Best Clean Boost

[Inconuucl]

buy a possessed and mix out the glitch. lots a vol ...thats what I do anyway......

This answer is so ILF it hurt me.


I always use a compressor as a boost. When I'm not using it to squash the ever living fuck out of my signal that is. So in that regard I'll put forth the Accountant.

[gringostar]

I use the MF boost since it also adds a bit a compression. The tone knob acts like a HPF so if you max it out you get an uncolored signal.

It also acts as a volume pedal.

[hatshirt]

EQD Black Eye!

[BetterOffShred]

I'll second a few things, SHO is good boost, a decent compressor is usually a good boost, the Majikbox venom is a great boost, the rest of my boosts are dirty as a Taiwanese hooker so I'll leave them out of this conversation.

I like dirty boost.

[The Eristic]

RC Booster
Emma Onomatopoeia
Zoom Power Drive
Caroline Haymaker Mode B
Fryette Boostassio
Mini with the gain low

[goroth]

I second the MXR Micro Amp (or a clone thereof). In my experience it is significantly cleaner than both the ZVex SHO and EHX LPB-1. I love both of those as well but compared to the Micro Amp I hear coloration of the signal when I use 'em, and with the Micro Amp I don't hear anything but a louder version of what was already there.

Which is why in real world gigging situations I always use either the LPB-1 or SHO

This is true.
LPB-1 sounds rad but is nowhere near linear, which is kind of funny, and it loads your pickups pretty heavily. SHO is sick but quite coloured. Micro Amp is relentlessly neutral.
That said... I'd go with an SHO cos they are nice.

[ALLisNOISE]

I use the 48v version of this:

Creation Audio Labs Mk 4.23 Boost
Just a crushing amount of volume, and it can be pushed by all manner of fuzzes without ever breaking a sweat.

The Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster is another booster I love. I used it almost exclusively to beef up the sound of my weak pickups on my Ric.

Bonus points , it can be had for $30-40 all day in the used market.

[blankfield]

No brainer: RC booster.

[JereFuzz]

I actually picked up a fulltone FB-3 on clearance at GC and that thing is awesome. Very true to the input signal and tweakable in the highs/lows, aka where it matters with loud volumes ... I just ordered an 18v ac adapter and want to get some more headroom ...

[Mudfuzz]

For a pure clean boost, Radial pb1. Pros: clean, it boosts, has drag control, built tuff enough to cave in a skull, is orange. cons: if you tweak you will hate where and how to get at the controls, isn't unusably loud.

[JereFuzz]

For a pure clean boost, Radial pb1. Pros: clean, it boosts, has drag control, built tuff enough to cave in a skull, is orange. cons: if you tweak you will hate where and how to get at the controls, isn't unusably loud.

I wonder if Radial is a subsidiary of a heavy machine company? Their stuff is built tough. I have an FX loop switcher from them that is great.

[Mudfuzz]

For a pure clean boost, Radial pb1. Pros: clean, it boosts, has drag control, built tuff enough to cave in a skull, is orange. cons: if you tweak you will hate where and how to get at the controls, isn't unusably loud.

I wonder if Radial is a subsidiary of a heavy machine company? Their stuff is built tough. I have an FX loop switcher from them that is great.

Yeah, all their stuff in built insanely heavy.. I've use their JDI direct boxes for years and they are a very hard thing to beat.

[frigid midget]

Don't have a ton of clean boost experience, but when I tried a pricey Wren&Cuff Mercy phuck, I left me wondering...What the hell can this thing do that a Micro Amp can?

So these days there's a '70s Micro Amp on my board, to kick an a *almost* cooking tube amp in the nads. Everyone and their mother makes a cheap SHO clone, so that's always a good option I guess.

The FZ-2 suggestion isn't even all that crazy actually. They're affordable enough, and you can a gnarly hot rodded superfuzz AND a stupid loud boost mode.

Another overlooked one: Hotcake. The further you crank the dirt level, the darker/muddier it gets. It makes a GREAT super clean boost pedal though, I highly recommend it for anything but high gain appications.

I doub't there's really any bad choices, the market is flooded with SHO/MicoAmp inspired boosters. I just personally don't think it's the sort of pedal you need to go bouteek with

[BetterOffShred]

I used the boost on my FZ-2 for years. It's really pretty good sounding for sure. As I stated earlier I'm really not a big fan of clean boost, I want some gnarly shit out of my boost

[moid]

If you want a cheap and remarkably good clean boost the Caline Orange Burst gets my vote - leave the gain off for clean, add the gain for overdrive and there's very strong bass / treble controls as well... it's a clone of an Xotic BB Preamp pedal if I recall correctly. Another one (more expensive) is the Mr Black Tiger Boost, very clean, 20dB of gain and doesn't invert your signal... but discontinued now.