Boss TR-2 Tremolo
The TR-2 Tremolo by BOSS is a compact tremolo pedal that guitarists can use to get good tremolo effects. A variety of effect configurations are available with the dedicated “Wave,” “Rate,” and “Depth” knobs.
With its dreamy slow flutter, the Boss TR-2 Tremolo will convince listeners that you have a vintage tweed amp hidden in the backline. It also has a few modern tricks up its sleeve, allowing you to take tremolo tones to places they never went in the 1950s and 1960s.
There was tremolo before Boss devised a method to manufacture dependable pedals that could digitally generate sounds like the TR-2, or any outboard effects. All the effects were built-in during the golden era of amplifiers, and the pickings were thin, generally just reverb and tremolo. As a consequence, several performers were eager to experiment with these new effects, particularly tremolo, which has become associated with the early days of electric guitar. With the exception of a few reissues, amp manufacturers have moved away from onboard tremolo, but the Boss TR-2 allows you to experience it with a tap of your foot.
Features Boss TR-2
- The Tremolo Fuzz Vintage Pedal is an easy-to-use compact pedal for guitarists looking for high-quality vintage tremolo effects.
- Precise effect tailoring is possible using the dedicated “Wave,” “Rate,” and “Depth” knobs.
- Higher speed adjustment is possible with the “rate” control, which is standard on PN-2.
- LFO waveform is changed from a triangle to a square with the “wave” control.
- The strength of the effect is determined by “depth” control.
Benefits Boss TR-2 Tremolo
An inexpensive option that lets you go from swamp to ray gun with the turn of a knob. 10/10, would Boss again.
- You can dial in many classic sounds, and it’s very user friendly since there’s only three knobs.
- Not noisy, no loud volume drops on the square wave, (but a very noticable volume drop on the triangle wave).
- Sample Item #3
- Good option to use instead of phaser or chorus to fill our chords.
- Something useful to both professionals and hobbyists as well as the people who cannot decide which tremolo pedal they want to use.
- Easy to dial in wave and depth to match effect level used on classic riffs.
- I like the build quality, tone, and options available to change the shape of the tremolo.
- The Boss TR-2 provides an excellent pulsating sound that emulates the vibrato of a Fender amplifier.
- Authentic vintage tone and parameters.
Conclusion
You’ve heard this pedal do its thing on a hundreds of recordings and it does exactly what you think it’ll do. I heard or read somewhere in another review (it might’ve been Josh Scott talking about Boss pedals) that this tremolo has a musical quality that’s hard to define but is unmistakable. I’d second that opinion. Whatever the circuit is that Boss uses in these things, it definitely has a character that is distinctive and somehow (to me at least) just is the essence of tremolo. When you combine it with a bit of reverb you get that sound which evokes wide open, dusty places. With the wave form control all the way over anticlockwise and the rate and depth controls at 9 o’clock(ish) it produces a subtle movement in your sound that adds color.
With the controls pushed over the other way, there’s the familiar wub-wub that’s anything but subtle, but can add some drama. I’m pretty much a clean tones only player so I can’t speak to how this combines with fuzz or overdrive, but there are loads of online demos to hear what this does with gain. Apart from all the sonic goodness, of course, there’s just that iconic Boss design – everyone’s got to have at least one of these little boxes, so why not this one?
If you’re looking for a tremolo, This should be one of the ones you look at. Nice price-point, and very versatile, chops up your signal or adds subtle modulation. My only beef is that when in extreme settings it seems to affect the volume of my output signal, this is the only problem I’ve noticed. Otherwise, does what you would expect from a good Tremolo.
