainly single coil guitars ('78 Tele, '79 Strat, Ric 620), but also a rather new Gibson SG special. Amps used over the years have included a Roland JC120 and JC77, Fender Twin, Vox AC15, and various practice combos. The DF-2's distortion works well with both types of pickups as there is ample tone range in the box, let alone tweaking your guitar/amp knobs. It is a fairly trebly distortion, which I tend to like, but I do notice that it lacks a bit of bottom end. I Inquired about modding this from a well known source - "We improve the bass response and help the ice pick highs tame down a bit. We change the clipping as well for a more crunch type feel that is very nice." Fair enough, but my answer was this: "I like CRUNCH. To go with the ice picks, you know?" My DF-2 is a black label Made in Japan, and for now I'm going to keep it original. BTW, don't let people fool you into thinking that the originally named "Super Distortion & Feedbacker pedal is any different - it is exactly the same, as long as it is a Japan made, black label version. The original name makes more sense though.
Reliability/Durability:
Bought mine in a pawn shop so many years ago it's silly. So it was a used pedal already and still works perfectly, and hardly any scratches. Tip: mount your pedals on a pedalboard -even if it's home-made. Don't chuck them into a bag between the rehearsal space and the gig.
Ease of Use:
As a distortion pedal, it's fairly easy to use. Three knobs to control "Level", "Tone", and the amount of "Dist". Within these parameters most players should find at least a couple of sounds to their liking. I can understand those whom might find the Feedbacker option somewhat of a novelty or enigma - it is not easy to use effectively or consistently. The fourth knob, "Overtone", controls the frequency of the added signal. To me this is best set at around 12 o'clock or higher.
Customer Support:
Most of my pedals were either bought second hand or given/traded to me by friends. Never needed to contact them.
Overall Rating:
I play mostly my own music, which colleagues and friends have compared with the likes of Durutti Collumn, Interpol, Muse, U2, The Beatles and Joy Division. I will humbly admit that they are all interesting influences, but I've never been arsed to learn how to play any one of their songs. I'd rather make something new, and the Boss DF-2, as old as it is, is still a unique weapon in my sound arsenal. If lost or stolen, I would have to replace it whatever the cost. I also inquired about modding the Feedbaker function to add a soft cutoff, but was told that the box is so packed with circuits that it would be difficult if not impossible.
0 Comments Tags: brand#boss tax#aqb

DF-2

Review By:
goodgrinder
goodgrinder on 7/31/09 1:00 AM
Reviewer Background:
Purchased From:
Music-Go-Round in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Price:
$100.00 USD
Features:
Sound Quality:
Only a 9 because the feedbacker is kinda gay.
Reliability/Durability:
It's a Boss. It's dependable. You can bet your lifesavers on that.
Ease of Use:
This pedal's distorion is very rich and smooth sounding. Unlike some of the DS-1's that I have used. When I tested this pedal in the music store, I used it in the effects loop of a JCM800 2210 head. I was attempting to see how well it would perform as a solo boost. It boosted the volume at about 9 o'clock on the level control just perfectly. It did not color the sound one single bit. Very JCM800 sounding. Into a solid state amp this pedal still sounded great. Just like some of the previous posts, this pedal is a great sounding distortion pedal. Not grainy and transistor sounding at all. Even though it is solid state. Easy to use. Adjust the level of distortion you prefer, adjust the tome control(I leave mine at 12 o'clock) and balance the level control to your liking. The feedbacker doesn't work quit like an amp feeding back with harmonics. You just set the overtone knob for the desired harmonic for feedback and play a note. Then step on the pedal and hold it down to achieve the feedback. With the knob all the way to the left it just matches the input signal. As you turn the knob to the right the frequency of the feedback tone changes. But not in predictable increments. I will probably not use the feedback feature at all. The distortion is the best thing about this pedal. Mine is a black label Made in Japan model. It also says Super Distorion & Feedbacker on the front. I read on BossArea.com that there is a 2nd version of this pedal that says Super Feedbacker and Distortion. I haven't compared the 2. I am interested in AB'ing them to see if there is much of a difference.
Customer Support:
N/A
Overall Rating:
I've been playing for over 20 years. I have played tons of distortion pedals over the years. Some of them I've owned and 0thers I tried in stores. This is probably in the top 5 of my all time favorite distortion pedals. If it was lost or stolen I would be upset. These pedals are kinda rare and I plan on making this pedal part of my "sound".
0 Comments Tags: brand#boss tax#aqb

DF-2

Review By:
Jon B-PmMVv
Jon B-PmMVv on 5/12/09 1:00 AM
Reviewer Background:
Purchased From:
Second Hand
Price:
Features:
Sound Quality:
This was the real reason I wanted to write this review. This pedal is supposedly about its party piece - the feedback on tap when you hold the footswitch down. I heard before I bought one that it sounds like an ebow. It doesn't! It sounds very synthetic and fake (cos it is!) What I really wanted to talk about is the distortion. Wow, talk about JCM800 in a box. The distortion circuit is based on the DS1. But this is no DS1. Mine is a japanese model (Im no purist but I've heard that will make a difference) and it wipes the floor with every DS1 I've heard (included the modded ones). It simply is phenomenal. You can dial in A LOT of treble, but I like a darker tone so I go bass heavy. Its also the perfect gain stage between my Bad Monkey and my Big Muff (both good pedals). Only down side is the level control. It has to be at about 2 o'clock before its at unity volume. Im sure this could easily be modded but I don't want to mess with something this good. Love it!
Reliability/Durability:
Well its my first Boss. I own examples of most other effect types (digitech, ehx, mxr, line 6, marshall, dod, behringer...). All have survived because I take care of them. Boss are renown for their sturdyness so I can't imagine this will be any different. Little worried about the internal footswitch as its plastic! But for some context though, I bought this off an old rocker who got it in the early 90's and seemed to have really put it to work (hefty paint chips). So its survived about 15 years already - with some care it will go another 10 years no problem
Ease of Use:
Pretty simple operation. Regular 3 knob distortion (level, tone, gain) and then the overtone knob for the level of the feedback. Simple on and off switch. Hold it down to get the feedback. As others have mentioned it gets tricky when trying to turn this baby off straight after using the feedback so that takes some practice. 8 because it also takes some tweaking to get the right feedback sound
Customer Support:
Never dealt with them about repairs but been on their website loads and they seem really helpful.
Overall Rating:
If you're expecting this pedal's party piece to be the main thing here, forget it. Its fun but I don't use the feedback anywhere near as much as I thought I would. On the other hand the distortion is fantastic and I can't be happier with it. I was vaguely considering buying an MI Audio crunchbox before this. Now, I can forget it. One of my favourite pedals by far.
0 Comments Tags: brand#boss tax#aqb

DF-2

Review By:
Khawaja Jodat
Khawaja Jodat on 7/14/08 1:00 AM
Reviewer Background:
Purchased From:
England.
Price:
Features:
Sound Quality:
The quality of distortion is similar with Boss DS-1 which is great for smooth and rich distortion sound. The unique feature is the Overtone knob which gives you a different pitch to your feedback sound when the DF-2 pedal is pressed continously and quickly. The feedback feature & sound is impressive but it is not fully identical to the original feedback sound from a overdriven amp but still it is fun to play with the Distortion with Feedbacker pedal. This pedal has been discountinued and if you are interested to buy then you have to look around to second hand shops. The feedback effect is not weak and can be heard easily. However I perfer to set the Overtone knob beyond netural setting due to more prominent feedback sound. With the use of this pedal one has to take care to only pick a single note correctly to get tuned feedback sound otherwise it will sound blurred. It does not sound feedback properly by playing two notes at the same time and same is the case with chords. I think the feedback sound should have been a little more bright and it seems a little muddy.
Reliability/Durability:
No problem with this pedal for the last 23 years but its knobs do make scratchy sound and here I must say that Boss should do something to recfity this problem from all their pedals. I have got a couple of old Ibanez pedals from their 9 series which are more than 25 years old and there is no noise whatsoever from their knobs.
Ease of Use:
The operation is very simple with four knobs Volume, Tone, Distortion & Overtone. I bought it brand new probably in 1985 from England.
Customer Support:
Never had a chance to deal with Boss.
Overall Rating:
Overall this is an excellent pedal and a great collection for any guitarist. I have got lot of Boss pedals and couple from Ibanez, MXR, Zoom, Danelectro. If this pedal is stolen I would become upset but would not try to buy it again because I do not use its feedback effect as often as I used to be. My favorite feature is the smooth & rich distortion which I get from this pedal. I choose this pedal about 23 years ago because it was a new pedal from Boss and I was trying to explore something new out of my guitar. As I said earlier that I only wish that it should have a more bright feedback sound.
0 Comments Tags: brand#boss tax#aqb
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