Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

[Evan Skopp]

Click HERE!

[chadd]

Re: Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

Why can't people play the same thing when comparing settings? If you really want to demonstrate the difference between a switch set on 0, 1 or 2; then playing the same piece of music with the same settings (other than the one you are demonstrating) would make a lot more sense to me.

[Mincer]

Re: Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

I chose to play the piece without the effect, then with it. I think I provided enough clips to understand what this pedal does. It will sound different with other guitars and guitarists though.

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

I have wanted this pedal for so long and now an updated verison??

Awesome...May have to check it out. Using a Malekko Sloika now for always on thicken/boost and stack a Bass Big Muff PI into it for full blown distortion but using the SD Pickup Booster might be a good match too

[ArtieToo]

Re: Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

I want to check one of these out also, but I can't help but wonder why they went with a 250k input impedance. I would think that 1 Meg would better match the loading of most guitar amps. The older SFX-01 had 470K input Z. I know the Duncan engineers know what they're doing, but I'm curious as to the thinking behind this spec.

[Demanic]

Re: Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

Maybe they don't know what they're doing.

[ArtieToo]

Re: Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

I think they know what they're doing. It's me that doesn't know what they're doing.

[jimijames]

Re: Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

My guess is they use the input resistance as part of the resonance switch, but honestly I have no idea


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[frankfalbo]

Re: Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

If it's not a typo, I agree with Artie, I can't make sense of it. In today's market saturated with all kinds of transparent and/or coloring boost pedals, this one seems to send a mixed message. If you pitch a boost as being transparent, and you expect the musician to plug the guitar straight into it (not after a buffer) then in my experiences the minimum input impedance should be 470k, with 1 meg or higher being optimal.

The Suhr is an example of someone offering a 1meg input, http://www.suhr.com/suhr-guitar-pedals/iso-boost/
While the Lehle Sunday Driver starts with 1meg, but a switch allows you to go up to 4megs: http://lehle.com/EN/Lehle-Sunday-Driver/MANUAL#go

Of course if you put it after a buffered pedal, then the signal is low impedance and it's entirely possible the new Booster IS adequately transparent for most players. But therein lies the product design and marketing conundrum: The resonance switches ONLY work as intended if the Pickup Booster is placed directly in line with a passive pickup guitar, no buffer in between. So the way I see it, it's EITHER a transparent boost when placed after a buffer, or with active/low impedance pickups, OR it's a less-than-transparent boost, but one that colors the sound in all three positions, 1, 2, and off. You can still sell a pedal like that in the marketplace, you just have to call it what it is, and teach people what to expect in their rigs.

If I were advising someone to buy this pedal, I would say place it after a buffer, and forget about the resonance switches, or absolutely try before you buy in a store, so that you can listen to what the 250k load does to your guitar's tone. You may like it, you may find it dulls the tone too much. I mean, it's basically like running an extra 250k volume pot hanging off your guitar. The engineers aren't stupid people, so I imagine they have an answer to this question. Perhaps it's addressed in the owners manual, or it was a decision made while listening to the sound of the pedal. Maybe Scott will chime in with a response from engineering like he did on the decision to use a different chip than the one first listed while marketing the 805.

[kramersteen]

Re: Blog: The SD Pickup Booster Pedal

Who cares about that stuff, Does it come in double creme?