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James... « Not just a boost »
Published on 08/08/11 at 20:37Well this one isn't rocket science folks. It's a clean boost. There's one knob. It boosts your amp signal. Obviously this is a high quality pedal coming from Xotic. I have used a few of their pedals and never have trouble. Great stuff.
UTILIZATION
A lot of people seem to think this is just a regular clean boost but in reality it isn't. The circuitry, however small it may be is based on an old Echoplex preamp that Jimmy Paige used to use. To most people that won't matter. What it means in the real world is that while the EP booster does act as a regular clean gain booster, it also imparts a bit of its own sound. Xotic seems to be aware of this and they fully disclose that fact. They know it's not just another boost pedal. The expected downside to this is that if you don't like what the EP does to your sound, there's nothing you can do. Not tone knobs or any such of that nature. Hey...the footprint is small. Deal.
SOUND QUALITY
The EP booster in addition to being a solid clean boost, give your signal a kind a saturation and clarity too. This extra tone trickery isn't for everyone but most people tend to love it. I know a few guys who treat this as an always one pedal because they love what it does to their sound. Honestly I just use it for what it is...a boost. I like what it does to the tone in addition to that. It's a nice sound. Some people use these to match inputs with different guitars, which I guess makes sense.
OVERALL OPINION
If you want a genuine clean boost then look elsewhere. There's cheaper options. The EP booster to my ears is a sweeter boost pedal than most because of the extra tone improvements it brings to the table. A lot of people are disappointed with this pedal because they expect it to sound dry. This is not that pedal. It's more of a gamechanger really. Value is decent for what it does. The quality meets the price I think.
UTILIZATION
A lot of people seem to think this is just a regular clean boost but in reality it isn't. The circuitry, however small it may be is based on an old Echoplex preamp that Jimmy Paige used to use. To most people that won't matter. What it means in the real world is that while the EP booster does act as a regular clean gain booster, it also imparts a bit of its own sound. Xotic seems to be aware of this and they fully disclose that fact. They know it's not just another boost pedal. The expected downside to this is that if you don't like what the EP does to your sound, there's nothing you can do. Not tone knobs or any such of that nature. Hey...the footprint is small. Deal.
SOUND QUALITY
The EP booster in addition to being a solid clean boost, give your signal a kind a saturation and clarity too. This extra tone trickery isn't for everyone but most people tend to love it. I know a few guys who treat this as an always one pedal because they love what it does to their sound. Honestly I just use it for what it is...a boost. I like what it does to the tone in addition to that. It's a nice sound. Some people use these to match inputs with different guitars, which I guess makes sense.
OVERALL OPINION
If you want a genuine clean boost then look elsewhere. There's cheaper options. The EP booster to my ears is a sweeter boost pedal than most because of the extra tone improvements it brings to the table. A lot of people are disappointed with this pedal because they expect it to sound dry. This is not that pedal. It's more of a gamechanger really. Value is decent for what it does. The quality meets the price I think.