DC2 vs DC3

[bigtone23]

I am a little late here, anyway, and you also have your DC-3.

I also prefer the DC-3, and as the Doc. mentioned before, you do need to turn the level up further than usual to get the sound noticed.
DC-2 is very overrated I think, DC-3 does not sound like any of the chorus's you already have.

What about the SD-2? Thought you would have had that one already, maybe you have got now a second one who knows?
It can produce a great Hiwatt sound.
Anyway, enjoy!

You are absolutely correct in the DC3 being a unique member of my chorus family. I have a bandmate with the DC2W, he loves it, but I do prefer my DC3.

This is my first SD2, I have played them before, and my bandmate has one. The right one came around at the right price and I had to get it. Glad I did! It has great tones.

[visserman]

Glad to hear you like the SD2 and DC3 bigtone23

I will see if I can find the settings for that Hiwatt sound I mentioned before, will also see if I the SD2 is consistent in producing that sound with different amps.
I think you should be able to obtain that sound from any amp, but will check as I cannot remember this at the moment.

[bigtone23]

Glad to hear you like the SD2 and DC3 bigtone23

I will see if I can find the settings for that Hiwatt sound I mentioned before, will also see if I the SD2 is consistent in producing that sound with different amps.
I think you should be able to obtain that sound from any amp, but will check as I cannot remember this at the moment.

Sounds good! I really like Hiwatt tones.
I like how the overall tonality of the SD2 is not as mid scooped (like the DS) nor mid forward, like the SD1/OD1. It works great with both my Fender Silver Face and Marshall, which is my amp test with any drive.

[visserman]

I got the setting and it is fairly simple:

Lead Tone, Level: Depending on level amp, Tone: dial in fairly dark tone, I had it at 4----5 is tone control half open----
Drive: All the way down, open it up and the sound becomes tighter and more modern. Keeping the drive down gives is a kind of old school sound.
Use treble pick-up of your guitar, the neck pick up may sound a little muddy with this setting, but that may depend on your pick-ups and guitar.
I used the Guya, which is not a high output guitar. Sound works well with chords and single string playing.
Try some power chord riffs and you should get the idea fairly quick how this sound works.

I mentioned Hiwatt, of course, it is not like a Hiwatt amp, but it reminds me of that sound.
What I like it that the pedal does have its own sound, is not like a OD-1, OD-3 or SD-1 which all have Marshall kind of sounds in them, or a HM-2, which is also on the Marshall side of things.

The Silver Face Fender should be good for it. In terms of amps I tried the Bassman 135 Silverface, through a Cabinet with bass speakers, also tried through other amps and the pedal gives you the same basic sound with the added bonus of each amp characteristics.

I find the Crunch mode not as inspiring compared to the lead sound. That sound can be found on other pedals, and some of them will do this better than what you get on the crunch mode of the SD-2.

[bigtone23]

I got the setting and it is fairly simple:

Lead Tone, Level: Depending on level amp, Tone: dial in fairly dark tone, I had it at 4----5 is tone control half open----
Drive: All the way down, open it up and the sound becomes tighter and more modern. Keeping the drive down gives is a kind of old school sound.
Use treble pick-up of your guitar, the neck pick up may sound a little muddy with this setting, but that may depend on your pick-ups and guitar.
I used the Guya, which is not a high output guitar. Sound works well with chords and single string playing.
Try some power chord riffs and you should get the idea fairly quick how this sound works.

I mentioned Hiwatt, of course, it is not like a Hiwatt amp, but it reminds me of that sound.
What I like it that the pedal does have its own sound, is not like a OD-1, OD-3 or SD-1 which all have Marshall kind of sounds in them, or a HM-2, which is also on the Marshall side of things.

The Silver Face Fender should be good for it. In terms of amps I tried the Bassman 135 Silverface, through a Cabinet with bass speakers, also tried through other amps and the pedal gives you the same basic sound with the added bonus of each amp characteristics.

I find the Crunch mode not as inspiring compared to the lead sound. That sound can be found on other pedals, and some of them will do this better than what you get on the crunch mode of the SD-2.

Thank you! I will try these settings tomorrow when the house is empty and I can rock out!
I do tend to run fairly dark tone control settings. I don't have a single drive that I run the tone over 11:00-noon at most. Same with the gain, usually on the mid to lower end of the range.
What struck me the most about the crunch mode (with my limited experience with the pedal) is that it has a rather flat EQ. This is not very familiar territory when one is used to the more typical 'yellow' BOSS drives.

[visserman]

Bigtone, need to check out what is was about the Crunch mode that I do not like. I used to prefer it over the Lead tone when I was first introduced to the SD-2. Maybe it is just the fact that the Lead mode gives you a more unusual sound compared to any other of the Boss dirt pedals, but again, I will need to play with it to be more accurate.

Interesting to see that your levels of tone, gain and mid are fairly moderate compared to what some of the pedals are capable of producing.
Higher setting can sometime produce these "unnatural" sounds, or "very over the top" sounds.

[bigtone23]

I do find that most pedals have more gain than I typically use/need. I have fun running them up high in the 'unnatural' zone, but I can't use those sounds much, if at all.
My 'base-level' gain setting is pretty much like Back In Black era AC/DC. Crunchy, percussive, not too compressed, has dynamic touch, but cleans up around 5 on the guitar volume. I use my guitar's onboard mid boost (&/or SD1) to punch the gain up a bit more when needed.
When I did the 4 mods to one of my DS1 (including the JCM800 mod), it lowered the overall gain available, but spread it out over the full range of the knob. Much better for me! A stock DS1 finds me running the gain around 10 o' clock, my modded DS1 is up around 2-3 o'clock.

I did a big shootout of my BOSS yellow and orange pedals (plus a few others like the '80 MXR D+, '83 Ibanez SD9 & '84 SM9, Wampler Plexi Drive and GFI Jonassus Drive. My takeaway is that I really, really like the SD2 for the yellow pedals (especially as a stand alone drive) and the DS2 in regular mode for the stock orange ones. My OS2 might just get kicked off the small board for the SD2, if I can find room for the mode footswitch! Crunch mode gets my sound really easily and Lead mode with the gain really low has a nice, fat low end and smooth highs. Lead mode also gets much more bass as you turn up the gain. The Jonassus drive is similar to the SD2, but more mid forward and too big for the small board.

[visserman]

All sounds good Bigtone,

Have not done my listening for the Crunch mode yet, give me a few days and will be able to tell you a little more.

Very detailed description from your end, great!!