Boss Power Driver PW-2
The PW-2 Power Driver was designed to capture the over-the-top, stack-of-4x12"s sound that was previously available only through overdriven tube amps and stacks of speakers. The PW-2, which includes tone controls aptly named "Muscle" and "Fat," provides distortion sounds. The "Muscle" control radically alters the distortion's midrange sounds, while the "Fat" knob can boost or cut low frequencies. When combined with the PW-2's level control, these tone controls deliver thick, grinding distortion sounds.
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User Reviews of the Boss Power Driver PW-2
- Submitted by Jon from Huntsville, AL (496 points) on Jul 8, 2009
- A unique and interesting OD/Distortion with a "different" sound. Lots of mid-range and a good amount of bass... Best used for straight-through effect chains, like most distortions, though it couldn't hurt to experiment with placement in a FB loop. It's the color of WIC cheese!
- Good Points: This pedal gives a very unique "tone" with a contact mic which I like a lot. Cascades well with most other distortions and OD's near the end of a chain. Goes for reasonable/cheap prices if you are willing to wait until a cheap one comes up.
- Bad Points: Excessively noisy (but not very noticeable for most things). It has more gain than its counterpart, the XT-2, yet it doesn't self-oscillate! A bit of a one trick pony... I just keep the knobs maxed, sometimes adjusting the "Muscle" knob for slight tonal variation. Doesn't do much on it's own in a loop, save for a low, sustained "fart". It's discontinued. Remember kids, "rare" is a four-letter word!
- Price Paid: US$27.00
- Purchased At: eBay
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- Submitted by ck3 from Portland, ME (402 points) on Oct 8, 2005
- I came by one of these in a recent trade and have been fairly impressed ... mainly becuase I wasn't expecting it to sound like a Mesa Boogie Quintuple Rectifier ... ;)
- Good Points: Similar in tonality to a Tonebender/muff-type fuzz/overdrive, but with characteristic Boss "boxiness"/sterility. One of the best dirtboxes I have encountered for cascading gain stages. Adds an interesting midrange character to other gain sources when in the post position.
- Bad Points: Sounds anemic with battery power. Generates quite a bit of (unwanted) line noise at higher gain settings.
- Price Paid: US$0.00
- Purchased At: Harmony Central Effects Forum
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- Submitted by Ed from Malverne, NY (104 points) on May 24, 2005
- This is a nice pedal for getting very subtle effects -- don't expect a giant, crushing distortion or a massive EQ-controlling beast like the Death Metal or Grunge. Where the Power Driver excels is adding depth, drive, and grit to a signal, and when you need something to simply beef up what you're doing without dominating the sound, this is the pedal to reach for. Unlike my other distortion pedals, I tend to use this for quieter applications, and it can do everything from a hissy fuzz to a nice mid-range boost to thicken things up. Not the most versatile pedal, but even in a long and noisy chain its effect is still audible. Its subtlety is definitely its big selling point, good for small tweaks that give you finer control over your sound to counterpoint the big sweeping obvious changes of other pedals.
- Good Points: -subtlety! -nice realistic distortion sound, would probably be great for guitar. -effect is audible even amidst very loud noise
- Bad Points: -doesn't always have a huge impact, but then that's not what you should be looking for here.
- Price Paid: US$40.00
- Purchased At: eBay
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- Submitted by timothy from Rohnert Park, CA (68 points) on Dec 25, 2003
- its the besat fauxverdrive ive ever heard, grittier than tubescreamer, but as much as zinky true grit, so its believable and harsh. good for a number of applications.mine finds residence in my TSAs loop. not as noisy as highgain, so no unwanted untcontrollable shrieks or moans. but twisting knobs does alot to later sound.
- Good Points: versatile, reliable, TONE
- Bad Points: it cost 0
- Price Paid: US$110.00
- Purchased At: stars music
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- Submitted by K. from Sealy, TX (528 points) on Mar 12, 2002
- I'd long been curious about this pedal, in one of their old guide books Boss refers to it as a rough, natural overdrive, and since nothing else they had fell into this nether region I thought it might be worth checking out. I'm not dissapointed, w/ a mic plugged straight in it feeds back to no end, and adjusting the controls and mic placement can give you some rough, dirty feedback. In a line feedback loop is where this unit really shines, it produces some great noise all on it's own, though other pedals will affect the sound in a wide variety of ways, some good, some bad, just a matter of playing around w/ various control settings. This thing may actually do a better job of noise than alot of the high gain metal distortion pedals on the market, and right now you can still pick 'em up cheap.
- Good Points: Tons of feedback potential, especially great in a line feedback loop.
- Bad Points: None found yet.
- Price Paid: US$30.00
- Purchased At: e-bay
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