In 2014, at the Summer NAMM show in Nashville, Tennessee, a conversation started between two men who had no business being friends — the president of the most powerful compact pedal company on earth, and a boutique builder from Kansas City who had spent his formative guitar years obsessing over a single Boss pedal. Yoshi Ikegami, president of Boss, and Josh Scott, founder of JHS Pedals, hit it off immediately. Over the next three years, at booth visits and casual chats and increasingly serious pitches, Josh kept throwing out the same idea: “We should collaborate on a pedal.” In 2017, Yoshi finally messaged back: “Let’s do it.”
The result was the Boss JB-2 Angry Driver — the first pedal Boss had ever co-created with another company in 40 years of compact pedal manufacturing. It arrived at the House of Vans 40th Anniversary Celebration and hit the market carrying both the Boss and JHS logos on its face, a detail so unprecedented that it made the whole guitar community do a double-take. Inside, it housed two complete overdrive and distortion circuits — the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver and the JHS Angry Charlie — in a single compact enclosure with six routing configurations that no other two-in-one drive pedal had ever offered. This is the story of that pedal, why it sounds the way it does, and what it can do for your rig.
Two Origins, One Enclosure: The BD-2 and the Angry Charlie
To understand the JB-2, you have to understand what went into it. These are not randomly selected circuits. They are two of the most widely beloved drive pedals of the past three decades, and their pairing is not accidental.
The Boss BD-2 Blues Driver
Released in 1995, the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver occupies a strange position in the pantheon of overdrive pedals. It is less famous than the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, less mythologized than the Klon, less historically loaded than the Big Muff — yet it has spent thirty years quietly on the pedalboards of serious working guitarists who understand exactly what it does. The BD-2 uses JFET transistor gain staging to simulate the harmonic behavior of a tube amp pushed beyond its clean headroom. The result is an overdrive with what players describe as “organic lower mids,” meaning the fundamental frequencies of each note do not thin out the way they do in op-amp-driven overdrives. The highs sparkle rather than shriek. The pick attack is crisp and immediate.
Josh Scott has said explicitly that the BD-2 was the pedal that started his entire career — the pedal that made him want to understand how circuits worked, which led to modifications, which led to building his own, which led to JHS Pedals. Choosing the BD-2 circuit for the Boss side of the JB-2 was therefore not just practical; it was deeply personal. The irony of Boss’s fortieth anniversary collaboration being built around the pedal that created the collaborator is not lost on anyone who knows the story.
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day has a signature version of the BD-2 with Boss, underlining the pedal’s status as a genuine icon of American rock tone — not just a workhorse, but a sound maker in its own right.
The JHS Angry Charlie
The JHS Angry Charlie arrived as Josh Scott’s answer to a question that working guitarists have asked since the 1980s: how do you get JCM800 high-gain distortion without hauling a JCM800? The Angry Charlie delivers mid-saturated, cranked-Marshall character with enough volume and sustain to drive any clean platform into lead tone territory. Its design is rooted in the Marshall Guv’nor circuit family — British voice, strong upper-midrange presence, a distortion character that feels more like a saturated tube amp than a transistor clipping circuit. The Angry Charlie evolved from V1 through V3, with the V3 adding a three-band active EQ (bass, mid, treble) for comprehensive tone shaping. The JB-2 version of the Angry Charlie uses simplified controls — Drive, Tone, and Level shared via dual-concentric knobs — which streamlines the interface without compromising the core circuit’s character.
In Premier Guitar’s review of the JB-2, Dave Hunter described the Angry Charlie mode as “true to the juicy, mid-saturated, cranked-tube-amp lead tones of the Angry Charlie, which always struck me as feeling more natural and dynamic than many pedals billed as distortion.” That observation cuts to why this circuit earns its place alongside the BD-2: it does not sound like a gain-stage distortion pedal. It sounds like a very loud amplifier.
Inside the JB-2: Anatomy of the Angry Driver
The JB-2 is housed in the standard Boss compact enclosure, manufactured in Japan — not in Boss’s Wuhan facility — and stamped with both logos on the face. Construction is rugged steel, with Boss’s standard thumb-wheel battery access under the footswitch. The footswitch itself engages the pedal; the mode selection is handled by a knob, not a second switch. That distinction matters for live use, which we’ll address in a moment.
The Controls
Three dual-concentric knobs sit at the center of the JB-2’s interface, each controlling two independent parameters with inner and outer rings: Drive sets the gain independently for the Boss and JHS circuits; Tone shapes the frequency response of each circuit; Level sets the output volume of each circuit. The outer ring of each knob controls the Boss BD-2 side; the inner ring controls the JHS Angry Charlie side. In practice, this means you dial in each circuit completely independently before choosing how to route them — a meaningful advantage over single-channel drives.
The six-position mode switch is the JB-2’s defining feature:
- JHS — Angry Charlie only, Boss circuit bypassed
- Boss — BD-2 only, JHS circuit bypassed
- JHS/Boss (Toggle) — both circuits loaded, footswitch toggles between them; LED shows active circuit
- J>B (Series: JHS into Boss) — Angry Charlie output feeds into BD-2 input; distortion into overdrive
- B>J (Series: Boss into JHS) — BD-2 output feeds into Angry Charlie input; overdrive into distortion (the classic stacking order)
- Parallel — both circuits process the signal simultaneously and are summed at the output; each runs in its own lane with no interaction
The remote 1/4″ jack alongside the main input accepts an optional latching footswitch — Boss FS-5U or FS-6, sold separately. When connected, this footswitch toggles between the Boss and JHS circuits in toggle mode, or switches the pedal on and off in other modes. This enables hands-free live switching without touching the mode knob between songs.
The LED indicator provides instant visual feedback: blue indicates the Boss BD-2 is active; red indicates the JHS Angry Charlie is active; purple indicates both are running simultaneously (as in series or parallel modes). On a dim stage, this is essential orientation information.
Specifications
| Specification | Boss JB-2 Angry Driver | Boss BD-2 Blues Driver | JHS Angry Charlie V3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Year | 2017 | 1995 | Various (V3 current) |
| Circuit Type | JFET overdrive + JCM800-style distortion | JFET overdrive | JCM800-style distortion |
| Controls | Drive (×2), Tone (×2), Level (×2), Mode (6-position) | Level, Tone, Gain | Volume, Drive, Bass, Mid, Treble |
| Routing Options | 6 modes (independent, toggle, J>B, B>J, parallel) | Single circuit | Single circuit |
| Remote Jack | Yes (1/4″ for external footswitch) | No | No |
| LED Feedback | Blue / Red / Purple (circuit status) | Standard on/off | Standard on/off |
| Bypass | FET buffered bypass (Boss standard) | FET buffered bypass | True bypass |
| Current Draw | 50mA at 9V DC | 5mA at 9V DC | ~10mA at 9V DC |
| Power | 9V DC or 9V battery | 9V DC or 9V battery | 9V DC or 9V battery |
| Manufactured | Japan | Various (recent models: Malaysia) | USA (Kansas City) |
| Street Price (new) | ~$199 USD | ~$99 USD | ~$199 USD |
Famous Players: Who Uses the JB-2 Angry Driver
The spreadsheet note on this pedal is honest: “no secure artist connection.” The JB-2’s notoriety rests on its engineering and versatility rather than on a canonized celebrity endorsement roster. That said, several notable players have documented JB-2 use, and the Boss Tone Central library adds another layer of official validation.
Vernon Reid (Living Colour)
The most significant confirmed user in the JB-2’s history is Vernon Reid of Living Colour — one of the most technically complex and sonically adventurous guitarists in rock history. Reid has long been known for elaborate, multi-effects signal chains that blend clean tone, overdrive, and extreme processing in real time. Boss’s Tone Central has published a Vernon Reid Collection featuring patches developed in collaboration with him, which places his relationship with Boss in official territory beyond fan-sourced gear documentation. Equipboard confirms his JB-2 use directly. For a player whose sound encompasses everything from funk-inflected clean tones to full-chaos distortion wall, the JB-2’s ability to switch or combine circuits in real time is not a curiosity — it is a genuinely useful live instrument. Reid’s approach aligns perfectly with the toggle mode and series configurations: he needs to be able to shift from transparent overdrive to high-gain distortion without bending down to swap pedals.
Rabea Massaad
Rabea Massaad, the Andertons Music guitarist who has become one of the UK’s most visible gear demonstrators and clinicians, is a confirmed JB-2 user via Equipboard documentation. Massaad is not a touring stadium artist, but his visibility in the guitar gear community is substantial, and his endorsement of gear through actual use carries practical weight: when he uses something on his working board, it gets noticed. This is the same Rabea Massaad who crowned the Way Huge Swollen Pickle MkIIS “King of Fuzzes” in an Andertons head-to-head shootout — his opinions generate real market movement.
The Design Team’s Own Endorsement
Josh Scott of JHS has called the JB-2 collaboration “the highlight of my career as a builder” — stronger praise than most boutique designers offer their own work. He carries a signed prototype and the second-ever production unit in his personal collection, which Yoshi Ikegami signed for him at launch (Scott signed the first unit for Yoshi in return). When the designer himself ranks this above everything else he has built, that is a form of endorsement worth noting.
Six Modes, Limitless Territory: Tone Recipes
1. Boss Mode — Edge-of-Breakup Foundation
Boss mode, Boss Drive at 8–9 o’clock, Boss Tone at noon, Boss Level matched to unity. Stratocaster neck or middle pickup into a clean Fender Deluxe Reverb. This is the BD-2 doing what it does best: sitting just over the threshold of clean into broken-up, where notes have harmonic richness without grain. The JFET topology makes single-coil guitars sound full rather than thin. Roll back your guitar’s volume to 7 and the BD-2 cleans up to a chimey, organic tone. Push it forward and the breakup returns immediately. This is the setting that made the BD-2 a working musician’s pedal for thirty years.
2. JHS Mode — JCM800 Crunch Without the Marshall
JHS mode, JHS Drive at 11 o’clock, JHS Tone slightly below noon, JHS Level at unity. Gibson Les Paul bridge humbucker into any clean solid-state or tube combo. The Angry Charlie transforms a clean amp into something that sounds like a Marshall JCM800 working hard — strong upper-midrange crunch, solid sustain, the kind of tone that makes single-note leads cut through a dense mix without losing definition. This is the mode for players who want British high-gain tones without British amps.
3. B>J Mode — The Classic Stack
Boss into JHS series mode. Boss Drive at 7–9 o’clock (low gain, the BD-2 acting as a clean-ish boost), Boss Level up to push hard into the JHS circuit. JHS Drive at 10 o’clock, JHS Level at unity. Les Paul or humbucker guitar. This is the overdrive-into-distortion stacking approach that players have known about since the 1980s: a low-gain drive stage hits the input of a higher-gain distortion stage, tightening the bass, fattening the midrange, and adding saturation that neither circuit achieves alone. The BD-2 acts as a textural front end — it warms and compresses the input rather than distorting it, and the Angry Charlie converts that pre-treated signal into dense, musical lead tone. This mode delivers more gain than either circuit can produce solo.
4. J>B Mode — Softened Aggression
JHS into Boss series mode. JHS Drive at noon, JHS Level moderate. Boss Drive at 8 o’clock, Boss Tone slightly bright, Boss Level at unity. Telecaster bridge pickup. This is the counterintuitive one: running distortion into overdrive. The Angry Charlie provides dense, high-gain character, and the BD-2 acts as a final clarity and sparkle stage — adding high-end definition and tightening the output. The result is a distorted tone that retains more articulation than the Angry Charlie alone, with the BD-2’s JFET sparkle intact. This mode surprised Premier Guitar’s reviewer and works especially well for rhythm playing where note separation matters inside a saturated sound.
5. Parallel Mode — Maximum Mass with Preserved Clarity
Parallel mode. Boss Drive at 10 o’clock, Boss Tone at noon, Boss Level at unity. JHS Drive at 11 o’clock, JHS Tone slightly cut, JHS Level balanced. Any guitar with humbuckers. In parallel mode, neither circuit affects the other — they process the input simultaneously and are summed at the output. The BD-2’s preserved low-end and high-end clarity survive intact, while the Angry Charlie adds mid-density and sustain. The combined output has a three-dimensional quality: the fundamental frequencies from the BD-2 sit under the distorted harmonics from the Angry Charlie, creating a sound that is simultaneously clean-ish and saturated. This mode is the JB-2’s most unique voice — not achievable by stacking two separate pedals in any order, because the absence of circuit interaction in the mixing stage preserves both frequency responses separately.
The JB-2’s tonal possibilities are best understood not by describing two pedals, but by working through the modes deliberately. Here are five settings worth dialing in.
How It Stacks Up: Comparisons
vs. Boss BD-2 Blues Driver
The BD-2 is half of the JB-2, so this comparison has an obvious outcome. If you own and love the BD-2 and want to expand to high-gain territory and flexible routing, the JB-2 is the logical evolution — at approximately double the price. If you only need the BD-2’s specific overdrive character and your gain requirements stop there, the BD-2 at ~$99 is the more efficient choice. The JB-2 improves nothing about the BD-2 circuit; it adds an entire second circuit and five additional routing modes around it.
vs. JHS Angry Charlie V3
The Angry Charlie V3 includes a three-band active EQ (bass, mid, treble) that gives comprehensive frequency control beyond what the JB-2’s simplified Tone knob provides. If precise EQ over the JCM800 circuit is your priority — if you play rooms with variable acoustics where dialing bass or mid independently matters — the standalone Angry Charlie V3 has an advantage. The JB-2, in turn, offers the BD-2 circuit, five additional routing modes, and a remote jack at the same $199 price point. These are different tools for different priorities.
vs. Boss OS-2 OverDrive/Distortion
The OS-2 is the other famous Boss two-in-one overdrive/distortion compact. Where the OS-2 uses a single Color knob to continuously blend OD-1-lineage overdrive with DS-1-lineage distortion in a fully analog parallel mix, the JB-2 uses a six-position mode switch to select discrete routing configurations. The OS-2 is simpler, continuously variable in its blend, and approximately half the price (~$89 new). The JB-2 is more configurable, adds series routing options, and uses two more established and more distinctive circuits. Neither replaces the other. The OS-2 is for players who want a smooth analog blend in a budget compact; the JB-2 is for players who want maximum routing flexibility with two specific circuit voices.
vs. Boss DS-1 Distortion + BD-2 on a board
Running a BD-2 and a DS-1 in series on a pedalboard gives you two separately footswitchable circuits at the cost of two board positions and two power supply outputs. The JB-2 consolidates this into one compact unit with six routing options — but replaces the DS-1’s circuit with the more expensive and arguably more refined Angry Charlie. If you already own a DS-1 and a BD-2 and are happy with them, there is no strong upgrade argument. If you are building a board from scratch and want both overdrive and high-gain distortion with routing flexibility in one unit, the JB-2 is the direct answer.
vs. Multi-effects
Digital multi-effects can replicate any routing configuration the JB-2 offers and more, with additional effects on top. The JB-2 argument is analog authenticity: the BD-2 and Angry Charlie circuits are genuine analog electronic designs, not digital models of themselves. Players who hear a qualitative difference between analog and digital drive circuits will find the JB-2’s all-analog topology meaningful. Players who do not make that distinction will find more flexibility per dollar in a quality multi-effects unit.
Buying a JB-2 Angry Driver
The JB-2 Angry Driver has a street price of approximately $199 USD new and typically sells for $100–140 on Reverb in excellent used condition — a genuine value play for the circuit density and routing options on offer. There are no variants, no MkII, and no cosmetic limited editions to confuse the market. One pedal, one circuit version, straightforward purchase decision.
The 50mA current draw is notably higher than most single-circuit Boss compacts (the BD-2 draws 5mA; the DS-1 draws 5mA) — this reflects two complete circuits running simultaneously. Most quality power supplies handle 50mA without issue, but daisy-chain power configurations that share current between multiple pedals may introduce noise. An isolated 100mA or greater output is recommended. The pedal accepts a 9V battery, which is viable for short sessions but will deplete faster than lower-draw single-circuit pedals.
The remote footswitch jack accepts a single-button latching footswitch — Boss FS-5U or FS-6 are the standard choices, available for approximately $25–35. This is worth purchasing alongside the JB-2 if you plan to use toggle mode live, as it enables hands-free circuit switching without reaching down to the mode knob during performance.
The dual-concentric knobs require care during setup. Each knob’s inner and outer rings share a single shaft, meaning aggressive turning can move the inner ring when you intend to move only the outer, and vice versa. Adjust slowly and deliberately when dialing in settings, especially in dim conditions.
Because the JB-2 uses Boss’s standard FET buffered bypass, it provides the same signal buffering benefit as other Boss compact pedals: in signal chains with long cable runs or multiple true-bypass pedals, the Boss buffer provides stable impedance that prevents high-frequency roll-off. This means the JB-2 can live usefully at the front of a complex chain even when bypassed. If you use germanium fuzz pedals, place them before the JB-2 to preserve the fuzz’s input impedance requirements.
Living With the Angry Driver: Ownership Notes
The B>J mode (Blues Driver into Angry Charlie) is the most rewarding starting point for players new to the JB-2. Set the BD-2 side for a small amount of drive — less than you think you need — and use it as a pre-drive stage that fattens and focuses the signal before it hits the Angry Charlie. The Angry Charlie then provides the actual distortion character. The BD-2 contribution is subtle but audible: it tightens the bass response and adds warmth that makes the Angry Charlie’s output feel more amp-like. This is the mode Josh Scott himself recommends as his go-to.
The toggle mode (JHS/Boss with remote footswitch) is the best live configuration for players who need clean-ish overdrive for rhythm and high-gain distortion for leads. Set the BD-2 as your rhythm foundation, the Angry Charlie as your lead tone, engage the remote footswitch, and switch between them with a tap during performance. No mode-knob interaction, no bending down, no lost time. This is the SD-2 remote-switching concept that Josh Scott pitched to Yoshi Ikegami at their 2017 NAMM meeting, fully realized.
In parallel mode, start with lower drive on both circuits than you normally would use for each alone. Because both circuits sum their outputs, higher drive settings on each circuit will combine into more gain than you expect. Begin with both drives around 9–10 o’clock and adjust upward from there.
The LED colors matter. In toggle mode especially, glancing down at the LED during a performance tells you immediately which circuit is active. Blue = clean-ish BD-2 territory; red = Angry Charlie high-gain. Purple in series or parallel modes is confirmation that both circuits are engaged. Build muscle memory for what each color means before your first live use.
The Angry Charlie’s V3 three-band EQ is absent in the JB-2 — you get one Tone knob for the JHS circuit. In practice, most Angry Charlie users keep the mid control near noon and make subtle adjustments, so the simplified control set is a real-world concession rather than a severe limitation. Players who need radical bass or mid cuts will find the V3 more appropriate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the JB-2 the same as having a BD-2 and an Angry Charlie on my board?
Not exactly. Boss describes the JB-2 as an “all-new combined circuit with refined sound and performance” — it is not two pedals simply wired into a shared enclosure with a switch between them. The circuits have been tuned specifically for combined operation, particularly in series and parallel configurations. Additionally, the JB-2 offers six routing modes that two separate pedals on a board cannot replicate without additional switching hardware. That said, the core sonic character of each circuit is faithful to its standalone counterpart.
Why is there a remote jack on the JB-2?
Josh Scott’s original concept for the collaboration was inspired by the Boss SD-2, a 1993 Boss compact with two drive modes and a remote switching jack that allowed footswitch toggling between circuits. The JB-2’s remote jack carries this concept forward, enabling hands-free live switching between the Boss and JHS circuits without engaging the on-pedal mode knob. You need a separately purchased latching footswitch — Boss FS-5U or FS-6 — for this feature.
Was the JB-2 really Boss’s first ever collaboration with another pedal company?
Yes, confirmed by both Josh Scott and Boss. In 40 years of compact pedal production — from the DS-1 in 1978 through the JB-2 in 2017 — Boss had never previously co-branded or co-developed a pedal with an external boutique maker. The JB-2 is a genuine historical anomaly in Boss’s catalog.
Which mode should I start with?
Start with Boss mode alone to learn the BD-2 circuit as it performs in this pedal, then JHS mode to understand the Angry Charlie. Once you know each circuit independently, move to B>J (Boss into JHS) — this is the overdrive-into-distortion stack that most players find most useful. Save parallel mode for when you want to explore the JB-2’s most distinctive and unusual voice.
Does the JB-2 replace both the standalone BD-2 and Angry Charlie?
For most purposes, yes. The JB-2 versions of each circuit are faithful to the originals. The only meaningful caveat is that the Angry Charlie V3’s three-band active EQ is absent in the JB-2 — you have a single Tone control for the JHS circuit rather than independent bass, mid, and treble controls. If that level of EQ control is critical to your use of the Angry Charlie, keep the standalone V3. Otherwise, the JB-2 replaces both with additional routing capabilities on top.
What does “parallel” mode actually do that series modes don’t?
In series modes (J>B or B>J), one circuit’s output feeds the other’s input — the circuits interact, and the second circuit shapes the character of the first’s output. In parallel mode, both circuits receive the same input signal independently, process it without interacting, and their outputs are summed. This preserves each circuit’s full frequency response without either circuit coloring the other. The low-end of the BD-2 and the mid-density of the Angry Charlie combine without the BD-2 being affected by the Angry Charlie’s gain staging. It’s a fundamentally different signal topology, not just a different order of the same circuits.
The 50mA current draw seems high. Is that a problem?
The 50mA draw reflects two complete analog circuits running simultaneously — roughly ten times the current draw of a single Boss compact drive pedal. Quality isolated power supplies (Strymon Zuma, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power, etc.) handle 50mA comfortably on most outputs. Budget daisy-chain power configurations may not have sufficient current available, especially if you are running multiple current-hungry pedals from the same supply. Use an isolated output of at least 100mA for reliable, noise-free operation.
Can I use the JB-2 without the remote footswitch?
Yes. The remote jack is optional — the JB-2 is fully functional with the mode knob as your only routing control. The remote footswitch becomes valuable specifically in toggle mode for live performance where hands-free switching matters. For studio use, practice, or live situations where you set one mode and leave it, the pedal works perfectly without the remote switch.