Boss HM-2W Waza Craft

The Boss HM-2W Waza Craft is a distortion pedal made by Boss, a reissue of the HM-2 Heavy Metal that Boss originally manufactured from 1983 to 1991¹. It returned in July 2021 as a Waza Craft edition, Boss's line of special-edition pedals built to a higher standard than the standard compact series². Boss says the HM-2W delivers the authentic analog sound of the original, with a premium Waza Craft buffer and a mode switch that offers two voicings³.

The pedal is best known for one sound: with every knob maxed it produces the cutting, grinding tone nicknamed the "Swedish Chainsaw," a sound that became highly sought after in Swedish death metal⁴. The HM-2W keeps that character in Standard mode and adds a Custom mode with more gain and low end for modern, down-tuned playing⁵⁶⁷.

A reinvention of the HM-2 distortion

The HM-2W is an enhanced reissue rather than a copy. Boss's Waza Craft version promises the tone of the original and aims to surpass it, with more volume, better buffering and less noise than the long-discontinued HM-2¹¹. Delicious Audio reports the new version has a better noise floor and +3dB of volume over the original⁸. GuitarPlayer also noted a reduced noise floor at launch¹².

The look is deliberately faithful. Boss captured the original pedal's orange and black appearance, right down to the size and position of the lettering on the panel, and the pedal is made in Japan once again⁸⁷. Gearnews called it possibly one of the most highly anticipated pedal releases of 2021⁴.

Premier Guitar's reviewer summed up the result in 2023:

The controls and the two modes

The control setup is faithful to the HM-2's roots, with the same four knobs plus a mode switch¹²:

The two-knob Color Mix EQ section is the heart of the pedal's character¹³. On most Waza Craft pedals the mode switch sits on the face, but on the HM-2W it has been moved to the top of the enclosure to preserve the original control layout⁸.

Standard mode is the original. Boss promises that Standard mode delivers the tones and feel of the HM-2 with "100-percent authenticity"¹², and Delicious Audio likewise reports that the tone and response of the original are reproduced with 100-percent authenticity in this mode⁸.

Custom mode is the new voicing. Boss describes it as a more aggressive sound variation with special Waza Craft tuning³, and Boss's own Waza Craft article says it takes the classic "Swedish Chainsaw" sound to a whole new level with a more aggressive, modern attack¹⁴. Press descriptions of what it adds agree on the broad strokes:

• A drive stage with increased gain, and tweaked low and high-mids, for extra sharpness, fullness and depth¹²
• More gain and bottom-end, with increased definition in the high-mids⁵
• More tonal range, higher gain and thicker low end, which Premier Guitar's high-gain roundup recommends for down-tuned players⁶
• A similar sound character to Standard mode, "but with just a little more of everything," with more gain and extra attack and sharpness⁸

Guitar World's launch coverage quoted the Custom mode as offering "just a little bit more of everything"¹³.

The gain range is wider than the pedal's reputation suggests. Boss claims the HM-2W is capable of lower-gain tones, a little classic rock or vintage metal, though the chainsaw sound at full settings remains what it is known for¹.

What Swedish Chainsaw tone means

The nickname comes from the original HM-2's behavior with all controls maxed. Guitar.com explains that the pedal is endearingly nicknamed the "Swedish Chainsaw" because its maxed-out settings create a unique and cutting distorted tone⁵. Gearnews describes it as the Swedish Death Metal buzz saw tone that made the original highly sought after⁴.

Guitar World's review of the HM-2W puts it plainly:

The same review found the pedal's range covers death metal grind through to waspy, fuzz-like sounds while retaining attack¹¹. The sound became an anomaly in Boss's own lineup: Premier Guitar's State of the Stomp column notes that Boss eventually bowed to the anomaly and released the HM-2W, meticulously reverse-engineering their own 40-year-old circuit¹⁵.

History: from the HM-2 to the Waza Craft edition

The original HM-2 Heavy Metal was manufactured from 1983 to 1991¹. Boss announced in November 2020 that the HM-2 would be remade for the Waza Craft line-up¹⁶, and the pedal shipped as the HM-2W in 2021⁸¹⁷.

The development process drew on players of the original. In a MusicRadar interview, Katatonia's Anders Nyström, a longtime HM-2 user, discussed the reissue and the suggestions made for the Waza Craft model, including an improved noise floor, a wider EQ range and a clean blend¹⁸. The finished pedal kept the layout about the same as the original⁵.

The HM-2W set a precedent that Boss repeated with the DS-1W, giving another classic compact pedal the Waza Craft treatment¹⁹. GuitarPlayer's Top 50 stompboxes roundup noted that, in acknowledgement of the HM-2's legacy, Boss released the Waza Craft HM-2W Heavy Metal in 2021¹⁷, and Guitar World's best pedals of the 2020s list described the reissue as recreating the HM-2 to modern standards⁷¹⁶.

The circuit's return came from Boss itself. After years of players asking for a modern version, with suggested improvements including a better noise floor, a wider EQ range and a clean blend, Boss released the HM-2W Waza Craft Edition in July 2021, reverse-engineering its own decades-old design, and Guitar Pedal X called it "possibly one of the most highly anticipated pedal releases of 2021"²⁴.

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