# Best Clean Boost?



## gerald guerrero (Oct 3, 2006)

Ive got a Sound City 120 that has very nice bright shimmering and Chimey Cleans. I'm not looking for massive distortion out of this amp, rather something like a clean boost that will gently push it into moderate breakup for more aggressive rythym tones when needed.Ive heard that the BAD Bob, and the Fat Boost are excellent clean boosts. Ive also heard the OCD gets a nice range of artculated transparent boost -more so than the FDII& TS9, which have been said to colour the sound with their own tone, and in the case of the FDII-with compression.WHAT ARE THE BEST CLEAN BOOST PEDALS ? Ive heard that a couple of cheap pedals-the BAd Monkey and the Blues driver, do a good job at tailoring the boost sound without necessarialy much dirt or coloration.


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## Newton (Sep 11, 2006)

The zendrive can act as a good clean boost. It's an overdrive but does'nt color your tone an can give you tons of sustain without coloring your tone.


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## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Fulltone FatBoost. Klon Centaur.

OCD can be used as a boost but you'd have to have the Gain right off.


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## russell broom (May 4, 2006)

the z-vex super hard on is great, i'll give another plug for the fat boost, and the seymour duncan pickup booster is really good too, i've been using that a lot over the past year and love it.


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

check out the Stephenson FMD too. I noticed that it is now a standard product on his site: http://www.stephensonamps.com/

I have one of the earlier models without the tone control and its great. Does clean boost and buffer functions in addition to treble and fat boost duty.


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## Ripper (Jul 1, 2006)

The EH LPB-1 is pretty good as well. I just finished making one and it works really well, doesn't color the tone and is nice and quiet.


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## gerald guerrero (Oct 3, 2006)

Scottone said:


> check out the Stephenson FMD too. I noticed that it is now a standard product on his site: http://www.stephensonamps.com/
> 
> I have one of the earlier models without the tone control and its great. Does clean boost and buffer functions in addition to treble and fat boost duty.


 Thanks Scottone. I think one of these is in my very near future.


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## Slidewinder (Apr 7, 2006)

Hands down, the best clean boost I've used is the Xotic effects RC booster.
I've tried pretty much every clean boost out there, and it's the only one that I've found that doesn't color your tone at all.
It does have dial to up the volume, gain, treb. and bass if you need them but if you leave everything at the neutral setting all you get is a clean boost.


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## old crow (Aug 17, 2006)

I'll second the vote for Zendrive. I also have a Clark Gainster that does a good job , but not quite as versatile as the Zen.


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## Yerffej (Feb 7, 2006)

Hao rust boosters are pretty good. The duncan pickup booster also works GREAT. just leave the resonance switch in the centre so it wont affect your tone and you can get a fair amount of dead clean signal boost.


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

Yerffej said:


> Hao rust boosters are pretty good. The duncan pickup booster also works GREAT. just leave the resonance switch in the centre so it wont affect your tone and you can get a fair amount of dead clean signal boost.


I got the S.Duncan Power Booster I got it set right after while. When I put the boost too high, it sounded like I was frying chicken:2guns:


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## saltydog3317 (Jun 6, 2007)

The Fulltone FDII can have a nice clean drive. I also really like the Fulltone OCD


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

If you want a really clean boost that doesn't color your tone, try the BBE Boosta Grande. Very transparent, easy to work with. It is excellent for boosting an overdriven amp. You can use it before your od/dist for more gain or after the od pedals for a boost in volume. It could also serve as a line buffer/driver if you have a number of effects degrading your signal. FWIW, it is a Guitar Player Magazine Editor's Pick.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

AJ6stringsting said:


> I got the S.Duncan Power Booster I got it set right after while. When I put the boost too high, it sounded like I was frying chicken:2guns:



...i like mine, as well, but i decided to order one of these:

http://www.tonebone.com/re-bigshot-pb1.htm

$135 at l&m.

-dh


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## hfisher3380 (Mar 5, 2006)

I like the Keeley Katana which I have on my board right now.


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## ENDITOL (Feb 5, 2006)

I've been using the boost side of the ZVEX box of rock and lovin it so far!


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

Does that bigshot help with additional noise from other distortion or overdrive pedals in the chain? how about some sound clips?


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

Kapo_Polenton said:


> Does that bigshot help with additional noise from other distortion or overdrive pedals in the chain? how about some sound clips?


...all it does is buffer the signal coming from the guitar in order to restore the guitar's natural tone, which degrades from travelling through a bunch of non-true-bypass pedals, cables and adaptors. a sound clip wouldn't tell you anything. its most noticable when none of my pedals are engaged. the guitar sounds like it is plugged straight into the amp. the difference is dramatic.

-dh


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

How about a clip of it boosting? How many pedals can it power?


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

Kapo_Polenton said:


> How about a clip of it boosting? How many pedals can it power?


...it doesn't provide power.

i don't actually use it as a "boost", per se, but to equalize the levels between single coil and humbucking equiped guitars.

as for clips, i don't have access to the technology.

-dh


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## Falcatarius (Apr 23, 2006)

I'm using a tweed Fender Blues Jr. and i'm looking for something to crank my clean tone to give it better sound and sustain. What would the best pedal be for boosting the clean without any kind of distortion or overdrive? (i've already got a tubescreamer for that)

Cheers
-Falcatarius


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