Boss to Reissue HM-2 Heavy Metal Pedal
The death-metal (and David Gilmour) favorite will soon get the Waza Craft treatment.
Between its new Pocket GT unit, GT-1000CORE multi-effects pedal, RC-5 & RC-500 Loop Station pedals, and Nextone Special combo amp, Boss has had an incredibly busy couple of months.
The storied company isn't stopping there however, revealing – via an interview with Boss president Yoshi Ikegami on an episode of the company's Talk with Boss series – that the company will soon be issuing a Waza Craft version of its legendary HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal.
Boss has set up a Boss HM-2W Facebook group, where fans can discuss what they'd like to see in the new version of the pedal, and share feedback. Boss says it will incorporate the feedback and comments into the final product.
First released in 1983, the HM-2 was the bedrock of the tone on Entombed’s 1990 death-metal landmark, Left Hand Path. That said, the pedal was also a favorite of tone king David Gilmour, who used it prominently on his 1984 solo album, About Face, and Pink Floyd's 1987 comeback effort, A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
Among distortion pedals, the HM-2 stands out for its sonically versatile low and high ‘Color Mix’ EQ controls, which offer +/- 20dB of boost/cut.
Though there's no official release date for the new pedal (we do know it's arriving sometime in 2021), Boss, in a first, is promising to update fans on the pedal's design as it's developed. We'll be sure to share those updates when we have them.
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Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.