Super Chile Picoso

I play lead guitar in a pop rock band. My main sounds come from a fender Stratocaster into an Ibanez Tubescreamer-TS9 and an M.I. Audio Crunch Box. I put my Super chili Picoso in the FX loop of my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and use it as a volume boost for solos and such the like. It is bizarre to me that I have had to search so far and wide for a boost pedal that does not dramatically swallow your tone when you kick it in*. It seems to me that the task it is providing is a very basic one - more volume. But the picoso is the first pedal I've used - since owning a quadraverb - which manages the job. Extremely well. If the tone is affected in anyway it is given a very subtle sparkle which you could have never dreamed possible before owning a Super Chili Picoso. I may one day take it out of the FX loop and put it right infront of the amp cos it has a lot to offer there as well. I dont know whether it's True Bypass or not but it makes no noise while it's not turned on and my tone still sounds lovely. A really basic and beautiful sounding pedal. Buy one. * Dont give me any bollocks about using my FX loop, the FX loops sounds great, I hear no difference between using it there as opposed to at the end of my pedal chain, AND REMEMBER I need it to act as a level boost for the amp overdrive channel as well as the pedals and the only way to do this is in the FX loop. So dont go on at me about the FX loop!!

It seems as well built as all my other pedals. Time will tell I guess.

It's hard to imagine a guitar pedal which is difficult to use. Fat/clean switch, Level control, On/Off switch. Very basic. Beautifully simple. It's not too big (smaller than boss), about the same size as my crunch box. This is important as one of my main aims is to keep my board small and reasonably simple. It's not as small as the serrano, which is a shame, but it's definately worth it for that fat switch. It deserves a 10 but it gets a 9 because the power input is, rather annoyingly, on the side of the unit. I power all my pedals from my Boss Daisy Chain so this is very inconvenient for me. For the life of me I have no idea why some manufacturers are placing them there. I'm probably ignorant to something extremely obvious as to why this happens. Someone please explain to me why this is necessary. I've seen some earlier versions of this pedal which had the power input and the In and Out sockets all on one long side of the pedal. This, for me, is better than separating everything. The normal 3 sided way with power at the top is ideal.

I bought mine directly from Catalinbread.com. There was a slight mix up with my order as I'd used one e-mail for my paypal and a separate e-mail to register with catalinbread.com and this lead to a delay in dispatch. But their communication was excellent as it was when I asked a technical question before ordering. A very good company who make some wonderful, practical pedals.

Great for cutting through on solos and what have you. Great boost if you need a little extra drive or... what have you. Also, you may have noticed...... How ******* COOL it Looks!! I'm sorry but I am vain and these things are important to me. I want my board to look as good as it sounds. Perfect pedal (nearly - Power Input! Grrr!). Buy it.

I use a '62 into SCP into a 60's vox ac30 that's it. Without the SCP the combination sounded a bit dull and muffled. The SCP really opened up the sound even at the 0 setting. My setup has never sounded better.

Looks sturdy. I only use it in the studio. I only wish the battery was fastened somehow, but that's easily fixed with some foam.

Couldn't be any easier.

Don't know.

I love it because it is so simple to use and still has a dramatic effect on my sound, I never turn it off.

Great all the way around.  The SCP will give you subtle boosting, drive long cable runs quietly and cleanly, or drive the front end of your amp beyond tonal bliss.  It does not change the character of your tone by emphasising certain frequencies like a treble booster would.  It's a flat eq response with a lot of boosting power.  I believe around 30 db to be exact.  You could easily use this pedal to boost single note lines and put your Tube Screamer back in the closet.  The SCP rocks straight up!

I've been able to totally depend on it.  No operational issues whatsoever.  I gig without a backup. 

One knob and one switch!  Easy!  There are two different outputs to choose from.  The standard output allows you to boost the level whereas the other output is buffered and only allows a unity gain buffer driver.  This output is not true bypass so you could use this jack if you were planning on using the pedal to buffer long cable runs and reduce some of the tone loss.  You would have to keep the pedal on all the time and the volume at zero.  Personally, I use the standard boost output and if I choose to run it as a buffer, I drop the volume to 0.  This allows me to still turn the pedal on or off if I wanted as well as boost the signal if desired.  A really versatile boost to say the least.  Oh yeah, it has a power jack as well!

Nicholas is great to deal with.  He did this pedal for me in a custom order along with a Teaser Stallion.  Turnaround time was about one week.  Both pedals showed up roaring out of the box.  I've been pleased ever since!

Overall, the SCP is a great booster with a lot of flexibility.  It has a bright yellow LED which can be seen from any angle or distance.  You will retain your amp and guitar tone and not lose any of the nuances of your playing.  I leave it on 100% of the time as a line driver/buffer with the volume at zero (unity gain).