Anyone use the Boss IR-2 pedal?

[Len Amaral]

I bought the Boss IR-2 Impulse Response pedal about a year ago and have used it with 6 string guitar. Has anyone tried this pedal with pedal steel? This pedal has a. send & return for time-based effects. Haven't tried that setup as of yet, just running all my effects into the IR-2 input and output to amp. Also, the Blackface or Clean setting seems it would be the best for pedal steel.

[Larry Dering]

I was wondering if anyone used this and how it sounded with steel. Boss makes some very good pedals and I would expect this to do well. I have their pocket GT and it does a decent Fender tone model that works for steel.

[Len Amaral]

I plugged my steel from VP out to the Boss IR-2 pedal into the return of a Fender Jazz King (Same amp as the Steel King) Some very pleasant tones on the Black Face setting, turning the volume control on full, and turning the gain control starting at zero to about 1/4 the way up. Very clean and Fendery vibe. I have my pedal board and amp at rehearsal, so I will try that tomorrow night and give it a good test.

[Larry Dering]

I will be watching for your report.

[Len Amaral]

OK, I hooked up the Boss IR-2 on my pedal board at rehearsal. I didn't have time to wire up the time-based effects (Reverb & Delay) through the send & return as recommended with the IR-2 so here is the way I tested out the pedal.

Guitar VP (Hilton) to Peterson HR stomp tuner, Boss CP-X1 compressor to Conspiracy Theory overdrive, Boss Tape Delay pedal to Boss IR-2 to a mini reverb pedal to Jay Ganz Straight Ahead power amp to a single JBL-K-130 in a Stereo Steel cabinet.

I set the IR-2 to the Twin setting. Very simple to dial in a usable tone and tweaked tone knobs for a few minutes. It is recommended that you use a very neutral high powered speaker as the pedal is creating the tone rather than the speaker adding to the tone. I had to back off on the treble as the JBL is noted for the high end chirp.

Opinion: Very nice even tube type feel. Not a huge learning curve to obtain a useful pedal steel tone. Turn the volume on this pedal all the way up as a master volume, then use the gain as the volume. Set Bass, Mid & treble to taste. This pedal also has an ambient reverb knob. It is not as wet as reverb pedal but nice to add a bit to mix with your reverb pedal.

Once you set the clean Twin settings (Green LED) press the pedal off and it saves your settings. You can then setup the 2nd (Red Channel LED) to select another amp impulse response such as crunch, Vox type, Boogie, etc., the toggle between the two selection. I will not use the second channel as I just want the Twin setting.

Another feature, you can plug the output of the Boss IR-2 direct to the PA or recording then get your sound from the monitor or ear buds. (No amp needed)

I brought the pedal board home with me and will rewire the setup (Send & Return) as I mentioned then try with different speakers. Very impressed so far.

[Larry Dering]

Sounds like a simple solution in a tiny package. Boss is known for quality products and this fits their model. I'm happy with my GT 1 and the Pocket GT. I may pick up this pedal to compare with my current stuff.

[Fred Treece]

Is this the Boss answer to ToneX? If it is, I’m all ears.

[Patrick Huey]

Is this the Boss answer to ToneX? If it is, I’m all ears.

Fred, no I believe the Boss is more a speaker cab impulse response pedal. The Tone X is preamp and IR loader.
Myself I use the Mooer Radar IR pedal…it has selectable power amp voicing, graphic and parametric eq’s, lots of mic selections and mic positioning, etc you can load custom IR’s and run into recording interface, headphones, or FOH and they can be found used for $60-$80

[Fred Treece]

Looks to me like the IR2 pedal has a preamp in it.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... inet-pedal

It may not have the modeling/profiling capability of the ToneX.

[Len Amaral]

Yes, the IR-2 is definitely a preamp. However, it can be used as an effects pedal. I must admit the terms Modeler and Impulse Response can be confusing. I have tried modeling amps before and they sound ok. The impulse response has a different feel when you play through it that maybe only the player can tune into the vibe.

[Len Amaral]

UPDATE:

The Boss IR-2 has different functions you can change online from the Boss website or by following the instructions in the manual. If you are using a power amp and speaker, it suggests you change the function in the pedal to (AMP ON-CAB OFF) This leaves the preamp on and shuts the cabinet simulator off. To my ears, it enriches the sound. I'm very impressed with the performance of the Boss IR-2 pedal. So far, I have only used the green channel TWIN setting, but going to experiment with the red channel and some of the other amp models.

[Larry Dering]

Boss typically make good equipment that sounds good. I'm not surprised the IR2 has good tone. What are you plugging it into?

[Len Amaral]

Hi Larry:

I am going from the output of the Boss IR-2 to the input of a Jay Ganz Strait Ahead Power amp. Then from the power amp to a single JBL K-130 speaker in a Stereo Steel cab.

[Larry Dering]

Good combination of power amp and speaker. The K130 is the secret sauce.