BOSS ST-2 Power Stack Distortion Guitar Effects Pedal

The usual Boss quality for an amazing price. This is definitely JCM800 territory when dialed in properly, does not need an OD in front of it. It actually booted a Friedman from my board that was giving me headaches from the piercing high end the BE-OD has. Interestingly, neither pedal has a mid control, which is a slight downside to me, but I'll keep the ST-2 in my arsenal, as it's more flexible, and honestly, better sounding.

I tried this pedal out at a music store in Albany during some down time when my band was playing a couple out-of-town shows one weekend. I played a Les Paul via a Marshall combo and I was impressed with the tone and versatility of the pedal as I play everything from jazz and blues to rock and punk to extreme metal. For some background, my sole axe is a Tele that I've been playing through a stacked SD-1 into a DS-1 into a Rivera combo. The SD-1 and DS-1 are a bit noisy with my single coils so I was looking for something less noisy and free up space on my pedal board. As an avid Boss devotee, I figured I couldn't go wrong. I decided to hold off on picking one up until I found one used with a price drop on GC for $39.99. For this price, I have absolutely no buyer's remorse. The pedal is great for crunch and overdrive tones with my Tele; however between overdrive and ultra territory, it tends to get a little noisy for my liking. Playing with an axe that's got humbuckers, the higher gain tends to clean up a little more; however I still find it too noisy. Bottom line, the pedal is great for playing stuff that requires less gain like blues and rock; however if you're a heavy metal hesher, buyer beware.

I would love to give this pedal 5 stars because I think Boss pedals are the greatest thing since sliced tomatoes. Ive been a loyal Boss pedal stomper since the early 80s and still use them for performing, recording, and all sorts of audio manipulation.However we've entered the age of sound modeling and making small things look and sound big. The power stack is a good example of this. The Power Stack does make you sound like you are playing through a wall of Marshalls but this only happens while using a small combo amp at room level volumes. In fact it sounds great and would be a good recording pedal effect as well. Here is why I wont give it 5 stars: Using this pedal on a larger amp(100 watt) or even a 50 watt amp at higher volumes for gigging and performing just doesnt work tone wise or sonically. Setting the distortion level past midpoint (ultra) has a nice overdrive sound but a terrible hiss behind it. This may sound silly but what I look forward to in Boss pedals is their simplicity. My Blues driver, Super overdrive, and DS-1 do not have Bass/treble controls ,only one tone and a level, and I like that. I have enough choices in my life and more eq knobs just bothers me. The price is a bit high for a what it actually does, I know what it takes to build a distortion pedal and theres not much difference between the DS-1 or SD-2 as far as guts and the ST-2 Power Stack. I get the feeling popularity has a bit to do with the price of some of these pedals. All in all the pedal does what it says it does, but reading the fine print wont matter much, there is none, are none, whatever. Boss is trying to keep up with all the modeling technology out there, cant really blame them. Gotta try it before you buy it.

The pedal is a great effect to add if you are into a heavy crunchy metal sound! You can mess with it but it reminds me mostly of older metal and sounds great when it's plugged into my Orange Rockerverb 100 Watt! I would definitely recommend this to anybody who play's guitar.

I got this pedal on clearance at guitar center just after Christmas, and i love the sound. The only problem is the buzz when the drive is up high, but I'm planning on buying a noise suppressor next so it's not a huge deal. But it has a great range in sound. I can use it well with a low crunch for music in my youth worship band, or crank the drive for great punk distortion,and the bass and treble both go from none to a ton, so the range is fantastic, I would re3commend it but if you like lots of drive, consider a noise suppressor too!

I love this pedal. I use mostly the Ultra area setting which I think sounds great out of the box. I've seen alot of people saying that this pedal makes alot of noise, but I havent had any problems with that and I play at all sorts of volume levels. Granted if you have your amp dimed and are 3 feet away expect some feedback. You can do anything from Vintage Led Zep to Niel Young to Iron Maiden to Tallica to Megadeth to Santana. Just take some time with it and get your own settings. And if you want a more scooped tone you need to spend some time dialing in your amp as well as your pedal. *hint play with the bass up around 1 o'clock and your treble at 11 o'clock on your amps then use your pedal eqs