1) The pedal doesn't do "nothing". The Boss Enhancer pedal is a unity gain modulator that duplicates the input signal and routes it through a second order High Pass filter which is envelope-controlled, then mixes it back into the output. This allows treble frequencies to be boosted without raising the noise floor or introducing hiss into your sound. It can also cut treble frequencies by use of the inversion knob. 2) All knobs at 12 o'clock has no effect on your sound. You must change at least one of the knobs to alter your sound. 3) The pedal as a whole acts as a shelf cutoff for frequencies above the selected range. It equalizes the output of all frequencies above the threshold selected, making them a unity gain monolith. 3.1) The Frequency knob in the 12 o'clock position sets the shelf cutoff for about 2000 Hz. At full clockwise position, it is set for about 5000 Hz, and at full counterclockwise it's about 1500 Hz. 4) The primary use of the pedal is for solos where you want specific frequencies to be boosted above the rest of the mix (drums, keyboards, etc) without introducing hiss or gain. 5) The Inversion side of the Mix knob blends in out-of-phase treble, which cancels out the clean treble, bringing the overall treble frequencies down. As you crank it counter-clockwise, it overpowers the clean signal and the phase cancellation goes away, and it does about the same thing as mixing in the non-inverted high-passed signal. The inversion knob essentially inverts all frequencies beyond the shelf as either a unity boost or a cut. 6) The Enhancer pedal is best used as the final effects pedal in a chain before Reverb or Delay pedals. Do not use this pedal before distortion or any other modulation pedal. If you also have an EQ pedal, place this after the EQ, not before. I hope that helps.
So, as I understand, it helps to get that lead tone we can hear on late 80's pop rock songs, that is like contained on some specific frequencies, isn't it?
THANK YOU. Can't tell how many people I've seen saying it does nothing but putting it before all of the gain. Hear it after the distortions and modulations, then you'll know what it does
I think you cant get the "clean" tone you have in your head with those pickups, with something like a tele the sound would have been alot cleaner. I really like that clean / not clean sound btw.
Enhancer/exciter pedals are poorly understood by the guitar community; almost as poorly as compressors. Your first mistake is using it with humbucker pickups. Bad idea. This category of pedals needs to have lots of top end in the input signal, and feed a speaker system that is also capable of providing top end, rather than the tradition 6khz rolloff of a 12" guitar speaker. Keep in mind that the category of effect is derived from the original Aphex Aural Exciter. That unit was found on countless recordings in the early 1980s, and was characteristically applied to acoustic guitars, whose strings would sound newer than new when "Aphexed". I imagine it would sound great when enhancing a Nile Rogers single-coil rhythm guitar, feeding the board. And I imagine that when musicians plugged a Les Paul into one, and auditioned it through a Marshall stack, their usual response was "Is this thing even on? I'm not hearing any difference between effect and bypass." Good pedal but neither musicians nor music store staff understood it well enough to recognize who and what it was for.
In addition, he's running a Baritone guitar into it which is going to have even a lower high frequency shelf, then he turns the 'Freq' knob all the way up so it's boosting far above the range his guitar can put out.
It's not necessarily a bad idea. All enhancers basically take the upper harmonic content from a source and mix it back into the fundamental tone in some way. Hence, there only needs to be some baseline higher frequency harmonics present. Depending on the specific functions of this enhancer, how much content is added back may also be dependent on the line level of the audio source. Vocals, bass, drums, other acoustic instruments are audio sources that have more apparent benefit from enhancers, moreso than electric guitars at least. Especially for a genre like metal. So yeah, if you wanna demo this pedal, use something other than an electric guitar...
This demo is completely missing the point. It's most useful at the end of a long pedal chain that incorporates distortion going into a clean amp. It decompresses the gain a bit and replaces the lost tone.
Thank you for point out what should have been obvious. After a distortion pedal, particularly one that gets very muddy, it adds definition to the pick attack and gets the low-end to play nice with the rest of the frequency range without having to cut it. I can't play a Proco Rat or a Metal Zone without one of these "useless" pedals. I could use a Death Metal pedal without one, but why would I want to?
I think it actually sounds pretty good and makes the signal just clearer and more brilliant but without making it more harsh. But no need for that if you have an Axe FX-3 😄
It's meant to go after distortion. It was their version of exciter. Amazing in the loop of great amp. It's not useless, you just don't know how to use it.
Dang, Fluff, you must've lost a lot of hi-end in your hearing. It's not subtle at all to my ear, it adds a LOT of boost to the 8k+ range. I think people should give you a break on the clean tone tho. For me, clean has always just meant when the distortion pedal is off.
Yeah. I have lost a lot of high-end in my hearing and I definitely have an issue around 8-10k, yet I hear the change as clear as day. I honestly have no idea how he doesn't unless he means "this doesn't do a lot" when he says "it's SO SUBTLE". It does sound like an aphex enhancer going on and off.
I own both an EH-2 and some BBE products, and both work well. I have found that a BBE in the FX loop of a high gain amp will yield similar results as putting an EH-2 right after a high gain pedal into a clean tone (read as: not what was displayed as a "clean" tone in this video).
Like a bbe Sonic maximizer... I use the acoustic maximizer on my acoustic pedal board ... It's basically a DI and preamp for the acoustic... Sounds great
This pedal works best in a loop, or at the end of a chain of pedals. Most notably after distortion not before. When used in a loop the effect is actually strong. I don't think you where using it properly, Fluff. It's much like the BBE sonic stomp or the Aphex exciter pedal. I use the Aphex exciter, it has the most control over your sound. Exciters do something to your sound that no EQ can. Especially a high gain tone. But even blues tone as well, or a shimmering clean sound with chorus. They track down frequencies that aren't part of the sound in the first place and introduce them into your tone. Gear like this is end of the signal chain and always on. I think they made them into pedals to introduce them to different people, or attract different buyers. It's not a useless pedal, you were using it completely wrong. Then you disregard it. You must do a retake on this. Put it in a loop or after a distortion pedal and demonstrate it properly. You owe it to your viewers, who many probably think it's crap and useless, and that all pedals like this are crap. This may be the solution they were looking for.
@@lincolnbuck , I totally agree with you. Unfortunately many people hang on every word these UA-camrs say. I've been playing guitar for 35 years. In and out of bands, my brother is a recording engineer, I've done session work, I own and tried tons of gear over the years. Plus I'm a total pedal junkie, from $35 pedals all the way up to $500 boutique tube distortion. I love them all equally, and they all have their own mojo, regardless of price. There's no such thing as bad gear just uninformed musicians. And all of the UA-camrs have done that at some point or another. EytchPe42 is the worst. Dude has $100000 worth of gear 30 amp heads. Plugs in a pedal, can't get a decent sound, trashes the gear, makes a bunch of jokes and video over. You'd think with all that gear he'd have a smashing tone. Example , watch his review on the Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit. Made it look like shit, and all the comments were on how bad it sounds. Then watch Rabea Massad review the same amp and the tones he achieved...omg, he made it sound like the greatest amp ever. Wooooow. For every one who trashes Boss DS1... I have only one thing to say. Smells like Teen Spirit. Same pedal. What a wall of crushing tone. 'Nuff said.
About EytchPe42 , I'm gonna check it out , I never heard of him before , so …. Rabea Massad , yes , he's a well-known guitarplayer from Dorje , youtube andertons , .... !!!! BOSS DS1 , I bought that one in 1990 , but I sold it in 1991 , because I didn't like !!!! Instead I bought a cheap one from Aria , Aria Ultra Metal AUM-1 , it was ok !!!! Last year , don't ask me why , I bought another DS-1 , but I still don't like it !!!! My favorite , Nobels ODR-1
Lol... clean tone. What the heck? Also, you made a weird face like “see nothin” when you turned it on. But it CLEARLY made a difference. Time for an ENT check up, man.
I hate to be one of those guys, but IF YOU USED IT RIGHT, IT WOULD WORK BETTER!!! I know because I own one. Now please don’t send this comment to Glenn from smg lol
It’s far from useless. It’s a very subtle effect. It comes into its own when recording. Play it with headphones for 10 minutes, then turn it off, you will miss it trust me! I found a NOS unit boxed and mint for €40 and a used MZ-2 Digital Metalizer for €35 in the same shop back in 2010.
I use the boss bass enhancer on my bass rig.. Its my always on pedal.. Its almost like a compressor and it really roundsout my bass tome and keeps it punchy.. As for guitar i never tried one..
this is a great pedal for guys who play a lot of modern worship or pop music. It can give a humbucker equipped guitar that filtertron-esque bite and give your amp just that extra bit of cut.
I have one of these. Because i use single coil and humbucker pickups, so i use the pedal to add some more twang to the humbucker so that the guitars don't sound so massively different.
Thanks for posting this! I used this pedal in the past and it worked best - and most noticeable for me - running pedals into a clean amp (after distortion/ at the end of a pedal chain).
SUPER USEFUL. I've thought about this for the past week, and I think the most creative use case is to put it on one side of a stereo guitar signal. You'd get pick-sensitive phasing that might sound delectable through an amp like a Jazz Chorus.
This goes at the end of the signal chain RIGHT BEFORE THE AMP. I have two of these and two GE-7 EQs. One EH-2/GE-7 combo goes right before my STEREO L amp and the other EH-2/GE-7 combo goes right before my Stereo R amp. Trained ears will hear the difference. Especially during playback of two identical recordings with the exception of one being recorded WITH the EH-2 and one WITHOUT it. It is here that the tonal qualities are remarkably different upon comparison. I consider these more of a studio tool but can be used to subtley brighten your overall guitar tone during a live performance.
Thank you for this demo. I could clearly hear the difference. I don't know why you couldn't. My ears have been exposed to very high decibels on a regular basis, but apparently yours are even worse off. Yes, it is subtle, but you definitely know when it's not there. For some reason, I can only find them available to ship from Japan on eBay, but I think I'm going to go for it. I was listening through my car stereo speakers, just for reference...
I didn't click "dislike", but I wouldn't call it "useless". The bass LMB3 pedal has an "Enhance" knob and it is VERY effective, especially in heavily-compressed situations when you have just one amp and no frequency splitter or EQ pedals. It brings back the high frequencies over the squashed signal, and kinda gets "that round rubbery metal tone" (you'll know what I mean when you hear it). I could hear some similarities on this guitar video, but it sounded more like a half baked MXR dynacomp combined with a high frequency boost. Still ok in my opinion, and not useless at all. BOSS - SEND ME FREE STUFF! :)
I just did a video on my channel for one of these. I sold it on Reverb directly after. I was all excited that Fluff bought my pedal, except mine was beat up way more lol
The EH-2 was an essential part of my rig in the 1990s. It's essentially a pedal version of an Aphex Aural Exciter, and the effect is more or less than of a treble booster. It's not subtle at all in "Inverse" mode, especially if you put it after an overdrive or distortion pedal.
If you turn the middle nob fully clockwise on a muddy humbucker neck pickup, of course you won't here a difference, as you're trying to to enhance frequencies that the guitar isn't even emitting 🤦♂️
Id say "subtle" not "useless".i think you just wanted it to do something it cant. Its not a compressor, or a noise gate. Its more of an "expander". It "opens up" tone thats been compressed.kinda like an active "presence" knob on an amp just a little more tweakable. personally its kinda a waste on a guitar with ANY DRIVE whatsoever as this is just gonna re-squish your signal once it hits the amp. But for ULTRA CLEAN jazz stuff or bass it shines.
Fluff, as much as you thi I this pedal is useless, it's actually the secret weapon of one of your all time favorite bands. I just cracked the code yesterday, and then found your video. If you knew who it is, you would literally poop yourself... And it's a tone you have not been able to achieve properly. You can search the internet all you want, but you will never find it because the information is nowhere to be found in text. It is only in two, extremely rare photos that I can't even find online, and all who have seen it assumed it was a noise supressor. But now I know what it is, and it's the solution to fixing the most mistifying part of a certain rig.
I bought one around '93. Musicians Friend had a blowout at 30 bucks. It is very subtle, but VERY noticable when you dont have it on. It's almost like having you tone knob of your guitar on 0. But when it is on, your tone knob on 10. Adds clarity when using alot of pedals. I used it to clean up my sound when I had a solid State amp. Left my pedal board when I got a tube amp. For some reason wasnt needed.
The EH-2 reminds me that fake ad of EHX and the Anti-boutique simulator : "Are you sick of your gear sounding too good ? We're too !" xD ua-cam.com/video/tcCdi_J2x5o/v-deo.html
Not sure why everyone is bitching about your clean tone. I have seen (and then turned off) so many videos where they say "here's my clean tone", and then play with a full-on AC/DC crunch. You tone was clean enough. As far as the pedal goes. I could hear a distinct difference, and I liked it, but I'm one of those rebels who has a Sonic Maximizer pedal as an always-on pedal for my home practice setup. It does wonders for improving the sound of smaller amps and lower volume situations.
eh-2..., so theres nbr 1 too! so all this time ive been wrongly adjusted to a secondary modern Boss Enhancer 2, while everybody else are preordering the nmbr one Enhancer.. just my luck..., maybe BOSS releases aye reissue of the nmbr one Enhancer? anyways and almost always quiet or singing or playing gtrs, Kimmo : )
As a single pedal, quite useless. In a signal chain brightening up the distortion and effects allowing the top end to shimmer and shine as it was intended to be used (much like a BBE Sonic Maximizer)...probably quite useful.
You missed the point dude. Us Boss nerds want every color Boss has to offer. My pedalboard looks like Crusty The Clown threw up a bag of skittles while eating some 7-11 nachos at 3am on a cocaine binge.
The difference is definitely audible if you set the frequency right. If you crank the frequency all the way up there's not a lot coming off the typical guitar pickup for it to be doing anything with, though. It's not night-and-day, though. I used to use the Korg implementation of an enhancer on bass all the time in the 90s when trebly tone with chorus was still 'the thing'. Haven't used one since except plugins when mixing - works great on 12 string guitars or mandolins if you want to get one to 'pop out' in a mix.
there is something very fizzy with the BOSS, Katana included, maybe the pedals last long, but as i dont dig their tone who wants a long lasting pedal that you never stomp on... , the only one I would consider is the Superdrive..., please dont get me wrong Ive had Rolands cube as a young man...and with super OD...oh well... and them Katanas: one has access to many Boss peds by a computer! im not a spring chicken anymore and ive heard one can turn on aye Katana wrongly! even a tube/valve amp isnt that sensitive! cheers mates an gurls, K : )
It was only useless because you didn't know how to use it. Long chains of pedals kill dynamics. This type of pedal gives that back. My pedalboard would be lost without my Sonic Stomp.
this comments section is hilarious! im paraphrasing here- "you have to run it through the fx loop, 3rd position of a 7-pedal chain on non-consecutive sundays after a full moon, with reverse wound p90s wired out of phase, then polarity reversed, and alchemied to turn into a crunchy rails noiseless humbucker, then this thing sounds awesome. you just don't know how to use it, man"
I found it in a pawn shop; its essential now. The reason why you THINK that its useless, is that you did not run it through a pedal chain. You made the number one mistake which is to plug the guitar into the pedal, then the amp. you should run it through 5 or 6 pedals and see the difference. It takes a muddy signal and turns it bright, allowing it to cut through the mix. It sounds great with overdrive as well. For people who dont want to mess with an eq, or just like the novelty of this semi-rare pedal, its a fun little pedal.
I wouldn’t call it completely useless, but I don’t think it’s something that I’d use a shit ton. Maybe for for adding a little extra high gain to my axe for specific genres but that’s about it. I’ll admit I’m a sucker for its bright turquoise coloring though.
When the EH-2 was introduced in 1990, it was presented as a pedal that could bring out detail that could bring out detail and clarity in the signal that can get lost after a lot of signal processing. If you consider the types of effects and processors available at the time, especially just before the big resurgence of vintage and retro-style gear just a few years away, it made sense. The EH-2 was introduced at the same time as the PN-2 and OS-2. There was even a half-rack model (EH-50) soon after. In the right setup and conditions, the EH-2 really is actually great, but it's such a subtle effect that it's more noticeable when it's switched off.
I once read something on this awhile back and they were saying something about it being used during recordings to control the signal chains better? If I ever come across it again I'll post the link.
"can be had on the used market for not a lot of money"... probably not anymore... even useless or outright garbage pedals get a price bump any time a video like this happens... it's amusing
I'm using boss lmb3 on my guitars I'm getting a great bright clean tone just like boss eh 2 wish they make the boss eh-3 and it have more features like eq setting for hi and lows and attack feature that would be cool if they make 3rd version of this pedal.
I like your video, and every bit of bad rep this pedal gets. More for me! I'll be able to get spares forever at reasonable prices 😃 Completely useless indeed!
I don't know how something that gives you the same effect as increasing the Presence control on an amp, to a pedal that "works great." Seems pretty redundant to me.
I wOndEr wHeN fLUfF wILl lEaRn wHaT a ClEAn tOnE iS
Lmao
Hopefully never you magnificent beast.
*spongebob making chicken noises*
yeah screw the guys trying to give legitimate criticism and feedback, that's just dumb of them
I can't believe you would dare to have a less clean clean tone than me! My clean tone has precisely the correct percentage of harmonic distortion!
Perfect for me because I’m the most useless guitarist you have never heard of!
are you me?
Ouch, that hit hard home. 😂
Same, bro. Same.
hahaa
drittal if u wanna feel better about yer self than watch my 1 and only UA-cam video it fucken sucks I suck I garuntee you are 100 times better than me
1) The pedal doesn't do "nothing". The Boss Enhancer pedal is a unity gain modulator that duplicates the input signal and routes it through a second order High Pass filter which is envelope-controlled, then mixes it back into the output. This allows treble frequencies to be boosted without raising the noise floor or introducing hiss into your sound. It can also cut treble frequencies by use of the inversion knob.
2) All knobs at 12 o'clock has no effect on your sound. You must change at least one of the knobs to alter your sound.
3) The pedal as a whole acts as a shelf cutoff for frequencies above the selected range. It equalizes the output of all frequencies above the threshold selected, making them a unity gain monolith.
3.1) The Frequency knob in the 12 o'clock position sets the shelf cutoff for about 2000 Hz. At full clockwise position, it is set for about 5000 Hz, and at full counterclockwise it's about 1500 Hz.
4) The primary use of the pedal is for solos where you want specific frequencies to be boosted above the rest of the mix (drums, keyboards, etc) without introducing hiss or gain.
5) The Inversion side of the Mix knob blends in out-of-phase treble, which cancels out the clean treble, bringing the overall treble frequencies down. As you crank it counter-clockwise, it overpowers the clean signal and the phase cancellation goes away, and it does about the same thing as mixing in the non-inverted high-passed signal. The inversion knob essentially inverts all frequencies beyond the shelf as either a unity boost or a cut.
6) The Enhancer pedal is best used as the final effects pedal in a chain before Reverb or Delay pedals. Do not use this pedal before distortion or any other modulation pedal. If you also have an EQ pedal, place this after the EQ, not before.
I hope that helps.
So, as I understand, it helps to get that lead tone we can hear on late 80's pop rock songs, that is like contained on some specific frequencies, isn't it?
THANK YOU. Can't tell how many people I've seen saying it does nothing but putting it before all of the gain. Hear it after the distortions and modulations, then you'll know what it does
@Ari Parker You're a dumbass.
"Clap you stupid bastards!" - (J. Biden meets the Troops)
way to complicated for Fluff. sadly the pedal doesnt multiplay braincells
this is basically a set of new strings in a pedal
So true! Haha, very good description!
That's a damn good way to put it. Subtle but noticable.
good for pure nickel strings or anything that sounds the same throughout its life
Fluff: "as clean as possible"
Fractal Audio: "am I a joke to you?"
Everyone else: Yes.
Fluff seems to have the same problem as Rob Chapman when it comes to clean guitar sounds. 3:20 is apparently "As clean as possible"
This tone is more dirty than a hooker who hasn't bath for a week
Clean is relative you muppet 😂😂😂😂
@@ryanlusby569 how is clean relative 😂😂 its not as dirty, but it's still dirty, so it's not clean is it 😂
I think you cant get the "clean" tone you have in your head with those pickups, with something like a tele the sound would have been alot cleaner.
I really like that clean / not clean sound btw.
@@famigeratox2277 tbh he's talking about the pedal, not the guitar, so he should change guitar
As clean as a crust punk guitarist who’s been awake for 72 hours.
LOL
Enhancer/exciter pedals are poorly understood by the guitar community; almost as poorly as compressors. Your first mistake is using it with humbucker pickups. Bad idea. This category of pedals needs to have lots of top end in the input signal, and feed a speaker system that is also capable of providing top end, rather than the tradition 6khz rolloff of a 12" guitar speaker. Keep in mind that the category of effect is derived from the original Aphex Aural Exciter. That unit was found on countless recordings in the early 1980s, and was characteristically applied to acoustic guitars, whose strings would sound newer than new when "Aphexed". I imagine it would sound great when enhancing a Nile Rogers single-coil rhythm guitar, feeding the board. And I imagine that when musicians plugged a Les Paul into one, and auditioned it through a Marshall stack, their usual response was "Is this thing even on? I'm not hearing any difference between effect and bypass."
Good pedal but neither musicians nor music store staff understood it well enough to recognize who and what it was for.
Thank you, useful and great comment!
That's exactly what I use it for, it sounds killer on a strat for funk and disco. I even use it for clean emo parts.
You nailed it. I personally love this pedal on my Jazzmaster with super thick chorus.
In addition, he's running a Baritone guitar into it which is going to have even a lower high frequency shelf, then he turns the 'Freq' knob all the way up so it's boosting far above the range his guitar can put out.
It's not necessarily a bad idea. All enhancers basically take the upper harmonic content from a source and mix it back into the fundamental tone in some way. Hence, there only needs to be some baseline higher frequency harmonics present. Depending on the specific functions of this enhancer, how much content is added back may also be dependent on the line level of the audio source. Vocals, bass, drums, other acoustic instruments are audio sources that have more apparent benefit from enhancers, moreso than electric guitars at least. Especially for a genre like metal. So yeah, if you wanna demo this pedal, use something other than an electric guitar...
This demo is completely missing the point. It's most useful at the end of a long pedal chain that incorporates distortion going into a clean amp. It decompresses the gain a bit and replaces the lost tone.
exactly correct
or......... use a buffer?
Thank you for point out what should have been obvious. After a distortion pedal, particularly one that gets very muddy, it adds definition to the pick attack and gets the low-end to play nice with the rest of the frequency range without having to cut it.
I can't play a Proco Rat or a Metal Zone without one of these "useless" pedals. I could use a Death Metal pedal without one, but why would I want to?
@@EpicStuffMan1000 A buffer boosts signal. It doesn't enhance the quality of lost/reduced frequencies.
@@jonathanwapner6262
The buffer not only boosts the signal, it also changes the impedance, preventing signal loss
Title says most useless pedal ever and I still thought, yeah I’ll waste 8 minutes watching it
We are all with you... Just killing brain cells and waiting for death
I watched because I actually find the EH-2 to be very useful at making muddy distortion pedals come alive.
Uhhhh I think there's something wrong with your guitar or signal chain if that's "as clean as possible"... lol ;D
I wonder when Fluff will learn what a "clean" tone actually is.
Hey man, there's someone making a joke of you
Dude. I could hear the difference with my phone speaker 🤦♀️
Yup same. Clear as day
I couldn't... Lol...
I get a lot of spam for enhancers...
@WORST CHANNEL EVER And maybe my name is not even Phil.
@@mr.phil.a Mom? Is that you? ;-)
@@jonniegibbins Shhh don't tell ya Dad
Last time I was this early, the pedal was from WISH.
I think it actually sounds pretty good and makes the signal just clearer and more brilliant but without making it more harsh. But no need for that if you have an Axe FX-3 😄
It's meant to go after distortion. It was their version of exciter. Amazing in the loop of great amp. It's not useless, you just don't know how to use it.
Dang, Fluff, you must've lost a lot of hi-end in your hearing. It's not subtle at all to my ear, it adds a LOT of boost to the 8k+ range.
I think people should give you a break on the clean tone tho. For me, clean has always just meant when the distortion pedal is off.
Yeah. I have lost a lot of high-end in my hearing and I definitely have an issue around 8-10k, yet I hear the change as clear as day. I honestly have no idea how he doesn't unless he means "this doesn't do a lot" when he says "it's SO SUBTLE". It does sound like an aphex enhancer going on and off.
DUDE its not even a *tiny* bit subtle, when its set to boost the highs, it LITERALLY DOES THAT very audibly, and you just acted like it was nothing?
People's ears are different. I guess he can't hear highs as well
It was still waaaaay more subtle than an EQ. It is useless compared to an EQ pedal.
Enhance...(types on keyboard)...Enhance...(types on keyboard)...Enhance...(types on keyboard)...buys a BBE 👍🏽
I own both an EH-2 and some BBE products, and both work well. I have found that a BBE in the FX loop of a high gain amp will yield similar results as putting an EH-2 right after a high gain pedal into a clean tone (read as: not what was displayed as a "clean" tone in this video).
👍🏽
Like a bbe Sonic maximizer... I use the acoustic maximizer on my acoustic pedal board ... It's basically a DI and preamp for the acoustic... Sounds great
This pedal works best in a loop, or at the end of a chain of pedals. Most notably after distortion not before. When used in a loop the effect is actually strong. I don't think you where using it properly, Fluff.
It's much like the BBE sonic stomp or the Aphex exciter pedal. I use the Aphex exciter, it has the most control over your sound. Exciters do something to your sound that no EQ can. Especially a high gain tone. But even blues tone as well, or a shimmering clean sound with chorus. They track down frequencies that aren't part of the sound in the first place and introduce them into your tone. Gear like this is end of the signal chain and always on. I think they made them into pedals to introduce them to different people, or attract different buyers.
It's not a useless pedal, you were using it completely wrong. Then you disregard it. You must do a retake on this. Put it in a loop or after a distortion pedal and demonstrate it properly. You owe it to your viewers, who many probably think it's crap and useless, and that all pedals like this are crap. This may be the solution they were looking for.
@@lincolnbuck , I totally agree with you. Unfortunately many people hang on every word these UA-camrs say. I've been playing guitar for 35 years. In and out of bands, my brother is a recording engineer, I've done session work, I own and tried tons of gear over the years. Plus I'm a total pedal junkie, from $35 pedals all the way up to $500 boutique tube distortion. I love them all equally, and they all have their own mojo, regardless of price. There's no such thing as bad gear just uninformed musicians. And all of the UA-camrs have done that at some point or another. EytchPe42 is the worst. Dude has $100000 worth of gear 30 amp heads. Plugs in a pedal, can't get a decent sound, trashes the gear, makes a bunch of jokes and video over. You'd think with all that gear he'd have a smashing tone. Example , watch his review on the Hughes & Kettner Black Spirit. Made it look like shit, and all the comments were on how bad it sounds. Then watch Rabea Massad review the same amp and the tones he achieved...omg, he made it sound like the greatest amp ever. Wooooow.
For every one who trashes Boss DS1... I have only one thing to say. Smells like Teen Spirit. Same pedal. What a wall of crushing tone.
'Nuff said.
You took the words right from me. Definitely run this in the loop.
About EytchPe42 , I'm gonna check it out , I never heard of him before , so ….
Rabea Massad , yes , he's a well-known guitarplayer from Dorje , youtube andertons , .... !!!!
BOSS DS1 , I bought that one in 1990 , but I sold it in 1991 , because I didn't like !!!!
Instead I bought a cheap one from Aria , Aria Ultra Metal AUM-1 , it was ok !!!!
Last year , don't ask me why , I bought another DS-1 , but I still don't like it !!!!
My favorite , Nobels ODR-1
I just googled on EytchPe42 , result: ZERO !!!!
@@rottingemptiness he recently changed his UA-cam to 42street gear.
Lol... clean tone. What the heck? Also, you made a weird face like “see nothin” when you turned it on. But it CLEARLY made a difference. Time for an ENT check up, man.
I hate to be one of those guys, but IF YOU USED IT RIGHT, IT WOULD WORK BETTER!!! I know because I own one. Now please don’t send this comment to Glenn from smg lol
Clean tone? What's a clean tone? What's an overdriven sound? What's an enhancer? Why do I review pedals?
It’s far from useless. It’s a very subtle effect. It comes into its own when recording. Play it with headphones for 10 minutes, then turn it off, you will miss it trust me! I found a NOS unit boxed and mint for €40 and a used MZ-2 Digital Metalizer for €35 in the same shop back in 2010.
First, learn how to get a CLEAN sound lol
I think this could be awesome for solid state amps with guitars
Yea, humans don't notice much difference but my German Shepherd grooves out to it.
If you use it as a buffer section in your pedalboard, then it stops being useless ;)
As a concept this does sound solid for bass. If, for example, you tend to go from finger picking to slapping and back, or something
I really enjoy watching videos that don't make me want to buy anything 😀
That is actually a truly, honestly clean tone by Fluff standards
It doesn't do anything, but it works great!
I use the boss bass enhancer on my bass rig.. Its my always on pedal.. Its almost like a compressor and it really roundsout my bass tome and keeps it punchy.. As for guitar i never tried one..
this is a great pedal for guys who play a lot of modern worship or pop music. It can give a humbucker equipped guitar that filtertron-esque bite and give your amp just that extra bit of cut.
more “remembering the 90s” plz！
Yes plz & ty.
So subtle you'll think it's broken
Clean tone mafia strikes again
I have one of these. Because i use single coil and humbucker pickups, so i use the pedal to add some more twang to the humbucker so that the guitars don't sound so massively different.
lewis deakin humbuckers and single coils are supposed to sound different
Why do you have a single coil and humbucker guitar if you want them to sound similar?
@@RadioFW 😆
Thanks for posting this! I used this pedal in the past and it worked best - and most noticeable for me - running pedals into a clean amp (after distortion/ at the end of a pedal chain).
I can't wait for the release of the Waza Craft edition ! ♫♪♫.
Domo!
Shave the beard at 500K subs.
I've used the bass version and thought it worked well. BBE version is more noticeable and it equally works just as well on bass and guitar.
so is it just a treble booster?
Seems like a great pedal to de-baritone a baritone if needed.
My dad has this pedal and i don't think he uses it
SUPER USEFUL. I've thought about this for the past week, and I think the most creative use case is to put it on one side of a stereo guitar signal. You'd get pick-sensitive phasing that might sound delectable through an amp like a Jazz Chorus.
Clean tones and Blackstar
What are things Fluff hates?
Just kidding :p
I grew up in the 90’s, it was a pedal shit show. So many clones and junk for cheap. A non boss was like 35$.
When you lower your guitars volume.knob, you will.notice a drop in high end. This pedal will add "sparkle" or presence as you roll back or play softer
How is that clean?
This goes at the end of the signal chain RIGHT BEFORE THE AMP. I have two of these and two GE-7 EQs. One EH-2/GE-7 combo goes right before my STEREO L amp and the other EH-2/GE-7 combo goes right before my Stereo R amp. Trained ears will hear the difference. Especially during playback of two identical recordings with the exception of one being recorded WITH the EH-2 and one WITHOUT it. It is here that the tonal qualities are remarkably different upon comparison. I consider these more of a studio tool but can be used to subtley brighten your overall guitar tone during a live performance.
Thank you for this demo. I could clearly hear the difference. I don't know why you couldn't. My ears have been exposed to very high decibels on a regular basis, but apparently yours are even worse off. Yes, it is subtle, but you definitely know when it's not there. For some reason, I can only find them available to ship from Japan on eBay, but I think I'm going to go for it. I was listening through my car stereo speakers, just for reference...
I didn't click "dislike", but I wouldn't call it "useless".
The bass LMB3 pedal has an "Enhance" knob and it is VERY effective, especially in heavily-compressed situations when you have just one amp and no frequency splitter or EQ pedals. It brings back the high frequencies over the squashed signal, and kinda gets "that round rubbery metal tone" (you'll know what I mean when you hear it).
I could hear some similarities on this guitar video, but it sounded more like a half baked MXR dynacomp combined with a high frequency boost. Still ok in my opinion, and not useless at all.
BOSS - SEND ME FREE STUFF! :)
I just did a video on my channel for one of these. I sold it on Reverb directly after. I was all excited that Fluff bought my pedal, except mine was beat up way more lol
The EH-2 was an essential part of my rig in the 1990s. It's essentially a pedal version of an Aphex Aural Exciter, and the effect is more or less than of a treble booster. It's not subtle at all in "Inverse" mode, especially if you put it after an overdrive or distortion pedal.
If you turn the middle nob fully clockwise on a muddy humbucker neck pickup, of course you won't here a difference, as you're trying to to enhance frequencies that the guitar isn't even emitting 🤦♂️
use with a drive
Id say "subtle" not "useless".i think you just wanted it to do something it cant. Its not a compressor, or a noise gate. Its more of an "expander". It "opens up" tone thats been compressed.kinda like an active "presence" knob on an amp just a little more tweakable. personally its kinda a waste on a guitar with ANY DRIVE whatsoever as this is just gonna re-squish your signal once it hits the amp. But for ULTRA CLEAN jazz stuff or bass it shines.
Fluff, as much as you thi I this pedal is useless, it's actually the secret weapon of one of your all time favorite bands. I just cracked the code yesterday, and then found your video. If you knew who it is, you would literally poop yourself... And it's a tone you have not been able to achieve properly.
You can search the internet all you want, but you will never find it because the information is nowhere to be found in text. It is only in two, extremely rare photos that I can't even find online, and all who have seen it assumed it was a noise supressor. But now I know what it is, and it's the solution to fixing the most mistifying part of a certain rig.
I bought one around '93. Musicians Friend had a blowout at 30 bucks. It is very subtle, but VERY noticable when you dont have it on. It's almost like having you tone knob of your guitar on 0. But when it is on, your tone knob on 10. Adds clarity when using alot of pedals. I used it to clean up my sound when I had a solid State amp. Left my pedal board when I got a tube amp. For some reason wasnt needed.
The EH-2 reminds me that fake ad of EHX and the Anti-boutique simulator : "Are you sick of your gear sounding too good ? We're too !" xD
ua-cam.com/video/tcCdi_J2x5o/v-deo.html
Might make a noticable difference if you used single coils with an ACTUAL "clean" tone...
Not sure why everyone is bitching about your clean tone. I have seen (and then turned off) so many videos where they say "here's my clean tone", and then play with a full-on AC/DC crunch. You tone was clean enough. As far as the pedal goes. I could hear a distinct difference, and I liked it, but I'm one of those rebels who has a Sonic Maximizer pedal as an always-on pedal for my home practice setup. It does wonders for improving the sound of smaller amps and lower volume situations.
eh-2..., so theres nbr 1 too! so all this time ive been wrongly adjusted to a secondary modern Boss Enhancer 2, while everybody else are preordering the nmbr one Enhancer.. just my luck..., maybe BOSS releases aye reissue of the nmbr one Enhancer? anyways and almost always quiet or singing or playing gtrs, Kimmo : )
I actually heard quite a bit of difference :P
Personally though, i woukd just get an EQ pedal, since it pretty much does thus and more
As a single pedal, quite useless. In a signal chain brightening up the distortion and effects allowing the top end to shimmer and shine as it was intended to be used (much like a BBE Sonic Maximizer)...probably quite useful.
Got one years ago and I thought it didn't do anything ............. until I plugged into the effects loop! Then it was awesome!!
You missed the point dude. Us Boss nerds want every color Boss has to offer. My pedalboard looks like Crusty The Clown threw up a bag of skittles while eating some 7-11 nachos at 3am on a cocaine binge.
Idk, seems alright? I would much rather go with the BBE Sonic Maximizer personally. Or maybe just more suitable for a bass?
Doesn't enhance PP
Edit: Help, PP stuck in pedal input!
The difference is definitely audible if you set the frequency right. If you crank the frequency all the way up there's not a lot coming off the typical guitar pickup for it to be doing anything with, though. It's not night-and-day, though. I used to use the Korg implementation of an enhancer on bass all the time in the 90s when trebly tone with chorus was still 'the thing'. Haven't used one since except plugins when mixing - works great on 12 string guitars or mandolins if you want to get one to 'pop out' in a mix.
there is something very fizzy with the BOSS, Katana included, maybe the pedals last long, but as i dont dig their tone who wants a long lasting pedal that you never stomp on... , the only one I would consider is the Superdrive..., please dont get me wrong Ive had Rolands cube as a young man...and with super OD...oh well... and them Katanas: one has access to many Boss peds by a computer! im not a spring chicken anymore and ive heard one can turn on aye Katana wrongly! even a tube/valve amp isnt that sensitive! cheers mates an gurls, K : )
It was only useless because you didn't know how to use it. Long chains of pedals kill dynamics. This type of pedal gives that back. My pedalboard would be lost without my Sonic Stomp.
this comments section is hilarious! im paraphrasing here- "you have to run it through the fx loop, 3rd position of a 7-pedal chain on non-consecutive sundays after a full moon, with reverse wound p90s wired out of phase, then polarity reversed, and alchemied to turn into a crunchy rails noiseless humbucker, then this thing sounds awesome. you just don't know how to use it, man"
I found it in a pawn shop; its essential now.
The reason why you THINK that its useless, is that you did not run it through a pedal chain. You made the number one mistake which is to plug the guitar into the pedal, then the amp.
you should run it through 5 or 6 pedals and see the difference. It takes a muddy signal and turns it bright, allowing it to cut through the mix. It sounds great with overdrive as well.
For people who dont want to mess with an eq, or just like the novelty of this semi-rare pedal, its a fun little pedal.
Your "clean" tone is compressing and overdriving and you really can't tell why the effect is "subtle"
Normal people: I don’t hear much of a difference at all
Audio Engineers: This difference is very obvious
I wouldn’t call it completely useless, but I don’t think it’s something that I’d use a shit ton. Maybe for for adding a little extra high gain to my axe for specific genres but that’s about it. I’ll admit I’m a sucker for its bright turquoise coloring though.
When the EH-2 was introduced in 1990, it was presented as a pedal that could bring out detail that could bring out detail and clarity in the signal that can get lost after a lot of signal processing. If you consider the types of effects and processors available at the time, especially just before the big resurgence of vintage and retro-style gear just a few years away, it made sense. The EH-2 was introduced at the same time as the PN-2 and OS-2. There was even a half-rack model (EH-50) soon after. In the right setup and conditions, the EH-2 really is actually great, but it's such a subtle effect that it's more noticeable when it's switched off.
I once read something on this awhile back and they were saying something about it being used during recordings to control the signal chains better? If I ever come across it again I'll post the link.
Put this at the end of your chain. Clears it up. I've used mine for years. When you switch it off, you notice. 😎
I had an EH-2 years ago. I quickly got rid of it after realizing the effect was too subtle to the point of being almost non-existent.
I remember seeing one of these in a music shop in Barcelona back in '09, it was super dusty and faded.
It sounds like slightly more fresh strings or perhaps the removal of the tone pot from the signal.
"can be had on the used market for not a lot of money"... probably not anymore... even useless or outright garbage pedals get a price bump any time a video like this happens... it's amusing
I think You would benefit by owning a telecaster (real, not metal) a lot
I'm using boss lmb3 on my guitars I'm getting a great bright clean tone just like boss eh 2 wish they make the boss eh-3 and it have more features like eq setting for hi and lows and attack feature that would be cool if they make 3rd version of this pedal.
It’s funny to see someone totally miss how to use a pedal. No offense, but,... never mind. I guess if you want something done right,...
I actually bought that and it didn’t do anything but change a bit from single to humbuckers or something but it wasn’t useful for me
I think the DOD Psycho Acoustic Processor takes this cake, personally. But the Boss Enhancer comes really close.
I like your video, and every bit of bad rep this pedal gets. More for me!
I'll be able to get spares forever at reasonable prices 😃
Completely useless indeed!
it's a hamonic multiplier.. it changes the responce of your amp .. it's like changing your ceramic speaker's response to an alnico speaker..
I don't know how something that gives you the same effect as increasing the Presence control on an amp, to a pedal that "works great."
Seems pretty redundant to me.
Only $55 bucks for uselessness? Whoa. Count me not in.
maybe this would work after a phatty Fuzz pedal when you're like soloing so like your solo note kinda like stand thru the mix better brah.
The Boss Pro EH-50 Stereo Enhancer is the one you want. More of a traditional excciter
This pedal is the "Lee Sklar Producer Switch" for guitarists.
I don’t think it’s that subtle. I can hear plenty of difference even through UA-cam