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Boost Pedals.

Hey dudes

I was thinking about buying a EHX LPB-1.

Reasons being, that at some points in a set, I feel I'm not loud enough, it would be nice to be able to boost my volume up a tad.....only at some points in the set though.

Would a boost pedal be appropriate or would a volume pedal be better??? keeping in mind i'd much rather hit a switch than toy with a volume pedal.

so................

go
 
A boost also acts as a buffer. It will help with tone loss due to long cables. Very good to have and more important than a volume pedal.

There are many great boosts; I like the MXR, their line driver is a tad better also the HBE Bajo Mos or the Fulltone Fat Boost Version 3. With this last one you can do many things from clean drive, to tone correction to slight overdrive should you want to.
 
Laurent said:
A boost also acts as a buffer. It will help with tone loss due to long cables. Very good to have and more important than a volume pedal.

There are many great boosts; I like the MXR, their line driver is a tad better also the HBE Bajo Mos or the Fulltone Fat Boost Version 3. With this last one you can do many things from clean drive, to tone correction to slight overdrive should you want to.

+1 for the Fulltone
 
LPB-1 is about $40 new, but many people regard EHX as not realiable to take out on the road.

OTOH, I had this pedal in my board for more than a year gigging and it took all the stomping just fine.

The LPB-1 has a good circuit, doesn't noticeably colors the sound.
 
Cool. I've not heard that about EHX, is this to do with the quality of building or the quality of materials used??

I've owned a few EHX pedals and they seem pretty sturdy. LPB1 is cheap here in NZ, and a boost pedal isn't that exciting, so I want cheap.
 
Cool. I've not heard that about EHX, is this to do with the quality of building or the quality of materials used??

I've owned a few EHX pedals and they seem pretty sturdy. LPB1 is cheap here in NZ, and a boost pedal isn't that exciting, so I want cheap.

I don't know why. IME all the EHX I had looked, felt sturdy and the sound was great...
 
Be careful some "clean boosts" can have a low end roll off at the input. usually at 100hz. this allows the boost to get higher clean headroom. which is fine if you're using it for soloing, or for guitar. However other boosts (often referred to as Fat boosts) have no low end roll off but consequently the circuit has less clean head room and usually starts to clip after about 15-20 db of boost on a 9volt circuit.

These are generalizations of course but it's worth considering.
 
My vote goes to the MarkBass Super Boost. The boost is gradual and clean. This DI also has two tweakable settings - The VLE emulates vintage speakers by rolling off the highs and the VPF scoops the tone for an aggressive, modern tone. I've had mine for a couple of months and love it. I don't really need the boost, I keep that around 1. I use it as a DI to tweak my tone. Basically you are getting that MarkBass mojo for not much more than a c-note U.S. Not bad.
 
The lpb-1 does exacly what you want for cheap. For me it had more than enough clean boost, I can't even imagining anyone wanting to turn it past noon.

I also loved that equal volume is about 8.30 - 9.00, which allows you not only to boost but also to cut volume. I found this very handy, as you can pair it with pedals that have an unwanted volume boost and no volume knob.

Mine hasn't failed during about 3 years. I sold it to my guitar player (only because I don't need a boost pedal anymore) about 6 months ago. He is also very happy with it, and uses it all the time for clean solos.