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Lately I've been noticing that my Strat is having difficulty pushing my pedals/amp hard enough for my tastes.
Generally my humbucker guitar pushes them nicely but I generally like the sound and feel of my strat more.

Am I looking for a booster or new pickups?

I recommend a boost, simply because the way a boost pedal can interact with your amp and your other pedals is a pretty interesting thing, and I feel everyone should at least have one decent boost. SHO's are a classic, and I'm partial to my CC/DC, if you could find one of those. But, there's countless boosts out there. A pickup change can definitely change the sound and overall feel of your guitar, sometimes for the better, but not always. So, IMO, boost first, then maybe a hotter single coil to retain some of that "Strat-y-ness".

theavondon wrote: So, IMO, boost first, then maybe a hotter single coil to retain some of that "Strat-y-ness".

i'd also say both you can buy a nice boost for reasonable cash (Noisemaker OK Boost, see the Shark Tank section... or Mellowtone Hi-five, see B/S/T) but better pickups can't hurt either. Even if you bought them just for more clarity

It's a "stage" guitar strat knockoff.
Feels and sounds damn well nice in my opinion but i find myself not getting enough gain at times.
Probably just some cheap ceramics in here.

I was looking at boosts in the first place, any recommendations?
A sho clone would be nice if I knew where to get one from.

StupidDream88 on here has been making some sweeeeet looking SHO clones lately.

http://web.me.com/noisemakereffects/Noi ... Boost.html

SHO clones are nice too

and viewtopic.php?f=44&t=17527&hilit=mellowtone

SD pickup booster can be found for $50 or less and i think its pretty sweet.

I'd go with new pups...if you don't think your guitar is pushing hard enough why fuss with always having a boost on?
There are plenty of "hot" singles out there, something like the dimarzio injector paired with a few areas
(or an area sandwiched by injectors ala Paul Gilbert) might gel with someone who likes humbuckers.

That's sorta the conclusion I came to with my jazzy...I love the feel but the pickups are just down right anemic.
Having a booster on all the time changes the dynamics/sound and is a nuisance.
I'll probably be swapping in some novaks at some point.

Try raising the pups first. Free and gives a little more

Rangemaster!

Bellyheart wrote:Try raising the pups first. Free and gives a little more

I've been doing that and it still isn't that well.

The rangemaster was a fun idea, I'm mainly looking for clarity and tight bottom as I play a lot of faster mathy type things.

Inertia wrote:

Bellyheart wrote:I'm mainly looking for clarity and tight bottom as I play a lot of faster mathy type things.

Bad Bob Boost -- Analogman makes em now. There's one on TGP right now too for a good price, but the guy refuses to even talk to you if you're not a Murkan . If you're in the US go get it? If you hate it, sell it to me

Or a Creepy Fingers Sugar Boost -- based on a Rangemaster, but has a full range pot. Even better, get him to build you a Brothel with a pre boost gain -- you can get a real sparkly clean boost out of it too.

Or the Colorsound Power Boost. Those are great and have good tone options but a lot of crunch -- might be too gainy?

do you like the sound of the guitar/pickups other than that they aren't "pushing the amps" sufficiently? if so, get a boost; don't fuck up a sound you otherwise like because it isn't high-output enough when you can bump the output by using something as a level matcher. this isn't an uncommon problem; one of the main uses for my Hi Five is to raise the output level of my Strats and Tele to match my humbucker and P90-equipped guitars so i get equivalent volume and so the voltage-dependent effects e.g. envelope filter will behave properly. the inherent qualities of Strat PUs vs. humbucking pickups are such that Strat PUs aren't going to "drive an amp" as heavily unless they're so overly wound that IMO you lose much of the tonal nuance that makes it worth dealing with the idiosyncracies of Fender guitars in the first place. if you don't mind changing the sound of the guitar, and potentially making it sound WAY different, go ahead and change the PUs. but you might as well try a boost first; it's easier than installing a new set of PUs, and easier to flip if it doesn't work out. i love the Hi Five for a clean boost; it just plain sounds good.

Looks like a boost is the way I'm going.
I'm also getting an OD-3 for sure.
Tried that thing out with my setup at practice today and it turned out to be crazy.

What would people suggest for the reverse problem - I usually play a single-coil Jaguar but I also have a Blacktop Jag w/ humbuckers that I rarely pick up because the output is too much for my setup. I'm thinking new lower-output pickups but any other ideas?