Current interest in Boss HM-2s?

DefaultM

I was recently surprised to hear that a friend had purchased a Boss HM-2 for approx £100.
I thought he was mad but this does appear to be the current going rate.

One question on this... Why?

I had one in 2004 when I'd only just started playing and even then I recognised it as a piece of shit. It sounded unbelievably bad, which I know will be a selling point to some people who for example want to go for that Entombed sound, but that doesn't explain why all of a sudden they're selling for that much. There isn't a sudden rise in the interest for Swedish Death Metal for example.

I'm slightly annoyed because I sold mine for £20, but on the other hand in order to get more money than that I would have had to keep it in my possession for a further 13 years, which just wasn't happening.

ICBM

Probably the same reason as why late-60s/70s fuzz pedals - which in the 80s and early 90s were almost worthless because they were so out of step with the fashionable sounds that most people just thought they sounded shit, now command hundreds of pounds…

Either that or it's the 'greater fool' theory.

You wouldn't catch me with one either, I think they sound dreadful too! But they do definitely have a cult following.

alalalkasar

Shoegaze and Swedish chainsaws is why.

Fiftyshadesofjay

alalalkasar said:

Shoegaze and Swedish chainsaws is why.

This.
If you buy one of these to actually try and get a decent heavy metal sound you're doing it very wrong.

But for a certain type of sound they're the only pedal that can achieve it. I think they sound ace. 

Dopesick

Yeah they're used MASSIVELY in the modern hardcore scene right now, not so much death metal. You'd be hard pressed to find a big hardcore/grind/sludge band nowadays that doesn't use one.

I've tried many over the years and they do sound amazing but not really the sound for my band. 

By the way I will have an Abominable Electronics Custom Throne Torcher in the Classifieds soon when I get it back off my friend if anybody is interested.

ThePrettyDamned

To be fair, there was a time fuzz faces were thought to sound shit. Same for muffs. And they do sound shit if you use them wrong... 

I really like metal zones, too - I think of it as a parametric death fuzz it's not a brilliant metal distortion if you want a pushed marshall or 5150 tone, but it can do stuff nothing else can. 

Try saying that about yet another klone. 

lasermonkey

I built a clone for a friend, not really understanding why he wanted it. After a few minutes dicking around with it, I was getting noises I recognised from MBV's Loveless, plus some brutal metal tones. I'll probably build one for myself now.
 Yes, it's very easy to make it sound awful, mainly because the eq is so powerful. Restraint is key here.
 Oh, and it sounds amazing on bass.

Heartfeltdawn

I love 'em. Treble down, Bass about halfway. As Lasermonkey says, tweaking it gets a lot of Loveless sound. Actually liked with with the gain right down going clean into reverb then delay. That plus a Midiverb couldn't be more MBV.

robinbowes

Hey, I've got one! Who wants to buy it?

Bridgehouse

robinbowes said:

Hey, I've got one! Who wants to buy it?

£5?

robinbowes

Just a knob then?

professorben

robinbowes said:

Just a knob then?

But rude..... he was only lowballing you. 

robinbowes

professorben said:

robinbowes said:

Just a knob then?

But rude..... he was only lowballing you. 

Fiftyshadesofjay

robinbowes said:

Hey, I've got one! Who wants to buy it?

Well the OP sold his for £20 so I guess that's the going rate on here no?

robinbowes

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

robinbowes said:

Hey, I've got one! Who wants to buy it?

Well the OP sold his for £20 so I guess that's the going rate on here no?

13 years ago...

DefaultM

Sold mine for £20 in 2004 at Saturn Music in Wakefield, then bought a Boss OS-2 from them for £30.
There's an OS-2 in my local cash converters now for £30 so probably not the best deal for me there.

BloodEagle

Ive got 4 of these

Bridgehouse

robinbowes said:

Just a knob then?

Yes but don't hold it against me..

SquireJapan

DefaultM said:

Sold mine for £20 in 2004 at Saturn Music in Wakefield, then bought a Boss OS-2 from them for £30.
There's an OS-2 in my local cash converters now for £30 so probably not the best deal for me there.

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time ...

VJIves

Makes me wanna listen to Code Orange, or that new Knocked Loose record.

impmann

Gilmour used them for the Pulse tour iirc.
If they are dialled in properly they actually can sound good - not just da metaaaaahl \m/ sounds either.