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Fireguy8402 « Pass it up. »
Published on 12/23/11 at 07:55The TR-2 is a tremolo pedal from Boss. It has a typical three knob design; one knob controls the rate of the tremolo pulsing, one knob adjusts the depth of the tremolo waveform, and the last knob adjusts the shape of the waveform from triangular to square. The pedal can be powered by 9 volt batter or external AC adapter. Dimensions of the pedal are Boss’s typical 2.4" x 5.1" x 2.9" and it weighs about a pound. This pedal has a mono input and output.
UTILIZATION
Boss is known to be a quality company when it comes to the durability of their pedals. The TR-2 is no exception. The housing and jacks are metal and will deal with life on the road. It is a very reliable pedal and I’ve never heard any complaints in the build of the pedal or quality control. It would have been nice to have stereo outs on this pedal and been able to pan between two outputs along with the tremolo, but it’s features are good enough for a basic trem pedal.
SOUND QUALITY
The quality of the tremolo is just average in my opinion. There is a very digital feel to it, and it feels a little choppy even when set to the smoothest settings. This uses different technology than the tremolo on old tube amps though, so I guess it is to be expected. There is some tone loss with the pedal, but it’s not that noticeable when bypassed. This thing definitely has a volume drop when engaged and kills the pedal for me. This pedal does not sound as warm as the Cool Cat Tremolo and the Fulltone Supatrem.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall this is your basic Boss pedal, not overly inspiring but it will last forever. The tone/volume drop when engaged is a big downfall with this pedal, though there are mods out there to fix that. Honestly if I were looking for a tremolo I’d just pick up the Cool Cat Tremolo from Danelectro. It’s about half the price and it is true bypass. For a little more coin and options I’d go with the SupaTrem from Fulltone. Having owned all three I’d put the Fulltone in first place obviously, second to the Cool Cat, and last place to the Boss. Honestly you can do better for the money.
UTILIZATION
Boss is known to be a quality company when it comes to the durability of their pedals. The TR-2 is no exception. The housing and jacks are metal and will deal with life on the road. It is a very reliable pedal and I’ve never heard any complaints in the build of the pedal or quality control. It would have been nice to have stereo outs on this pedal and been able to pan between two outputs along with the tremolo, but it’s features are good enough for a basic trem pedal.
SOUND QUALITY
The quality of the tremolo is just average in my opinion. There is a very digital feel to it, and it feels a little choppy even when set to the smoothest settings. This uses different technology than the tremolo on old tube amps though, so I guess it is to be expected. There is some tone loss with the pedal, but it’s not that noticeable when bypassed. This thing definitely has a volume drop when engaged and kills the pedal for me. This pedal does not sound as warm as the Cool Cat Tremolo and the Fulltone Supatrem.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall this is your basic Boss pedal, not overly inspiring but it will last forever. The tone/volume drop when engaged is a big downfall with this pedal, though there are mods out there to fix that. Honestly if I were looking for a tremolo I’d just pick up the Cool Cat Tremolo from Danelectro. It’s about half the price and it is true bypass. For a little more coin and options I’d go with the SupaTrem from Fulltone. Having owned all three I’d put the Fulltone in first place obviously, second to the Cool Cat, and last place to the Boss. Honestly you can do better for the money.