May be a long post ahead with lots of cliche guitar terms so you have been warned haha.
So, I've got an itch to try another boost pedal and I'd never really considered a treble/full range boost til I saw some videos of the Catalinbread Naga Viper (does full range through to treble boost) through a Fender and a Marshall and it sounded awesome to me. I'd always associated treble boost with tones I didn't like (Brian May and Tony Iommi) but it seemed to give the tone a really cool character. My first question is, do you really need a dark amp to get the best out of them? I'm currently using a Laney GH50L which isn't dark by any stretch of the imagination - with the resonance off its like a higher gain JCM800 with more low end and more lower mids than the marshally higher mids. Will it work with this setup or am I going to be left with a thin and brittle tone?
What I want to achieve with a boost- set my amp up for a mid gain crunch with less mids and high than I normally use, use that sound for quieter parts of songs like verses, then kick in the boost for choruses or bits I want to have more emphasis. More fatness, fullness, mids, saturation, 3D quality to the tone, harmonic content and all that bollocks. Basically a more button. My band is kind of stoner rock/grunge so imagine that kind of sound for the heavier bits.
What I don't want - thin and brittle tone like Iommi etc as mentioned, bass cut, harsh ice pick high end.
I've tried the following - tubescreamer, too polite and bland sounding even with the gain up and cuts too much bass. Spark Boost - liked it on fat mode to start with but something grated with it eventually. Keeley rat - closest to what I want so far but I find the low end a bit too mushy and vague. Feels like a pedal. My LPB1 isn't bad but I find it best as a lead boost. Considered fuzzes but most sound like a bad distortion pedal to me and tend to work best with a clean amp.
Based on that will I be disappointed with a treble or full range booster and if so should I consider something along the lines of a Timmy, EP Booster, EQ (eqd tone job), anything else?
Comments
My own lead boost of choice when I don't know what amp I'm using is the Boss SD-1. Cheap, reliable and works with just about any amp.
Other choices would be the MXR GT-OD, MXR Distortion3 or Nobels ODR-1.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Tbh I can get fairly close to what i want with the footswitchable gain boost on my amp but I really prefer the feel of using a boost to drive the front end of the amp.
Although an sd1 is nearly a tubescreamer, it does have a slightly different character. You may find it cuts too much bass though.
I'd opt for an Mxr dist iii if you don't like tubescreamers. Tons of volume boost on tap and you can dial in the pedal distortion as you need. Doesn't cut loads of bass.
i have a V3 which is switchable between treble/mid/full(clean) boost and has separate volume and gain pots and a built in buffer.
the V4 has an extra switch to choose buffer or TB.
it runs off 9V but has an internal voltage doo hickey to give it 18 or 24V?
it's quite orange though!
My music:- https://soundcloud.com/hubobulous
https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1I65sLXXXXXbXXpXXq6xXFXXX7/KOKKO-FBS2-Mini-Booster-Pedal-Portable-2-Band-EQ-Guitar-Effect-Pedal-High-Quality-Guitar-Parts.jpg
AND - has Glow-in-the-dark Dial markers!
My music:- https://soundcloud.com/hubobulous
TBs are great and respond very well to your guitar's volume pot.
I said I wasn't going to look at fuzz pedals but I'm actually really intrigued by the DOD Carcosa as it apparently does fuzzy overdrive into a dirty amp really well without getting too muddy. And it's cheaper than most other options!
The Suhr is a bit out of my price range unfortunately, should have stated it'd be about £100-ish.
Great as a solo boost, or an 'always on'. Great when you need to cut through a band mix. Great when you need to tune your tone to the room you're gigging in.
Some of the adjectives you use to describe your target tones are not ones I'd necessarily associate with the NV - but if you can solder, I'd wholeheartedly recommend the fuzzdog Hot Snake as a cheaper way of checking it out. Even if it's not everything you're looking for, it's a very useful pedal.
Edit - just had a look and bloody hell I didn't realise the circuit was so simple! That'll almost be as easy and as quick to build as the LPB1. And to think I was looking at paying £100+ for the C'bread version... My board is going to become attack of the clones at this rate.