Boss Power Driver - We Hardly Knew You

[@michaelcrouse246]

You’re looking at this all wrong, if a Waza PW-2 comes out then you need to do a video on the Boss PN-2, then the Space Station, etc… Use this power for good, please don’t do the Flashback Fuzz.

[@jonwold]

Thanks for sharing these great vids. I like everything about them. Format, sound, lighting, playing, humor. Stay awesome.

[@jacobpittman1996]

Thank you, 90’s teen man; I feel heard!

[@scramblesthedeathdealer]

So glad I got one of these as a teenager, still have the box, too!

[@Stratguy83]

He has the box!

[@pierremandon2323]

I'm glad this pedal is getting attention. I use one in a stoner doom band, it's earned a long term place on my board. I mainly use it paired with the gain channel of my rockerverb, it makes it soo much fatter, it Blends beautifully. I like it on its own, but I think it's a pedal that can really be used to boost any gain stage, if you want to get some really meaty but not muddy sound. It can easily get in HM2 Chainsaw zone, the EQ works the same. it's just gonna sound a bit more "fuzzy" than an HM2. However, I've heard people claim that this is Boss's Big Muff, I personally don't hear it.

[@HerbieBancock]

Very thankful to say that I am nothing like you and have no idea what a balantro is.

[@Margilio5150]

That intro song started like something R.E.M. would do in 1994 😎

[@deanallen927]

Very interesting, I didn't think so when it was new (of course). The first jam sounded like Neil Young and Crazy Horse to me, so I was wondering for a second if it was an early example of copying amp innards, a precursor to the "amp in a box" thing, maybe some hot rodded Tweed deluxe ideas in it (possibly the absence of diodes?). It doesn't sound dated to me though. Great video, fun stuff as always.

[@StompboxBreakdown]

Ooh, I can hear the Neil Young bit, kind of wish I had leaned into that and loosened it up a bit. It's definitely got that "Tweed used not for its original intended purposes" sound that I see a lot of modern alt/stoner metal acts using.

[@wesmitchem825]

The power driver rules I got one a few months ago and it's my favorite boss drive by far

[@Noisekvlt]

Hyped to see you do a video on this! I picked one up a couple weeks back and love it, though only for certain things. With a subtle octave down in front of it you get a MAAAAASSIVE tone. Love that it’s like a HM-2 x Muff in one.

[@StompboxBreakdown]

Ooohhhhh good call. I can see how that would be pretty bonkers.

[@mykhedelic6471]

Damn, that's a ball breaker, both girl and boy balls. Pedal Warning,: not safe for ovaries or testes! Guard yoself. Mad with Power!

[@Guitar_Ted]

Okay, this sounded really familiar and then I made the connection. It is very similar to a Pettyjohn Rail fuzz. That effect also does not use clipping diodes and can get into that square wave, buzz saw sound like this pedal does. The big difference with the Pettyjohn is that you can tame it down with its stepped knob to be a distortion, or a "heavy overdrive". The thing gates out at maximum and that makes it have this "noise suppressor" effect which works well in high volume settings. I have this pedal on my board but I use it as a distortion at a lower setting. You might actually like it.

[@blueslawyer]

Incredible content as always!

[@StompboxBreakdown]

Thank you so much!!

[@thor_kb]

Drunk Beaver had a couple of clones of the PW-2 over the years. Currently they are offering the Seattle Driver.

[@highernoon]

I read in a few places that it is Boss' Big Muff, sounds at least in the ball park (and obviously different tone shaping options).

[@StompboxBreakdown]

It *can* get Muff-y, with the mids pulled back and the bass let loose, but it's a very different pedal, from a circuit perspective. Muff has clipping diodes and no opamp, PW-2's main engine is the opamp and has no clipping diodes.

[@ParanormalArson]

Dirt Monger Instruments has a modern version that's really dope. He gave it a four-band EQ, so it's a fair bit more flexible than the original.

[@waynegram8907]

I'm confused the Boss Power Driver has the same Op amp as the Boss Blues Driver, Boss DS-1 with NO clipping diodes? but has a parametric recording console EQ circuit to get those 90's alternative rock tones?

[@MeatyController]

Sounds really compressed, like a Rock version of the Metal Zone lol

[@chaocraticysmix1205]

I have the Boss and Behringer pedals. They are very similar. No idea why the Behringer would be so expensive. Sounds good on bass, but I haven't found good use for it on guitar. I guess I'll hang on to them both to pay off my mortgage in a couple of decades.

[@StompboxBreakdown]

That's the smart move right there. Do you have the XT-2 as well?

[@chaocraticysmix1205]

@StompboxBreakdown good question. I actually have 5 XT-2's, it's a fetish, don't ask... But as with the pw2, the xt2 also never seems to fit in any song, no matter how hard I want it to. That's why a couple of years ago I made a song especially for that pedal (it's on my other channel, search for xt2x4)

[@yrmthr]

I had one of these for about 20 years and just sold it. Only used it a few times and could never get a sound I liked

[@StompboxBreakdown]

If I wasn't a pedal hoarder, I'd probably try to sell or trade mine. It's definitely very rough and unrefined, though I kinda like the way it works with a real live tube amp in a band mix for *certain* types of leads and riffs.

[@yrmthr]

@StompboxBreakdown I picked mine up on vacation in a little vintage shop in backwoods N Carolina. Never saw one ever again and knew it was kind of a collectors piece due to scarcity l, so I held on to it. It's just a midrange mess. For a noise/post rock/garage band sound, it might work but it's more or less a novelty pedal at this point

[@allanflippin2453]

Mr. Beatdown, Well, that was random! :D I have a question about the "fat" knob. Does it seem like the low end boost happens ahead of the distortion circuit? Cranking the "fat" seems to have a bigger result on the sound than just increasing bass.

[@StompboxBreakdown]

It certainly was! Yeah, the fat and muscle affect the signal directly heading into the opamp. So it's not just shaping the sound, but affecting the distortion we get from the opamp.

[@judehanley9980]

Had it. Hated it. Don't miss it.

[@scramblesthedeathdealer]

Your loss, I kinda want a second, for backup.

[@transparent6748]

I owned the power driver back in the 90s,,forgot why I lost interest and got rid of the pedal