Xotic's Ep booster is the brands effort to recreate the sound of the preamp in the old echoplex units, hence the "EP". Lots of old school guitarists would use this to get the warm recorded tones you heard on their records. The Ep Booster is a FET design capable of up to 20db of gain. The pedal has a pair of internal switches that toggle either unity gain or a bright switch function. The pedals's size is mind-boggling small for the sounds attainable. The aesthetics of the pedal are really sleek, I love the look of the black on silver with the blue led.


UTILIZATION

The Ep booster can be used both in front of an amp or in the loop to give the preamp section an extra kick. The compact size of the pedal it welcome, as it frees up real estate on my board for other, larger units. The controls consist of a very simple one knob layout for controlling the amount of gain added, however, the internal switches give you enough tone shaping tools to make the pedal worthwhile. Construction is as rugged as any other Xotic offering and I've never had the pedal die on me in a live setting. The EP booster runs on 9v power.


SOUND QUALITY

I played the Ep booster with a Mesa Stiletto Ace combo. Gibson Les Paul traditional with stock pickups.

In front of the amp, the pedal adds great sparkle and warmth to just about any existing sound you can compose. The bright switch matched the pedal fairly to my Dark, Mahogany Gibson. I was able to get some great breakup on the clean side of the Ace as well as a brilliance in the lead sounds of the tight gain mode. Placing the Ep booster in the loop really awakens the power section and makes the amp sound aggressive and percussive in ways i cannot get without it.


OVERALL OPINION

The Ep booster is a great pedal for achieving warmth and clarity in a mix. It is inexpensive, compact, and the simplicity of it's design echoes the no-nonsense attitude of the era the pedal is after. Give it a shot and you won't be disappointed.