The LED looks dim because this version was designed for the ACA power adapter. If you are using a regular power adapter you are under-powering it. The next version OD-2R switched to PSA adapter powering and also fixed the unity gain issue and included a remote jack to switch from turbo mode to normal. Great pedal and review by the way. Anyone looking to buy, try and get the OD-2R version. I have both and the actual drive sounds are identical - just louder on the 2R at the same volume settings.
It doesn't have skulls on it. Actually appalled on how some pedals companies try to show their badassery. Boss keeps their fonts and pedals clean and simple.
Great pedal.Believe me,if you play in a band,this thing can really cut through the mix.Not so great sounding at home but it really shines live with a band!
Excellent demo of a very underrated pedal. I have the TOD2r, which means I can activate the Turbo with a foot switch, instead of bending down to switch it on. And at my age, that is a huge benefit.
@@tacomadcearlier Boss pedals had a 12v power adapter, but still used a regular 9v battery. You can remove a diode and replace it with a jumper to run it on modern 9v power supplies.
Excelente review hermano, así se deberían hacer reviews de drives con amplificadores limpios para ver cómo reaccionan, el tono limpio estaba hermoso por cierto 🫂🇲🇽
Just watched Brian Wampler vid on the OD-1 , SD-1, OD-2, OD-3 according to him they are all different Circuits. Its not just an OD1 with a tone and an extra gain mode
I'd love to see this back. I used one in my late-90s band for six years. We called it the Bachman-Turbo Overdrive (and even scratched "Bachman" on the casing) because the first time I used it was during a soundcheck when I played You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet to check my driven rhythm tone. Such a great sounding, reliable pedal. I really miss it.
Great demos. This is my all time favorite drive pedal. In late 80 i sold my hm2 and bought this, it was like a night and day. My favorite combination is cs3-od2-ge7-ch1-dd3 Wow I can get any tone i want.
I have owned one of these since the early '90s. It has always been one of my faves and sits on my board to this day. This is the first time I have ever even seen another one. I thought I must have bought the only one Boss made! Thanks for posting this demo!
I inherited a guitar and 1 pedal from my brother in law after he had given up guitar. The pedal was an OD-2r, I use a Boss FS-7 footswitch to switch the Turbo on and off. It is a great drive pedal
Hard to find good sounding videos of the OD-2....this is it...just what i wanted to hear...Thanks for this! I've got one of these coming and can't wait to try it out with my Les Paul Tribute. Cheers!
I have both versions, OD-2 and OD-2R. OD-2R is much louder so you don't have to dime a volume for a unity gain and it has a jack for remote "turbo" switch. It's a brilliant pedal, unique sound and it's not just another TS, doesn't even have any opamp inside.
@@TheMasonator777 I have them both and because of your comment I've tested them again. I don't hear any harshness in OD-2R, they can be set up to sound identical. OD-2R is just louder, that's it. 🤷
@@Tomislav_B. I disagree. The sound is different too. I don’t know if it’s down to part tolerance, but I have heard it said that there were some minor design changes to add upper mids. Upper mids give apparent loudness to a sound. The two I had were significantly different in response and tone to my ears.
@@TheMasonator777 Did you simultaneously had OD-2R and OD-2 side by side to compare? Because those two are on my pedalboard right now, I can't tell them apart in a blind test.
@@Tomislav_B. I just went an watched a comparison video to check myself, and I can tell the difference on my iPad internal speakers, blind. With headphones, it’s overwhelming. Part tolerances may have something to do with it, but there is a pokey and brittle, in your face quality to the 2r that I don’t prefer.
EHX Hot Wax is the most underrated and un- talked about. It has a vintage side and a modern side , which you can combine to get some angry tones. also has a blend knob to ensure you don't lose any bass . This pedal kicks ass too !
Hola. Hay alguna diferencia en el circuito, del OD2, respecto al OD2r???? Aparte de que en este último, la función turbo la puedes activar mediante un conmutador de pedal on/off .
I found this pedal today for $40 on facebook marketplace it’s the Japan version. I don’t have the 12 volt adapter so a threw a fresh 9v battery in and I really did not expect a lot. But to my surprise the pedal blew me away this is definitely a sleeper pedal. If you can find one I don’t think you would be disappointed.
Was my main pedal on my Boss BCB-6 pedalboard from when it first came out for next 10 years. Never had a problem with unity volume, was equal at 12 - 1 o'clock. Full volume would be like a 8-10 db gain. I preferred this pedal over distortions, live it would cut through the mix better & distinguished each note more clearly. A great pedal.
I’ve wanted a turbo overdrive since the first time I tried one in 1991. I remember being amazed at how it made my sound better even when it wasn’t on. It took me many years to learn about buffers…
I find if it’s after a ts9 and before a micro amp.. while it sounds great on it’s own, you can take the shape it makes your signal.. and make it louder with the micro amp.. making up for the lack of output.. (non turbo both around noon) which pushes the front .. the ts9 added gets it more tight and well.. gnarly :) and yes the power needs to be daisy chained with a modern pedal, battery, correct 12v, or modified ;) it has a quality where you forget it’s a pedal ;) I like turbo also.. particularly turn the gain down. To me it seems it acts like an amp.. like as in boosting it with tube screamer gives you yet another sound :)
I was lucky. This was my first and only 'sound' pedal that I bought, in 1989. Never longed for anything else. Still have it, in mint condition, in its box, but I'm too scared to use it. Major oversight from Roland/Boss not having it in the GT-10 and 100. Thanks for the review and I'll peruse your other content. PS I saw mention made of a GT-100 patch, in one of the comments, but I can't seem to locate it. Can anyone help please?
I always wanted to be a guitarist and only had to become a very good rock singer (it costed me nothing instead paying for guitar lessons....😄) But years pass, no chance for a career and think I want to compose music for my pleasure only. So I bought a 90$ guitar and cleaned the dust away from the box of that OD-2 I bought soooo many years ago, it is mint. Really have to test it, but it sounds it is good enough! Thanks for the video and everybody comments!
I’ve had one since the 90s. Must be a later model because I don’t have the common volume problem - mine is at unity gain at about 9 o’clock on the level knob. Only difficult thing to deal with for me, is the bass drop. It’s fine if you use it as an always-on pedal, but if you use it on and off within songs, it drastically changes your base tone when you turn it on. It’s not a bad tone; just really different, like if you A/B switched to a completely different amp.
@@darwinsaye thanks I tought all the OD-2 pedals suffer from this, I'll try to find a schematic of both versions and mod mine, its volume is really too low...
By the post 2000s, his pedalboard was pretty set with a DS-2 and BD-2. However, in the 90s, he used all variations of Boss drive pedals. - even a Metal Zone.
I have mine since 1990, more or less. Together with a very cheap flanger they were the only pedals I had in those years. But they were too the only of my current pedals that were on stage, and a lot of times. Today the OD-2 is still on my pedalboard, together with a lot more, including a second overdrive and a fuzz.
Great demo mate, thanks. I have the model of this pedal on my Boss GT-1 and GT-100 and have used it for years. It's one of my core overdrive sounds simply because it sounds so great! Btw, it looks like you're using a Fred Kelly Bumblebee Jazz thumbpick (correct me if I'm wrong). If so then I've used them for years due to a chronic right arm problem and they're great, very easy to use unlike say a Dunlop thumbpick.
Good spot on the pick! They are my favourite and I'm yet to find a better pick for me. Really maximises performance for everything in the right hand, alternate picking, hybrid picking, tapping, etc.
@@jameshoodmusic6414they're really good. I swapped over to the black mountain thumb pick because the spring-loaded retention mechanism fits the shape of my thumb a bit better but both have their advantages. I am not a finger picker by any stretch but the fact that I no longer have to grip the pick in order to hold it reduced the tension in my hand and wrist considerably and playing fast runs is now so much easier. Before trying them out I was expecting with using tape and sticking plasters to attach a regular pick to my thumb to stop me dropping it and I wouldn't go back to using a regular pick. Just wish they weren't so bloody expensive compared to other, more common designs
Watching this brings me back as I used to run an OD-2 into a JC-120 back in the 80s. Totally wrong for the music I was playing at the time but a nice sound.
Nice! I had one of these (and the 'R' version also). I found that with the original MIJ model, unity volume (or even mild, mild 'boost') does occur by 'three o' clock' - or so - with single coils, particularly lower output SC's like a Strat. But with a hot HB it struggles to make unity volume, even if distorting more. I read the 'physics' of why that occurs with that design - something to do with the loading - but I forget the full details. But certainly slightly less of a problem with lower output pups. Never gonna be a 'boost' though! - unless modded. The OD-2R was, as others have said - way louder, but maybe a bit 'stiffer' . Nice demo, thanks.
Was my first ever pedal (got mine when they first came out in '85) and was a staple in my setup for three decades. I almost always used it to add gain to an already overdriven amp sound, either for hard rock rhythm tones, or as a solo boost with the turbo on. That's all I ever really knew to do. I moved away from it with modelling/pre-amps and then lots of other OD and distortion pedals. It was a shame, because I lost my "signature" sound and was always searching to re-discover it. Fortunately I never sold it. They're only $50 on Reverb even for a "vintage but well-gigged" one like mine. But your appreciation of it has me determined to toss a few underused overdrives off the board and put it right back where it belongs. Thanks for a great video. Long may the OD-2 rule as the "most underrated!"
I bought the version with remote switch cheap at a fleamarket years ago, and loved it right away. Im not really a guitarist so I use it for other instrumenet too, like cheap Casio organs, circuit bent toys and synthesizers. It generally works well with those too.
It sounds great! For me, better than classic Super Overdrive SD-1. I have a Boss Dual Overdrive DS- 2, and it sounds pretty similar. I think there are few sound differences and the selection of a crunch channel.
Great video. I have one of these. There's a really simple mod that most mod shops can do to these to fix the volume taper. I'm not going to recommend one because I'll sound like I'm a shill. You probably know somebody that does these things. They'll know what you're asking for.
Nice demo thanks ! I do own an OD-2 Turbo and your video totally change my mind about it !! I like it a lot more now ! Btw what reverb are you using. Sounds really nice too.
I have the one that I bought new in the 80’s. It’s a unique pedal. I used it live back when I bought it but I wasn’t super crazy about it. I bought an Ibanez TS-10 back then and retired the Turbo overdive. The turbo failed due to a shorted diode in the power supply and sat dormant for years. I fixed it a couple years ago. It’s cool having it operational again but it hasn’t made it back on any of my pedalboards.
What voltage are you running it at? The light being dim made me wonder if you had it at 9v. The older boss pedals that specify the aca adapter work better with a 12v supply due to the way those older adapters worked vs newer ones. I run my OD-1 and OD-2 at 12v and the light is pretty bright on them.
I bought one of these second-hand about 20 years ago. Got it home, tried it out- sounded complete pants with my Strat. Level had to be completely dimed, don't know why they even bothered putting a knob on it. The "normal" setting was thin and weedy. Serious lack of bass on both settings. Put it in a drawer and forgot about it. Found it again about 5 years ago, tried it again. Still pants. I did some research, and other opinions seemed similar, but I found out about the MSM Workshop mod kit. Bought it, fitted it. Wow! Complete transformation! The "normal" mode is rich and warm, and the Turbo mode roars! How you managed to get such a decent sound from a stock model I've no idea. Hat's off to you sir, you make it sound great!
Internally, there's a resistor and diode combination that reduces the voltage down to 9 volts. So I'd assume there wouldn't be a big difference tonally, but I would also think that it would depend on the type of EQ the pedal has e.g. OD-2 with a single tone control vs a HM-2 with seperate Low and High controls.
Ur kidding? The Turbo Overdrive is like the most sold of all the ODs - it's everywhere! The trick is, forget the fizzy turbo mode, in the off position it's not unlike the SD1, but less bass roll-off. What you really get is an OD1 with a tone control :)
A diode failed on mine that caused the power supply section to have a direct short. It was easy to spot as it caused a burnt spot on the circuit board. I found the schematic/part list online and replaced the diode. I also had to fix/jumper a burnt trace in the circuit board with a piece of wire. It works again.
