Is the RC Booster for me?

[atarilovesyou]

Here's the deal, I've been advised that this pedal is great for boosting your signal without coloring your original tone.

 

All I want it for is to give me a volume boost for solos...I don't see myself really using the eq's much, and the gain even less as I really like my guitar's tone...I just want some more VOLUME to cut through the mix a bit, live.

 

The demos are cool, but they're using it in a 'clean' setting. My main sound has a lot of gain, I'm using the ultra channel on my JSX head....when people say it's a 'clean' booster, does this mean it's only good for non-distorted tones?

 

The guys at Xotic say it'll do what I want, but they want to sell so I'm coming here to ask around.

 

I also hear the gain on this pedal isn't strong enough to be considered an overdrive, and that's fine with me, although when it's cranked it could add a lil more somethin' to the sound.

 

Any advice?...I also looked at the MXR microamp but I like the fact that RC is true bypass and looks to be better quality all around.

 

Thanks!

[Shamray]

Hi ,

 

I have mine at the beginning of the chain ( after the comp ). I use it more as signal enhancer which it does really really good. I barely turn it off!

 

Now if you want to use it as a boost with gain it works if you get your gain from pedals into the clean channel of ur amp and you put the RC after those pedals.

 

I use it on the high gain channels of my amp as well but there isnt much of a volume boost then. It does however ad gain and sustain so i like it for that purpose as well.

 

So basicly after distortion or od pedals it does the trick but when used on a high gain channel of an amp it wont boost your volume much.

[89strat]

The micro amp is a great pedal. Even if the RC Booster is better built, and has more features, don't be too quick to dismiss it. I had the micro amp before I got the RC booster, but not because one was better than the other. I had used the micro amp in my fx loop purely for a volume boost when needed. In this capacity, there's nothing better. Makes your tone a little thicker also, no coloration, to stand out better in the mix. However, I wanted a boost to use in front of my amp to push my gain channel a little bit for more sustain, a touch more volume, and more gain. The micro amp was good also, but I wanted to tame the highs a bit and thicken up the sound a bit. The RC Booster makes every note, chord, or string bend sound much better, clean and distorted. As a matter of fact, because it makes my tone so much sweeter and more in control, I find myself using less gain to get more of my strat or les paul (depending how I feel that day) tone to come through.

 

Anyway, to answer your question, if your just looking for a volume boost, then a micro amp, at $50.00 used, is perfectly fine and a better deal then spending $180 on an RC Booster just to run the eq flat and use the volume. You can by a $5.00 true bypass switch and download a schematic if really need true bypass. But if you want your sound with more of what you like and less of what you don't, then the RC works great. I can't imagine playing without it.

[atarilovesyou]

....good stuff. You see, I usually just like to use my tube amp's distortion...in which case I suppose the RC booster isn't going to help me much?...what if I put it in my FX loop...couldn't I just crank up the volume and use it that way?

 

After reading this up a bit, now I'm thinking I may just go with the microamp. It's just that it has that gain knob, and to get the volume boost, I'd have to turn up the gain..something I don't really want to do (With the RC booster, you get a volume and gain control)....with the microamp, do you get an 'instant' boost in volume, even with the gain knob turned right off? And would the microamp also have the same 'problem' when using your amps distortion channels instead of pedals? With the RC booster, you get a volume and gain control.

 

Is there possibly another pedal that I could look into to get the desired effect?

[Shamray]

Havnt put it in my fx loop yet. But i figure that will work as well.

[surfcat]

GP says it's particularly effective with single coils-the RC that is, you just get more of what you already have-bigger and badder-like boosting a clean amp to the point of breaking up. Don't know how effective that would be with the gain channel of a JSX. Sounds to me more like it adds some extra spank to a strat, but I'm just reading what they said about it-I had just read it 5 minutes ago.

[atarilovesyou]

...sweet, so to confirm, with proper placement I can use the MXR microamp as a volume booster for my solos even if I'm using my amp's distortion (my JSX)? I didn't really think about where the distortion was coming from...hmmm! Just trying to cover the bases for live gigs!

 

Thanks!

[FLYING V 83]

Find a used DOD FX10 Bi-Fet preamp.

I paid $25 for mine last year, it's hands down the BEST clean boost I've used in 35 years of gigging.

Won't add nothing but pure volume to your signal.

I run mine last in the chain to goose everything else.

[spentron]

Sometimes it works out just right with boost in front, you get a gain boost and just enough volume boost. But if the gain is already cranked the volume change will be nil. There's really no difference between switching the gain with a boost and using the guitar's volume control except noise advantage, footswitchability, goes higher, and any tonal coloration.

 

With a boost in the effects loop then you get pure volume unless it drives your power section that much. In this case the amount of boost usually used is far smaller since it's more audible. You don't really even need a boost, just a control in a box with a switch would do it but the only one on the market is expensive. Actually, effective immediately I'll make one on request.

 

See also the boost pedal on my site, basically halfway between MXR and the RC.

[89strat]

Has anybody tried the RC Booster in the FX loop using you amp's gain channel?

 

My biggest problem has always been being loud enough during my solos. I have a second guitarist in the band.

[Sir_Les]

I personally wouldn't use it in the FX loop. If you are using the amp's overdrive then I would stick it straight after my wah wah which is first in line. Then just adjust the level and gain to taste....

What I do with my Marshall Bluesbreaker, is to use an OD pedal to drive the amp, then have a boost after the OD for solos.

[89strat]

 

Originally posted by Sir_Les I personally wouldn't use it in the FX loop. If you are using the amp's overdrive then I would stick it straight after my wah wah which is first in line. Then just adjust the level and gain to taste.... What I do with my Marshall Bluesbreaker, is to use an OD pedal to drive the amp, then have a boost after the OD for solos.

 

 

The problem with that is I dont' get any increase in volume.

[atarilovesyou]

...yep, I've done some more research and folks say that if you're using a booster pedal with a distortion pedal, placing it before the pedal gives you a gain increase, placing it after the pedal gives you a volume increase.

 

But what about folks using their amp's distortion? That's why I was thinking about the FX loop, because any other spot is just going to increase the signal going into the preamp, giving you more distortion without an increase (or more slight) in volume. Since I just want it as a volume boost, I've got a problem.

 

As long as I stick it in the FX loop LAST, I don't see the problem. That way it's just bumping up the volume of everything prior to it. Does that sound like it'll work?

[Sir_Les]

 

Originally posted by 89strat The problem with that is I dont' get any increase in volume.

 

 

I am surprised by that. I've never had that problem. Are you using a high gain setting on your amp?

[89strat]

I don't think so. I have the gain up about 10:00 on my amp. When I'm in the rehearsal studio I use a JCM 900 with the gain up about the same. My main amp is the peavey classic 50. I set the pre-gain up around 10:00, the post gain about 2:00 and master volume up to about 10:00 or more.