If you've read my review of The BOSS Book, you'll know I said the book wasn't supposed to be a checklist.

I warned that the book could lead a person to buy more BOSS pedals.

You think I'd pay more attention to what I write.

Instead, I found myself wandering into a guitar shop which I rarely visit. I walked over to the pedal display, and was stunned. The BOSS book described the HiBand Flanger as a model which was made from 1985 to 1995. Before I got the book, I had only seen the pedal in a BOSS catalogue. So imagine my surprise when this shop boasted TWO HF-2 pedals!

I choose the model that was in better cosmetic shape, and happened to be made in Japan instead of Taiwan. Yes, I bought it because it sounded great played through the store's Fender amp.

I got it home and read that the pedal was designed to flange a band one octave higher than the BF-2.

I plugged the HF-2 into my Princeton and got my Strat. In a word, this pedal sounded GREAT! I enjoyed it for 30 minutes.

Then I decided to match it up against the BF-2.

Hmm. If I get my scanner working, you'll see that the HF-2 has the same controls as the BF-2. Well, then it's not too surprising that the pedals actually sound quite similar. The HF-2 has a more "refined" sound, almost more of a chorus like shimmer which I really enjoyed. And yet, it's not all that much different from the BF-2. To my ears, it would seem that the "Manual" control on the HF-2 seems to make a bit more difference, but that's about it.

It's funny. If I didn't own a BF-2, I would be a lot more positive about the HF-2. In fact, if I could only have one, I MIGHT pick the HF-2. But that's solely a matter of personal taste, as the HF-2 sounds great when played in a clean setting (a Strat and a Fender amp seems like a match made in flanger heaven). However, the HF-2 doesn't seem capable of duplicating the BF-2's "doubling" effect. I do love the colour, though. Luckily, I can keep both. And hooking them both up leads to some nice effects.

An observation. It seems that BOSS has adopted a new plan with regards to their pedals. The beloved BF-2 was replaced recently by the BF-3. The BF-3 has three modes, and one of the modes is basically the original BF-2. And BOSS has just released the OC-3. This pedal also boasts three modes, one of which is ... yes, you guessed it, the original OC-2. The only problem with these improvements is that if one already owns the previous pedals, buying the new models means you stuck with pedals you won't need. That's a shame. I've heard some of the BF-3's new sounds and they're quite interesting.