Please School Me on Boss HM-2 Clones

[ck3]

After a prolonged fuzz binge, I'm thinking it may be time to tinker with distortions again. I've owned an original Boss HM-2 in the past and recall it being one of the more interesting options I've tried. I would prefer not to pay the current, inflated used price for one or to have any buffered bypass pedals in my chain and have noticed a number of boutique HM-2 clones currently available. A fellow ILFer recently informed me he found the Abominable Electonrics Throne Torcher to be underwhelming. Does anyone else have experience with the Lone Wolf Audio Left Hand Wrath, Abominable Electronics Throne Torcher, Wren and Cuff Hangman 2D, and/or BYOC The Swede or know of other HM-2 clones that may be worth trying?

[casecandy]

Vidret has a Dunwich for sale I think.

[Jwar]

The only one I've tried is the LHW and it's awesome. Not sure about the others, but it's fucking great man.

[Tristan]

I have the Anarchy Audio HM-2, which I think is the most true to the original, other than being true bypass.
Can't say enough good words about it, it's killer.

There's also a Left Hand Wrath in B/S/T if I'm not mistaken.
The Wren & Cuff one is ridiculously expensive.
Together with the Dunwhich HM-2 these are all approximations of the original from what I understand.
Oh yeah, the Idiotbox Dungeon Master is apparently also based on the HM-2.

To be honest I wouldn't know what could be improved about the original other than the true bypass.

[ck3]

Many thanks for the replies and ideas. I should have probably mentioned my current budget is limited to the neighborhood of 150 USD at the moment, which likely means trolling Reverb or other sites for rare deals, partial trades, selling off more excess gear, or going with the Alchemy-Audio-built BYOC option. The Dunwich HM2 clone looks amazing, and the Anarchy Audio version seems decent, but is no longer made if online info is accurate. I have an Idiotbox Dungeon Master and, while the EQ part of the circuit is decidedly HM2, the distortion is more like a superfuzz modded to saturate like a muff when the gain is cranked. I've had my eye on various used Left hand Wrath pedals for quite some time, but the price has consistently been prohibitive.

[GardenoftheDead]

I'm honestly surprised nobody has made an HM-2 clone with no knobs.

[larsbars]

I'm honestly surprised nobody has made an HM-2 clone with no knobs.

I remember looking through his ig page that Dunwich has made at least one with no knobs

[GardenoftheDead]

I think it's the most honest way to clone an hm-2.

[rfurtkamp]

I never used it for Swedish chainsaw, and kept the level near unity, gain about half, EQ so it wasn't quite an icepick.

For what they cost still, don't see the reason for a clone unless it was perfect and dirt cheap.

[coupleonapkins]

DOD (standard & Super) American Metal or Behringer Heavy Metal are cheap, only one is a clone (maybe!), but what you lose via their non-true bypass (1985 was a long time ago) is probably worth what you save in price. I haven't been impressed with any of the 2nd generation of post HM-2 variations (let alone the peechee graphics of every single one, yeesh), but I am also (very) cheap & am one hoof firmly in the clone-should-probably-have-zero-knobs camp, too.

[Jero]

DOD (standard & Super) American Metal or Behringer Heavy Metal are cheap, only one is a clone (maybe!), but what you lose via their non-true bypass (1985 was a long time ago) is probably worth what you save in price. I haven't been impressed with any of the 2nd generation of post HM-2 variations (let alone the peechee graphics of every single one, yeesh), but I am also (very) cheap & am one hoof firmly in the clone-should-probably-have-zero-knobs camp, too.

If going to DOD route, you want the Super (fx56-b)...

Shameless plug: I have one for sale for $30 right now

[ck3]

The no knob option would almost work for me, though I would at least need an output level control given I use amp modeling equipment ... and it would be nice to also have an EQ/gain toggle switch for chainsaw and rat/muff hybrid tones. The price of original HM-2 pedals I've noticed on Reverb has been 75-250 USD in the past month, and the condition of the pedals and MIJ vs MIT didn't appear to be factors affecting prices. One of the main reasons I'm probably going to opt for a boutique clone instead of an original production model or DOD/Behringer derivation would be that my Atomic Amplfire often amplifies unwanted noise from input sources. I'd hate to hear what annoying line noise a buffer would produce.

[coupleonapkins]

Matt Weed from Rosetta posted a custom variant recently via his Atomium blog (finished result & his earlier HM-2 analysis), so if you have the time & resources I'm sure he would do a stand-up job if you asked (along with whatever mods you need), or you could probably feasibly build something yourself via his mods/insight if you have the skills yourself (I never thought of the 18V, which makes a whole lotta sense at this point for a pedal which traditionally has all of its knobs maxed out).

[frigid midget]

I never used it for Swedish chainsaw, and kept the level near unity, gain about half, EQ so it wasn't quite an icepick.

For what they cost still, don't see the reason for a clone unless it was perfect and dirt cheap.

+1

A mij HM-2 would cost me 100Euro around here, at most. Still 'inflated' compaired to the original new price I guess, but not a ridiculous price for what you get imo. Especially not concidering slightly pimped true bypass boutique clones start from $150 or so...right?

Edit: I just now read about your reasons to go the boutique route. I hear ya. For reasons beyond my technical knowledge, some amps and signal chains seem picky about buffers and weird impedances and what not...

[frigid midget]

DOD (standard & Super) American Metal or Behringer Heavy Metal are cheap, only one is a clone (maybe!), but what you lose via their non-true bypass (1985 was a long time ago) is probably worth what you save in price. I haven't been impressed with any of the 2nd generation of post HM-2 variations (let alone the peechee graphics of every single one, yeesh), but I am also (very) cheap & am one hoof firmly in the clone-should-probably-have-zero-knobs camp, too.

If going to DOD route, you want the Super (fx56-b)...

Shameless plug: I have one for sale for $30 right now

Please tell me you can't ship that mahfakker cheapish to Europe...? Or else I won't be able to resist mah GAS...