Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

[madaxeman]

Hello. I'm looking to boost my guitar solos. I'm just getting familiar with the effcts loop in my Marshall. Right now I am running an Overdrive and flanger in front of my amp and a delay in my effects loop. seems to sound pretty sweet. I'm about to buy a duncan booster to bump my leads up a bit. Where is the be the best place for the booster in the signal chain? Or would it be best before or after my delay in the effects loop?

 

[aleclee]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

If you want more gain, put it in front. If you want more volume, put it after the delay.

Just be careful. Use of excessive gain (boost, OD, or distortion) in the loop can cause oscillation.

Now that I think about it, you could build a little volume stompbox that takes a little off the signal when engaged. Disengaging it would effectively be a volume boost. Cheap and relatively easy.

 

[madaxeman]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

Would a volume pedal do the job as well?

 

[aleclee]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

Would a volume pedal do the job as well?

Yup.

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

A volume pedal generally doesn't boost, it just cuts (like a guitar's volume control). If you want to use the resonance switch on the Pickup Booster, Duncan recommends that you put the pedal first, plug the guitar directly into it. It's a cool feature, subtle, but does what it claims to.

 

[madaxeman]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

Very cool. Thanks

 

[Sabina MacDonald]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

...the resonance switch only works on the single coils, so if you're using humbuckers you don't need to worry about putting the Booster first.

Pickup Resonance Switch: Makes a single coil sound like a vintage humbucker ("1") or high output humbucker ("2").
"1" - Resonance shift down 2-3kHz
"0" - Resonance is not affected
"2" - Resonance shifts down 3-5kHz

 

[madaxeman]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

Cool, I was just reading about the resonance switch after you mentioned it. I am currently using humbuckers. But, I am building a strat that will definitly house some single coils. I will experiment with the booster when that time arises. Should be cool.

 

[Faraday]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

The booster sounds good on humbuckers too!

 

[madaxeman]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

What does it do to the overall tone of the humbucker? I definitly don't want any added od or distortion. Does it fatten the overall tone a bit?

 

[Faraday]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

What does it do to the overall tone of the humbucker? I definitly don't want any added od or distortion. Does it fatten the overall tone a bit?

It makes it sound "bigger". I guess you could say fatten but not boomy.

 

[madaxeman]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

Do you think it's a waste that I'm going to use the pedal as a boost an not for it's pickup boosting abilities? Do you recommend another clean boost pedal solely for boost? That will do the job just as well and still offers true bypass.

 

[Faraday]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

Do you think it's a waste that I'm going to use the pedal as a boost an not for it's pickup boosting abilities? Do you recommend another clean boost pedal solely for boost? That will do the job just as well and still offers true bypass.

I don't quite understand your question, but I use it for a boost. It doesn't appear to be truly true bypass. Another one that is nice is the Barber Launchpad but it is 50 bucks more.

 

[madaxeman]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

That's cool. That's the answer I was looking for.

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

Do you think it's a waste that I'm going to use the pedal as a boost an not for it's pickup boosting abilities? Do you recommend another clean boost pedal solely for boost? That will do the job just as well and still offers true bypass.

It's meant to be a volume boost, the resonance switch is a bonus feature. It's a great pedal, and works exceptionally well as a clean volume boost.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

That will do the job just as well and still offers true bypass.

True bypass is kind of pointless in an FX loop. In any decent loop, you don't have the pickup loading issues that you have between guitar and amp.

 

[Artie]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

...the resonance switch only works on the single coils, so if you're using humbuckers you don't need to worry about putting the Booster first.

Pickup Resonance Switch: Makes a single coil sound like a vintage humbucker ("1") or high output humbucker ("2").
"1" - Resonance shift down 2-3kHz
"0" - Resonance is not affected
"2" - Resonance shifts down 3-5kHz

Just to clarify, thats not exactly correct. While the Booster Pedal's resonance switch may have been designed for single coils, it doesn't care what you have plugged into it. It will affect a humbucker the same way it does a single-coil. For that matter, it will affect a kazoo the same. It doesn't know what you've got plugged in.

Using the resonance switch with a humbucker just gives you a couple more tone options. I do it all the time. It mellows my bridge Cool Rails quite nicely.

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

It doesn't appear to be truly true bypass.

I don't understand the persistence of the rumor that the SD Pickup Booster is not true bypass. I tried the pedal with a guitar and amp plugged normally with no battery and no AC power, and then plugged the guitar into the pedal's output and the pedal's input into the amp. The results - wired up both ways, sound went through it just fine, and it sounded no different than plugging directly into the amp. That makes it True Bypass. It says so in Duncan's literature, and I personally consider Seymour Duncan to be a highly trustworthy company - why would they make a claim like that which would be so easy to prove untrue?

The Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster is TRUE BYPASS!!! And it works great!!!

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

I don't understand the persistence of the rumor that the SD Pickup Booster is not true bypass. I tried the pedal with a guitar and amp plugged normally with no battery and no AC power, and then plugged the guitar into the pedal's output and the pedal's input into the amp. The results - wired up both ways, sound went through it just fine, and it sounded no different than plugging directly into the amp. That makes it True Bypass. It says so in Duncan's literature, and I personally consider Seymour Duncan to be a highly trustworthy company - why would they make a claim like that which would be so easy to prove untrue?

The Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster is TRUE BYPASS!!! And it works great!!!

I opened mine and poked around at the circuit for a while whenI had it (not changing anything, just looking what makes it tick), I´m absolutely sure that it´s true bypass.... And as stated, why would Duncan publish such an easily disprovable lie?

 

[Artie]

Re: Duncan pickup booster? Front or loop?

Yup. You really don't need to "poke around" much either. You just look at it. There's wires that go from the input jack, to the switch, to the output jack. Its true bypass. Absolutely. Stratdeluxer can even confirm this . . . he's the one who replaced the switch in mine.