The "sound" of this pedal is really open to interpretation and usage. The HM-2 is known as the Sunight Sound (Entombed's early albums, think buzzsaw/chainsaw crunch). It can get a sleazy, mud rich, mid rich sound and a pretty cool stack in a box type distortion as well. This thing sounds as dirty as it battle scarred (mine's at least 18 years old at the time of writing). But not dirty in a bad way.
However, the reason I write is because of the magic the HM-2 performs on a bass running into a tube amp. I currently run a Schecter Studio 5-string into a Peavey VB-2 driving a 410 no-name cab. There are, in my opinion two sweet spots for bass on this pedal. The first is to use it as a low-mid rich dirty-up to sound overdriven a la Tubescreamer (but with less brilliance and more low end) into the amp at medium volume. Thick, audible but with buckets of bass (Level: Max - CL: 2 O'clock - CH: 2 O'clock - Dist: Min). This is a dirty overdrive signal with a hint of fuzz in the high mids. Good for filling the role of a rhythm guitarist in a three piece.
The other sound is the Godflesh sound. Max out everything and pump all that hot noisy signal into an already sweating TUBE bass amp for total sonic destructive bliss. This sounds like the apocalypse being wrenched from the future, especially when run through a 215 cab.
SO, it ain't clean, it ain't pretty and it sure ain't new. But it is what it says - pure, unadulterated Heavy Metal!
Reliability/Durability:
These things have been around a long time. The newest ones are at least seventeen years old. The circuit, if odd, is not particularly complicated, so if things did start to break down, components could be replaced. Hell, the circuit diagram is freely available on the internet so in theory you could just build one.
Boss pedals are what they are. Solidly built with weak battery connectors but when used within reason or even just a little care they last. These things are old, so be warned, you might get worn pots, busted battery connectors and a failing switch. This is no fault of the manufacturer (whether Japanese or Taiwanese), it's just old age! I've heard of people gutting newer, unloved Boss pedals and swapping out the guts to house the HM-2!
Ease of Use:
It's a simple, single effect stomp box for distortion. Four controls: Level, Color (L), Color (H) and Distortion. Dialling in the right sound can be a little tricky given the way that the mids shift in relation to both low and high knobs. Plenty of sweet spots can be found with a bit of experimentation but be prepared to tinker and have a note pad handy (no, seriously!).
Customer Support:
If I called or emailed, would they even care about a looooooong discontinued niche market product? Then again, with all the circuit diagrams out there and professional modders this couldn't be too hard to fix. Thus, no opinion.
Overall Rating:
This pedal does what it says it does. And what does it say? Heavy metal. With an open mind, a bit of experimentation and a love of bass this pedal goes a long way. In my opinion, it works better with bass and a tube amp.
That said, with guitar you can wrench some serious doom a la Eagle Twin (and you don't even need a baritne guitar) from a tube amp on the verge of pre-amp and power-amp collapse. It throbs and pulsates and causes total low end sonic mayhem that can only be felt/heard to be believed.
So, used imaginatively for other than the original purpose (capturing the heavy metal sound of the 1980s) this pedal is a worthwhile addition for a doomster who likes to tweak, a bass player who wants a distinctive mid rich voice that isn't a TS-9 or if you just like even more obscenity in an already obscene signal path.
