The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

[Gamera]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

I bought one back in about '87 or '88 after the sales guy convinced me that's what I wanted. I brought it home and could not dial in any decent sounds at all. Just buzzy, high-pitched, fizzy junk. I took it back after a day and traded for a DS-1. That DS-1 lasted me a goodly number of years.

 

[Vetteboy]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

I bought one back in about '87 or '88 after the sales guy convinced me that's what I wanted. I brought it home and could not dial in any decent sounds at all. Just buzzy, high-pitched, fizzy junk. I took it back after a day and traded for a DS-1. That DS-1 lasted me a goodly number of years.

I had the same experience with this rather obscure model...

That one just about convinced me to give up on pedal distortions altogether.

 

[DankStar]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

there's some speculation that the pedal is becoming more rare as the members of dismember and other musicians that recorded at sunlight studios (do i have that name right?) keep buying them up, because it's the "secret" to the swedish old-school DM sound. one guy says the secret is diming all knobs on the pedal (through any amp). others say it's the pedal (possibly dimed, possibly not) in front of a dimed marshall.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

one guy says the secret is diming all knobs on the pedal (through any amp).

I remember diming the gain, treble and bass knobs and playing one into a Roland Jazz chorus amp. That amp already had this ultra clean scooped sound, and with the high and low EQ on the pedal turned up, I had my first taste (this had to be like 1984, when mid-boosted metal tones ruled) of the "scooped" metal tone. Quite a rush, playing a muted low E power chord with that sound.

 

[baritone]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

On a pedal like that, I keep all the knobs at about 10:00. So although it is a "metal" pedal, it gets used for a variety of sounds. I think most people who complain about heavy distortion pedals keep them cranked up too high.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

On a pedal like that, I keep all the knobs at about 10:00. So although it is a "metal" pedal, it gets used for a variety of sounds. I think most people who complain about heavy distortion pedals keep them cranked up too high.

ya most players when trying out fuzz and distortion pedals crank the gain to the max, give it a test and unplug it before trying it turned down...

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

There's certainly more than enough gain available with the HM-2. Even with the DS-1.

But I remember the days when I hadn't been playing long and that's exactly what I'd do - max the gain and check out the sizzle and sustain.

 

[baritone]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

On the first day I buy any distortion pedal, I will go through a series of test settings, including everthing maxed, just to see how it is. But I will usually settle down with everthing around 10-11:00. The Metal Zone with everything on 10:30 to 11:00 sounds amazing.

 

[these_go211]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

i can do you one worse, i have an HM-3, the hyper metal pedal. don't use it much but don't want to get rid of it. sounds fun on bass. a really filthy sound.

 

[caucajun]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

I HATED THEM IN THE 80'S. i swore by my ts-808. but, now that i'm more experienced, i can get useful tones out of any pedal. the rule is: "just because it GOES to 10....don't mean ya gotta park it there".:cool2:


werd!

 

[Fusion1]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

... I think Lukather used one on various Top-40/Pop backing sessions in the '80s - so perhaps they should have called it the 'Pop Rock-2" pedal.

I remember the ridiculous adverts for the HM-2 with that gigantic destructive robot...trying to pander to us Heavy Metal mayhem hair farmers. Trouble was the pedal, though it sounded pretty dang good for playing hard/AOR Rock, wasn't representative of the crunchy, grinding Marshall tone that true '80s metalers were looking for.

+1 it was a huge fail the first time I played one with my Peavey Bandit back in 1986. Was expecting a nice metal crunch but I got bubble gum rock.

 

[baritone]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

i can do you one worse, i have an HM-3, the hyper metal pedal. don't use it much but don't want to get rid of it. sounds fun on bass. a really filthy sound.

I have one of those, too. It sounds awesome with the fuzziness turned all the way down and the other 3 knobs cranked up.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

To be perfectly honest...it is a POS...but sometimes that is just part of the fun...always used the ones I had as fuzzy distos....it was one ugly mofo!

 

[lastwinj]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

anyone notic, in that second vid, the amp in background? looks like the venerable Ampeg SS-140 or VH-140....a staple in ALOT of death metal and HEAVY bands. fun amp for crunching.

 

[Imp]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

haha i've owned both a HM-2 and an MZ-2, both got lobbed straight back on ebay :laugh2:

www.bossarea.com << good for the obscure ones!

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal: acquired taste, instant 80's, or just junk?

I tried something last weekend: I put my Dunlop Q Zone ahead of the HM-2. That made a big difference! The Q Zone attenuates treble and bass frequencies and boosts the midrange frequencies that you dial in. It's a stationary wah. The problem with the HM-2 (one of them anyway) is that it is so unfocused. The Q Zone gives it a more focused tone.
Try a wah in front of the HM-2. Much more useable than the pedal by itself.