What's your favourite Boost?

Neilybob · May 23

monquixote said:

Wazmeister said:

Neilybob said:

Revolutions said:

I’ve gone boost crazy recently since shifting from Marshall drive channel to Fender sound + gain stages.

always had a TS9 type pedal on my board since forever. The Analogman Prince of tone is by far the best version I’ve ever used & stays on my little gigging board.

Boss BP-1W is a recent revelation that has eclipsed almost all the other pedals in this picture as an always-on boost to push a clean channel.

Other favourites, admittedly I’m pushing the definition of boost a bit with some of these. That’s how I use them though.

Fredric golden eagle (klone)
JHS preamp overdrive
Keeley Java (treble boost)
Boss OD-1a
Timmy
Boss GE-6
Echoline signal driver (not pictured)

Oooh! I would love to give that Boss BP-1W a whirl.

Well, I’m about to sell a mint one if you fancy it…. Start of a cull

Oh I'm after one of them!

Go for it. I'm skint

Dave_Mc · May 23

You've already got the best one.

Now if you're like me you just need to try all the other ones, just to be sure.

But yeah there's something about the Timmy, at least the way I use it. It's really handy the way you can cut the low end the amount you need (a lot of the clean boosts don't let you do that), there's a glassiness to the high end which is just great and helps it clean up, and there's just an angry grind to it when boosting a high gain amp which is just perfect for me for rhythm tones (I prefer an SD1-style boost for leads). Don't get me wrong, there are loads of pedals which more or less do the same thing, and I'd be perfectly happy with any of them. But if I've got the free choice...

Cookiemonster · May 23

I like the SHO it just does something magical to a Strat

Petepassion · May 23

I use the Timmy V2 for my solo boosts, yeah it’s great into a driven amp.
A couple of others I have which work really well is the ceriatone Horsebreaker(very good Klon and Bluesbreaker) and the Drybell unit 67(has boost, eq, compressor and treble boost…lovely versatile pedal).

But at the end of the day we all know the Bad monkey is king

RandallFlagg · May 24

Another vote for the TC Spark, I've got one recently, cheap enough and quite flexible, I prefer it to the Suhr Koko boost I had as the Spark has bass & treble tone controls. I always find that boosting seems to increase the treble on my amp so having the ability to roll a bit of top end off is good as is lowing the bass to remove any woof.

Revolutions · May 24

@monquixote - the Boss BP-1W is awesome.

LionAquaLooper · May 24

Caline Pure Sky
Behringer SF300 fuzz (on the boost mode obviously)

steviebee74 · May 24

I've used one of these in recent years and it's been great. Cheap & cheerfull, easy to use, versatile and easily replaceable (though I've never had to replace mine).

https://blackstaramps.com/product/lt-boost/

monquixote · May 24

Revolutions said:

@monquixote - the Boss BP-1W is awesome.

Awesome. I'm excited to get one. My board is 100% Waza so you can say I'm a fanboy

rockmonster · May 24

Koko boost in front of the amp and MXR CAE MC 401 in the loop.

tone1 · May 24

I liked the Xotic (big box) RC boost (really clean)

mark_jwedge · May 24

A couple of my favourites have already been mentioned (Fredric zombie/golden eagle klone and the treble booster side of the Thorpy veteran) but I really like the ThorpyFx Team Medic. I feel this one has gone under the radar a bit and doesn’t get as much love as thorpy’s other pedals but it’s fantastic as a combined eq and boost

cm01 · May 25

Can’t go wrong with an MXR Micro amp… the Joyo version (Roll Boost) is almost identical.

I love my Beetronics Buzzter - two separate boosts that definitely add a little magic and sweetens the sound somehow. I leave one boost permanently on and use the other for solos / clean boost.

guitargeek62 · May 26

monquixote said:

markj said:

guitargeek62 said:

/broken record post:

Way Huge Saucy Box - superb clean-boost through mid-drive pedal, I rarely switch mine off!

Another one for the list.

My understanding is it's broadly speaking a Klon. I had one and quite liked it.

Common misconception, but it’s not! It does have a dual-ganged clean-blended vol. pot, but that’s about where the similarities (at circuit-level) end - I agree that it does a similar thing tonally though. The SB is a simplified lower-gain version of the WH Pork Loin, whereas WH also made an actual Klone later on called the Conspiracy Theory.

pluckbuddy · May 26

I like a Mooer Yellow Comp. It's small and can compression and eq. Has a subtle mid hump too which is great for boosting overdrive pedals.

Oh and it's affordable.

monquixote · May 29

Now I have a BP-1W I can comment on how I see it vs the other things I've tried.

I can see why people rave about it. It's a very good quality boost with a few different flavours on offer. I see it as a perfect "always on" or a very light drive for when you want to turn spanky clean into very slight grit. For example it's perfect for playing something Steve Cropper like Soul Man or other vintage soul where a Chic clean doesn't quite cut it, or the kind of not quite clean you might find on a Paul Weller record.
It can also get quite gainy if you whack it up all the way.

Is it the best thing ever. No not really, there are other circumstances where you might prefer the added mid of a Klon, or the more amp like response of the Liquid Sunshine. I think it's very comparable to my previous fav the Laney TI boost which has powerful EQ, but lacks the modes.

It's going on my board though because it looks right with my 100% Boss rig