Too many boosts to choose from!!!

[Destructobot]

Sorry for such the long post, but I'd like to pick up some sort of booster pedal...but damn there sure are a lot to choose from! Even after I narrow it down to 5 or 6 it seems like all the reviews say the same things over and over and over. Basically I'm looking for some thing that will:

 

A) Add some sparkle, roundness, and sustain without adding much compression. I use a vintage mosrite ventures and a dearmond m-77t, both kind of midrangey hard-edged guitars. Plus the mosrite has HORRIBLE sustain with the almost-flush-with-the-fretboard frets.

 

B) Good volume boost. Running them into silverface fenders and I'd like to see how these amps sound with some more drive.

 

B2) Flexible eq. Why not? Not totally necessary though, I still think the Keeley katana looks pretty cool.

 

C) Is friendly with other pedals...monsterpiece fuzz, ad-900, memory man...tons of reverb.

 

D) Won't break the bank. I'd try the time machine boost since it has so much versatility but it costs WAY too much.

 

E) Not worried about it being able to create gain by itself since I'm looking to pick up a varidrive too.

 

Ones I'm considering: Banzai New Rising Sun II, Xotic BB AC and RC, SHO, MI boost n' buff, super chile picoso, keeley java and katana, and SIB fatdrive. Too many to choose from!!!

 

So, any advice??? I'm playing mostly surfy stuff, garagey punk, rock and roll, but also have a soft spot for stuff like Interpol and find myself writing cleanish delayed spacey stuff quite often.

 

Leaning toward the Fatdrive because I used to have a varidrive and it was awesome, but I don't really want two SIB pedals on the board because of the size.

[theweight]

Not a great eq, but I'd recommend the byoc tri boost. It has clean, lpb-1, and germanium boost circuits all switchable. It's my next purchase.

[Destructobot]

As much fun as it sounds, I don't really have the soldering skills or motivation to build my own pedal.

[gr8fuldodd]

I suppose first you could first widdle it down to whether you want a clean boost, something that adds a little dirt, or whether you're looking for a treble boost, midboost, or full range boost.

[Hawkeye17]

I've owned a few of the ones you listed and the RC Boost would do what your looking for in spades. The SCP is a great pedal also but not as flexible as the RC Booster.

[theweight]

 

Originally posted by Destructobot As much fun as it sounds, I don't really have the soldering skills or motivation to build my own pedal.

 

 

The site has a link to pre-built pedals for about $10 more per unit. Not a bad price.

[Destructobot]

Full range most likely, with an option on the treble boost (never tried one). I have a parametric eq that does a very nice mid-boost so I don't need that. BTW: That page with the pre-built BYOC pedals seems to have every one except the tri-boost.

[Destructobot]

Ok, let's say I restrict it to the Fatdrive, Java Boost, and RC. Anybody have experience comparing these in person?

[theweight]

 

Originally posted by Destructobot Full range most likely, with an option on the treble boost (never tried one). I have a parametric eq that does a very nice mid-boost so I don't need that. BTW: That page with the pre-built BYOC pedals seems to have every one except the tri-boost.

 

 

Saw that. I just emailed about it this morning to see if I could have one built. I'm planning on an attempt to build my own, but I think I'll start with a simple circuit like the muff clone.