need nice volume booster stomp box

[Fetusborg]

hello all

im looking for a nice volume booster pedal.
i play a fender strat with only a jekyll and hyde overdrive/distortion pedal. simple set up.
but i have found the need to boost my clean signal when im playing alone in certain songs, before the other guitar comes in.
as well as maybe boost some solos, although my pedal takes care of that basically.

i know about the mxr microamp, but im not too interested in that.
im looking for a more versatile pedal... where i can use for other effects, as well as a booster. an example is a the boss bluesdriver... where i can put the gain all the way down, and turn the level up, and that will boost, only coloring my tone a slight bit, which i can deal with. plus when i want, i can use as an overdrive normally.

so this leads me to ask: can i buy say the boss oc-2, octave pedal, and kill all the octave knobs and raise the level knob nicely to get a boost? or say do the same procedure with any other basic effects pedal?

thanks!

 

[metalhead28]

How about this?

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--SEMSFX01

 

[Fetusborg]

hummm

that looks pretty cool
seems a little better than the mxr right?
im interested.

maybe i'll just have to buy two pedals than.
one booster... and another to go with my effects idea. you know, to broaden the sounds i get a little... move away from just od or distortion. add some phaser or delay or funky octaveness

just checked ebay. i can maybe pinch one out for 30 dollars, which is excelent


oh, and do you have one of those? you stand by it??

 

[dalley]

DOD FX10 Bi-Fet Preamp, discontinued, one of the best clean boosts ever made, and cheap! I happen to be selling one on the bay right now conicidentally

 

[metalhead28]

just checked ebay. i can maybe pinch one out for 30 dollars, which is excelent


oh, and do you have one of those? you stand by it??

Nope, sorry - I don't use one. I've just heard about them.
Right now I use an MXR overdrive pedal for a clean boost sometimes and I had been thinking of trying that booster myself.
As cheap as it is I figure it's worth a try.

 

[Fetusborg]

cool
im going to the store now, see what i can test.

thanks for the advice about the dod as well.
i doubt i'll find one to test around here, but i will look

ill post later what i found

 

[Thurgood]

Hey Fetusborg. I run a similar setup with the j & H in front of my DRRI. Are you a DIY person? If so there are quite a few booster projects out and about. My fave for what you seem to be looking for is the "Fetzer Valve" by runoff groove.com. Sounds fantastic, clean (read fender) and just as easy to build as any other simple booster. I think it has about ten parts. If you are not DIYY handy get someone to build you one. Total parts cost about 30.00 dollars (including Hammond box and switch).

On to other options: I just found my long (10 yr) lost TC electronic Booster/line driver. Love it. Volume, two tone controls, noise gate, distortion option, balanced xlr output, in addtion to the usual 1/4 in out. Not cheap, don't know if they even make them anymore. MXR Micro-amp good to as someone suggested. Good pedal. And once again if you DIY, readily available schematic and pre-etched pc board at Generalguitargadgets.com. I think they have one. I have been wrong before so there is the disclaimer. Good luck and report back.

PS do you have another OD pedal you could use as a clean boost?? Or might I also suggest an old MXR Dynacomp. Great boost and a nice front end compressor.

 

[cephus]

You're saying when you turn off the fuzztone, then your clean signal is too low so you want to boost it? How about turn down the level of your fuzztone so it matches the volume when it's off? I set my fuzztones so there is no huge volume change between having it on or off.

I know that when you boost the signal level using your fuzztone, it drives your amp harder (harder than single coil PUs do by themselves) and it sounds really cool. I just prefer to keep the effects' gain levels the same as the dry signal for just this reason. You may find that when you further boost your clean signal, it will dirty up your amp.

 

[Fetusborg]

well, a few months ago i used to play in a style where i increased volume every time i fuzzed up my tone.
after hearing some live recordings and getting some tips from some good sound guys... i decided to lay back a bit, and only raise the volume slightly when i overdrive. this makes the whole band sound more cohesive. you have to raise the volume a LITTLE bit though... its rock n roll you know.

so, my clean signal is fine, when im rythming with the other guitarist. but on some songs i play alone quite a bit, before he comes in... and the volume level is just to low and not quite in your face as it should be. know what i mean?

so thats what i need the boost for, on those occasions.
as well as solos.

thurgood: since you have a booster... do you use the jekyll and hide channels separately for 2 different types of drive? since i dont have a booster... i usually play the jekyll green channel for my drives... and then hit the red hide channel for more volume and a different tone and play them together for solos and really rocking out parts in the songs.

the pedal was actually made to use a booster i guess. cause then you open up possibilities of using the channels separately.
if i choose to use the hide channel by itself, it is way to loud... as i crank it up nice to work in tandem with the jekyll channel for the boosts. get it ?

 

[Fetusborg]

ok, so let me report what happened at the store.

i tried the boss oc-2, running a strat of theirs, through a crate amp, and i brought along my jekyll and hide pedal.

it was quite nice the tones i got.
what i expected from reading so many reviews and listening to sound clips on the net, etc.
it CAN give you a nice edge on your tone.. make it thick for solos. thats basically it. playing full chords will sound muddy, as all reviews say.
and it does NOT work as a booster, as i wanted it to. if you kill both octave knobs, and raise the level knob to the highest setting... your signals boosts only a fraction.

im not a Do it yourself person at all. but my band mate is. he has always wanted to build pedals, and is quite good at circuitry and all that. might ask him, good idea.

im gonna check out the sites you posted thurgood.

 

[cephus]

Well, rock and roll aside, I use a volume pedal and try and keep it at like 90% in case of just the emergency you mentioned. It takes a great deal of restraint and maturity to maintain headroom.

 

[Double]

I used use a MXR but found this Zoom pedal, I know most of you don't think much about Zoom equipment and that includes me but this is one of their best. I use a orginal TS 808 for a overdrive and the Zoom PD-01 Power Drive for a clean booster. The Zoom PD-01 Power Drive is great because it has Bass and Treble controls along with the Drive and Output controls making it quite useful. It also sounds good as a overdrive and is a nice alteritive to the mid hump of the Tube Screamer.

 

[mikemorgan]

I use one of these....http://www.analogman.com/badbob.htm