Boss HM-2W Heavy Metal Waza vs Boss JB-2
The Boss HM-2W Heavy Metal Waza and the Boss JB-2 are both pedals sharing mid-forward, bright, transparent. The Boss HM-2W Heavy Metal Waza leans fuzzy and tight. The Boss JB-2 leans full and sustaining. Current prices: $148.78 vs $183.16.
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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.32% — somewhat different
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- mid-forward
- bright
- transparent
Boss HM-2W Heavy Metal Waza
Boss · pedal
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$148.78via Reverb
$183.16via Reverb
The Boss HM-2W Heavy Metal Waza Craft is a faithful reissue of the original HM-2, the pedal that defined the chainsaw sound of Swedish death metal through Entombed and the early Sunlight Studios scene. With Level, Distortion, and a two-band Color EQ centered around a punchy low end and a high control near one kilohertz, its signature tone comes from cranking every knob for a buzzing, saturated, scooped chainsaw roar that still keeps attack. The Waza version adds a Custom mode with more gain, saturation, mids, and upper-mid bite alongside the standard mode, plus a lower noise floor, more output, and a premium buffer. Beloved for death metal, d-beat, and crust, it can also dial back to a waspy fuzz-like grind, making it the reference for the dark Swedish chainsaw voice.
The Boss JB-2 Angry Driver is a collaboration overdrive that combines two complete circuits in one pedal, the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver and the JHS Angry Charlie. The Blues Driver side gives a transparent amp-on-the-edge overdrive with full bass, low-mid grind, and bright top-end sheen, while the Angry Charlie side delivers a more aggressive Marshall-style rock voice with a big midrange bump and tube-like touch sensitivity. A mode control runs the two circuits independently, in series, or in parallel, so it spans edge-of-breakup blues, warm blues-rock leads, and grungy alt-rock snarl. It is valued as one of the most versatile single-box overdrives, keeping note definition and low noise even with both circuits stacked for high sustain.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Death Metal
- Hardcore
- Metal
- Blues
- Grunge
- Rock
- Blues Rock
- fuzzy
- tight
- full
- sustaining
- edge of breakup
- dynamic
- aggressive