Boss TR-2

Boss TR-2

Let's face it. Most people are just going to grab a TR-2 and be done with it.

The Boss TR-2 hasn't been the perfect Tremolo pedal over the years. It's suffered noise problems and volume drop. Luckily however, those problems don't seem to plague the newer models.

The first one of these I picked up, I'm guessing was an older model, did not impress me at all. No matter what was dialed in, it just had no character and did not sound that great.

The second one I picked up was absolutely great though, no noise, and sounded pretty good on most settings.

The TR-2 is a VCA based tremolo circuit. 

Min Speed: ~1000 ms/cycle
Max Speed: ~90 ms/cycle

Ultimately you are getting 2 wave shapes, and you are able to morph between the two of them with the Wave knob.

The first wave shape is a slightly off center Triangle wave shape. Triangle wave shapes are pulsey in nature. Not necessarily super deep. But they emphasize the peak and valley in the wave form.

The square wave form offers more "on" than "off" time in the duty cycle. But it is choppy enough for most peoples needs if they want a more stutter-eeee type of Tremolo.

Available Wave Shapes

Triangle Wave Shape at various Depth Settings

 Mix (Center) at various Depth Settings

 Square Wave at various Depth Settings

Pro's

  - Simple enough for most people

  - Fits most peoples needs regarding tremolo

  - Offers pulsey and choppy trem, along with anything in between

  - Reliability - It's Boss... 
  - Small form factor
  - Powered by 9V Battery or Power Adapter

Con's 

  - Older models may be plagued by noise

  - Older models may be plagued by volume drop 
  - Limited control set

This is a great option to go for if you just are getting into the effect and want to slap something on your board to fill the need that isn't going to take up a lot of space. It is not the most customize-able or best sounding option out there. But for what it does, it does it well and that is good enough for most people.