Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal Distortion Waza Craft Edition

The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal Distortion Waza Craft Edition, usually called the HM-2W, is a distortion pedal that reissues the original HM-2 Heavy Metal, which Premier Guitar describes as "a revamped reissue of the popular distortion originally manufactured from 1983 to 1991"¹. Sources disagree on when that original model ended: Premier Guitar dates its manufacture from 1983 to 1991¹, while TONEHOME reports that Boss discontinued it in 1993². The HM-2W brings the circuit back as part of the Waza Craft line, Boss's premium reissue series. It keeps the HM-2's control layout and adds a Custom mode, and Guitar World credits the reissue with "more volume, better buffering, and" less noise than the original design³.

What the Waza Craft HM-2W changes

The HM-2W keeps the original HM-2's control set, including the signature Color Mix section that blends low and high EQ around the midrange, and adds a two-position Mode switch. Guitar.com reported that the reissue "will offer an additional 'Custom Mode'", which delivers more gain and bottom-end and increases definition in the high-mids, aimed at down-tuned players⁴. Guitar World's guide to the best new pedals of the 2020s calls it "Boss's superb Waza Craft reissue" that "recreates the HM-2 to modern standards", with more volume, better buffering and less noise³⁸.

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, reviewing the pedal in his 2025 roundup of compact high-gain pedals, preferred the new mode: "I'm typically on the Custom Mode side - for a properly thunderous sounding output." On how the reissue compares to the pedal it replaces, he wrote: "For me it sounds just as visceral as the original, and the new killer Custom Mode makes it even more special," noting a cleared-up noise floor⁷.

Tone Island's Adam Connell frames the pedal for players who missed the original: "Based on the long-discontinued HM-2, the HM-2W is more accessible and offers a neat tone mod"⁹.

From the original HM-2 to the Waza Craft reissue

The original HM-2 Heavy Metal earned its reputation through the 1980s before Boss discontinued it, though sources disagree on when: Premier Guitar dates its manufacture 1983 to 1991¹, while TONEHOME says Boss discontinued it in 1993². News of a revival broke in late 2020: gearnews.com reported that Boss had announced the HM-2, "a legendary little black box of fuzz and distortion tones from the '80s", would be remade for the Waza Craft line-up¹⁰, and GuitarPlayer's Jackson Maxwell noted there was no official release date at that point, only that the pedal was "arriving sometime in 2021"⁶. Preorders opened the following June, with Guitar.com's Cillian Breathnach describing it as "Boss' Waza Craft reissue of its HM-2 distortion"⁴. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio covered the release that September, writing that "BOSS recently announced a Waza Craft version of their classic Heavy Metal HM-2"⁵. MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley later pointed to the Waza Craft edition as the notable modern chapter of the HM-2's story¹¹, and gearnews.com listed the HM-2w Heavy Metal Distortion among the year's notable effect pedals¹².

Where it sits

The HM-2W is a distortion pedal in Boss's Waza Craft series, and it sits alongside Boss's other high-gain compact pedals such as the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone. Its Custom mode is the main departure from the original circuit, and the reissue's improved volume, buffering and noise performance are what reviewers most often point to as the difference from the 1980s pedal³.

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