Boss BD-2W Blues Driver Waza Craft vs MXR M104 Distortion+
The Boss BD-2W Blues Driver Waza Craft and the MXR M104 Distortion+ are both pedals sharing gritty, mid-forward. The Boss BD-2W Blues Driver Waza Craft leans sustaining and dynamic. The MXR M104 Distortion+ leans saturated and full.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.35% — somewhat different
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Genres both listings are associated with.- Rock
- Blues
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- gritty
- mid-forward
MXR M104 Distortion+
MXR · pedal
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$171.78via Reverb
The Boss BD-2W Blues Driver Waza Craft is a handmade-in-Japan refinement of the classic BD-2, an all-analog overdrive prized for a bright, dynamic, touch-sensitive grit that ranges from light transparent breakup to crunchy edge. It offers a Standard mode that faithfully reproduces the original BD-2 voice with a lower noise floor and a smoother, less ice-picky high end, and a Custom mode that adds gain, fuller body, and more sustain for thicker contemporary blues and rock tones. Highly responsive to pick attack and guitar volume, it cleans up well and works both as a standalone drive and as a boost in front of an amp. Many players treat it like several pedals in one, covering overdrive, light distortion, and gritty textures, with an articulate, amp-like character favored across blues, classic rock, and indie.
The MXR Distortion+ is a simple two-knob distortion pedal built around an op-amp gain stage and diode clipping, dating to the mid-1970s and among the earliest dedicated distortion pedals made. It produces a thick, buzzy, somewhat fuzzy-edged distortion rather than a smooth, amp-like overdrive, with a straightforward Output and Distortion control set that keeps it simple to dial in. It suits players wanting a raw, vintage-voiced distortion or a boost pushed into another drive or amp for added grit, and has remained a budget-friendly staple for rock, metal, and hard rock tones for decades.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Classic Rock
- Indie
- Metal
- Hard Rock
- sustaining
- dynamic
- edge of breakup
- transparent
- saturated
- full