Most transparent boost with flat EQ recommendations please?

Fortheloveofguitar

Currently using a blackstar dept 10 boost to hit the front end but still not happy with how it affects the mids. There’s always a mid shift with these sort of pedals. 

I don’t use pedals that much so I’m not up to scratch on these matters. 

Can anyone recommend a boost Pedal that I can hit the front end with but it has a flat EQ and is transparent?

Many thanks 

rickd2112a

Origin DCX Boost. Totally flat if you want, but also able to be an incredibly versatile tone shaping tool.

Love mine.

merlin

EQ pedal might be a good option. As a boost, I mean. Or maybe to shave out some of those mids.

fretmeister

merlin said:

EQ pedal might be a good option. As a boost, I mean. Or maybe to shave out some of those mids.

This.

Boss EQ200. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

merlin said:

EQ pedal might be a good option. As a boost, I mean. Or maybe to shave out some of those mids.

Yeah either this, or a TC Spark Boost (the full size, not the mini).

merlin

fretmeister said:

merlin said:

EQ pedal might be a good option. As a boost, I mean. Or maybe to shave out some of those mids.

This.

Boss EQ200. 

I have an Earthquaker Devices Tone Job.
Straightforward and brilliant EQ/Boost. Generally a good egg. 

Lebarque

EQ pedal, as mentioned above. Clean boost pedals will boost all frequencies they're given, so if you want a totally transparent 'louder' sound, you need to dial back those frequencies a bit. Nothing wrong with a Boss GE-7.

Fortheloveofguitar

Thanks for the recommendations, much appreciated

guitargeek62

Keep it simple, GE-7

Sporky

Your hearing changes as the volume level does (for that matter, so does the amps response), so an absolutely flat boost might not sound flat.

So the EQ suggestion is a jolly good one. 

steven70

.. 

LionAquaLooper

fretmeister said:

merlin said:

EQ pedal might be a good option. As a boost, I mean. Or maybe to shave out some of those mids.

This.

Boss EQ200. 

+1 for the EQ200.  The fact it has presets, and you can set it up pre or post makes it such a powerful pedal.  

ICBM

Boss LS-2. Really… it’s a totally transparent boost, among its many other functions. Actually it has two levels of boost if you want, although the slight disadvantage that you can only cycle round off > A > B > off etc, you can’t go B > A or A > off without pressing the switch twice. (You can also set it as just a single boost, if you prefer.)

But you may find the mid shift is not caused by the pedal but by the amp, as it’s driven harder - in which case a graphic EQ might be better, so you can compensate for this.

EricTheWeary

Sporky said:

Your hearing changes as the volume level does (for that matter, so does the amps response), so an absolutely flat boost might not sound flat.

So the EQ suggestion is a jolly good one. 

Amp and ears, I always found flat boosts to be terrible and wanted some kind of eq shift or compression. I'm sure the boosts were just doing their job but between what my amp was doing and how I heard it never seemed right. I think hence the popularity of things like the EP Booster that are basically clean but don't take your face off. 

prowla

What's the MXR Micro Amp like?
I'm sure I have one somewhere, but I can't find it - sneaky little sod!

ICBM

prowla said:

What's the MXR Micro Amp like?

It's got a slight mid boost, despite being claimed to be perfectly flat. I don't think it's entirely clean, either - it seems to add a bit of harmonic distortion. The tantalum caps in the signal path might be the cause of that - they're frowned upon in hi-fi for exactly that reason.

scovell001

No one has mentioned the daddy of them all …… the exotic rc booster 

Gadget

Pete Cornish NB-3 or NBM-2:

"Originally designed as an integral part of each Pete Cornish Custom Pedalboard and Rack Systems, the double buffered  NB-3™ allows a boost in volume, without any tonal alteration."

Cols

I’d go with a TC Spark Mini.  No EQ at all, just a straight level boost.

The full size version does this as well, with additional controls for gain, bass and treble as well as a tone selector for clean/fat/mid.  But it doesn’t sound like you need any of these.

stickyfiddle

ICBM said:

prowla said:

What's the MXR Micro Amp like?

It's got a slight mid boost, despite being claimed to be perfectly flat. I don't think it's entirely clean, either - it seems to add a bit of harmonic distortion. The tantalum caps in the signal path might be the cause of that - they're frowned upon in hi-fi for exactly that reason.

Yeah, it definitely add a tiny bit of fatness as you wind it up. Fantastic sounding boost though. Underrated because it's cheap and doesn't come with a daft waiting list. The only thing I've ever found that I like even more is the Alembic Stratoblaster circuit, which is (sonically) very similar