# Volume Pedal or Boost? Recommendations



## joey_capps (Dec 23, 2008)

I need to add a volume pedal or boost pedal to my pedal board. Any recommendations or advice?

Joe


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Both. A boost pedal before everything in the pedal chain, a volume pedal after everything in the pedal chain. A boost to hop up the signal to other pedals, and a volume pedal to control over-all volume.

Peace, Mooh.


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## vasthorizon (Aug 10, 2008)

MXR 10 band EQ pedal. Gain boost, volume, and frequency control in one box. All you'll ever need.


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## sproul07 (Jun 23, 2007)

It all depends on what you're trying to do with the pedals. If you just want a clean boost then I would recommend a ThroBak Overdrive Boost and I would place it after your fuzzes or distortions. If you want something with more grit then a Tube Screamer would probably work. I would also place the volume pedal before your delays or echos so that the repeats will continue after you cut off the signal.


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## Head (Feb 10, 2007)

I say the boost.

I know some people don't think it's the same but I just use my master volume knob sdsre


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

They serve different functions, all of which are musically useful. 

Volume pedals permit you to be more expressive in some ways. Among the various volume pedals out there, many pros swear by the Goodrich and Ernie Ball pedals. These use a different sort of mechanism than a wah, and most standard volume pedals, enabling them to be quiet, dependable, and smooth to the touch.

Boosts come in a variety of flavours. You've got things like the MXR Micro-amp that simply increase the amplitude of the signal with no tonal modification whatsoever, to things like some of the Xotic boosters that have tonal adjustment on top of clean boost, to things like the Klon Centaur which is designed to push a tube amp at the edge of breakup into breakup territory in a specific pre-conditioned way.

A bit of untainted clean boost is a good thing. It can optimize your signal-to-noise ratio, elicit more responsive behaviour from subsequent distortions and envelope-controlled devices in your chain (filters, compressors), or simply be used to provide a preset level for the solo. 

Too much boost, on the other hand, can be a rather disruptive thing. Many things that you don't think of as boosts can *be* boosts. Vasthorizon already insightfully mentioned a simple EQ pedal. To that, I would also add a compressor. Believe it or not, some tremolo pedals can also double as boosts, if you turn down the depth all the way.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

I have and use both, but the volume pedal is usually not even on my board whereas my boost is a permanent fixture. Volume pedals are useful as a form of mute and for some fun little swelling effects. You can even mimic amp tremolo with practice. Boost, especially if it comes with an eq, is great for that little extra something for solos, to make OD pedals grunt a little harder and even as an always on amp sweetener. If you have to choose b/w the two get a boost. Vol pedals are pretty cheap used and rarely break because they're really simple circuits.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

mhammer said:


> Too much boost, on the other hand, can be a rather disruptive thing.


I suppose you're right (since you usually are) but with just my boost dimed (it's something like a 45db boost!) and the tone knob killing the highs I can turn any tube amp into a clone of Neil's "on the verge of death" 5e3 sound. To me that's a good thing!

Matt


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

If that's what you want, great. In that sort of application, the net impact of the boost will depend on where in your signal chain you situate it. A lot of folks think of boosts as something they stick "up front". In those situations, it can elicit bad behaviour fro subsequent things like phasers, chorus or flanger pedals or any other easy-to-distort effect which does not have on-board companding.

Assuming one is not using super-overwound humbuckers or a guitar that already has an onboard preamp (I.E., "active pickups"), a bit of boost applied at the very start of the signal chain can improve overall performance. But when I say "a bit", I really mean it. Just a simple gain of 2-4x, and none of this 40db stuff.

Keep in mind that your amp is designed around a certain amount of headroom, but your pedals are not, so you need to be kind to them to get them to play nice. OTOH, if you're a guitar-into-booster-into-amp kind of person, go for it.


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## Matsal535 (Apr 26, 2009)

Would any of you guys consider using the LPB-1?


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## dufe32 (Feb 5, 2007)

I use the MXR Micro Amp in the loop of my YCS90, does a superb job as a clean boost in the loop, will add a bit of grit placed in front of the amp. I'm thinking of getting another one to place in front. And they are fairly cheap. I use it mainly for solos.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Matsal535 said:


> Would any of you guys consider using the LPB-1?


It has a long track record as a decent booster. It does not have the highest input impedance in the world, so if your goal is keep the glassy highs of a high-end single-coil intact, then something like a ZVEX Super Hard-On (or an equivalent) is probably what you want. If you play an HB-equipped guitar and aren't looking for Nashville clean tones, then an LPB-1 is fine.

Again, I caution you to consider where in your signal path it goes. It can go "up front". It can go at the end of the pedal chain. Or, it can go in the effects loop like dufe32 has done with a Micro-Amp. All are valid points for insertion. Just depends on what you want/need that extra gain to do for you.

I've told this story far too many times, but I'll tell it yet again because it is a truth that hasn't found enough people. For many years, I played a guitar that had a built in preamp. Think of it as a preset booster pedal with a really short cable. I built myself a Tube Screamer clone to TS-808 specs, and found it just awful. Terrible. Disappointing. Couldn't turn it off fast enough. Then, I bought myself a new guitar (Turser Tele clone) without a preamp, and plugged in to the TS. All of a sudden, the pedal sprang to life. I finally heard what everyone else was talking about. 

The TS needs to receive a certain level of signal to behave properly, and the preamp was defying that need. Moral of the story is that boosters CAN be useful, but don't always add value to one's signal unless used appropriately. In my case, the same boost provided after the TS, rather than before, would have been a huge improvement. I didn't know it at the time, but now you do.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

I generally run my boost last on the board. The normal setup for me is Guitar-> wah-> Boss Deluxe Reverb->Reverend Drivetrain II -> Fatso Boost->amp. Once in a while a Boss SD-1 and a dano fab echo and/or intellifex rack unit find their way into the chain. Boost is almost always last. I used to run the boost first but found other things sounded better with it last. This must be because of what mhammer was explaining above.


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## gator (Jun 5, 2009)

I use the Earthquaker Devices Blackeye. I love it . It's the best clean boost I've ever used. They are hand built in Akron Ohio. Great for pushing your tube amp to the edge. I use it with my 1966 National Glenwood 90, turn this baby into a blues tone monster.


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