Boss HM-2 clones - yes, really. What is there?

hugbot · February 2015

meltedbuzzbox said:

the guys "clean" tone certainly was

TBH HM2s really sound best when they're pushing an amp thats not really clean, for full meltdown sound.

Although the way they had the amps set up made the HM3 sound better, when most of the time he was right the first time- it sucks.

impmann · February 2015

The HM-2 can make some much more refined sounds than Black Metal... in fact, David Gilmour used them in the early 1980s...

For example:

http://www.gilmourish.com/?page_id=22

meltedbuzzbox · February 2015

hugbot said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

the guys "clean" tone certainly was

TBH HM2s really sound best when they're pushing an amp thats not really clean, for full meltdown sound.

Although the way they had the amps set up made the HM3 sound better, when most of the time he was right the first time- it sucks.

swap HM2 for timmy, klon, cornish, mxr, boss etc etc and you have covered everything ever :-P

the stock HM-2 sounds best in a skip for me personally. :-)

xSkarloey · February 2015

My HM-2 is the first pedal I ever had so I can't let it go for usual sentimental reasons.

I came close to selling it once, but it has something about it. I use it with a Super Overdrive going into it. The SD helps to tame the tinny, fuzzy top end to my ears.

lasermonkey · February 2015

I built one for a friend. While I was testing it, I happened upon some tones I recognised from MBV records.

I loved it on bass. Definitely going to build something based on it for myself.

Lew · February 2015

bingefeller · February 2015

Wow, never knew such a thing as a boutique HM-2 existed! I remember buying a HM-2 years ago on Harmony Central because Shawn Lane used one. Never got that sound for me though.

iseverynamegone · February 2015

I used a boss HM-2 with almost everything upto 10 for special mid song white noise , through my old HH solid state amp. Sounded absolutely awful but filled a hole :-)

stonevibe · February 2015

juansolo said:

The HM-2 is the Black Metal tone. This is what people are after. It's an HM-2 into a solid state amp, because quite frankly, that's all they could afford. It is a shit sound, but it is THAT sound. Which if you're after that sound is an HM-2. Nothing else does it. It really doesn't need any controls at all other than vol as to get that sound, you dime the gain, Hi and Low, and turn up the vol as high as it'll go without squealing. You could easily build it as a one knobber.

I find the requirement for a 6 knobber quite amusing. It's REALLY easy to add mids. Not sure why you'd bother, but it is. What else are they putting on there?! The only reason for it being more than one knob for me is that if you pull the Hi and Low all the way back, it makes this awesome trashy ultra-lo-fi type distortion that's bags of fun.

The HM-2 gets stick from people who are not black metalists or into interesting, non-traditional distortion tones. It's certainly got character

The original Valnott (Norwegian for walnut - see the gut-shot) skit was a piss take as to how bad black metal sounds. My pedal was a reference to that (though I do like it).

I know it more as a fuzz box as used by My Bloody Valentine and other shoe gaze bands.

Just it has zero character as a fuzz and is very much on the bland side. We all bought them for fuzz when you could get them for a tenner and even then I would flip them to some Indie kid for a profit as preferred my Muff type pedals at the time.

Heartfeltdawn · February 2015

juansolo said:
The HM-2 gets stick from people who are not black metalists or into interesting, non-traditional distortion tones. It's certainly got character

It does. Middle-aged Kevin Shields fanboys like me like that character. Generally I'd leave the EQ at midday and that was that. It's a real on/off pedal.

stonevibe said:

I know it more as a fuzz box as used by My Bloody Valentine and other shoe gaze bands.

Just it has zero character as a fuzz and is very much on the bland side. We all bought them for fuzz when you could get them for a tenner and even then I would flip them to some Indie kid for a profit as preferred my Muff type pedals at the time.

....which is why it works very well going into multi-tap delays and characterful reverbs. It's very easy to get that compressed wall of noise and then add the character you want.

Then again, I've never liked the Fuzz Face.

stonevibe · February 2015

HM-2 - The perfect bland fuzz.

Heartfeltdawn · February 2015

stonevibe said:

HM-2 - The perfect bland fuzz.

Apart from it isn't.

It's the best harsh bland fuzz that isn't a fuzz ever.

BloodEagle · February 2015

samzadgan said:

GavHaus said:

Not lone wolf as in the recording artist from the North?

no...Lone Wolf...the guy who publicly (on Facebook) tells other builders that their pedals are wired bad and dont sound as good as his...he did it to Fuzzrocious and (i think even Black Arts)...but apparantly, when he got pulled up his beahviour, he said that they sorted it out off line and he helped them and gave them tips on their builds...even though those pedal makers pedals are being used by more people than his and are being used by musicians who tour the world and are known for their amazing tones (obvioulsy within the genre's)
The funniest incident was when a 6 knob HM2 clone was posted on the FB group, and without seeing the guts, he started slamming if for it being a rubbish clone and inferior to his. The builder came on the group and defended his pedal in a very professional way. Then LW made the mistake of claiming his pedal was the first ever 6 knob HM2 clone...shit got interesting at this point.
The guy from Dunwich, Nick, who is a nice guy and doesnt get involved in this stuff couldn't hold himself back...he responded, basically telling everyone that his Dunwich HM2 was the first 6 knob one (which to my knowledge it is) and how he helped LW with designing his 6 knob version.
moral of the story...the guy is a bit of knob, and from people i know who bought his pedal in the early days, they aren't even built that well.
anyway, rant over.

Rant away - the Lone Wolf Audio guy appears to be a complete prick. I was following that HM2 FB thread as someone with a vested interest in that kind of thing, and it was amazing how arrogant and entitled he came across. Im really interested to get hold of a LHW to have a close look at, but point blank refuse to pay the £175 he's asking for when I have 4 perfectly good actual HM2's (total value - about £160) kicking around. Anyway, thats my rant over too

hugbot · February 2015

I got a HM2 recently to try out. Part of the fun is the weird way the hi knob works, it seems to actually be adding a lot of mids, meaning that little adjustments can make big changes in the sound.

I dont like fuzzes usually because i find they seem to "flatten out"the sound somewhat, the HM2 is high gain and sleazy but with nasty midrange that can hit like a hammer if you dial it in right.

I really, really dont like big muffs either.