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Boss HR-2 Harmonist
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Boss HR-2 Harmonist

Octaver/Harmonizer/Whammy from Boss

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Published on 02/06/10 at 14:17
The Boss HR-2 Harmonist is a pretty unique and interesting harmonization pedal designed for use with electric guitar. While this is suitable with any electronic instrument, I've only used the pedal with electric guitar, so this review will be focused on this application of the pedal. The pedal has two 1/4" inputs and outputs, and can be powered by either a nine volt power supply or battery. The HR-2 was discontinued about ten years ago and isn't rackable since it is a stomp box.

UTILIZATION

The configuration of the Boss HR-2 Harmonist offers up a lot of options, but I didn't find it hard to use at all. Like all Boss pedals of this size, it has four separate parameters. The HR-2 has knobs for effect level, voice A, voice B, and one for choosing the key you want for harmonizing within. It has a lot different keys, but not all as it doesn't offer up any sharps or flats, but does have minor and major. I've never seen a manual for the pedal, but unless you're a beginner or are having some sort of technical problem, I don't believe that one would be necessary.

SOUND QUALITY

I've used the Boss HR-2 Harmonist in tandem with a Fender Stratocaster and a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb amplifier. This should work pretty much the same no matter what type of set up you are using it with, as I don't feel that it would respond differently in different rigs like an overdrive pedal might. As far as how the pedal sounds, this definitely does its job quite well. While maybe not the most realistically used pedal in all situations, when it does work, it works very well. It has a pretty clean sound quality overall like most Boss pedals, but doesn't have the best tracking, which could be one of the reasons it was discontinued.

OVERALL OPINION

While the Boss HR-2 Harmonist is no longer being made, the same idea is in a new pedal known as the PS-5. However, if you'd like to get the HR-2 as it has some features not found on the PS-5, I'd bet you could find them used, but it might cost you a bit of money as these aren't the most readily available pedals. I'd encourage those interested to do some research on the HR-2 as well as the PS-5 and other harmonizing pedals to see what might work best for you...