Has anyone looked under the hood of the Boss MZ-2 Digital Metalizer? Any idea if the distortion circuit is an adapted version of an older Boss classic or unique to the pedal? I found one local for cheap and thought it may be worth a look. Here is a clip from Kitrae with just the distortion into a Fender Twin:
http://www.kitrae.net/music/MP3/Purple%20Rain%20solo_2_EMG%20Strat_MZ-2_TD_CE-2_Twin%20Reverb.mp3 (http://www.kitrae.net/music/MP3/Purple%20Rain%20solo_2_EMG%20Strat_MZ-2_TD_CE-2_Twin%20Reverb.mp3)
*Just noticed there may be a Tube Driver and CE-2 on there as well
I have one and from what I remember playing around with it the distortion wasn't that great, nor was the digital delay/chorus board. Probably why it wasn't such a success. Methinks if it weren't for David Gilmour using one on a blue monday this pedal would have been utterly forgotten by most. I mostly got it because it was cheap and I like to collect old Boss pedals. A nice throwback to the days when digital wasn't a curse word yet but an actual selling point.
Lol! Thanks for the reply. I have also been exploring the Boss "back catalogue" as it were. The made in Japan stuff is pretty good, especially the CS-2, CE-2, and DD2. Right now I'm super curious about how the MZ-2 sounds in stereo more than anything, as I just set up a new stereo rig.
Do you have one, or is there just one on offer locally? I'd say if its cheap, go for it. Finding a rare forgotten pedal for cheap and using it on a song that becomes famous has been the key to the meteoric rise of many sought after pedals. I'll try to remember to open mine up and take some pictures. From what I remember its two separate boards. The distortion board looked pretty straightforward and easy to clone. The digital board looked totally different.
Well I picked it up for a decent kijiji price... and it rocks! The digital stuff is OK at best, but the distortion is amazing with a Seymour Duncan SSL-5 in the bridge position of a Strat. This needs to be cloned. Any schems floating around? I haven't found any.