MEGA Distortion? Putting the MD-2 to the test!

What's my opinion of the MD-2 pedal? Like I said, I was expecting something a bit more MEGA. Was I being unreasonable? One good way to find out would be to compare the MD-2 with other BOSS distortion pedals. I decided to match it against the DS-1 and the OS-2 pedals. The guitar was my Strat and the amp was the aforementioned Traynor. First up was the DS-1. I cranked its Drive control full up, and was surprised by how much power this puppy could produce. Of course, the DS-1 is rather limited in its tonal options, so I couldn't adjust anything else. I set the MD-2 as follows: Bottom at 2:00, Tone at 12:00, Dist full up, and Gain Boost at 4:00. This was the optimum amount of distortion I could get and keep the sound musical.

There wasn't a whole lot of difference between the two pedals. I think the MD-2 provided a bit more sustain and its overall tone was a bit more distorted, but it certainly wasn't anything MEGA. What really surprised me was that the Bottom control didn't make much of a difference if I set the DS-1's Tone control to nearly full bass, too.

Leaving the MD-2 at the same setting, I compared it to the OS-1, which was set with Drive up full, and set fully over to the distortion side. In this case, the MD-2 did have noticeable more "kick" and much more sustain.

At this point, I put everything away and wrote up my conclusion.

But you can't read it, because I deleted it about 24 hours later. Why?

The next evening, I decided to give the MD-2 another chance. So I used it with various amp simulations in my POD. The pedal sounded very nice with many of the amp settings (especially the "cleaner" amps, although it sounded incredible with the Brit Classic). I discovered that if I cranked the Gain Boost full up, turned off the Dist, maxed out the Bottom, and set the Tone just a bit beyond the middle, my Strat had lots of gain and a thick rich tone.

The DS-1 came out for a head-to-head comparison once again. Curiously, this time the DS-1 sounded noticeably weaker and had a lot less bottom. Mind you, it still sounded great, but not as good as the MD-2.

NOW it is time for my bottom line on the MD-2.

I still believe that if you buy this pedal thinking it will give you "mega" distortion in the sense of totally massive and insane sound, you'll be disappointed. If you look at the MD-2 as being a marked improvement on the BOSS idea of "distortion", you'll love this pedal. It takes the DS-1 sound and gives it more kick and much greater tonal flexibility. In fact, if I were BOSS, I'd rename this pedal the DS-3 so guitar players know what to expect.

Personally, the more I played with the pedal, the more I liked it. I especially like to keep the Dist control off, and crank up the Gain Boost. I feel that the Gain Boost provides a smoother distortion. The Dist seems harsher to my ears, but other ears might appreciate it. It's funny. BOSS markets the MD-2 as a pedal that "Pushes bottom-heavy distortion to the extreme". I bought the pedal expecting it to be some kind of sonic destroyer which I'd rarely use. Instead, I can see the MD-2 being a pedal I'll use to replace my other BOSS distortion pedals. The moral for this story? Trust your ears, not the marketing hype.

Want to buy this pedal? Click on the little MD-2 below: Boss MD-2 Mega Distortion