Ugly Guitar Truth: JHS/BOSS JB-2 Angry Driver Pedal

Ever since the announcement of this pedal, my news feed and social media have been blowing up about the new BOSS/JHS collaboration. The JB-2 Angry Driver is a step in a new direction for BOSS. JHS, however, have done this before. They've partnered with Jet City on a A/B Buffered Line Driver boost type pedal. (I have one and it is just about perfect for my AC15) According to things I've read on the internet, this is the first time that BOSS has gone outside of their considerably large house to develop a new pedal. If you want to read the marketing copy, google elsewhere. Let's get ugly...

Blues Driver

I love the BD-2. It really is a versatile and classic pedal. It's filled with great tonal possibilities. However, many have discovered that the tonal possibilities they are looking for come in the form of circuit modification. The humble Blues Driving have become the Honda Civic of the pedal world. Many well intentioned souls set out by buying a slightly used model with hopes of one day creating the ultimate machine. Only, they wake one day after hours of labor and money spent with something that is barely functioning much less better than when they started. I for one have removed buffers, replaced opamps and changed LEDs all for very little gain. Not to say that there aren't any worthy modifications. Keeley has done world a service by creating the quintessential BD-2 mod. It's like the movie where Sandra Bullock is a cop the has to be in a beauty pageant. Objectively, she accomplished and proficient, but be ready to bust out the double sided tape...

Angry Charlie

I haven't as much experience with an Angry Charlie pedal as I have with a Blues Driver, but the pedal as quite the following. The pedal is being used by anyone from novices to pros. I'm not going to tell you that the Angry Charlie is a slightly modified MI Audio Crunch Box, but there are those that believe that and they sound like they know what they're talking about. You could show me the schematics for both pedals, point out the similarities in the circuits and make a contextual demonstration of that information via puppet show and I still would struggle to grasp "how" the two pedals are similar. Honestly, most gain pedals work very similarly so saying someone is copying another is true in one way or another. But then you have the baggage the JHS carries with it. They is, very literally, hate had for JHS for associations that the founder has/had with certain religious groups. It comes up nearly in every thread involving JHS. I've also written about it. It's out there.

Angry Driver

Ok, at this time I've yet to use one of these pedals. It has just been announced so very few people have. So let's talk about what we know about it so far.

Take a breath.

They've taken the three knob tone stack from the Angry Charlie and given it a single Tone knob. This is somewhat understandable since they are squeezing two pedals into a single compact BOSS enclosure. However, imagen if they had gone with a regular medium-sized enclosure and given the Blues Drive a three band EQ (we already have one with a two band EQ. It's called a Digitech Screaming Blues"). I've spent most of my morning watching Youtube reviews of this pedal, and the only one that sounds decent to my ears is Rebea Masaad's. (The others range from eh to eww. Is it that hard to get decent tones out of this thing? Is this the new Metal Zone? Concentric knobs!!! Metal Zone confirmed!!!!!!) We get 6 modes of operation on this pedal, which is nuts, but let's not forget to mention that this pedal absolutely has a BJ mode. Just puting it out there. While we are being superficial, lets mention the fact that the pedal is probably the only BOSS pedal I'd call "hard to look at". It's not any uglier than any other BOSS pedal but that red on white color scheme is hard on the eyes. In fact, I officially recommind that you only look at it with those paper sunglasses you had to get to look at the solar eclipse. You'll with you had those glasses on when you see how much this pedal will set you back. Two hundred dollars for this bastardised Blues Driver. I think that makes this the most expensive single compact drive pedal that BOSS has put out. I get that it says "JHS" on it, but come on BOSS. We know this pedal was all you. But BOSS did the market research and found out that stamping three letters on the front would mean that they'd sell just as many at $200 as the would at $99. Thank you to all those JHS fanboys out there that pay out the nose to have you pedals put in pretty boxes. Alright, I think I'm done.

Conclusion

I'll admit. I'm excited to play one of these pedals. It's like seeing a miniature pony drive a car. Those two things don't belong together. I wouldn't believe someone if they were to tell me that it would happen, but now we have them, a unholy union that has spawn this abomination.

Boss Blues Driver VS Digitech Screamin' Blues

Earlier this year I was hanging out in guitar forums, go figure and I saw a thread about the Boss Blues Driver. There was some people discussing its merits and if they should buy one. A trusted source that reads schematics like children's books insisted that the Blues Drive and Digitech's Screamin' Blues overdrive was a direct copy of the BD-2. He even mentioned that some of the mods made famous by some, have been made mote by the addition of a Bass knob. This made Digitech's pedal look rather attractive. So, later, when I saw that MF had a Stupid Deal Of The Day where they sold the pedal for $30, I bought it. I do have a modded BD-2 so is the Screamin' Blues really its superior?

Boss BD-2 Blues Driver

The first time I ran across this pedal, I didn't like it. It seemed to make everything sound static-y. Running the tone past noon seemed to just make things thin. Running into a AC15, I couldn't get the two to jive. After chasing tone for a while, I came back around to the BD-2. I wanted to give it another go. Its application is legitimate. I do like it in some situations. I have a unit that is modded pretty heavily, mostly to increase the bass. Now the unit has a large, tight low-end. The pedal is a little bit of a sleeper, but usable.

The Digitech Screamin' Blues

Back to back these pedals sound very similar. When A/Bed The Digitech can match the stock BD-2 at every turn. With the more flexible tone section, the Screamin' Blues gets into other territories. It will get a little fatter sounds, and for the most part does a good just as adding bass without getting muddy. Is it the best sound Blues Drive pedal? No. It is flexible and usable. Unlike The BD-2, this pedal is usable out of the box. However, this pedal falls flat when you consider that it is difficult to mod and change if you wanted to. It also looks and feels cheaper. Digitech pedals don't hold up as well as Boss pedals do. Plus, they are a little wider, so make some room on your board.

Conclusion

Both of these pedals will give some nice tones. If you know how to tweak you tone, then I'm sure you'll find some setting that is pleasing. However, the best pedal just make you start changing your amp tone, but allow you to shape the pedals sound to compliment your amp. Stock, out of the box, I'd have to give the edge to the Digitech. However, I don't trust it. On the other hand, You can buy two for the price of one Blues Driver...

The Case for Another Tube Screamer (EHX East River Drive)

So if you haven't heard, EHX has been cooking up some new dirt. There has been some backlash since a few of their "ideas" haven't been quite original. I posted my hands on review of their Mosfet (OCD) overdrive. This, if you couldn't tell be the extreme use of green or the title of this blog, is a tube screamer close. Cloning the TS-9 and it's derivatives have been copied so many times and ways that it is hard to keep track. Why on earth would anyone put another of the same thing into the world. Ibanez has cornered the market on their green box. They have the TS-9(the old stand-by $100), TS-7,  TS-5(all plastic), TS-9DX(TS with an extra knob), and the TS-808(an expensive all metal TS with a couple different resisters). They all share the same circuit. So it makes it hard to stand out in the middle of such a crowd. What makes The ERD different? It has a sexy boutique-style case, true bypass, mechanical switch, and a slick decal.

What about the sound? Those who follow the world of pedals know the name aNoLoG.MaN. I name synonymous with quality tone. He is the one who made the DS-1 into something so sought after that he was once backordered for a year. EHX bought the MaN himself in on the design of this pedal. He himself admits that it is explicitly an 808 clone. He consulted on the design of the circuit and the parts used in the build. Hopefully some of his Mojo rubbed off in the process. Everything I've read from EHX fails to mention the pedal guru by name, so kudos I guess for not name dropping. I would have been skeptical if I had not read the forum that he actually participates in.

So it looks like the ERD is a TS-9 with all the popular mods installed in it already in a pretty little boutique package designed by the "King of Tone" himself. Oh yeah, it's $58 and made in the USA. So there's that.

Boss BD-2 Blues Drive Mod

So I've been talking a lot about Boss pedal mods lately... there is a reason. Its because I've done a lot of them recently. I really enjoy messing around inside those little boxes and seeing what I can get out of them. It really is a lot of.... fun? Anyhow, Moute Allum has gotten me in a lot of trouble lately. He is putting out a lot of great stuff that I just have to have. I've posted a lot about OD pedals, like here and here, so you know I like a good dirt box. So when I finally got around to actually buy a Boss Blues Driver it was only a matter of deciding what I was going to do to it. I went with Moute again. I chose the H20 mod because it seems to offer what I would like in my little blue box. I took my time with the mod. I thought that this was going to really wow me like the GE-7 I had done before this one. Here is where the pattern breaks. I was able to side-by-side test this pedal with an unmodded twin and the differences were so slight that at times I was unable to identify which was the modded pedal. Now this was far from scientific. I ran both pedal in series so they had to pass through each others buffers, but as far as the great difference/improvements I have had in the past, there was no one thing I could point to and say was much better. Maybe some further testing is in order...

Here is what Mounte has to say:

Boss BD-H20 DIY Pedal Mod Kits - When searching for a name to call this mod I chose H2O because it's the symbol for water. Water can be clear or transparent and it can be light or heavy. This mod transforms the BD-2 into an almost completely transparent pedal letting the true character of your guitar, pickups and amp shine through. Not only is it almost completely transparent, it's also extremely Dynamic. As you turn the Gain knob up on the pedal you can control the amount of gain using the volume control on your guitar. The BD-H2O will react exactly like a tube driven amp. The shriek highs and splaty gain of the stock BD-2 are completely removed. Compared to our regular BD-2 mod this mod has a much flatter EQ.

My regular BD-2 Mod has a slight mid boost and a little less gain than the BD-H2O Mod. Both mods remove the shriek highs and splaty gain of the stock BD-2. The splaty gain of the stock BD-2 is a common gripe I hear about others that offer mods for this pedal. We have removed this issue with this pedal. We also include a Super Bright 3mm White Clear LED. We also modify a resistor to increase the brightness of the LED X3. You can use the LED as a flashlight on stage after the mod, it is that bright, almost blinding. I will boldly state that this is undoubtedly the best mod on the planet for a BD-2. And the really cool part is we won't break the bank with the price of our mods. We offer top quality parts and expert craftsmanship at very reasonable prices.