Best booster pedals ?

StratFreak

StratFreak

New member
I am notorious for wanting 50's teles, 70's strats, gretsch, and generally other guitars not made specifically for metal. My strat is used for my metal needs regularly and does the job just fine, but some more boost (making singles sound like humbuckers which the SD Pedal does) would be awesome!

I've looked into the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster, but no online site seems to sell it (MusiciansFriend, Zzounds, SweetWater) ...which sucks.

If i could not find the SD Pup booster pedal used, what is the best alternative to it in your eyes??

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/plush-pure-gain-boost-guitar-effects-pedal
Im guessing this is very similar !
 
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Re: Best booster pedals ?

I dig what the Fulltone OCD does when used as a booster/OD (versus a distortion pedal). I run the volume at 3:00+ and the gain at 9:00- and flavor the tone to taste. It adds some hair and thickness, but stays tight and articulate. In fact, I've found that in many cases, running less gain on the amp and using the OCD to hit the front end dialed as described results in more articulation and tightness than when using the amp's gain exclusively. This has been the case whether I was using it front of my Bogner Shiva, Bogner XTC Classic, VHT Ultra Lead, Traynor YCS50 and YCS100s, as well as my current Marshall DSL50, Engl Powerball II, or Egnater Rebel 20.

At any rate, I prefer to use my Carl Martin Plexitone if I'm using a cleaner amp (like a Fender) and having to get most of the OD from the pedal. The Plexitone is definitely a cranked-Plexi in a pedal and if I use it with an amp already producing gain, it's just too much and gets muddy. I will say that the Plexitone into my old XTC on the Blue Channel (set to the cleaner "plexi" mode) was heavenly and pretty much nailed the early EVH brown sound ala VH1 through Fair Warning.
 
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Re: Best booster pedals ?

Oh okay thanks, i'll look into that FullTone

I dont need a distortion/phase/ect pedal (all of the regulars) because i'll be getting the VFS5 footswitch from Vox to go with my VT40+, with it i can activate quite a few cool effects. But a booster pedal seems to be the only other good idea seeing as the amp has

Pedal: Comp, Acoustic, Auto Wah, U-Vibe, Brn Octave, Treble Boost, Tube OD, Gold Drive, Org Dist, Metal Dist, Fuzz
Modulation/Delay: CE Chorus, Multi Chorus, Flanger, Org Phase, Twin Trem, G4 Rotary, Pitch Shift, Filtron, Tape Echo, Delay, Chorus+Delay
Reverb: Room, Spring, Hall
Noise Reduction

along with 11 amp models.

which are all amazing.

Would a booster pedal cope well with a modelling amp (just making sure) ?
 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

thats the one.
Except i jusr re-read your post...there's no guarantees any pedal will work with a modelling amp. Its like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

yeah i see your point, well hopefully there would be a way to rent one i guess, or a similar one, and try it out at home with the amp. Its not the end of the world if it didnt work but it would be a cool thing to have.
 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

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Re: Best booster pedals ?

Try out the new TC Electronic Spark Booster. Three modes, clean, mid and fat boost, two band (bass, treble) active eq, volume and gain. It's a really impressive booster.
 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

I have one of these, and am very impressed with it. It can do a lot of sounds, and has huge headroom due to running on 18 Volts. It can be run as a full-range booster or a treble boost.

 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

What amp are you using? And what style of metal? A boost may not be enough for what you are looking to do ...
 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

You might be better off dropping some HotRails into your strat to get a much better humbucker type sound.
 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

A great clean boost that flies under the radar is the Tech 21 Double Drive. Perhaps not the simplicity you're looking for, (as it also provides awesome overdrive tones) but as far as clean boost go, it does the job quite splendidly!
 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

Whoa...

Did I read you want boost AND more grit?

If you want more grit by slamming preamp tubes with signal, ok. But if you want to add grit as well as volume, SD Pup Booster, Micro Amp (my fave!) will NOT do that.

You need an OVRDRIVE.

My personal thoughts, think about the Maxon Organic Overdrive.
 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

yeah gain boost is better then clean boost for me, i did think about grabbing another mexi strat, and dropping a set of Hot Rails, or the YJM's.

I wouldn't want to ruin my the great sound of the VT40+, imho.

What amp are you using? And what style of metal? A boost may not be enough for what you are looking to do ...
Click to expand...

A Vox Valvetronix Plus amp, mostly classic metal, (metallica, pantera) and other hard rock. I think i might be better off with buying a classy looking guitar and making it sound like a beast with some HotRails or Everything Axe set
 
Re: Best booster pedals ?

I don't know how th Vox will handle the stomp. That may b your issue there.

Sounds like you are trying to treat a Moddler liker a tube amp.

That Vox should gain up all you need. But, to add more, you really ned dirt, not gain.

The Blackface on my Cube does ok with pedals. The MArshall....not so much. But if I need "more" MArshall, I go to the 5150 model.
 
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