***WARNING: THE FOLLOWING REVIEW APPLIES FOR A JAPAN-MADE BOSS DF-2 - NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH LATER TAIWAN-BUILT MODELS WHICH MAY --well, most likely DO-- SOUND DIFFERENT***

It is a DS1-type distortion combined with a unique feature: an artificial feedback generator -- play a single note, hold the pedal's switch and your note is now repeated endlessly, well as long as you don't release the switch at least.

It has 4 knobs -- the classical level-tone-dist, plus an "overtone" feature that allows if need be to make the artificial feedback more bright-sounding, although the more you push it and the more synthetic it sounds. Of course you can keep on playing while the overtone is heard, which gives the impression of two layers of guitar sound stacking up -- hence the name "overtone" for the control knob I suppose.


A few facts about this pedal: The Boss DF-2 was produced between 1984 and 1994, first in Japan and then in Taiwan when Boss relocated its factory there. The first models bore the inscription "Super Distortion and Feedbacker" before Boss changed it to "Super Feedbacker and Distortion" due to a threat by Di Marzio (which owned the rights to the name "Super Distortion" ) to sue Boss for copyright infringement. This explains why the price of "Super Distortion" models is usually much higher than that of "Super Feedbacker" ones, although there's no difference in the way they were built.

Well, a 4-knobs stompbox can't be that much complicated, can it!? Regarding the manual I doubt anyone has kept it due to the long time this pedal has been discontinued, but you still can get a .pdf copy of it at Roland's website (yes, for those of you who don't know Boss belongs to Roland).

For once the manual is actually useful as it explains some subtleties which may elude you --especially regarding the way to get the feedbacker sound well-- , but once again with only four knobs you'd just have to tweak for a little while before finding your sound anyway.

The distortion in itself is, well, DS1/DS2-esque, that is just average in itself in my humble opinion. Don't expect anything good out of it with the tone knob over 12:00 to 13:00 (I usually keep it between 10 and 11). Where this pedal really shines is, of course, in providing this artificial feedback which is particularly suitable for noise/punk/grunge twisted sounds ala Sonic Youth.

I use it with a Mexican Fender Fat Strat through a SansAmp, but generally I have it followed by another distortion (TS9 clone, Big Muff or anything else) so that the other pedal should shape the distinctive distortion tone of my overall sound.

Also, the feedback sound is affected by a sort of tremolo-sounding vibration, which you may or may not like... but which should easily be cut off provided you know how to mod effect pedals (the schematics are available on the web).

This is a 21-fret, standard vibrato bridge, maple neck/rosewood fretboard Fender Stratocaster -- but one with a humbucker. As you may expect this series is made in Mexico. The controls are the same as usual: one general volume knob, two tone controls (one for each of the single coil mics) and a 5-position selector which allows to combine the mics (from top to bottom: neck pickup only, neck+middle, middle pickup, middle+split humbucker, humbucker alone).

The presence of a humbucker makes this guitar suitable for many more styles than a "normal", three-single coils Strat -- don't expect the stock humbuckers to lead you through metal/thrash though.

This is a well-made Stratocaster so as far as playibility is concerned I think this says it all... The SSH configuration brings polyvalence, so finding a suitable sound is easy, just tweak the tone knobs a little while and here you go -- too bad the humbucker originally doesn't have a tone control...
Some people will tell you that a Strat with standard vibrato just can't be kept in tune: do NOT believe them, if you take your time and tune it properly then these variations will hardly be noticeable at all.

First of all let me tell you that the fact this guitar has a rosewood fretboard DOES matter. I once A/B-ed it with a 1991 US Fender Strat with a maple fretboard and guess what -- I preferred the sound that this cheap Mexican provided (both through my SansAmp GT2 and a friend's Marshall Valvestate). Even in using only the single coils, this guitar provides smooth mediums but can also deliver darker sounds, while a "classical" Strat will always keep that brilliance in sound that has made the legend of the model -- but which makes it less suitable for modern distorted rhythm sounds.
I wanted a guitar that could do the job for a variety of rock styles including blues, pop-rock, hard rock and (mostly) alternative/grunge rock. Even with the original configuration this guitar was well suited to my expectations. Then, I had the idea to have the humbucker (which was a bit too bright-sounding for me) changed for a Seymour Duncan SH-4 (the Jeff Beck one) and connected to a tone knob -- now the guitar sounds even better and metal sounds are no longer out of reach (provided you have what it takes). I mostly play power-chords rhythm so I also changed the strings for 10-52s.

I usually play it through several distorsion stompboxes and a Small Clone chorus into a SansAmp GT-2 & ISP Decimator noisegate, then direct to the mixer (yes, I use no "real" amp, and so what?), and I definitely LOVE the way it sounds. I can get from Clapton to Nirvana or even more "modern" metal sounds with no real effort, and the sustain is more than acceptable (hey, don't expect miracles though, this is a Strat, not a Les Paul!).

The single coils are noisy (as usual) but provide a very mellow sound (especially the one in the neck position) which will get you through the most beautiful sounding and/or country-like ballads -- a compressor, a chorus, a good reverb and here you go!

As said earlier the stock humbucker sounded a bit too bright to me, but it really is usable for vintage hard rock. With the proper mics installed on it I can hardly think of a style on which this guitar couldn't take, by the way...