The BEST Selling Pedal of the Year (Nearly) - Boss Blues Driver

[@kevinlong4657]

As a fellow dad of a young kid I love your little one's appearances in your videos . so precious

[@HighLifeWorkout]

I’ve had a BD-2 on every pedal board I’ve ever made. I always keep it on. I keep the drive super low and it just gives my guitar. This tone that’s beautiful I want more gain. I can just use my volume knob.

[@handhoney]

Where do you like to keep the drive for your particular use?

[@HighLifeWorkout]

@@handhoney it’s the first pedal on my board (I use a clip on tuner)

[@MichaelBartlettGuitar]

Came for the BD-2 review, stayed for the playing. Beautiful phrasing.

[@bobvogt2242]

Totally agree!

[@Langston_]

I started playing guitar 2 years ago and you’ve been my biggest inspiration this whole time congrats on 100k 🤝🏾🤝🏾

[@kevinalexander4487]

Love your channel. It’s quickly become my favorite guitar channel, because it’s not just about gear, but playing. I love gear. But at the end of the day we are here to play guitar and get better. Cheers in the success of the channel, mate!

[@treshugart]

9 mo ago, 10k subscribers. The hope in 4-5 years time, 100k. In 9 mo time, 129k. Hats off, man.

[@grahamcoxon]

Love the blues driver.. weirdly I discovered it via my katana 100 mk2 212 and so I slapped one (Waza) on my big pedal board and used it for a mild drive beast all year! It gives me a Beatles Abbey Road kind of feeling which was always my goal with guitar sounds from an early age ( I want you (she’s so heavy) kinda thing).. I don’t knOw why I never tried one before - I certainly had plenty of flippin time to!! Congrats, john!

[@kennethcausing6042]

Congratulations mate! I'd be suprise if you don't blow up next year! Your playing is an absolute delight!

[@guitargrandpa282]

Big fan of the Blues Driver, I have three drive pedals on my board and it is the one I use the most. Congratulations on 100k.

[@davidcjupp]

Holy shiitake John! 100k boyeeeeee! Let’s go!, Been here since single digits… ur just a proper sound, interesting dude. Well done and so stoked for you!

[@djb3545]

Sounds great. Especially at that 11:00 setting. I also love the video you did on the Maxon SD9. Kind of torn which mid gain setting I like better.

[@jacobpittman1996]

Congratulations John! Thank you for sharing your playing and opinions. I dig it all. AND I dig the Blues Driver. I sold mine when I moved a couple years ago, had just gotten a Fulltone OCD

[@bryantwalley]

Congratulations on the 100k man. Its been a fun ride.

[@rocker341000]

Brilliant! Thank you for posting. Had one years ago and got rid of it. Bought one again a few months ago and now understand why it sells so incredibly well! Affordable and versatile. Sometimes the best things (and the most affordable) are in plain sight.

[@kevinp_25]

6:12 lol John. "Thanks for getting the channel to ten thousand subscribers." 😂

[@TheZenguitarguy]

Congrats! Well deserved for the hardest working man on KZbin!

[@bigdave2930]

I gave you a thumbs up right away because of your adorable child. Then realized you deserved another for the beautiful sound you get (not to mention you playing, phrasing). Nice job John!

[@chuuweec.8080]

The perfect companion for a fender tube amp

[@kmjansen]

The Blues Driver is one of the few pedals that, to me, has the touch sensitivity of a good tube amp set to edge-of-breakup. Your daughter is super cute and clearly enjoys watching her dad play.

[@Jasonjk74]

After watching this video a few times, I ordered one earlier today; looking forward to trying it out

[@WDShorty]

My favorite any genre tone is a blues driver into a jcm800 the dynamics are just incredible and it gives you just enough extra crunch

[@dmac3316]

Congrats! I’ve got an Angry Driver and was always a little lost dialing in the Blues Driver side. I’m now finding some cool settings with just the Blues Driver side and stacking. I’m contemplating getting a stand-alone Blues Driver now lol. For the price I’m thinking it’s worth it. Non Waza version that is.

[@eoinjennings519]

WAZA is great

[@christopherjbutler]

Congratulations on 100k subs John, much deserved. Watching the intro right now, Wondering if Elodie is going to help you with pickup Selection again. LOL.

[@steveliberty]

Congrats on the 100K. I have had the Blues Driver 3 times (paid to have one modded by Monte Allums), and each time, I found the sizzle and artifacts to be annoying, and sold it off. I am a low gain, bluesy player mainly, and that is really what it should have been well suited to, but it never worked for me. This was before I got into modeling at all. I was playing through tube amps with traditional pedals on my board.

[@justmehere6094]

I collect Dirt pedals. I've put together what I call the iconic dirt pedal board It has pedals like Tube Screamer, Timmy, Blues Breaker, Rat, Klon (clone) to name a few. Also on that board is a Boss Blues Driver and Super Overdrive (both WAZA versions), because they are such usable, and thus iconic pedals.

[@BrenQ99]

The Blues Driver is the GOAT guitar pedal. 2 even work beautifully together and can produce any level of gain you could need. And…. Congrats on 100k!

[@RyanMcQuen]

I prefer the 'Custom' mod for the Blues Driver on the Waza version since it seems to remove some of the fizziness. Congrats on the Galaxy Pie!

[@DavidFeilyMusic]

Congrats on 100k!

[@orryfishburne5326]

Love the BD-2! My favorite iteration of the circuit is the Keeley Super Phat Mod though. I dont have the SPM, but the Super AT Mod which has the SPM circuit in it with addition to the AT mode. Its fantastic.

[@Mtn603]

Well deserved John, congrats! And a good family man as well!

[@Unusednickname_1970]

To me, the Blues Driver’s greatest strength is how dynamic it is, and how well it cleans up with the guitar volume. Its weaknesses are the harsh clipping and crackly note decay. It is a fine drive pedal for the money, and the Waza version is great too.

[@daanbours9654]

I had one but just sold it. I think it sounds great especialy with the gain between 9 en 13 o clock. I agree that its weakness is the crackling note decay although I do not hear that in Johns demo. Great playing John as always. I’m a huge fan of your channel!

[@ArkAmps]

Phaez amps is doing in depth analytics of popular pedal designs and building his improved versions, I was hoping he would take time from tube amps to dedicate to pedal design, his new Overdrive 2 ready to be released is outstanding...

[@MrSpeed-lt8gr]

I’m on my third blues driver because I keep thinking “I need something better.” There is nothing better.

[@Brkprsn]

I took one apart. The secret is the jfet transistors. They have to use the same in the boss katana

[@Jimmy4Thumbs]

You've got a natural, budding sound engineer there. She's just trying to dial in your tone! Quit shewing her away. 😁

[@garthosborn8400]

I finally added a BD-2 to my board a couple months ago when it was on sale. I love its low gain settings. I use a SD-1 for higher gain settings. But I could just as easily use a second BD-2 for higher gain settings.

[@yikelu]

Sitting here seeing you at 100k. Congratulations man!

[@angrybuzzy]

Really beautiful intro, JNC. Being a dad has been good for your musicality! The b3-3 phrase at the end of 2:07 cracked me up. ;-)

[@paramedicpete7502]

Well done on your achievements John! Thanks for all of the inspiration!

[@peaner083]

Wow,live your playing dude👍 great stuff I just ordered this pedal, can't wait hey.

[@charliekrengel1344]

YES. Love seeing my fav drive circuit guy some love.

[@sjsphotog]

Gorgeous tones as always JNC

[@southpaw335]

Congrats on the 100K John ! i have a BD2W that has been off the board for a while, might be time to give it another shot.

[@TheDilligan]

Can you believe Line6 has yet to make a model of this thing?

[@italianbirdvideos6190]

Thank you for the video. I have always found the Blues Driver too fizzy on the top end. I much prefer the OD-3 or SD-1 tone curves. I found them much more usable and capable of doing similar jobs.

[@BeefNEggs057]

Yes different than most drive pedals but fizzy like in this demo. Everyone has a different sound they are looking for.

[@elgordotramposovc]

We are all waiting for your thoughs on the IR-2. Please BOSS, send this man one! (and one for me too!)

[@benhanbury]

Yes please

[@tonystartup3817]

One turned up for John today so expect a video soon

[@davidqueen5098]

What an awesome video! Love the pedal

[@picksalot1]

Considering the popularity of of the Blues Driver, and the many requests for an emulation of it to be added to the Line 6 Modelers, it remains a mystery why it hasn't. 🤷

[@synonyx]

I love my blues driver, Sounds amazing at edge of breakup through a tweed amp.

[@Deep_Jimpact]

Congratulations John. I’ve been told you hit big numbers now.

[@marcoguitarjournal]

Amazing playing ✨ just tried this pedal today, what a killer.

[@HockeyMC5989]

Love the blues driver, it can do everything

[@bryancollins6796]

Keep at it. Canadians like your playing, too! You'll get there. The BD-2, stock, at mid gain, is a great tool.

[@garyoneill5648]

congrats bud well deserved your content is awesome. I love my JB2 wouldn't be without it! Pairs awesome with ODR1 or if you want higher gain dans side of the D&M drive.

[@SFCUSA]

Great playing and tone!

[@expresidentfortune]

congrats Sir, deserved.

[@cassavamellin]

Been playing since mid 80s. Finally picked up a BD. Great pedal, has more gain like a fuzzier overdrive. But a very quality pedal. I hate boss distortions but really appreciate the OD3 and this one

[@villentretheimert7789]

Ive got Harley Benton good cop/bad cop pedals, which has one side modified copy of blues driver, and i love this pedal. Inexpensive, nice tones, and also u can boost him by second section to full overdrive mode. I can recommend anyone looking for some chewy tones with some sparkle, as its actually really inexpensive

[@Strat642001]

Just did rebuild of my pedalboard and a purge of all the pedals I wasn't bonding with anymore. Drives are down to Kelley Super Phat Mod, a mini Tumnus and a Pettyjohn Gold Mk. I as a foundation drive. Absolutely love the Keeley Mod in the Blues Driver.

[@joemanez5290]

I agree about the Kelley Phat Mod! That’s the only other pedal I have on my board with my HX Stomp. I think it’s totally underrated (though acknowledge that nothing from Keeley is really “underrated”). I don’t get why they’re not all over the place.

[@djillogika]

We tune in to this channel for John’s unique sense of humor. Also, looking forward to Elodie picking up the guitar one day 😉

[@noahblades82]

I bought the angry driver and the extra switch and love it,

[@JohnMcGFrance]

Think I’ve had my BD-2 for over 20 years. Great pedal.

[@fndrr42]

Congrats man

[@flyzerogravity]

Thk u next pedal I buy! I have sic pedal board but don’t have that one. Btw bought a used JS1000 because of your best Ibanez vid and love it! Been studying your channel a while love your style of playing!

[@robertiboy7315]

Congrats John , I have the exact same blue shark at my house 👍🏻

[@dariocintra3183]

Nice video! I recently bought hx stomp and since I saw your video pairing the hx stomp with an overdrive pedal I have been thinking of buying a blues driver. Wonder how the bd2 would hold up to the boss od3 which I recently saw one of your videos stating that it is the best boss overdrive pedal. Anyways great playing as always!

[@TeenDaad]

I’ve always not liked these cause they seemed harsh and noisy but this video is making me think I should revisit one - great playing and sounds!

[@CJLee-jd2lh]

Congrats again on 100K! But I almost didn't want to click this video because you're breathing fire to my GAS for BD2. lol I'm telling myself daily 'I don't need any more overdrive.. i don't.. i dont'...'

[@JohnNathanCordyFactBot-br8is]

John had a large European following, but he ducked into an alley and lost him.

[@terrykorsmo3586]

It took me a moment, but I got it :-)

[@christopherjbutler]

🤣

[@seanbeck6232]

😂😂😂

[@elih7182]

What does it mean?

[@BeefNEggs057]

🫤😒 Euro humor or Northern US. Too much snow…

[@CampFireMike543]

Wow the sound on that guitar is so good very rich, melodic and very masterfully done !!! Fantastic job 👍 keep on keeping on. . . Just gotta ask one ? Take it u got a bit of verb and delay goin, pedals or software

[@89ji76]

Fun fact: McDonald’s Japan used to have an item called Otona no Creampie which translates to Adult Creampie.

[@johnRivs]

Fantastic tone @ 8:00 before you engage the pedal. Do you happen to remember the setup for that sound?

[@Commonsenseprevails23]

Well deserved your an excellent player

[@guitarplayingman]

JUST ORDERED ONE!!!!

[@claudioalbanesi7727]

I have one of this and I had it for many years, love the BD2. Lately I am not using it that much but I always preferred it against the tubescreamer. I don't know why everybody is crazy about the tubescreamer I never got to make it ok for me.

[@svetoslavslavov7215]

Great pedal

[@Boris_Chang]

I’ve seen several pundits putting either a BD2 or a Timmy in front of a Tube Screamer for a “one-two punch”

[@qbbowman]

Congrats on 100k! 🎉🎉

[@viniciusgusmao796]

I have the waza version. The best overdrive i've already have. Before i spent some money on another boutique overdrives, but nothing beat the bd2 waza.

[@raulfossa_realtor]

Did you use anything else besides the BD-2 to get that lead tone? Great video!

[@Allsystemsaredown]

Lovely vibe on the intro. You've got some pretty mean picking for someone who claims to be a legato player! Any hints on technique for the run at 2:40ish? Are you straight alternate or economy?Do you think about the Troy Grady pick slanting stuff or is it all intuitive? Cheers!

[@neilevans6229]

Welcome to the club

[@ogmakefirefiregood]

Im still a big fan of the OD1. Am i wrong? Should i get both? I also have a Klon. Not the pedal, the alien species.

[@sirtreebeard]

I had a modded blues driver and I truly wish I still had it.

[@BrettBurlison]

Wish you would tab more of your intros.😊

[@anonimogtr49]

Bro, could you make a playlist of the videos in which you talked about drives, distortions, etc.?

[@Johnny-oy9fh]

Totally....along with the SD-1

[@waynedoherty7758]

Saw an interview with Courtney Barnett who had one of these and broke the switch as she was using it so often. Really got to try one of these one day! Also keen to check out a Greer lightspeed, and 1981 Drive and lvl. So many pedals so little time 😂

[@odyssey6684]

Congratulations on 10K!!! There's a reason why the Blues Driver won two different shootouts on Anderton's. It sounds great, especially with an SD-1 pushing it as a boost. As for whether it's better than a Klon, depends on the application. It really fattens up the high notes.

[@vinivola]

100k mate

[@craigdanj]

He's at 100k now

[@DoubleDguitar]

I heard him say 10k and thought…hold it now, he’s gotta be well beyond that. And yeah, 10 times that lol. He deserves 10 times more, asap.

[@SD_UK]

Enjoyed this, thanks. I've had that 'hobby' many of us have - buying and flipping pedals, and of course checking each them out for a while. I don't play 'blues', but - after all these years - I have settled on a BD-2. It was there - in plain sight - all this time. I'm really diggin' it.

[@kevinsturges6957]

Nice guitar, nice edge breakup sound!

[@BobbyCulpepper.srv3fender]

What is the closest thing to a blues driver in helix?

[@KeithShelley1]

I've gotten similar results with the Rat variants. I hear it's got the same clipping setup as a BD.

[@neal_laugman]

Watch out - little girl on the move! As all little girls do to guys, she will twist your heart for that next piece of candy, dolly, etc.🤣🤣🤣

[@George-kn3nc]

This effect pedal works pretty good on my acoustic/electric guitar.

[@alguitarchristie]

I have the new Keeley Andy Timmons pedal and it's great. One side is the Phat mod and the other is Andy's new design with Keeley, so it's great if you are changing from Strat to gibson, you just flick the switch, the Phat mod has more low mids. You should try one.

[@ElimRem]

I have the modified version of this pedal the Keeley Phat mod.

[@prw139]

Awesome as always. Were you also using a Line 6 here?

[@sadsismint]

Tonally and even in your note choices, I actually think you sound a lot like Buckethead in a lot of this playing. It's fucking gorgeous.

[@zigballiveguitar]

I think Boss should now make a two channel version of this pedal. I guess they have the OD-200.

[@ChristopherDowning]

I would like to see a couple of videos where you are talking about how and why to have these 'extra' pedals on a board that has a Helix of some sort. i.e. Why are you adding something that is surely in the Helix (modeler)? Is it convenient? Does it just work better live? Is it sounds of the past nailed in a pedal? This hybrid modeler approach with outboard pedals is confusing. I have an MXR Chorus I really like and swapped out the BB Preamp for a Maxon 808. And I have an RC Boost. These are the sorts of pedals I think you might want to keep - but aren't they in the Helix Stomp? I want to go basic - but will I lose out when I have no pedals?

[@YourHomeSmart]

Hi John. Unrelated to this video, I'm thinking of using two UA amp sim pedals (Dream and Ruby) instead of taking my amps to shows. When a guitarist does this, isn't he/she now relying on the quality of PA. In other words, if the venue has a terrible PA (like speakers on stands in a coffee shop music night), the sound might be not great if the speakers/PA is pretty poor. What are your thoughts on this. Thanks so much!

[@ArkAmps]

Phaez amps is doing in depth analytics of popular pedal designs and building his improved versions, I was hoping he would take time from tube amps to dedicate to pedal design, his new Overdrive 2 ready to be released is outstanding...