Boss BD-2W Waza Craft Blues Driver Pedal Reviews

Never owned a Blues Driver, but as a shoegaze fan, it's great. I like having both modes since they sit differently in mixes. Surprisingly, I really like it through a UA Ruby pedal. Brightens it up a. It.

Had a BD-2 many years ago, and regrettably let it go. Picked up this Waza version recently, and I like it even better now than I remembered. Works incredible as a boost pedal into a mid to high gain amp. Just sort of revoices things, opens things up, and doesn't add an unwelcome mid boost (great when you don't want that). Incredibly versatile. I think both the BD-2 and BD-2w are fantastic. I tend to use the Waza version in Standard mode, but happy to have the Custom mode there in case I want it.

Just what I was looking for. Stacks with my other OD pedals perfectly

Back in 5he 80s, I had a rack mount B.K. Butler Blues Driver, and it sounded great. Fast forward 40 years, and this one I could afford. So far, I am happy with it. Good tones that are easily called up. Waza craft is the real deal. I will happily keep this one in the lineup here at Wino City

98 Hotrod deluxe,Les Paul Jr.,few twist of the knobs, OUTSTANDING!!

I can't imagine anyone disliking this pedal,only negative is for me I didn't get one sooner.A lot of guitars,amps and effects are idol worship,who used it and on what.Honestly I have never owned the original blues driver,or ever played through one.Im not a huge fan of Boss distortion pedals.The original OD1 is killer,the SD1 and SD1W are great pedals,but always thought even the Keeley mod DS1 and other Boss dirt boxes sounded awful.I recently bought a SD1W cause I miss my old OD1.Its not a bad pedal,it's pretty cool actually ,but won't do what this does which is multitask.You can get a lot of sounds with this,it's not what I would use for metal,but from a slight clean boost to all out raw nasty rock and roll sounds it's great.I was always under the impression this was Boss trying to make a Tube Screamer and it's not.It sorta has a similar eq curve,but is more aggressive,has more gain,is crunchier.It sorta reminds me of putting a 1970s Marshall JMP into a pedal,it gets all those 70s classic rock tones ,sounds very amplike.I have a handful of overdrive,distortions out of all of them my Earthquaker Plumes and this one I would buy again and again if I had to.I use it in custom mode,the standard mode sounds good but the custom mode is more amp like and has better sustain.You would probably be okay with a standard Blues Driver honestly but it's hard to switch it back to standard mode after hearing the difference in the custom mode.Fantastic pedal,love it!!!

This is an iconic pedal for a reason.

You're basically getting four pedals in one: a clean boost (level up, gain down); an overdrive (gain noon-ish and below); a distortion (gain around 1-3ish); and a quasi-fuzz (gain almost maxed out). At every setting, the output sounds high fidelity to my ears. And it acts like a tube amplifier. I tend to use it as an overdrive most of the time. Even when I set the gain around 1 o'clock, the pedal still responds to picking strength. Picked lightly, the tone remains fairly pristine/clean. Picked hard, the tone gets heavy and distorted.

Add in that it has premium parts, it's analog, and it has the standard-custom switch--and it's even better.

I cannot recommend this pedal enough. It is spectacular.

Great pedal. Fast shipping. Codie was awesome. Gotta love sweetwater.

But for real, the pedal gives a great bluesy overdriven tone. It's my go to these days for so much.

I ended up replacing my MXR Overdrive pedal with this Boss BD-2 Waza Craft. I really like this pedal. It was recommended by my sweetwater sales rep and he did not do me wrong. I got this to have more versatility with one pedal. This pedal performs extremely well and "as it should" in all modes and settings. It can really get some unexpected sounds when the gain and input levels are cranked up. I love it!

I own a regular Boss Blues Driver (BD-2) and now a Blues Driver Waza (BD-2W). (Yes, Sweetwater, I bought both from you.) The best thing about the Blues Driver (either version) is that it doesn't shrink the bandwith of your tone, as can be the case with some other overdrive/distortion pedals. The tone spectrum is wide and has a lot of body. A great, thick overdriven sound. (Think Led Zeppelin I and II and The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again.") It does not do heavy metal. If you don't have either pedal and are looking for a great overdrive, I would go with the Blues Driver Waza (though both are superb pedals). The Blues Driver Waza is a bit quieter than the original, and it's cool to have the custom tone option, which does indeed have more sustain and low end. The ironic thing is that I like the standard setting on the Blues Driver Waza more than the custom. But again it doesn't hurt to have the custom option (especially for the bridge pickup of a Telecaster). As with all Boss pedals, the build quality is excellent. Finally, it's cool that the Blues Driver Waza is actually made in Japan. A pleasant surprise!

Not sure why you would need another pedal, really! This is the best. I know it says Blues Driver, but to me it has the iconic rock sound. You can tune it for any song. Growing up with rock in the 70's (Led Zeppelin, etc.), it just gets that sound and is awesome. Can't stop using it, the best!

On top of it, as others have written, Sweetwater really understands customer service. I had the wrong address number in my order, so FedX didn't deliver it. I emailed my rep, Nate Hutson, that evening and by the next evening I had my pedal. Thanks Nate for always following up and making me want to do more business with Sweetwater!

But this one is even better. The difference is not massive, but the new mod mode definitely gives it a certain fidelity that I feel is worth the extra dough. I use it last in the chain as my barely-dirty "amp sound" into a very clean JC-40, and it plays nice with harsher fuzzes and distortions that come before it. Also responds very well to things like compressors and clean boosts in front of it to wake it up with a little more gain.

I find it somewhat funny how much sweep the gain knob has on these BD-2s, because the high-gain sounds out of it are pretty crap, though I guess if it were your only gain pedal, you could make it work. It really shines in the low-to-medium gain arena, for your basic jangle and growl, or set it up a little above noon for ripping leads. That's its comfort zone, and honestly it's a masterpiece in that zone.

I bought this pedal to play with my smallish Fender solid state amp. I was looking for a certain sound, and this pedal delivers with no fuss. Sounds good a low volumes, and with a wide range of gain, and my Fender amp. I really like the switch that gives you a classic or custom sound.

It seems really well built so I'm betting it will last me for years.

I want to give a shout out to my sales engineer Eric Vogt who quickly - and patiently - answered my slew of newbie questions, and gave me some great recommendations as well. Great selection and help from Eric is why I head straight here to Sweeter for my gear.

I was pleasantly surprised at the tonal richness and dynamics of the BD-2w pedal. I have owned a standard BD 2 in the past, and was not nearly as impressed as i am with the Waza pedal. The tone and noise floor for both the standard and custom modes are excellent, and much better than the original. The built in buffer on the output has a nice sweet tone to it as well...very clean and musical...no frequency loss or bass boost. I love how dynamic the s and c modes are to pick attack just like an amp...less compressed than most OD pedals but still roars when you turn up the gain...my Mesa Triaxis and Rectifier preamps love this pedal. I am driving the clean channels at the edge of breakup and this pedal takes them over the top beautifully.

Outstanding pedal and does just what i was looking for. I run it right after my TS-9 tube screamer which gives me a bit more blues crunch. The Waza Craft part seems to provide more substain.

I really enjoy the stock OD1 and OD2 distortion channels on my Marshall DSL's, but I still wanted something that could sound heavier than their in-between 'Crunch" channel and be great at lower practice volumes, and I still like a little solid state overdrive unit sound on "10". There are lot of good overdrive pedals on the market, but after purchasing the Waza Craft analog delay, it just seemed right to check out the Waza Craft version of the Blues Driver. A good bit pricier, but super glad I did.

It cranks up the clean channel with a little or a lot of smooth saturation and sufficient midrange (good for my Fender Jazzmaster) without sounding muddy or compressed. Metal no, hard rock, yes. I wouldn't try blending it with onboard amp distortion, and you will experience a little line noise it you are chaining a lot of effects.

That being said, there's a reason almost everyone here gave the Waza Craft Blues Driver 5 stars. If you want to play more than blues, just skip the Tube Screamer and plug it in.

This pedal is slowly making me a fan of Boss pedals. I really dig the custom mode (the extra compression and low end is real). The buffer is great, the tone is great. This pedal can get a little fizzy sounding when the gain or tone is turned up, so don't do that. This pedal stacks really well with other drives and modulation pedals, too!

This unit kicksS!!!!!!!!!

Using the bd-2w with my strat on the bridge pu its gritty and a little more of a distortion than an over drive. But flip it to the neck pu and its warm and smooth. And the custom switch adds some good sustain and mids. Very happy with the pedal and i have a tough decision to make on whether i use my tube screamer or blues driver for gigs.

I must say I really love this pedal. I grew up to boss pedals in the 80s-90s and had many. I now collect boutique pedals and have had several recent OD pedals that Ihave been trying to get nice blues tone SRV inspired, but just could not achieve It. So I thought to give this a try and it nails that tone with my strat and blues Jr effortlessly! Q love the two custom switch it adds more Lowend for my strat and I use the standard tone for my Epiphone semi body to back off the lowend. Selling 2 of my OD pedals because this one replaced them. This also sounds good through my Roland JC-40 but then again that is a great pedal platform amp, so that does not surprise me. Thanks Boss and Roland for continuing to make solid good products. I am now a Roland and boss fan again as I was in my teens.

All I got to say this pedal produce a beautiful natural sound. Viva modern technology.

Finally a Pedal that doesn't need to be modded !!! And to tell you the truth it's modded from the factory so it doesn't get any Better ! IT's Pure Tone as is most Boss pedals ,I will never take it off my board unless I am taking it alone ! Thank you Sweetwater .

I am NOT a great electric guitarist. Playing a Fender American Strat and a Taylor T5 on a Blues Jr III as a beginner, even I can tell the difference over my cheaper OD pedal. I got this on the recommendation of a friend as a replacement for my other pedal. He was right, I am inspired to play more, try new riffs and songs, and try new tones. I get more sustain on notes when I need it, the neck pickup has better depth and crunch, and the bridge pickup has a great, raspy, crackly twang.
Thanks Sweetwater for carrying the Waza line!

I have always thought that the original BOSS Blues Driver had decent tone. The Waza version of this Overdrive is a different animal altogether. I absolutely love it I shy away from dirt pedals with only a single tone control but BOSS shaped to tone so well on the customer setting that not much adjustment is needed.
I would definitely repurchase if my WAZA BD was lost or stolen. High Five to BOSS on this one.

Took about an hour for me to get this pedal sounding good on my Blues Jr as the BJr does not take a bass laden signal well. Once I got the pedal dialed in I was very happy. The tone is quite different from my Jrockett Archer, OCD, Ibenez Tube Screamer. Sounds fantastic, is once of a kind tone, and am glad to have it in the arsenal.

Gives exactly the crisp crunch I've been looking for for ages. Lets just say that this has taken a place on my pedalboard previously inhabited by a hand built clone of a certain gold painted, very large, supposedly "transparent" overdrive named after a mythical creature.

This WAZA CRAFT Boss Blues Driver is FANTASTIC !!! It sounds crisp & clear on it's own. And, I like the Boss Pedals' large foot area space to stomp "on" and "off" with your foot - no small buttons! If you want to enhance your Blues Sound, this pedal will serve you well.

Perfect for what I was looking for. (I've been using the Boss GT series since they first came out.) I wanted a simple pedal with a lot of versatility that would let me use the tone of both my guitars and my George Benson Hot Rod Deluxe. I did m research, both on-line and in guitar shops, and when I was ready to go with the BD-2 my Sweetwater guy, Jared (who also helped me with the Hot Rod Deluxe), encouraged me to try the Waza Craft series. It's not a huge amount of difference, but it gives me some nice options in tone. I couldn't find a better distortion pedal for my current use.

This pedal makes my tone absolutely sparkle (Strat through a Hot Rod Deluxe w/ ext cab). I play mainly rock and this pedal gives me the clean, punchy, slightly dirty tone I'm after on most songs that require no drive. Flip it over to the bridge pickup and the crunch is right there when I need it, even with the gain at only 9 o'clock. The Waza custom switch does exactly what they describe... gives it a little more full body and a bottom end boost that isn't muddy. I'm disappointed in myself for wanting to try this pedal for so long and never buying it.

This product is wonderful! It gives just the sound I was looking for. But, what was even more impressive was the service I received from Sweet water. I have never experienced anything like it. Sweet water will be my first choice from now on. Thank you, Sweetwater!

Cuts thru the mix and at the sme time delivers fat warm sound!

This pedal in front of the clean channel on my Marshall DSL5 is all I need. I actually sold three other overdrive pedals because this one blew them away for my needs. If you buy this for what its made for then you won't be disappointed. Not for metal! Crunchy Blues tone all the way!

This pedal is very special. If you like to play the blues or classic rock, this is it. I play it through a Fender Blues Deluxe and it just sounds awesome. Versatile as it comes. Plenty of room to play and experiment. The Waza Craft takes it from 4.5 to 5 stars.

I have a tube amp, for home practice. I live in an apartment, and even at 5 watts, cranking my amp can bring on some noise complaints if I'm not careful. It has no gain knob, nor a master volume, so the only way to get an overdrive tone is to crank the volume knob. The only options are an attenuator or drive pedal. I thought I'd go the cheaper route and try a drive pedal.

Construction: Small, compact, heavy duty metal construction. This Boss design hasn't changed in decades, and that's a good thing. It even comes in a faux-leather black box, a nice touch for this premo edition. Nothing cheap or flimsy here.

Tone: It has a good variety of overdrive tones. Overall it tends to favor the bottom end, so it will darken up your tone. Also as you add gain, paradoxically it will start to sound smaller, that just all the hard compression. You can compensate the dark tone by adding treble with the tone control. and adding level for more presence.

Controls: Level: love this, it's a true independent volume control for the effect, so I don't have to worry about it interacting with the overall volume of the amp. Gain: Plenty on tap, so much so that by the end of the dial you're practically in distortion pedal territory. It is sensitive enough to allow for that edge of breakup zone, where it's clean or broken up depending on your attack alone. Tone: Very useful in adding and removing treble, to sculpt your sound.

Conclusion: I'm not a big pedal guy, especially for something like overdrive. But it gives me what I need, with a tremendous control over volume. Not blown away by it, but mainly because I'm comparing it to a tube amp being pushed into natural overdrive. A bit unfair, but really, I don't have experience with any other overdruve pedal, which would make for a more fair comparison.

Waza version has many sounds and is great for soloing. Nice pedal, put my distortion pedals to bed, use this instead.

Used the Boss BD-2W Waza Craft Blues Driver for the 1st time at a gig last night. I really liked the tone and gain I was getting from the custom channel. It now has a permanent place in my pedal board along side my MD-2 Mega Distortion and Fulltone Fulldrive 3 Overdrive. Highly recommended!

I really like this OD pedal. The WAZA addition adds just a bit more customization and optional drive to a terrific standard overdrive. Very flexible.

This pedal has much more depth and soul than my Ibanez TS-9 . Love it.

Nice overdrive pedal.Helps with those leads that need more boost. A little noisy when gain cranked,although works well.