SURPRISING Circuit of Boss Blues Driver | Gain Appreciation

[@ScienceofLoud]

The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/csguitars12221 The Boss Blues Driver BD-2 is a popular drive pedal - revered for its versatile and touch sensitive overdrive sounds, but analysis of the circuit reveals it has a lot more in common with distortion pedals than the SD-1 and TS-9 it is often compared to. Get your Boss Blues Driver: Thomann - thmn.to/thoprod/103955?offid=1&affid=367 Sweetwater - imp.i114863.net/jWoNOZ This video contains paid promotion from Skillshare. More details on how CSGuitars implements product promotion - www.csguitars.co.uk/disclosure #bluesdriver #bd2 #scienceofloud Get 15% OFF unique and colourful Mr Gugu clothing with discount code 'CSGuitars' - mrgugu.com/ More from CSGuitars: Gain access to exclusive content at: www.patreon.com/csguitars Join CSGuitars Discord - discord.gg/csguitars Buy CSGuitars Merchandise - www.csguitars.co.uk/store Website - www.csguitars.co.uk Contact - [e-mail] ____________________________________________________________________ *Description contains affiliate links. Purchasing using one of these links will generate a small commission for CSGuitars at no additional cost to you.*

[@russellzauner]

I haven't used one but as demo'd and described by most it seemed to me that it was more along the lines of a more modern Rangemaster with some waveshaping ability to make it pop in the way you wanted, or at least a lot of options to do so. But mostly I always visualized it in my signal chain as where a treb booster/drive would go were I to have one and what's funny (to me) is we're seeing even more two button "boost/drive" stompers even now being brought up and delivered to market in addition to the numerous Fulltone Fulldrive or misc power fuzz clones. This video hasn't taken it off the list - I'd move it up but there aren't too many things left on the pedal list, honestly (at least for now). EDIT: it does seem a lot creamier than the average treb boost/drive/filter, so maybe I will find one sooner than later...cream in a box is always good to have in your hip pocket.

[@DMSProduktions]

@@russellzauner Demo'd?

[@neilomac]

Colin, if you're really about the science of loud, then we're going to need an in-depth breakdown of that shirt, 'cause that's maybe the loudest thing I've seen on here.

[@lawndart188s]

Amen to that

[@emartinezr]

250 Db

[@nathanweinstein2766]

🤣🤣

[@zedcarr6128]

As an electronics engineer by trade, I doff my cap in your general direction, Colin. Your videos are straight out of the top drawer with beautiful graphics and animations explaining the circuits. They are a joy to watch.

[@LadderFromMGS3]

Every single pedal video should have an oscilloscope sweep like you. I love it so much

[@walterredaelli7507]

indeed, indeed, the effect on the distorted waveform of the tone control is pure beauty...

[@analogdebut]

+1 The amount of gain in this pedal has always floored me, but it finally makes sense!

[@happycadaver]

Wow, I gotta say all the graphical elements you added came out fantastic. I love this format of breaking down the circuit stage by stage explaining what’s happening and showing how each part affects the circuit. Really great educational format here and I would love to see more of it. Thanks for all your hard work!!

[@emmettyoung7603]

to quote jim Lill, “i’m just a performer i don’t know anything about circuits” but these videos really dumb it down enough for me to understand what you’re talking about. they’re informative without being overwhelming

[@brodaclop]

what i absolutely love about this pedal is how you can play the same note or octave on two strings and it'll be relatively clean on a high gain, but move just a bit away from that, and it throws in a metric ton of dirt into the sound

[@paulbellamy2810]

After years of not bothering with drive or dirt pedals, this was the first I bought. I was definitely impressed.

[@stringmancer]

The blues driver is one of the best drive pedals ever made. The big muff and the blues driver are my two favorite drive pedals.

[@analogdebut]

They actually pair extraordinarily well together! One of my fav combos for shoegaze-like tones is the Blues Driver (any model so long as the gain is dimed) running into the Keeley Loomer - a big muff on one side and some really unique/interesting modular reverbs on the other. The Blues Driver acts as the fuzz running into the reverb (fuzz last switch) and using the Big Muff side as an extra gain stage for verse-chorus-verse style songs. Lots of fun for only 2 pedals.

[@tmoss89]

Try the plumes

[@stringmancer]

@@tmoss89 I have one. I stack mine with the blues driver. It’s my favorite screamer I would say. But better with other pedals I think.

[@kirkwilson6229]

Absolutely fantastic pedal. The Blues Driver is criminally unrlderrated and highly versatile. Thanks for the look into the details of the circuit. I didn't realize how relatively sophisticated it is. Growing up in the 90s, I had no concept of the difference between drive and distortion - all I knew was the BD sounded great, and gave great texture to my tone.

[@adrianopadilha7338]

Sssshhh! Leave it that way till I buy one used online! Dont hipe it!

[@skypekai]

It's not underrated lol, it's one of the most popular pedals ever

[@goop2345]

It's not at all underrated, it's literally the 3rd best selling overdrive on reverb right now lmao

[@callumalston5755]

You can distort, overdrive, even practically clean boost and even get to the lower end of fuzz. The versatility of it (combined with the fact it’s a boss pedal built like a tank) is ridiculous

[@vintagetubeamplifiers]

I just learned so much in the first minute from your images of each stage in the circuit. This method should be used more, it's really that good. Thank you! I'm blown away by how easy it was to understand, amazing.

[@TealScarab]

Always love the circuit diagrams being arranged into (comparatively) easy to understand blocks. Never did realize how nice and crunchy they sound.

[@mypal1990]

The waza craft blues driver is such a versatile pedal going from the original circuit and cranks it up to eleven. I swear it's a distortion pedal if there's a blind hearing test!

[@cheezyridr]

i've been using a blues driver since forever. i've never used it as an overdrive, ever. afaic, it's a distortion box.

[@fernalicious]

Good to hear, just picked one up!

[@mirage809]

The oscilloscope is a stroke of genius. It's so nice to have a visual of what the pedal is actually doing to the signal. Makes me curious as to what some of the stranger pedals out there look like. Like, what does a flanger actually do? What does a Big Muff look like through one of those?

[@blakestone75]

I had the thought as he was talking about the pedal that it'd be awesome if someone hooked this up to a scope so we could see... AND THEN HE DID!!

[@ZeugmaP]

I recently acquired a second-hand Blues Driver, so now thanks to this video I can really understand how it works !

[@tomz1989]

Gimme a blues driver, a strymon flint and a carbon copy...I could probably cover 80% of rock music. Such a treasure pedal. Never left my board since it got onto

[@nickklein4676]

This comment rocks

[@2GroundControl]

One of the best tech. videos I have seen on pedals. Good graphics, no BS, to the point, no ambiguity, no marketing, well explained. NICE JOB!

[@SisterRose]

it's actually great for some glassier shoegaze tones here. i like that it has an edge to it because too many blues guys go for these overly smooth tones, i like that it has a fuzzy edge.

[@3rdStoreyChemist]

Ironically its 'edge' is what makes it feel more 'amp-like' than overly smooth overdrive pedals. Yet to experience a cranked up valve amp that's remotely smooth, that sort of tone is very much something you get from pedals.

[@STRATMAN1969]

That's what I use mine for .Everything set at 1:00 ! Sounds sooooo amazing with a wall of Chorus ,Delay ,and Reverb after it 💙🚙= 👟 👀

[@SRone45]

The BD-2 has sounded good no matter what amp I've put it into

[@masonianbund]

Glad somebody else noticed this. I use my Keeley Super Phat Mod (his blues driver mod tweaked and refined) for crunchy hard rock distortion all the time.

[@ibanezlaney]

For people who like to ride the volume control instead of pressing pedals and have things dirty up as you play more aggressively - BD2 is perfect.

[@ALEEN517]

Posting comment before I made it 1 minute into it.... I have not watched one of your videos in a while, life. But this video looks spectacularly good on my television. I like that your breakdown is still the same, sciencey. To summarize, your new camera and software are on point. Thank you for the time and effort you put into making this video and sharing it with us all.

[@scottmh96]

In my opinion this is a massively underrated, I bought a Waza version of it on a whim to replace my MXR modified OD last year and it turned out to be an absolute metal monster, into the front of any of the high gain amps in the Helix, it just creates an absolutely crushing sound... So now I have 2

[@willonglet391]

How does it play with other overdrives if you’ve tried that? Im looking for something to pair with my ts9, right now I pair it with a walrus warhorn…. Which is a ts9 clone :^l

[@RobMods]

It is a very dynamic dirt pedal for sure. I've used it for bass on recordings and it is really nice. (Although you need to mix in some dry signal as well.)

[@Ren-X]

Your circuit analysis is beautiful man. Even a bassist like me can understand it

[@bradsims7089]

This was my first pedal and is still my favorite pedal. Now I know why.

[@lysaarvideo]

For the first album I did with my solo project, we used two drive pedals. Gollmer's discontinued "The Blues" was used here and there, but the Boss BD-2 was used for all the other overdrive effects. It's SO versatile. In my opinion it's the best non-boutique drive pedal.

[@analogdebut]

Honestly, the best explanation for not just this pedal, but *any* overdrive/distortion; particularly for those of us familiar with the parts but without engineering degrees. Much appreciated!!

[@Hneel65]

Ben McLeod from All Them Witches uses this pedal always on, and changes from clean to dirty with the volume knob on his guitar. Check out his video about this pedal.

[@stratguy1875]

Thank you for finally doing a deeper dive into this pedal. It’s the only pedal on my board that hasn’t moved for 24 years! Blues-Driver=Best-Driver!!!

[@StratsRUs]

So many Boss pedals to love and Mod. Modded OD3,Waza SD1, Blues Driver Waza, OD2r.The EHX Glove OD is also very cool. Great video and you nailed all the reasons the BD2 is worth buying. Well done.

[@STRATMAN1969]

Greetings from the Stratcave .Have you ever tried Earthquaker Devices the Plumes ? That ,and the BD-2 are the most versatile $100 pedals ever made imho .

[@michaeldoerksen2841]

I was hoping I'd see my fav setting from that pedal 10:15. And with tone rolled off humbuckers in the middle or neck position this pedal gets into fuzz territory. IMO this is one of the only pedals to rival a RAT for its dirt capabilities. Slight boost, OD, Distortion or Fuzz, all in one

[@picksalot1]

That was a fascinating explanation and presentation of the circuitry and signal processing stages inside the Blues Driver. It was interesting to see what was happening on the Oscilloscope as the knobs were moved. I hope you do more videos like this in the future. Perhaps you could show the Oscilloscope as you turn the knobs and then play, so we see a visual representation of what we're hearing. That would be very cool. Thanks

[@tonyevans9999]

really appreciate the circuit expanded and explained, thanks. I've not considered the BD2 , it's certainly versatile

[@bpabustan]

I love the tele to amp tone with the blues driver off! Reminds me of SRV. That being said, the demo gives me the impression Blues Driver equals Classic Rock.

[@lordviewer7305]

This is a great video. I love my Blues Driver. Once I turn it on is hard to want use another distortion. And always wanted to know how differently it works from a traditional overdrive. This video is fantastic man.

[@jimhart4158]

I use one of these in front of an amp I built myself as a stacked distortion, giving a somewhat fuzzy, low-end heavy sound that when played with a guitar in C standard makes a very good sound for your more blues-inspired doom metal needs. An excellent reason for metal heads to grab one of these even if they don't play blues very much.

[@garrettboomerbender]

Ben from All Them Witches uses the blues driver as his main distortion

[@hisproperty1438]

G'day Colin, Just a quick note to say that I love the graphics used on your video. They're very well done, & the made a difficult subject easy to explain. Good job. Thanks for a great video, & keep up the good work. Andrew

[@nbrowser]

I own one of these pedals...actually it's the only pedal I own, it adds quite a nice punch when you want it.

[@davidburns9219]

Words can't describe how much I love my BD2! So versatile.

[@timjones9727]

Well electronically this was way over my head. However, as a Blues Driver I love how saturated it can get when you push it hard. It’s the first overdrive pedal I nearly bought only to end up using loads of others and finally buying one only to realise it was what I always needed.

[@jrockkai]

Thank you Colin for doing this video. The Boss BD-2 is beyond my favorite overdrive/distortion pedal and I have been wishing someone would do a deep dive on it. Not many videos showing an appreciation for its circuit and design. It stacks well with other pedals, can be used as a boost, or even an always on pedal to give your clean channel a bit of dirt. Very versatile indeed. Keep the videos coming, greatly appreciate what you do.

[@miguelruiz8183]

This pedal took the place of my fuzz face and my turbo distortion once I found out what it was capable of. An amazing piece of gear to he sure it may even come close to Chugg ask Ola!!!!!!

[@ChrisG4646]

As someone is in the early stages of learning this stuff I gotta say this is one of the most useful videos I've seen.

[@whenvioletsturngrey9597]

One of my guitar heroes used this pedal exclusively. So I bought one. I tried to love it. After a couple years it found a new home. There are so many better sounding pedals. Every so often I revisit the idea of acquiring one. Then I hear it. No thanks. We all have our thing. The Blues Driver isn’t mine, I guess.

[@gcvrsa]

I predict that in the future, the BD-2 will be recognized on the same level as the Centaur, the Tube Screamer, the Bluesbreaker, and other classic circuits, and used as the basis for many more reinterpretations and customizations. It's strange how Boss pedals are so frequently looked down upon by so many people, when they are self-evidently among the best pedals on the market in every category. I know that a lot of this has to do with the now multi-decade long hangover caused by misunderstandings concerning "true bypass" and buffers, what they do and don't do, what they can do and can't do, where each type is appropriate, and where it isn't, but it's really become a tiresome annoyance how many people still repeat bad information. It's been my opinion ever since the BD-2 was first released that it's Boss' best analogue drive pedal. Back in the 1990s, I used all Boss pedals, because they were the best, and because if they were good enough for Robert Smith, they were good enough for me. I'm currently using all Boss compact pedals for my bass pedalboard, and my guitar pedalboard is now built largely around a Boss GT-1000Core (primarily for chorus, delay, and reverb).

[@rocknrollcowboy1620]

I remember in the 90s looking at Guitar World magazine & just staring at the Boss Pedal ads for a good ten mins

[@EnterJustice]

The Blues Driver is well respected, though. It's frequently mentioned as a class of it's own (cascading op-amps), alongside Klon(e)s, Tubescreamers, Bluesbreakers etc.

[@bakkels]

@neonthunderbird I have a TR-2 which goes at the end of my chain precisely because it _has_ a buffer (and I wanted a tremolo of course). There's a BD-2 in my chain as well, but that's just because it's a brilliant overdrive. The whole 'true bypass' thing was just a hype. One I'm happy to see is on it's return.

[@junc_musik]

As I start diving deeper into researching effects circuits, I really appreciate what you're doing here to show what makes this pedal distinct and how it specifically achieves what it's going for. Thank you!

[@blakeanderson7906]

Blues driver is really cool but the angry driver with it's extra versatility is pretty sweet too. Part JHS, part Boss. Nice video by the way, rock on! 🤘

[@STRATMAN1969]

I'm gettin' one for my ambient ,shoegaze board I'm building .

[@msmoniz]

I couldn’t agree more! First time I played a BD-2 it immediately struck me as a distortion more than any overdrive I’ve ever played!

[@dave23024]

That is an awesome pedal. I use mine with the Inferno and Metal Zone pedals and it sounds awesome! I can go from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Sepultura and anything inbetween.

[@christiantraulsen837]

I absolutely love these circuit ‘deep dive’ videos - keep it up! (please!) 🙂

[@ushnicyuvnikof2748]

This is the deeper type of content about pedals I was searching for! SUBBED!

[@garymoore1567]

Please show more oscilloscope displays of overdrive and distortion devices. It would be interesting to compare the oscilloscope responses of op-amp-diode devices vs cascaded JFET and MOSFET devices.

[@noyd4172]

A great video on a great circuit. I'm always learning something new every minute with your videos.

[@stevendearden8030]

Great insight - BD-2 is an absolute mainstay on my pedalboard, but now I know why I love it so much. Cheers

[@gregmize01]

GREAT PEDAL! MY FAVORITE BOSS GAIN PEDAL BY FAR!

[@NoMorePedals]

I've gone through lots of types of overdrives and distortions but recently made the Blues Driver my main overdrive. It was exactly what I needed for my personal play style, but I always overlooked it because I assumed it was for blues playing (which I don't do much). Glad to see it getting appreciation!

[@the-np4mr]

Been trying to find one at a decent price for ages lol, seems like one of the best drive pedals out there

[@adambassgrove231]

Such a nice sound

[@toms5951]

My favorite drive pedal. Many videos about it and everyone seems to have their own distinct sound out of it. It amazes me how versatile it is.

[@TheMountainDemon]

I have used this pedal into the effects loop as a preamp and got amazing stoner rock/metal sounds. This pedal can do pretty much anything.

[@canadiandream12]

I love the Blues Driver. It will never leave my pedalboard. It’s the very first pedal in my chain, I use it to add a subtle boost. Adds a tad bit of compression to a clean channel or adds a bit of flavour and gain to a crunch channel. Also works great stacked with an SD-1 or DS-1. I don’t often use it with the gain cranked but it does give a nice cranked tweed like tone when you do, as this video demonstrates. Such a great and versatile pedal.

[@slowfinger2]

It does a great job in front of my solid state and digital amps. It's always on. I have the gain at zero, the volume matched or just a hair louder, and the tone tweaked for single coil or HB's. It warms up those amps, or the pickups, and thickens (compresses-thanks CD12) up the sound nicely, like a tube amp. For clean songs I'll turn it off, and turn on when hitting the chorus. That's the thickening effect. With a the crunch channel, the driver on, gain at zero, it makes the amp sound really ballsy. I can get the "Mississippi Queen" guitar tone with a 335 and an SG. On the high gain channel the driver is often too much, but I kick it on to get controlled feedback. It's a great sounding stand-alone distortion. Sometimes I use it alone as the overdrive in a single channel amp. One guitar. One amp. One pedal. Two cords. LOL Cheers!

[@jeffreyhall76]

One of the all time greatest pedals imo.

[@electron7373]

Excellent circuit description of the Blues Driver. Great stuff Colin.

[@SirEnVo]

I've used my Bluesdriver as a distortion style my whole playing career. My settings are: Level: whatever matches the amp Tone: 12/1 oclock Drive: 2/3 oclock This on a no breakup Fender hot rod deluxe or a Roland JC-40

[@3xcho]

My only regret was not getting a BD2 sooner. It is hands down the best pedal I own… and I own about 30 pedals (including the original True Tone pedals). The BD2 + SD1 and a big muff is really all I’ll ever need.

[@user-cz7yz9hc8b]

Agree, I tried literally dozens of overdrives and distortions. The BD-2 is the only one that ever clicked for me.

[@Mistertbones]

The Blues Driver is an amazing pedal. It's been used all the way from country guitarists like Marty Stuart to the heaviest of rockers.

[@astewart9410]

Fantastic informative videro, thanks! I LOVE this pedal. Mine is the BD-2 Waza, which adds the custom switch for even more options. I recommend the BD to everyone.

[@allanshookphoto]

Thank-you for going through the schematic diagram of these pedals! Brilliant! I could watch schematic walk-through videos all day long!

[@subjectt.change6599]

The Blues Driver is my favorite pedal when I need maximum volume knob control. Typically, I use a RAT for most things, but when I need detail, touch, and something that can translate my playing instantly into sound, I go for that little blue box from Boss. Set the gain knob wherever you want the MAXIMUM to be (I crank mine to ten) and let your hands do the work.

[@kyleolin3566]

I had a blues driver, gave it to my brother, and ended up getting another one. I love it and almost always use it as an overdrive. Maybe tonight I will play with the gain a little.

[@IamMusicNerd]

Love the BD2. I switched to a Protein a few years back, as I just preferred the lower gain blue channel on that pedal and the flexibility of the green channel with it. But I may need to dig my BD2 out of the closet and start playing with it again. :)

[@ERWebster]

What's particularly interesting is that if you max out the volume AND the gain on the Blues Driver, it still isn't as loud as that shirt.

[@STRATMAN1969]

But if you also max out the tone it would almost be as bright !

[@mawtymawty9010]

This pedal is one half of the Loveless dirt sound. Will always love it for that

[@3rdStoreyChemist]

It wasn't used on Loveless as that was released in '91, the BD2 was released in '95.

[@paulmatulevich3623]

Always had a soft spot for the Blues Driver ever since my brother gifted me one shortly after starting guitar Still an underrated G

[@satevo462]

I love the sound on the Boss Katana Mk2 if you crank the blues driver up to 120.

[@ronn4238]

This was the first pedal I bought with my own money as a kid.

[@3rdStoreyChemist]

Spent a bit time comparing the new Duke Of Tone to the BD2 yesterday and the stock BD2 held its own quite comfortably, the DOT just wasn't 'better'. The BD2 is a 'boutique' drive pedal in a Boss enclosure. It's a testament to its versatility that it can be compared to everything from a SD1 to a DOT to a Rat and not be inferior at all.

[@mauricemusician7636]

I love your electrical engineering videos!

[@markhammer643]

Take a gander at the circuits for the first three drive circuits in the sadly overlooked Boss ROD-10. They share a lot with the BD-2, although not identical.

[@AutismRocksOfficial]

My first pedal and still one of my favorites ✌️🙌

[@ubertwerpify]

The graphics were a great touch here - the physics of overdrive rock it!

[@skylerrizzi]

I love my blues driver. I play mostly Death Metal and Hardcore and it sounds great in front of a Peavey 6505. It even sounds great on bass in my experience

[@MikeSingSing]

I used to have one but sold it. I'm always thinking about bringing it back vs a Nobels ODR. Different thing, but they both do so well...

[@AndrewStottisTheIndiWerWlf]

I wanted to hear about the Jai-Fett switching. That sounded interesting. ;) Accent jokes aside, the production value on this video is incredible. You definitely earned a subscriber.

[@hawkeye2816]

I absolutely adore my BD-2W into channel 1 of my Kraken. Of all things. Set it up as a level boost and it can take channel 1 from pushed clean to a kicking classic rock tone with a push of a button. And it stays a lot warmer than switching to channel 2. And don't even get me started on its strat tones.

[@kurtshirvinski836]

I love having both in my chain. I play metalcore, and I have the TS as my main drive into a 6534+ for tightening it up and boosting the mids and input, then I slap on the BD for solo boosts. It also works great when I just want a drive for turning my clean channel into a med breakup

[@damienalvarez2957]

Sounds like it can make the signal scream in just the right way. A lot of those lines being played on the Les Paul sounded like some of my favorite classic blues sounds.

[@DOMINATOR3211]

That explanation when more over my head then i was going to admit. All i know is Blues Driver = Good

[@Maxshade7]

This is a really cool video. I always used my keeley bd2 as a high gain but never understood why I liked it so much as a lot of other vids I saw or post I read used it low gain. There you have it.

[@TheFlutecart]

Great video, you wont scare me off with techie stuff, I love it!

[@mrrootytooty5797]

I just built one of these from a pcb and came here to see what the dual gang potentiometer was up to in the circuit :) thanks for the explanation!

[@tobiastk5391]

I love this pedal so much. I use it as my main Heavy drive sound, put a boss SD-1 to boost it and it chugs like nothing else. it's crunchy, yet it can high-gain quite well. It's a different chug to what most people do - driving from the amp, but i like it :))

[@garrettboomerbender]

My 2nd favorite boss drive pedal. My number 1 being the HM-2.

[@thomaslthomas1506]

I’ve got 1 set drive all the way to left. Perfect! I also find variability’s in the bd-2 is huge. I’ve used a buttload of them thru the years no 2 seem alike . IMHO😎

[@brentstewart59]

Very cool how you can break down what's happening here. I had no idea there was that much going on here

[@calyodelphi124]

Oh I LOVE this pedal!! 😍 It definitely works well with spicy pickups it seems.

[@vkgraphics]

Another excellent video Colin....superb.

[@themcsquared]

Thank you so much for this. I've been loving the blues driver for years and you finally explained why. I have a question 🙋 My blues driver is the keeley moded version. Would it be possible to go over how different that cirquit is? Thank you so much, even if you don't answer I really appreciate your channel

[@Johnny-oy9fh]

Perfect drive pedal for anything