I Like Big Boosts and I Cannot Lie.

Not a traditional boost, but I use it as such, (or as an always on pedal), the Origin Effects Magma57 sweats mojo, and has the benefit of a sweet sounding switchable vibrato.

1000002746.jpg
 
gearJunkie said:
I've heard good things about the Tchula. This special edition Lovepedal Gold Ace Tchula arrived today. Time to fire it up.

View attachment 46193

View attachment 46189
Click to expand...

Sweet! More like adding another Amp Channel to an existing amp than a Boost. For me.

Super responsive, and dynamic, so it melds with a tube amp in wonderful ways. Some
people don't like the volume pop you get with it. I just leave it always on and then
ride my volume and hit the 2nd stage as needed. Killer pedal. :beer
 
Man… this turned in to a great thread as far as I’m concerned!

Learning so much cool new stuff after so many years. Great Stuff!

It looks like we have a… ahem… Booster Club.
 
Anyone has experience with treble boosters?
I would like to read your thoughts about them vs sd-1/ts type of circuits.
 
James Freeman said:
Anyone has experience with treble boosters?
I would like to read your thoughts about them vs sd-1/ts type of circuits.
Click to expand...
I’ve used them and like them quite a bit! Simple ones may or may not suit your amp, guitar or whatever tone you are after.

More complex ones are more flexible. See the one on the Plex Ranger for a good example of that.

IMG_0750.jpeg
 
I didn’t get to it tonight but next up is the MXR Micro Amp+ versus the Blackstar Dept. 10 Boost. Aside from the latter’s preamp tube they look a lot alike. The Blackstar’s tone controls seemed to be console derived design though. It’ll be interesting to see how they “stack” up.

IMG_0778.jpeg
IMG_0777.jpeg
 
James Freeman said:
Anyone has experience with treble boosters?
Click to expand...
I have one of these, when I bought it the price was around £100 IIRC.

It sounds great, but I can't really vouch for the company too highly. Took ages to arrive, all kinds of weird excuses and stuff that didn't really correlate to what he was posting on social media. Sounds cool though and they're more useable and "less vintage" sounding than you might imagine. I much prefer them to an SD-1 (but I'm not really a fan of the SD-1 so I'm not sure if it says much).

I've heard good things about the Catalinbread Viper's for a slightly modern take on them, I'm curious to try one.
 
love micro amps! 90% of the time i use mine i dial in a gain tone that im just shy of happy with having enough compression and spring with on an amp, a little too dry and not quite as much fun bass so all the clarity and cuts just roght there. then i step on my micro amp setat noon which just pushes it RIGHT there. its not over the top, but it just gets you RIGHT there. its also great if youre riding your volume knob for gain and you're going a little too dull as an impedance stabilizer. having a little smiley face eq with jus enough clean gain can really help in a lot of sitches.
 
also- treble boosters are awesome, but ive found them to work at their absolute best in scenarios where an nmv amp is pretty much flat out and you just smash it into gaining out with something like a beano or a rangemaster. they kinda sound weird into gain circuits and they just dont do what they do well unless theres some volume involved.
 
newholland said:
also- treble boosters are awesome, but ive found them to work at their absolute best in scenarios where an nmv amp is pretty much flat out and you just smash it into gaining out with something like a beano or a rangemaster. they kinda sound weird into gain circuits and they just dont do what they do well unless theres some volume involved.
Click to expand...
So much this. A treble booster is great for certain situations. For me it is usually humbuckers into pre-68/69 Marshall circuits cranked up at least into crunch range.
 
Chocol8 said:
So much this. A treble booster is great for certain situations. For me it is usually humbuckers into pre-68/69 Marshall circuits cranked up at least into crunch range.
Click to expand...

i loved my rangemaster clone into a 20 watt el84 amp at like 2 o'clock... everything cookin. but lord did shit get loud 😄
 
The Micro amp+ was great in my testing. The addition of the bass and treble may help get your strat tweaked @James Freeman if you want to.

The above and Blackstar were similar in some ways. Pushed not too hard they were a lot alike. When ran hard the Blackstar started showing its tube colors in a nice way. Which may or may not be what folks are looking for.

But yes, micro amps rip. So does the BS Dept 10 boost IMO it is more expensive though. Built nicely.

Both look good in person but the BS has an edge there to me.
 
Last edited:
I have a very early yellow DOD 250 that is still the late 70’s grey circuit on the inside. I haven’t used it much and have been thinking of sending it to Analog Mike to get a few upgrades including the DOD, Distortion +, and Micro amp switch mod. I hate to mod a vintage pedal, but I think the mods would get it a ton more use on my boards. This thread may push me off the fence.
 
A Vox Valvenergy Tone Sculptor arrives from Canada on Monday. $114 plus shipping. Interested in how it performs as a booster in addition to as a finishing tool. The Vox Smooth Impact compressor was quite stunningly good.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top