What's The Difference? Boss Blues Driver and Marshall Blues Breaker

So you're after a blues tone but you don't know which pedal to buy; the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver or a Marshall Blues Breaker (or equivalent style pedal). They have both become 2 of the most cloned overdrive circuits out there. But why would you choose one over the other? I got a hold of both so I could find out What's The Difference?
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[@mattgilbert7347]

I love it when we have another guitarist in the band and one of us uses a Fender-type/single coil guitar with the BD-2 as the core tone and the other uses a Gibson LP/SG-type/Humbucker-equipped guitar with a Bluesbreaker derived pedal. Tubescreamer or Klone each for a mid boost, maube a Fuzz or Muff for leads, and we're gold!

[@jensk4140]

I agree, that sounds golden!

[@pearljaime2]

How can you not spot the difference? The blues breaker is clearly bigger and painted black whereas the blues driver is smaller and blue.

[@Sd12sx23]

I already have a blue pedal, so I think I have buy the black one.

[@davidjoel111]

I own a blues driver, I don't own a blues breaker, but I have a Wampler pantheon and a JHS morning glory that are similar circuits to the blues breaker, like you said, I feel the blues driver cuts more low end than my blues breaker style pedals, but in my opinion both the pantheon and the morning glory feel better under my fingers than the blues driver. I love the circuit, my board currently has the morning glory always on, the pantheon as a second stage gain and I stack them for lead tones, no other drive pedals in my board. Even if they're the same circuit, I feel the pantheon pushes the mid frequencies a bit more than the morning glory.

[@curiousuranus810]

Brilliant post. You've just convinced me to get a Blues Breaker.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Just at the right time, they've reissued them.

[@alexchai8833]

I have a Snouse Blackbox (BB Clone) and the BD2, I love them both and use it in different applications. Being the massive John Mayer fanboy that I am, both pedals pair well with a Tubescreamer, BD2 + TS gives you the trio tone, BB + TS gives you Continuum and Where the light is tone

[@GroundbreakGames]

Which do you run first in the chain when you use them together.

[@alexchai8833]

@@GroundbreakGames personally I’m running both the Snouse Blackbox and the BD2 before the TS circuit. So the signal chain is TC Spark > Blackbox > BD2 > JHS Bonsai and so on, but I never stack the Snouse and BD2 together, I find it too Grindy

[@winstonsmith8236]

You check out the Nordvang Mayer dual drives? I grabbed both and they’re phenomenal

[@kissapeles]

Have u considered getting a Klone? If yes, where would u put it in your John Mayer chain?

[@type197]

Its for this very same reason that I bought the King Tone Duellist. That is essentially a Bluesbreaker and a Tubescreamer in the same box... Love it!

[@jordanpeacock8774]

This video has made me determine that I need both on my board.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Sorry 😉

[@kissapeles]

@@JasonAyalaSpare man you make life hard. Jk. Great vid!!! Keep it up

[@23kyd49]

I love it. If one is good than two is better.

[@angusorvid8840]

Both are fine pedals but the Blues Driver takes the cake. My rule with Marshall style/Marshall in a box pedals is they are great for giving a Fender style amp more of a Marshall tone, and Fender style pedals do the same for Marshalls but never as well. The Blues Driver is really its own thing and works as well in front of Fender style amps as Marshall style. I discovered the Blues Driver when a friend who is a great blues player got one to put in front of an old Boogie Mark I with a JBL speaker. It sounded great. I've been a fan ever since.

[@dannyllerenatv8635]

I've tried several bluesbreaker pedals and always wind up back to the JHS morning glory. The Boss BD-2 is also a pretty cool overdrive, it is transistor based with FET transistors cascading into one another similar to how a tube amp breaks up.

[@sixslinger9951]

BD-2W is great!

[@slowpoke7888]

@@sixslinger9951 Yep, Keeley Super Phat Mod is my #1 drive pedal.

[@markferguson3745]

What's the same? IMO, the BD2 is one of the truly unique drive options, in it's own category, like the BB, Klon,TS, Dumble, or Hudson Bcast.The BD is popular because it has a broad range, and instant impact, especially given its buffer.Something a newbie can plug in , and instantly understand, - but you shouldn't be confused into thinking it's only an entry level pedal. It's been, and remains, on a lot of touring boards for good reason. There are arguably better copies of the BB circuit around now, - like the Morning Glory.No need to spend stupid money on a " vintage" sub standard build,- unless you have money you specifically wanted to p#ss away.

[@stevelaferney3579]

Thanks for the bit of Boss BD-2 you showed/played. I just knew the way you were approaching the Marshall BB that was your favoured pedal & we fans & wanna learn about the BD-2 mightbe fans we’re gonna get shorted. But you did talk about it some more towards the end, so thank you for that. BTW you seem to be the only one so far out of at least a dozen videos to get a decent tone out of the BD-2 which I know has great potential as I’ve heard it before. Cheers & keep playing. : )

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

With the strat into the fender I prefer the BB, but going into a higher gain amp I prefer the BD-2.

[@jesusfreakster101]

I may be too fond of BB clones- run a Monte Allums modded BD2 and a MG v4 in a rig with 4 ODs. Different tonalities to my ear, Used to run MG as transparent but now use Wampler Moxie (screamer clone) which adds depth when stacked on either of the breaker clones. Sweet skills you have Sir, thank you for this video!

[@dank3435]

check out the Blammo BB clone

[@michaelmattson3515]

I bought my BD at a pawn shop many years ago for 15 bucks. Did a jack repair been great since. I run it into a Marshall Reverb 75 combo.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Scored!

[@ParaBellum2024]

I have a Reverb 75 too. Great amps! I'm looking out for a BD-2 on eBay, but for some reason people are paying nearly as much for used ones as for new ones. I also have an EHX Glove and 1980s Guyatone PS-015, so I'm hoping the BD-2 is sufficiently different from them.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

@@ParaBellum2024 I don't really understand why they hold their value so well, they're not exactly rare..

[@ParaBellum2024]

@@JasonAyalaSpare Right now they appear to be out of stock in the UK, and I get the feeling KZbin's algorithm has led to more interest in them. We're subjects in a social experiment.

[@voxpathfinder15r]

Low output pedals like the BB can be annoying. But there is a way around it. Just dime the amp to work with the BB and guitar volume around 7-10. For clean tones, roll off guitar volume and click the pedal off.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I just run the BB with the vol at 3:00 which gives me unity.

[@thisdyingsoul76]

I had both. They stack nicely. I still have a couple of BB variants. I think I might find the BD again.

[@agustinmarioquiroga3776]

Thanks for clearing this up. Looking forward to checking out your other vids 🤙🏾

[@bryantherocker]

Blues driver is a cascading transistor circuit, not an op-amp

[@stevenburvenich168]

Yes and no. Almost every opamp is internally a bunch of transistors basically arranged like the basic amplifying blocks in the blues driver. The blues driver ones are not complex and offer interesting response, but they are very simple imperfect opamps. On top of that there are symmetric hard diode clippers in there as well. The blues driver is an awkward device. Never personally really liked it, but I like the originality of the circuit.

[@kimmolingonheimo]

@@stevenburvenich168 Thank you Steven, to me it sounds a pedal I couldn get a pleasing tone of. The Mad Prof Simble is my main/always on ped clean, after that to taste: MP Royal Blue/BOSS OD-3/Mosky Deluxe Preamp/Tomsline Bluesy/ Dod Looking Glass/Nobels ODR-1/Mosky/JOYO/Saphue US Dream/Caline Pure Sky/Tomsline Dumbler.................all into ZOOM G2 for some reverb/delay ( and heavy lead tone...) All in all Ive managed to cut down if not the number but the cost of pedals during time: having had the DUDE,HRM, Mojohand DMBL, MI Crossover for 200€ pedals that didnt respect the Mad Prof Simble clean delicacy! My advice: get the Simble if you can ( discontinued) or the Twimble( the Simble in the Twimble is a bit modded why I dont have it(( but Ive gathered 4 Simbles)), cheers from Kimmo😎

[@stevenburvenich168]

@@kimmolingonheimo thx for the info. I mod and solder my own taste. The best overdrive so far is a modded bluesbreaker circuit. A little more compressed yet still way open on low gain setting.

[@56davidwright]

I had a Westinghouse that did everything since 1975...replaced it with a Miele and blew a gasket within two years!

[@Patriotic327]

To one of my go to guitar you tubers. I noticed Marshall released a new reissue of the Bluesbreaker. Right now in life I’m interested in BD2 or Tumnus.

[@bigwavedave8492]

So pretty much the only thing the have in common is the fact that they both have the word BLUES in their names that's man I have used a blues driver clone for awhile now and always wondered if they were similar

[@castleanthrax1833]

The BD2 has a lot more gain than the blues driver, and imo is the better sounding pedal.

[@godbyone]

Love the bd2 had keely mod. Sold it. Was so mad . Finally got another

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

@@godbyone how does it compare to the BD-2 waza?

[@leehenderson8132]

Blues driver is a good pedal,but if Marshall did it right there is no comparison. And additional volume IS ALWAYS GOOD.

[@mca1960]

I own both of them for now a couple of years. I found the Blues Driver better, because it had a better sound range with also more volume. Today I use my Behringer VT999. This is for me the best pedal, and of course it works with a real tube.

[@michaelcraig9449]

Blues Breaker is a lot better, but not cheap anymore. Another great one is Marshall Drive Master, just the same as the Guv'nor pedal, but much less costly.

[@roscius6204]

I've been running one into a Marshall since I bought it new 🤗 Responds nicely to a boost in front too, I use a Fulltone 2B but a clean Klon or Tim work well

[@christopherhansford6429]

The worst thing about overdrives is that you can't play them all. I love the Blues Driver.

[@thislisa]

Blues Breaker for me! Or actually Blues Crab.

[@andrelousada]

I got one too. Not bad.

[@markpickardlife]

Good comparison. Thank you!

[@neal750ss]

Got to say, it's all really a matter of taste, but I have an original blues breaker which I won't be parted from (not even for the price people are selling them for!! Still have the box!)

[@watchyourtoneman5061]

Great Vid, thanks for posting!!

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Thanks, I love these pedals!

[@tonybrown7847]

Blues breaker sounds nice but too expensive for what it does imo

[@friedrudibega6384]

This video needed to be made. Have you used the Wampler Pantheon? Blues Breaker on roids. Plenty of gain and clipping options. Love both those pedals. Good vid.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I'm interested in trying it and maybe also the Snouse black box and JHS morning glory.

[@mdmusic2130]

I have a pantheon and it’s killer!!!!Fantastic versatile overdrive!!!Highly recommend!!!

[@douchecraft3113]

thanks, middle age man! - another middle aged man

[@lastofthe4horsemen279]

I like the Blues Driver never used the other l got an ODR1 and love it.Will try out the JHS tho

[@bayuardyawan]

The pedal drive distortion family from the boss brand in my opinion sometimes chooses the amp. If you find the right amplifier, it will be good.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I'd agree, The blues driver sounds better with my Marshall.

[@kimmolingonheimo]

btw, I get great Bluesbreaker tones with Tomsline Bluesy+ Nobels ODR-1!😎

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I'm going to have to try the ODR-1, so many people swear by it.

[@jimwarner8071]

Really well done. Thank you.

[@MaxPower-js1sk]

Great video, mate. Have you tried the Donner Blues Drive? It’s a clone of the Keeley Phat Mod. It’s great, I should have sold my Fulldrive and kept the Donner, but I’m too shallow. It’s worth a look if you like Blues Breakers.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I've seen them advertised, never tried it.

[@MaxPower-js1sk]

@@JasonAyalaSpare The Donner Blues Drive is particularly good. It was almost as good as my Fulltone Fulldrive 2, and it stacked well with my other pedals. I also had the Rowin Dumbler, which was quite good, but nowhere as good as my Simble clone. There's a guy from SA who makes great clones. He sells them on eBay. I have a couple of his clones.

[@MaxPower-js1sk]

@@JasonAyalaSpare I bought the Donner Blues Drive and Morpher distortion, which is a Riot clone, on Amazon last year for $29 (free delivery). I don't know how much they are now. The Blues Drive was very good. I sold them because I'm too shallow to replace my expensive pedals with cheap Chinese clones. I’ve been playing since the mid-70s and the Blues Drive was one of the best ODs I've tried. I've moved on to ADLFX clones from eBay. The Simble clone I bought sounds better than my Wampler Euphoria. I bought Friedman Smallbox clone too so that I can get Marshall sounds out of my Princeton for recording.

[@mattgilbert7347]

It's the Mooer Blues Mood.. Excellent pedal. Keeley BD-2 phat mod clone

[@mattgilbert7347]

@@MaxPower-js1sk i bought his Buffalo FX TD-X clone and want to get his Wampler Sovereign clone

[@blazeconnolly9960]

I prefer the Blues Driver 👍 that's why I own it , it sounds great on my humbuckers

[@FranciscoYosores]

I love this review! I got a lot from it.

[@ptalley316]

I loved your clean sound:)

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

You've got to start on a good base

[@kosmicwizard]

Great video! Thanks.

[@fastacesus8499]

Been through a few of these Blues Breaker derivatives. It stopped when I got a Wampler Pantheon. It has some great options making it easy to get the tone you want. I do however use it Blues Breaker mode... Both switches down. I do have a thing for the Boss Blues Driver another versatile pedal which can cover a lot of ground.

[@FaberGT86]

Don't like the bass loss on BD-2? Buy a Keeley Super Phat Mod. 😉

[@tubularbill]

The BD-2 to me is the best overall pedal ever made

[@GeneralAdmission_1]

I don't understand what you were saying about the volume of the blues breaker. You were saying that the volume needs to be turned up, but when turned up it was double unity like you said.. seemed kinda contradictory to me

[@JimBoom92]

Cool demo. Thanks a lot. Do you know any overdrive pedal / circuit which does not cut the bass? Best regards from Austria.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Try the Timmy by Paul Cochran. 🇦🇹

[@piedaterre8843]

boss pedals are a sui generis- you need to know how to use them _especially the earlier models- the tone knobs are always way too bright, so for tone, it might be good to start off around 9:00- Not a good idea to have more than 2 boss pedals on one board, the buffer quality is all over the place and more than 2 boss pedals really starts to suck tone- The BD2 specifically has an odd gain range, after 12:00 the thing starts "clip out" and a kind of blocking distortion (not a good thing) starts to happen, a good idea is to keep that gain knob under 12 to begin

[@stewarttomkinson3356]

I like the blues driver

[@simply3141592654]

I like the Wampler Pantheon as a modern take on the Bluesbreaker pedal.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I haven't tried one yet.

[@TheVoiceofUnreason]

Caig Deoxit for all your crunchy knob needs.. 🧐

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

Bd2 is not asymmetrical clipping.

[@Spetsnazty]

Chad Sheraton 2 enjoyer. I also have an ebony from 08

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Nice, mine sounds great, but doesn't stay in tune.

[@perro_8688]

What's wrong with that volume knob in blues driver? What's the point of having a boost/overdrive pedal that sounds significantly quieter that just a clean channel.

[@fisiosaiter]

One drives the other breaks

[@zodiacbluesbaby]

So you have to dial the BB up virtually full on all dials to get any appreciable effect?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Yes, it's one of the issues with the BB, it has one usable setting. What it comes down to is do you like that setting?

[@pierreb6637]

Thank you for this good demo !

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

No problem 🎸

[@officalhumblefish565]

I use both in my rig

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Can't have enough flavours of overdrive.

[@hikupmusicofficial]

you should do one about boss st2 vs marshall gv2 plus

[@castleanthrax1833]

Yes, that sounds good. I've been thinking about the Power Stack for a while now. ✌️🇦🇺

[@WillBrahm]

This was great

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Thanks

[@trefwoordpunk2225]

"that knob is a little bit crunchy"..... err guess knob doesn't mean same to you as it does to me!!

[@jerryyeaaah15]

oh god😂

[@klfdqjmqboiklnkq]

Bd2 sounds harsh to me. No way to tone down that fizziness without making the pedal dull. Does the BB also have this harsh high end?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

@klfdqjmqboiklnkq I find with this guitar/amp combination the BB was better suited. I prefer the BD with humbuckers

[@klfdqjmqboiklnkq]

That makes sense. A friend likes his bd2 with humbuckers. To me with single coil tele it sounds raspy.

[@aris9125]

Blues Driver or The Duellist? can you recommend me? one is cheaper than the other

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

The Dualist is a Blues Breaker and nobles circuit.

[@thatguy7850]

I know we all came here for the pedals, but am I the only one that wanted to hear more of the clean tone?... :)

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

When you strip everything back, your guitar into amp tone should sound good. If it's not then it's like pushing shit uphill.

[@andersbarfodsvaneskolan9378]

I leave the tone knob around 9 o'clock on the boss blues driver and drive around 11 oclock and the volume just above unity.. It works on my telecaster single coil bridge pickup (slighty darker alnico 2 pickup) playing rythm like ac/dc.. kid you not.. This is when playing loud with the band,, I do not find that it cuts much bass.. The boss super overdrive sd1 though.. that is a real mid booster with no bass or high treble.

[@misterknightowlandco]

Would you say that the blues breaker is more of a pre amp pedal than a typical dirt box? It seems that you have to crank the blues breaker to get any real meat out of it relative to the blues driver.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I never thought of it like that 🤔

[@olgoat6460]

I agree with this

[@gh0stransist0r]

JHS Morning Glory anyone ?

[@erichofmann17]

The morning glory is a Great pedal. But I think I prefer the Blues Driver Waza Craft.

[@mohammedfarija8758]

The personal irony of this is that I got my Mk1 Bluesbreaker by trading it for a Blues Driver (long story but yeah that’s an actual trade that happened) Ended up buying another blues driver. They both live on the board now

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Would you agree they're different?

[@mohammedfarija8758]

@@JasonAyalaSpare they wouldn’t both be on my board if they were the same. They’re both fantastic pedals, but they’re very different. I like the BD2 at the beginning of board as a boost and the Bluesbreaker at the end as both a tone shaper and my last overdrive. Your video really captures both pedals really well

[@markwick5192]

what stacking does john use on continuum era? and for the trio?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I honestly can't say 🤔

[@nathanw32]

Trio was believed to be BD into TS808 and continuum and WTLI was believed to be mostly BB into TS(idk if it’s 808 or 10 but they’re very similar)

[@tubularbill]

Difference is a about $700 in todays money…lol

[@billglassmusic7647]

Don’t really see the point of the video. As ‘Big Wave Dave’ said earlier, the only thing they have in common is the word ‘Blues’

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

The knobs are always crunchy on this pedal series. Originals too … general quality issue …

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

It's 30 years old, but yes there were some issues. The switches often broke.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

@@JasonAyalaSpare I have an original Guvnor, that I gave my dad. Started doing it before long. Bought a mint Shredmaster that had never been used a few years ago - model from before the reboot. Started getting crumbly right away. I’ve heard similar stories from other players too. The main switch on the Guvnor has a broken spring or something. You can press it down and turn on the pedal but you have to pull it back out manually to turn it off again. My dad was never a man to abuse his belongings. My takeaway so far is they just simply skimped on quality with the switches and knobs, but it’s no big deal really …

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

@whynottalklikeapirat Right, well hopefully they fixed these problems for the reissues.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

@@JasonAyalaSpare Yeah - time will tell …

[@eliasp8645]

is your amp a Deluxe Reverb or a Hotrod Deluxe?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Deluxe Reverb 68

[@joejohnson8966]

6:20 funky

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

It's from one of my songs called Holes in My Pockets

[@joejohnson8966]

Will check it out. @@JasonAyalaSpare

[@bradwoods371]

These are completely different pedals in terms of tone.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

That's why I compared them 🤔

[@Madmax-rz5hz]

Based on this the BB seems highly overrated. Boss always delivers and I have an Angry Driver which does even more

[@smoochie3331]

What amp did u use?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Fender deluxe reverb

[@smoochie3331]

@@JasonAyalaSpare I bought a blues breaker 30 years ago and sold it. Yesterday I bought another one 2000% higher price after watching your vid. That neck position is a killer.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

@@smoochie3331 I love it, easily my favourite overdrive.

[@smoochie3331]

@@JasonAyalaSpare have you compared it with the bd waza craft?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

@@smoochie3331 I haven't.

[@user-wf1qp2un1f]

Огонь!

[@Artefracture]

The Blues Breaker doesn't do shit considering that prices are all jacked up now by vile dadrockers. So transparent it's basically useless. The Blues Driver can sound great with the bridge pickup if you just dime the level. That's where the magic is.

[@VinnieBlues1]

I agree

[@angelvargaspartida1891]

"Vile dadrockers" lol

[@SteveSpears-Kuhlah]

You talk too much.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

you're probably right

[@SteveSpears-Kuhlah]

@@JasonAyalaSpare So do I 🙃

[@KRG54]

Great video! Thanks!!