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.
