I have two of these and in excellent condition. The effect is subtle. It works depending on where it is in the chain. To expect to just use this pedal only and expect a huge effect is to not understand what it does and therefore get mixed results. Pedals chained after or before the EH2 will effect the end result. It also depends on how you have your amp set. In your video you noticed some effect and the response of the guitar through the amp added an extra trail or sag sound. But you didn't appear to latch on to the effect and missed what it was doing for your sound. Since you presented a narrow bandwidth going through the amp and your amp is "tiny" you missed out on some sonics. Try putting a Tube Screamer before or after this and then see what the EH2 can do. Or even a chorus. Or a larger amp with 4x12's. Under the right chaining, moving the knobs just a little brings on more of an effect. In a recording setting the EH2 will add highs and high mids, changing the sound of the pickups, that you can control. Have to look at a bigger picture not just a dry run with chords. Try it up against a track. You don't know how to use the pedal, unfortunately. If this were about a supercharged V8 motor, the EH2 would be nitrous (N2O) to a gearhead. Nitrous by itself is laughing gas. But injected into a powerful motor, can blow the motor apart if not set up properly. There are other clips online that can demo this pedal in a better light.
I agree with you and I've never used one, but I guarantee you with a half or full stack at high volumes I can see where this would shine. Especially with things like harmonics or other effects. I think this pedal would be a gem.
@@mkv2718 A buffer is exactly what I thought this was. Ironically, I had only learned of that term today. I was actually going to see how to add buffers or true bypass to all of my pedals. Maybe this can solve that issue? This pedal has been sitting, in my collection, for the longest time now; yet, I had no idea how to utilize its full potential. I will seek out instructional videos on this now. Years ago, I was unable to track down any usable literature or demos on it. Thank you for more insight!
The EH-2 was intended to bring back clarity and detail that could get lost after a lot of signal processing. The ability to control it by a foot pedal is convenient, but if used in a performance, it's likely going to be left on all the time - not the onions of thing you kick on for certain parts. It was introduced in 1990 at the same time as the PN-2 and OS-2. The quality of the signal processing was different in those days, and there was more of an interest in higher definition sounds. Plus, this is also around a time period when Boss was bringing effects and functions to effects pedals that were normally only found in larger and more expensive rack-miunted studio gear. Not long after the EH-2 was released older and retro styled gear saw a resurgence and there had been a much more significant interest in warmer and low-fi sounds. These days, popular opinion has become more open to different tones & textures than it has in a while. Also, the quality and fidelity of today's effects units are better and players are better informed of various conditions that can affect their signal and sound quality. So, the EH-2's contribution was well-suited for the setup and preferences at the time it was introduced. Misunderstood by many and with a major musical and popular culture change on the horizon, it's timing was a little late. It's actually a really great pedal with the right sound and gear. I have two, myself.
Guitarists may dismiss this pedal, but it's great for live synths e.g. adding clarity to one element in a dense mix of patches. I love guitar players dearly, but we need more reviews of FX pedals used with synths!
I scored one on Ebay years ago, quite expensive, but I loved the effect it added to my guitar playing. Then one day being curious I opened it, and discovered it has no internals, it only has a wire going from the input to the output jack! Since that day I call it my Placebo Pedal and I kept using it.
I can hear the slight difference but from what I'm reading, this pedal really is best when used in tandem with other pedals and in more of a studio setting.
The purpose of this pedal is to reverse the tone suck that comes from having a board full of buffered pedals. Used on its own it has no real impact on tone, but used at the end of a long chain of Boss pedals it'll pull you pack to square and get you that straight-into-amp sound.
This had me laughing. I recently inherited a bunch of pedals in extremely great condition and the “Enhancer” pedal was included. I thought, “what the hell is this?” Plugged it in and was pretty much convinced that WHATEVER it used to be, it no longer worked. Thought( Maybe it was damaged? So, I threw it aside as a non-working pedal. ‘Stumbled upon your video and had a good laugh. So, yes; makes a great paper-weight.
Yup, it's definitely a tube emulator for when you play through solid state amps. It also makes a guitar with a rosewood fingerboard sound like one with a maple board, crank up your distortion pedal and enjoy hearing the difference.
I bought one new from AMS way back when. Still have it. Always ran it after a drive pedal into a clean amp. Very noticeable that way depending on settings.
The effect is subtle. Some pedals are. You could say the same about my XOTIC SP Compressor. Stuff of that nature can shine when in a studio setting running into a DAW & not so much in the wild. I use a BOSS GE-7 Equalizer near the end of the chain on my one board and am buying a used EH-2 tomorrow for CAD70 to finish the chain on another BOSS board I'm trying to complete. Maybe I'll do my own review in the future comparing the two. There's a hint for you! BOSS pedals are indestructible and coming back in vogue. The much maligned Metal Zone MT-2 would be a prime example. Like any pedal you need to know how to use it.
the middle knob ,is a parameric 1khz - 5khz control and the mix (1st) knob is" + or - " "notch"..The sensitivity is what it is ((you could say the pedal is a Parametric Gate"
It is pretty much a kind of useful subcircuit in a post effect signal processing unit. I think it is way too subtle and sofisticated as a single guitarist unit. It could function as a good housing for a Fuzz though with that colour.
It does a pretty cool thing... but I kind of like the effect of the BBE stinger better... especially for bluesy stuff where the overdrive is still chimey and you want a bit more bite to ad to the grit. But it holds its own on heavier tones too, provided you have a little preamp on the front of it. The noise floor can get bad if your guitar signal is weak. I wouldn't mind trying this one out, though. Sound is one thing, but feel is another. It has to have the feel and in the right setting, the guitar practically plays itself.
So what a fukkk it does? It brightens the sound like turning guitar tone knob to 11! Kinda more clarity, transparency.. what’s going on here? Thnx bro ❤
Some joke it does not even have internals... 100% true, heard that in the 90's lol....Saw the headline and thought, "Hey, i remember that pedal, maybe it does actually do something"... I remember this being on a boss demo pedal board at guitar center, I thought something was wrong with it because it didn't do anything, I asked the salesman "what this does this pedal do" His reply.... "Absolutely nothing" ... So it really is a pedal that does absolutely nothing lol.
I could understand this pedal being mocked by a group of novice musicians/guitarists. I don't use "novice" for condescension or as an insult, I just mean that I remember when I was green to guitar (especially tone), I thought the same thing about compressors. I couldn't hear ANY difference when Min/Maxing knobs. Well obviously! It's not a volume knob. I hope to find one of these for a reasonable price because I can think of a few ways to use it to great effect!
I "get" this pedal. I can hear the differences. This is a "tone shaper". If you're not picky about your guitar tone and you don't think anyone can tell the difference and niether can you, then you don't need to bother.
That kind of pedal, much like compressions, that you can't use if you don't understand what it does... randomly turning pots like it's all magic or not. It's a sonic maximiser/enhancer/exciter, it adds synthetised harmonics to the signal, a special distortion that emphasize "pretty" trebles in a way. Get informed before talking or commenting about any subject!
A type c exciter is better. This thing is a series of gates that makes a clumsy attempt at type c exciter... it doesn't do it justice. BBE stinger is what this pedal wants to be. But the only thing close to that is an aphex aural exciter. Those are serious effects.
I guess if you dime the knobs you can use it as a weak boost?...i B A R E L Y noticed a spike in treble frequencies when you dimed it and maybe a little more output...id have to agree with the consensus on this one tho. Doesnt do anything really noticable.
If you really want the fully effect of the pedal, put it after distortion, which compresses the signal. Highs and mids cut thru better. If you put it before the distortion, you are misusing the pedal.
That could be a good tool for low volume practice or when you cannot turn your amp up enough to make it sound right. Say maybe a whiny sound guy or person next door
Having played rock guitar in a lot live settings , it didn’t take me long to figure out that all this obsession with minuscule tone difference s are imperceptible in live loud mix and are more a way to sell you stuff
Setting all the knobs to 12 O’clock is a common way to test an amp, because that’s usually the optimal setting for amps. But in the case of this pedal, setting all the knobs to 12 O’clock does nothing. It’s when you set the knobs to other settings that it changes the sound. But - quite annoyingly - you kept setting all the knobs to 12 O’clock, which again does nothing. I’m surprised you didn’t notice that. And you kept setting all the knobs to 12 O’clock over and over and over…, which only demonstrated why this pedal (incorrectly) got the reputation for being the “Nothing” pedal. It would help to read the manual first. Or, at least test the thing enough to figure it out, before doing the demo.
@@jaketanis3069 “…compresses your signal, to bring out the frequencies you want to ring/bring(?) out.” I’m not trying to be a dick here BTW, but that is totally incorrect.
Please don't attack me with comments, I meant to say it is a 90's pedal. What do you think of this pedal?
Like the buckethead quote at 2:30 or so (if that's what it is) Works great with the pedal.
I think this pedal adds more tone and character then 98% of dynamic, eq and saturation plugins! Love the difference! 👍🏻
MIX: 5:00 ~9:00 EQ: 1:00 Setting Please
I have two of these and in excellent condition. The effect is subtle. It works depending on where it is in the chain. To expect to just use this pedal only and expect a huge effect is to not understand what it does and therefore get mixed results. Pedals chained after or before the EH2 will effect the end result. It also depends on how you have your amp set. In your video you noticed some effect and the response of the guitar through the amp added an extra trail or sag sound. But you didn't appear to latch on to the effect and missed what it was doing for your sound. Since you presented a narrow bandwidth going through the amp and your amp is "tiny" you missed out on some sonics. Try putting a Tube Screamer before or after this and then see what the EH2 can do. Or even a chorus. Or a larger amp with 4x12's. Under the right chaining, moving the knobs just a little brings on more of an effect. In a recording setting the EH2 will add highs and high mids, changing the sound of the pickups, that you can control. Have to look at a bigger picture not just a dry run with chords. Try it up against a track. You don't know how to use the pedal, unfortunately. If this were about a supercharged V8 motor, the EH2 would be nitrous (N2O) to a gearhead. Nitrous by itself is laughing gas. But injected into a powerful motor, can blow the motor apart if not set up properly. There are other clips online that can demo this pedal in a better light.
I agree with you and I've never used one, but I guarantee you with a half or full stack at high volumes I can see where this would shine. Especially with things like harmonics or other effects. I think this pedal would be a gem.
These sound good with choruses and processed tones to bring out tone. It's like an Exciter
And if anything, if you don’t have a buffer pedal it can fill that role pretty well 🤷♂️
@@mkv2718 A buffer is exactly what I thought this was. Ironically, I had only learned of that term today. I was actually going to see how to add buffers or true bypass to all of my pedals. Maybe this can solve that issue?
This pedal has been sitting, in my collection, for the longest time now; yet, I had no idea how to utilize its full potential. I will seek out instructional videos on this now. Years ago, I was unable to track down any usable literature or demos on it. Thank you for more insight!
Agreed. I find this pedal very similar to Clinch Effects EP-Pre.
The EH-2 was intended to bring back clarity and detail that could get lost after a lot of signal processing. The ability to control it by a foot pedal is convenient, but if used in a performance, it's likely going to be left on all the time - not the onions of thing you kick on for certain parts. It was introduced in 1990 at the same time as the PN-2 and OS-2. The quality of the signal processing was different in those days, and there was more of an interest in higher definition sounds. Plus, this is also around a time period when Boss was bringing effects and functions to effects pedals that were normally only found in larger and more expensive rack-miunted studio gear. Not long after the EH-2 was released older and retro styled gear saw a resurgence and there had been a much more significant interest in warmer and low-fi sounds. These days, popular opinion has become more open to different tones & textures than it has in a while. Also, the quality and fidelity of today's effects units are better and players are better informed of various conditions that can affect their signal and sound quality. So, the EH-2's contribution was well-suited for the setup and preferences at the time it was introduced. Misunderstood by many and with a major musical and popular culture change on the horizon, it's timing was a little late. It's actually a really great pedal with the right sound and gear. I have two, myself.
Onions
Dude knows his onions.
I’ve had mine for nearly 20 years now. It’s the last pedal on my board and it absolutely does what it’s supposed to do. I love this pedal!
Guitarists may dismiss this pedal, but it's great for live synths e.g. adding clarity to one element in a dense mix of patches. I love guitar players dearly, but we need more reviews of FX pedals used with synths!
I scored one on Ebay years ago, quite expensive, but I loved the effect it added to my guitar playing. Then one day being curious I opened it, and discovered it has no internals, it only has a wire going from the input to the output jack! Since that day I call it my Placebo Pedal and I kept using it.
😂
I can hear the slight difference but from what I'm reading, this pedal really is best when used in tandem with other pedals and in more of a studio setting.
The purpose of this pedal is to reverse the tone suck that comes from having a board full of buffered pedals. Used on its own it has no real impact on tone, but used at the end of a long chain of Boss pedals it'll pull you pack to square and get you that straight-into-amp sound.
This had me laughing.
I recently inherited a bunch of pedals in extremely great condition and the “Enhancer” pedal was included. I thought, “what the hell is this?”
Plugged it in and was pretty much convinced that WHATEVER it used to be, it no longer worked. Thought( Maybe it was damaged? So, I threw it aside as a non-working pedal.
‘Stumbled upon your video and had a good laugh.
So, yes; makes a great paper-weight.
Yup, it's definitely a tube emulator for when you play through solid state amps. It also makes a guitar with a rosewood fingerboard sound like one with a maple board, crank up your distortion pedal and enjoy hearing the difference.
fretwood is a myth
Its my secret weapon into my SLO
I bought one new from AMS way back when. Still have it. Always ran it after a drive pedal into a clean amp. Very noticeable that way depending on settings.
I have had one for years. It makes a really cool clean tone with a chous pedal
The effect is subtle. Some pedals are. You could say the same about my XOTIC SP Compressor. Stuff of that nature can shine when in a studio setting running into a DAW & not so much in the wild. I use a BOSS GE-7 Equalizer near the end of the chain on my one board and am buying a used EH-2 tomorrow for CAD70 to finish the chain on another BOSS board I'm trying to complete. Maybe I'll do my own review in the future comparing the two. There's a hint for you! BOSS pedals are indestructible and coming back in vogue. The much maligned Metal Zone MT-2 would be a prime example. Like any pedal you need to know how to use it.
Michael Shepherd Definetley agree. There is certainly a use for it, just not in my rig. Knowing how to use your pedals is the key to a solid board 🤘🏻
the middle knob ,is a parameric 1khz - 5khz control and the mix (1st) knob is" + or - " "notch"..The sensitivity is what it is ((you could say the pedal is a Parametric Gate"
It is pretty much a kind of useful subcircuit in a post effect signal processing unit. I think it is way too subtle and sofisticated as a single guitarist unit. It could function as a good housing for a Fuzz though with that colour.
It’s essentially a subtle presence switch
It does a pretty cool thing... but I kind of like the effect of the BBE stinger better... especially for bluesy stuff where the overdrive is still chimey and you want a bit more bite to ad to the grit. But it holds its own on heavier tones too, provided you have a little preamp on the front of it. The noise floor can get bad if your guitar signal is weak. I wouldn't mind trying this one out, though. Sound is one thing, but feel is another. It has to have the feel and in the right setting, the guitar practically plays itself.
To be fairly honest, I can hear around the 3:40 mark it's doing something, but it's so subtle, I'm not even sure if it's worth the purchase.
I like it. Sounds better playing chords. Think 'China Grove'. If you want to sell it, let me know. Great video, thanks for sharing 🤘
You are right, there is no noticeable difference in any setting..
Its the guitar version of the Brock Energy Polariser!
where is the other episode?
So what a fukkk it does? It brightens the sound like turning guitar tone knob to 11! Kinda more clarity, transparency.. what’s going on here? Thnx bro ❤
How can someone say it doesn’t do anything I heard a distinct tonal difference, clarity and a little grit. Sounds great.
Some joke it does not even have internals... 100% true, heard that in the 90's lol....Saw the headline and thought, "Hey, i remember that pedal, maybe it does actually do something"... I remember this being on a boss demo pedal board at guitar center, I thought something was wrong with it because it didn't do anything, I asked the salesman "what this does this pedal do" His reply.... "Absolutely nothing" ... So it really is a pedal that does absolutely nothing lol.
Maybe it works better when you have modulation like chorus or Flanger
I have one , it gives a nice change to a fuzz effect
I could understand this pedal being mocked by a group of novice musicians/guitarists. I don't use "novice" for condescension or as an insult, I just mean that I remember when I was green to guitar (especially tone), I thought the same thing about compressors. I couldn't hear ANY difference when Min/Maxing knobs. Well obviously! It's not a volume knob. I hope to find one of these for a reasonable price because I can think of a few ways to use it to great effect!
To me, it lives up to its nickname.
Love that guitar.
It makes a pedal board sound a little bit more crowded.
Right! The perfect pedal board for when you want a pedal, but don't need one.
@@jaketanis3069 my wife thinks all my pedals are like that. "it sounds the same"
I "get" this pedal. I can hear the differences. This is a "tone shaper". If you're not picky about your guitar tone and you don't think anyone can tell the difference and niether can you, then you don't need to bother.
That kind of pedal, much like compressions, that you can't use if you don't understand what it does... randomly turning pots like it's all magic or not.
It's a sonic maximiser/enhancer/exciter, it adds synthetised harmonics to the signal, a special distortion that emphasize "pretty" trebles in a way.
Get informed before talking or commenting about any subject!
Seems like you could use an EQ pedal to do the same thing this does with a wider range of functionality.
A type c exciter is better. This thing is a series of gates that makes a clumsy attempt at type c exciter... it doesn't do it justice. BBE stinger is what this pedal wants to be. But the only thing close to that is an aphex aural exciter. Those are serious effects.
I guess if you dime the knobs you can use it as a weak boost?...i B A R E L Y noticed a spike in treble frequencies when you dimed it and maybe a little more output...id have to agree with the consensus on this one tho. Doesnt do anything really noticable.
It’s a psychological pedal to psyche other guitarists out
Also for beginners- nothing goes wrong
I’m waiting for the waza version
They should rebrand it as the "Placebo"
I have 6 of them, 100% mint, "new old stock"
david guilmor eres tu?
Its a fancy boost pedal
Have it great pedal will never sell it.
Glad you dig it!
The best thing about it would be at high volumes.
You say "supposively" like my best friend. I thought that was a Binghamton thing, though!
It sounds weaker with the pots dimed. With everything at around 10 o'clock it sounds noticeable. Not really an improvement on your signal.
That's very cool. It's a pedal that does absolutely nothing. What a concept.
DiMarizo's are literally the best ........ watch a video of the DiMarzio Evolution side by side with the Seymour Duncan JB. It's unreal.
If you really want the fully effect of the pedal, put it after distortion, which compresses the signal. Highs and mids cut thru better.
If you put it before the distortion, you are misusing the pedal.
The Emperor's New Pedal
I should have bought that zinky man... Regrets 😂
Still love that amp.
How did such a useless pedal get worn out like it was a distortion?
Jake,menos charla y mas pisada!
That could be a good tool for low volume practice or when you cannot turn your amp up enough to make it sound right. Say maybe a whiny sound guy or person next door
sometimes... when they hit you with the voodoo, you gotta hit them back with the voodoo!
u know what i mean?
just makes it sound like you have single coils
It does nothing basically
Yeah, the nothing pedal
Having played rock guitar in a lot live settings , it didn’t take me long to figure out that all this obsession with minuscule tone difference s are imperceptible in live loud mix and are more a way to sell you stuff
Setting all the knobs to 12 O’clock is a common way to test an amp, because that’s usually the optimal setting for amps. But in the case of this pedal, setting all the knobs to 12 O’clock does nothing. It’s when you set the knobs to other settings that it changes the sound. But - quite annoyingly - you kept setting all the knobs to 12 O’clock, which again does nothing. I’m surprised you didn’t notice that. And you kept setting all the knobs to 12 O’clock over and over and over…, which only demonstrated why this pedal (incorrectly) got the reputation for being the “Nothing” pedal. It would help to read the manual first. Or, at least test the thing enough to figure it out, before doing the demo.
"Pedal de "nada" 😅
A pedal about nothing, Larry David designed
That's not what a compressor does.
Oh 🧐
@@jaketanis3069 “…compresses your signal, to bring out the frequencies you want to ring/bring(?) out.” I’m not trying to be a dick here BTW, but that is totally incorrect.
Nope!
huh.....huh....not much change....you wasted 20 bucks...
You can see why it was such a huge hit...🙄
Some things flew under the radar for a reason.
Nothing
Doesn’t do a thing lol
Right?!
Junk
yeah...
does nothing