BOSS OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion

What we say:

BOSS’s colourful stomp boxes are the most recognisable pedal range in existence. For over 40 years, guitarists from bedrooms to stadiums have put their boot down on a BOSS effect to transform their sound. Several models have passed into guitar legend and early examples can fetch extremely high prices. Happily, BOSS have maintained their stellar reputation for world-class effects in bomb-proof casing with their current range and have fended off the imitators for decades to remain the pre-eminent single pedal effects manufacturer in the business. If there’s an effect for guitar (or bass, vocals, keys…be creative!) then you can bet BOSS have a pedal of it in their range or even invented it outright! Every guitar player should get to experience the joy of selecting a pedal from BOSS’s exhaustive roster, plugging it in and unleashing their wildest sonic dreams.

Overdrive? Distortion? Which one to pick? Well, why not have both? The OS-2 form BOSS is a combined overdrive/distortion unit with a large degree of flexibility. Let's be clear: overdrive and distortion are largely the same thing. In terms of description, distortion tends to be more clipped, compressed and heavier whereas overdrive tends to be milder and less 'forced'. This pedal has a very wide range so you can wind it down for an organic drive or wound up for a more aggressive, saturated distorted tone.

All of BOSS's compact overdrives and distortions clip the signal in different ways, resulting is different tonalities. With this in mind, we'd advise trying a selection with a variety of settings: let your ears decide what works for you. However, if you want one pedal to see you through a range of overdrive levels and intensities, the OS-2 is a very sound choice.