kingink
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So the boost bug has bitten me and after doing a lot of research, my brain's in a muddle. There are so many boosts out there. I'm sure they're all cool in their own ways, which is what makes narrowing things down to one or two choices difficult. Seems like a lot of folks around here have tried quite a few boost pedals, so I thought I'd try to describe how I'd use such an animal and maybe someone can advise me.
1. Mainly, I want to be able to get my Bassman heads and Maz Sr. to break up sooner by slamming the preamp with a hot signal. I want to get that "big" crunchy sound at lower volumes.
1b. Related to this, I'd like to be able to use low-output pickups, then use the boost to provide the hot signal, as opposed to relying on "hot"/distortion pickups to smack the preamp.
2. Some of my guitars already have hot pickups, and I can drive most of my amps into a nice crunch tone with these guitars, but I'd like to have a boost on hand to push the amp into singing sustain for single string runs/feedback.
I think one thing that has me confused is that sometimes boosts are described as boosting volume for solos, and sometimes they're described as being able to drive an amp harder. I'm wondering if some do the former, and some do the latter, or can all boost pedals be used in either application? (I actually don't need volume boosts for solos, as I don't do solos as such).
Here are the models that interested me. I like that most of these are pretty small and take up minimal space on the pedalboard:
Z Vex SHO and Super Duper--wondering if too much "sparkle" or "presence", but the SD has the extra channel and the SHO has the extra output,
Fulltone Fatboost--advertised as "big at low volume"
Xotic RC Booster--everybody seems to like it
Austone Soul-O-Stomp--support local business, plus it seems flexible (volume or gain boost)
Durham Sex Drive--again,support local business (a friend has one of these but I haven't had a chance to try it myself)
Blackbox Cobalt--versatile
Duncan Pickup Booster (construction seems poor and no unity gain)
Tim/Timmy--everybody seems to like these
Was also considering Hot Cake with gain low, volume high, or even a Stupid Box (really like that TV graphic
).
Sorry for such a long email. Thanks for reading this far.
David
1. Mainly, I want to be able to get my Bassman heads and Maz Sr. to break up sooner by slamming the preamp with a hot signal. I want to get that "big" crunchy sound at lower volumes.
1b. Related to this, I'd like to be able to use low-output pickups, then use the boost to provide the hot signal, as opposed to relying on "hot"/distortion pickups to smack the preamp.
2. Some of my guitars already have hot pickups, and I can drive most of my amps into a nice crunch tone with these guitars, but I'd like to have a boost on hand to push the amp into singing sustain for single string runs/feedback.
I think one thing that has me confused is that sometimes boosts are described as boosting volume for solos, and sometimes they're described as being able to drive an amp harder. I'm wondering if some do the former, and some do the latter, or can all boost pedals be used in either application? (I actually don't need volume boosts for solos, as I don't do solos as such).
Here are the models that interested me. I like that most of these are pretty small and take up minimal space on the pedalboard:
Z Vex SHO and Super Duper--wondering if too much "sparkle" or "presence", but the SD has the extra channel and the SHO has the extra output,
Fulltone Fatboost--advertised as "big at low volume"
Xotic RC Booster--everybody seems to like it
Austone Soul-O-Stomp--support local business, plus it seems flexible (volume or gain boost)
Durham Sex Drive--again,support local business (a friend has one of these but I haven't had a chance to try it myself)
Blackbox Cobalt--versatile
Duncan Pickup Booster (construction seems poor and no unity gain)
Tim/Timmy--everybody seems to like these
Was also considering Hot Cake with gain low, volume high, or even a Stupid Box (really like that TV graphic
Sorry for such a long email. Thanks for reading this far.
David