Booster pedals

[diablo175]

I enjoy the responsiveness of active pickups but cannot stand the tone. I have a set of active Gus G's in my Charvel Custom Shop Star that make it a joy to play but a nightmare to listen to when A/B'ed against the custom order Cali which feature a Custom and '59.

I wanted the tone of a Custom with the responsiveness of an active. So, I contacted SD support and was told to throw a Custom in with the BMP-1 pre amp. No good- the Custom is a high output p'up. When paired with the Blackout pre amp and the settings, as is, on my JVM, would push it into ridiculous gain/feedback territory. Additionally, the active circuitry of the BMP-1 dominates the tonality of ANY pickup with which it works. The characteristics of the Custom that I so love would be lost in the mush of the pre amp.

So, I contact SD Custom Shop and ask if they can come up with a pick up that will do the trick. After a week and a half, I get reply back of "No." For the very reasons I've already listed. Instead Scott Miller, Tech Lead, suggest a booster pedal.

"I have found that if you want the best of all worlds, the best thing is to use a Booster pedal, so you can have the extra line gain when you want it (and as MUCH of it as you want). Otherwise, designing something like you are describing would end up being expensive due to the amount of trial and revision it would likely require."

Having never used a booster, I could use some info in helping me to select and use one to best effect.

Suggestions?

[hamerhead]

Xotic EP Booster. A tiny box of wow.

[veatch]

Seriously - The Paul Cochrane Timmy is the shizzle.

[Thundersteel]

I use the Bad Bob Booster Pedal:

http://www.analogman.com/badbob.htm

[stonge]

I've been using a BMF Fat Bastard boost for a year or two now. It's pretty sensitive, and I rarely move the knob past 9 o'clock for a boost. Even that low it does tend to thicken the sound a bit - remember how the loudness control on a stereo used to fatten up the sound at low volume? The Fat Bastard does that, and has more than enough gain if you want to brutalize your V1 tube.

[gorch]

They'd called it Trebble Booster in the early days. I like them.

[hamerhead]

The Sparkle Drive is good. It gives you the option of adding dirt. The Keeley-modded Sparkle Drive gives you twice the dirt. The Fulltone OCD with the 'drive' down might work too, because it's pretty transparent.

[bubs_42]

Broken Record here but, when I plugged in the BBE Boosta Grande it was a huge Aha Moment.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/bbe-boosta-grande-boost-pedal-/271249496525?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3f27bad9cd

Freaking Cheap to boot.

[Tres Aardvarks]

I always just used a Boss EQ pedal: before the amp if I wanted to affect the distortion, in the loop if I wanted to just control the volume.

[dragan]

How about the fulltone fat boost ? anybody tried it?

[Jakeboy]

Had a Boosta Grande....did what it claims.. Not a pedal guy so away it went.....I do however, like treble boosters. I have a Caitalinbread Naga Viper treble booster that also acts as a regulator booster. Keeping this one.

[gorch]

Hey what's up trying Rockman modules?

[Teh]

Seymour Duncan has/had a pickup booster pedal (SFX-01) that offers up adjustable 6 to 25dB gain boost, and a three position switch. The switch is either transparent tonally, or attenuates the high freqs to make a single coil sound more humbuckerish. Built like a tank. I say 'had' because I think they've discontinued them recently, but you can still find them on the 'Bay at a reasonable price...