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Hatsubai « The infamous Swedish metal tone »
Published on 03/21/11 at 11:35The Boss HM-2 was a pedal that was well known in the 90s Swedish death metal scene. Bands such as At the Gates, In Flames, Dismember, Entombed, Bloodbath, etc. all used this pedal. It's almost like a mix between a distortion and a fuzz. The pedal will drive any amp into chaos and pretty much consume whatever natural voicing the amp may have.
UTILIZATION
This pedal actually has a crazy sensitive EQ. While the actual tone you get from this is somewhat limited, the adjustability of that tone is pretty dramatic. Despite it only have four knobs, it took a little bit to dial in to where I wanted it. There's a level, low, high and distortion knob. They're all fairly self-explanatory, but the most time will be spent figuring out exactly where you want to set the low and high voicing knobs. I never had a manual with this since I bought it used, so I can't comment on that. I also am not sure if the MIJ versions really do sound different, but mine was an MIJ version.
SOUND QUALITY
If you've heard any of the bands I mentioned above, you probably already know what this pedal sounds like. It's an extremely aggressive, abrasive sound that's almost fuzz like. There's no real calming this pedal down, and it doesn't work that great as an overdrive to boost the amp. The thing is a flat out distortion pedal that's cranked up as much as possible. I found my best results by running an EQ pedal with this to help shape the overall tone. Despite the low and high knobs being versatile, the lack of a midrange knob made it somewhat tricky to dial in a tone that I was looking for.
OVERALL OPINION
The price of these pedals varies quite a bit. I've seen them for as low as $20 and as much as $150. If you're a fan of that oldschool 90s Swedish metal tone and find one for under $50, I'd say it's worth at least checking it out. Even if you don't like it, you can probably sell it for quite a bit on eBay or something to someone overseas. The Scandinavians are always looking for these pedals for obvious reasons.
UTILIZATION
This pedal actually has a crazy sensitive EQ. While the actual tone you get from this is somewhat limited, the adjustability of that tone is pretty dramatic. Despite it only have four knobs, it took a little bit to dial in to where I wanted it. There's a level, low, high and distortion knob. They're all fairly self-explanatory, but the most time will be spent figuring out exactly where you want to set the low and high voicing knobs. I never had a manual with this since I bought it used, so I can't comment on that. I also am not sure if the MIJ versions really do sound different, but mine was an MIJ version.
SOUND QUALITY
If you've heard any of the bands I mentioned above, you probably already know what this pedal sounds like. It's an extremely aggressive, abrasive sound that's almost fuzz like. There's no real calming this pedal down, and it doesn't work that great as an overdrive to boost the amp. The thing is a flat out distortion pedal that's cranked up as much as possible. I found my best results by running an EQ pedal with this to help shape the overall tone. Despite the low and high knobs being versatile, the lack of a midrange knob made it somewhat tricky to dial in a tone that I was looking for.
OVERALL OPINION
The price of these pedals varies quite a bit. I've seen them for as low as $20 and as much as $150. If you're a fan of that oldschool 90s Swedish metal tone and find one for under $50, I'd say it's worth at least checking it out. Even if you don't like it, you can probably sell it for quite a bit on eBay or something to someone overseas. The Scandinavians are always looking for these pedals for obvious reasons.