Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal MIJ Black Label 1983 Used Effects

Crank them chainsaws and throw them horns up, this is a distortion pedal that spawned an entire subgenre of heavy music. The Boss HM-2 is a classic among death metal enthusiasts, especially the highly sought-after black label ones made in Japan in the 80’s, like this one here.

Infamous for their huge midrange hump and massive amounts of gain, many guitarists quickly found that the HM-2 with all four knobs set at 10 had a tone unlike any other pedal. This quickly became affectionally known as the “chainsaw” tone, and was the staple sound of many death metal bands in the early 90’s (Entombed, Dismember, At The Gates, anyone?)

Not only does this pedal absolutely crush with high gain, but it also has surprising utility at low gain settings. If your guitar tone is feeling a little too scoopy and needs a midrange boost, throw the HM-2 in front of it with the gain knob all the way down and it works wonders as a tone-shaper.

The serial number on this little tank of a dirt box dates it back to 1983, which is the first year these pedals were in production, so this one is THE OG. This thing has some minor cosmetic blemishes, but functions perfectly and will still shatter ear drums just as it did the day it left the factory. We’ll ship it to you lightning fast so you can get to riffing. Feel free to give us a call with any questions you may have about this pedal!