Great video, I usually run two boosts. One at the beggining to push my overdrive pedals (from clean to "edge of breakup") and at the end for a bit more volume and mid boost during solos.
I like boost at the end. It hits the front end of your amp a lot harder, making your signal way louder and you get really nice break-up. Great for leads
I was shocked at how much better that example sounded. I was thinking the boost might color the delay/ modulation etc. too much at the end. I guess it will really depend on the boost being used.
dude_crush! I have to agree with you completely everything I've read about clean boost says they belong at the end of the signal chain and that it causes overdrive's to clip in falter when placed ahead of the chain I don't know where this guy comes off
Great job, grat video. I have amp with fx loop. I use clean boost in the very end of signal chain in fx loop just for overall volume boost. In these combination you get only volume boost of all your rig without additional overdrive from Amp preamp or more distorted modulation fx. Remember, the best sound is what you like most or is most usefull :)
On my board it's: boost - overdrive - boost. The first boost is Spark Mini, (always on). Then come the overdrive and the second boost, the big brother Spark, for that extra volume kick (for one can never trust the soundman ...)
This is excellent. You covered an issue I’ve been wondering about for a while and I’ve never understood why it is “unconventional“ to put a boost (which I interpret as a volume boost, not a gain boost, although I realize I may be in a minority) at the end of the signal chain. Thank you for illustrating the difference and I do need to listen again to catch the tonal differences between the latter two options. Great presentation!
Boost can do both of these things. I have also seen boost before drive to get more gain, and boost after, for the more common purpose. I can't say it was my favourite tone ever, but it was certainly rich.
Thanks for your reply. I think I follow you. I’ve finally grew up enough to play with combinations for me. I’m with you. Position depends on many factors ? Tx again!
Thanks for the video! For me, Wah > Light Gain OD (gain boost) > Med-High Gain OD > Noise Gate > Phaser > Delay > Clean Boost (overall volume boost). I feel like running too many Boost/OD pedals before modulation/time-based effects would clip them
I’ve just returned from a rehearsal where I finally gave in and took off a couple of favourite pedals and replaced them both with a boost ( or very nearly,i.e. an od with barely any gain set) , our set is all original rock/country and so the gain stage for my lead guitar is several shades of clean / edge of breakup. For the Pedal nerds out there my signal chain is ( numbers are loops in a gig rig qm6) 1; fuzz face ( rarely used , but put it first & roll the guitar volume off its sparkling clean boost , roll up the volume & hello instant rock lead) 2; Boss DD7 just a slap and mild compression from the EHX soul preacher,I call this country mode 3; Keeley D&M Drive ( dual drive with tube screamer like boost into higher gain OD side)4; EHX soul food ( running low ish gain - like a gritty boost) 5; TC Spark boost , pure clean level up only , no gain boosting here at all , and I run my amps pretty clean 6; tuner (& humdinger to split for the dry amp, a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue)then I have just a Keeley Caverns (delay&reverb)and Harmonious Monk (trem/harmonic trem) to the wet amp( v140 super duchess by Victory uk) so as you can see I use boost throughout my gain stage, and it looks like overkill, but the flexibility it gives me to shape my tone and push it forward or back in the mix myself, with my foot, is really making a difference, I’m finding I have to fight the guitar less ( unless I feel like it) and the combinations are really working for me, love the show by the way👍🎸🇬🇧
I use one boost before distortions, choosing between a slightly clean boost and a slightly clean trebble boost, and an EQ pedal as a boost for solos, raising mid and upper mid frequencies, right after my modulation
@@GoodwoodAudio I think that is the idea behind the Foxrox 2Boost. There is a tunable one change function that you configure to apply to one boost or both boosts if you want to employ an EQ effect.
I've done all 3 and surprisingly, the boost at the end was shockingly awesome. It kind of made everything from my dirt to my modulation sound incredible
Well done video. Very clear. As for me I run a boost at both the beginning of the chain and at the end. This works well because the front end boost is one with bass, treble, gain, and level controls. This mainly functions as a boost for the thinner sounding lower output of single coil pickups like on a Strat or P90s. The boost at the end is purely for boosting the overall level of the signal. A lead or solo boost if you will. The end boost is a one knob clean boost. The last pedal in the chain is an always on reverb. Since it's an always on pedal I can adjust it to play nice with the solo boost just in front of it and since it's an always on it functions as a buffer if you're running long cables from your pedal board to your amp. I have a Moorer Baby Bomb mounted on my board so I don't worry about needing a buffer since cables of 17.8 feet will be clear without high-end loss from capacitance. (Yes. They have it figured down to the .8 of an inch...) Good strummin' ya'll.
So glad I found this video. I'm building my first board. Many effects. I'm using my tuner up front for the input buffer and was thinking about the TC boost at the very end for the output buffer. Two birds with one stone. I think your option 3 sounds best. So this will perfectly suit my needs. Thanks so much.
I have mine at the effects loop of the amp which is similar to the 3rd position suggested in the video. Similarity depends on the amp having reverb and if the loop goes before or after it
Possible game changer! I've been using boost after overdrive but before FX, pretty conventionally, but I thought the attack and tone was better with boost at the end of the signal chain. I guess because the FX weren't being pushed as much. I must give that a go, bearing in mind I'm using significantly more drive as my default setting (Boss OD-2, Turbo off) and a dialled down Rat 2 for boost, so my results may be different. However, other overdrives/boosts are available from my collection (of course). I feel a lengthy bout of experimentation looming!
I used to have my clean boost after my overdrive before modulation effects. Now I have it before my overdrive and I’m finally getting that saturated tube bloom tone that I’ve always wanted with that holy grail overdrive character. I had even used it in my effects loop to act as a preamp master volume but now I have a volume knob pedal there instead.
@@GoodwoodAudio Thanks! I had also tried using a comp into my overdrive as a pseudo boost. It worked but the tone from a clean boost is the grail tone. I use the reissue DOD 410 into 250 pedals.
Horses for courses. The saturated sound you describe is exactly what I try to avoid, as I feel the loss of dynamics and headroom kills my technique. Funny old thing, this guitar twanging malarkey!
@@danceswithbadgers I know what you mean but not oversaturated to where it blows out or anything flubby. I just use it to modify the overdrive pedal tone just a bit to go from rhythm tone to bit of lead tone boost. Think of the tone in Journey's song solo in Lights for example. My words can't describe what I meant it sounds like. It just adds a bit of body.
@@SteveMavronis I've been using solid state overdrive for decades because of the headroom thing - I had a Burnan tube preamp as a last-ditch attempt at a tube front end , having tried and rejected several high-gain amps, including a Burman 140 watt combo (4 x GEC KT88'S) and Marshall Master Volume. I'm thinking about some of the tube preamp pedals available now in place of my SS stuff into my JTM45, which is my pedal platform of 32 years standing. These new pedals seem to have better dynamics than the 70's and 80's amp front ends I was disappointed with.
I use boost first in the chain since I don't really use it to have more volume on sections of songs, I use it to have a hotter signal into overdrives since I use passive pickups
In my GT-1000 I have set up a solo boost on my clean, crunch and lead patches. I faced a problem with volume patch levels so I run the GT into my DAW and added a LUFS meter to try to match all my patches and it worked great for the EQ boost at the end of the chain as a solo switch. I don't get any unpleasant volume jumps when changing patches and the boost at the end allows for this to be done properly on the overall effects. Great video, thanks :-)
I have always liked boost at the end for just the reason you showed. All I want it to do is just give a little volume boost when needed mine also has a buffer I can turn on or off as well. Many times you can get into a mess when you are stacking a number of gain pedals.
ya, that's my preference as well. Some guys love boost first and sound way better than I ever will though... so it really is finding the one that best suits your style.
I have both a boost at the very end (EP Boost), plus another boost after drives (Klone). EP Boost is on for single coils, off for higher output pick-ups (but not always). My amps are run pretty clean. I typically use Fenderish amps, Milkman Creamer, Carr Skylark, Benson Monarch. With a fuzz and drive or two along with the Klone I get many many colors!
i usually place boost after the gain , after i watched your video and listen to compare which is better ,i guess ill now place my boost after modulation sounds has more story on it, more flavor especially doing any riffs or solos and not just a volume of my dry dirt signal . Thank you so much!
Nah, no boost cold sweats, but after Mason's periodic buffering flea in the ear, I always experience significantly elevated anxiety levels. Thanks muchly Grant.
I believe you going to like this. I use a digital amp Blackstar ID 260 and I have a paddle board. In order cry baby peda,l fender level set buffer, boss 20 EQ, angry troll, SP compressor, crunchy frog with a boost, OCD pedal, super duper boost pedal, AC Plus with a boost, Dracarys distortion pedal and my tuner and a cheap gate. The fender level set buffer and the boss EQ is my signal boost they stay on always in the rest of my board is one big boost pedal. One signal equals 10 tones from clean and 10 tones from distortion and different combinations more tone. This pedal board is a blast and I use it in my little fender LT. Love boost pedals.
Thanks for the comparison. It really makes a difference hearing them back to back and just sitting back listening. I've been using it after my drive and thinking i needed to add a distortion pedal but I'm going to try putting it before my drive to see how much difference it makes, if any. Great video!
Early on as a guitarist, I used a Fulltone Fatboost at the end of chain to drive the signal and always got compliments on my tone - might have to try this again!
I use two boost. First is before my distortion (I'm using a diezel herbert drive with 4x12 marshall amp/cab sims). Then a 20dB transparent booster with only a level knob at the end of my chain (boost i designed using an OPA 2134 soundplus opamp). But since I'm using an amp/cab sim, i bypass the preamp and go straight to the return input of the fx loop. Sounds great to me and it easily works with a PA or an amp.
I have a 5e3 delux and I use the boost pedal as a humble over drive for the amp. I also have an over drive pedal which I use as a high gain type sound. in all I use three pedals, 1st reverb into over drive into boost into amp.
With active pickups, I don't have much use for a booster on the front but after the drive and before fuzz it actually boosts fuzz nicely, but I don't have anything to dampen the volume. At the end it dampens any crackle without changing tone or levels up the chain. I'm still not set on what is best, but it is most useful in clean sets without distortion.
I have my boost before Delay and EQ: Boost Delay EQ All go into the effects loop of my Marshall JCM 900 I then use: Flanger Ibanez Tube Screamer Noise gate These go into the input of my amp. I get a considerable BOOST from the booster pedal this way and can set the level I need for the boost for leads.
In fact, when we put a booster just before an amp (at the end of a chain) we don’t only increase volume. Parallel with it we boost input of an amp. At the output we get a little bit distorted signal. With a tube amp it work and sound a quite ok. But if you use, for an instance like me, cabsime-booster-and after signal go to multimedia speakers or mixer, at the output we get a crackle🤷♂️.
When your ep3 booster goes into a really clean amp it doesn't do much but add some treble. in this situation that treble boost basically works like a 10 khz eq being turned up on a console/DAW. This will of course affect the sound of your fx. in mixing consoles it is akin to adding treble to the channel before the send OR after the fx on the bus.
The way I think of it is that boost first is just like using hotter pickups. You're increasing the uncolored voltage that comes straight from the guitar. I have guitars that differ in their output voltage by almost 10x (Les Paul at 400mV, Strat at 50mV). For this reason I would say if you're using your boost to equilibrate two guitar levels when switching, maybe put it first. But if you are just using it to make the whole signal louder, last is more effective.
I just did this using my LR baggs pickup with the first effect being the cab simulator to modulated reverb, and my TC Helicon boost as last. This was after a million combinations. It soun!ds really good like this.
i have to dmit that position 3 was a excellent surprise. Initially i was pro position 2 that is AFTER GAIN AND B4 MODULATION. i tried putting the boost at the end and if ia hav eto describe it i would say that BOOST AT THE END IS LIKE U WATCH A CONCERT FROMA HUGE HOME CINEMA SYSTEM but with 15 inch tv monitor and ALL OF A SUDDEN ENGAGING THE BOOST GIVES YOU A 100 INCH SUPER TV SET!! yes its mind blowing!! thanks for this vid as it was just what i needed
I have run clean boost for lead at the end. Just cause it was convenient position wise with other pedals. Now I know why I it works so great for me too.
I have tried all 3 and still prefer boost early/first. Same thing with delay -> reverb, I know some studio signals prefer reverb -> delay, but it has never sounded as good to me.
Very Cool, Thankyou. Fairly new to Boost Effect Pedals (but now have 3, for different boards lol). I have been using at start of chain, after Tuner and Compressor and Before Drives, just because I thought that is where they go. Thanks to your excellent example samples, I Will now experiment with different Boost placement. All the Best. Cheers
Many thanks, great lesson. Boost before time based effects made those too audible, not my favorite. I think best sound was achieved when boost was as first pedal.
I have a drawer full of super hard on clones and love experimenting with them in all different parts of the signal chain. You can really make a light overdrive turn into a REEEALLL BADBOY with those circuits !
Personally use it at the first signal. After watching this, I'm going to put it at the end of the chain for sure . Thank you for making my life easy with difficult choices. 🙏🏽🙂
I see more and more people playing stereo rigs now that LINE playing is becoming the standard. If they want tô place boost as last pedal, they would need 2 of them... If possível, Wired tô the same footswitch 😅. Great vídeo!
I think historically, when people first started using things like EP tape echo units and Grampian reverb units etc. for boosting, they were right before the amp. So not that unusual to use the boost at the end.
I’ve been putting my boost (mini Spark) at the end for about a year or two. My thought process was that I wanted an overall boost to my signal. I had it in before my drive pedals but didn’t like the sound. It’s nice to know others do this. Love these videos.
Yup me too- I love the Spark after the other gain stage pedals, I think the Spark has some compression and eq shaping built in which suits this... perhaps you could try a favourite overdrive set with low gain or no gain at all, in the first slot, a Tube Screamer (or similar)set like this really works well for shaping mid gain tones, or for higher gain sounds classic treble boosters are awesome 👍🇬🇧🎸
I use an EPboost after buffer and compressor at the start of chain, and then one katana boost after drives before fx pedals.Then I dont need to overcompensate any of them and tone is overall better.
Yeah I find it effects my Boss CE-2W chorus and Collider too much. It makes the effects very trebly as they have EQ as well. If running straight into amp, I feel running a boost last is great for tone. I don’t need to max my fx headroom out and drive them. Some just really hate that and better to run effects in send or if front…boost after. It makes since to run before gain to thicken up, if you use an always on pedal like a Timmy or Morning Glory Vs your amps tone. I use those types of pedals for medium gains off and on. Using you amps base tone a transparent or EP last is perfect. Also it’s analog always on after a digital…some people hate digital as the last pedal 🤷🏻♂️. Radiohead guitarist swears by an EChoplex boost post Strymon always for that reason. And then another EP upfront for boosting the overall sound as needed. See that pedal show for that new episode. It’s pretty much says it all! Just leave it on all the time and gainstage. Or turn it off to back down or boost a solo. Gives you the option to run your amp naturally at low breakup with a clear signal to the amp. I love that sound more than a BluesBreaker. But depends widely on your amp. Fender and Vox style amps this is great!
I use the boss GE7 as a leadboost with a fourth method. At the end of the chain on my fx loop. Soundwise it works perfectly. It reacts very sensitive to every nuance. When I put it right after my gain stages the difference is just slightly or minimal. Not enough increase of volume imho. So for me the boost n the fx loop works best. BUT: for some reason my delay trails become too dirty then, and I haven’t figured out a way to get around this. What would be your suggestion ?
Boost at the end. No question. You already have your gain pedals set, if you're using more than one. If you're running clean, then yeah, guitar into boost.
I'm boring. I have a boost/buffer at the beginning. I have a Boss delay at the end. I guess I centered on buffers for a while cause a had a muddy sound. My tone got a lot better. The boost at the end kind of reminds me of the difference between a digital and an analog delay. I'm no engineer, but I thought maybe the bucket brigade chip has a gain stage kinda.
Oh man. This is so broad. The main principle is that you want to drive those valves. So you place your booster just in front of the valves. It also really depends on whether those valves are on the pre-amp or power amp stage, or both. The Orange Micro Terror for example, has valves on the pre-amp stage and solid state on the power amp. Some amps have loop out-in. In which case you may want to place your pedalboard in that loop and just drive the power amp stage. In the end it is really what floats your boat.
Depends on your FX loop! Some effects loops bump you up to line level (hotter signal) and can cause clipping as well. Not something I run into often, but worth being aware of so you can adjust settings in case you run into this sort of thing.
I run a SHO at the end of my signal chain. It pummels my amp and I get power tube distortion. Back off on my guitar volume and my signal gets really clean and percussive.
great question... totally up to the player. either early in the chain (after buffer sensitive pedals but before overdrives) or late in the chain (after overdrives / distortion but before modulation / wet effects)... both with give you slightly different results. I love it early, but plenty of players love it late. There's not a 'correct' way - just whatever sounds better to you.
I have a question, if I put my boost pedal at the beginning followed by distortion-overdrive-reverb-delay, the distortion will rise a bit but if I turn distortion off, my modulation pedals will keep the volume high right? I want this because sometimes clean signal is weak, and with the boost rise a bit am I ok?
I assumed the go to was after Overdrive, but I really liked what I thought was the stupidest idea - At the end of whole chain. Funny though, I have an Xotic EP Boost too. Toggles set to "Vntage" and play it w/ the boost knob competely rolled off, and get a fatter, moe evenly dispursed TONE. Like more PRESENCE rather than BOOST. If I set mine at NOON it would be too loud for the human ear. Any idea what's going on w/ that?
Sorry, for some reason I wasn't notified of comments anymore. Great question... that sounds a bit out of hand. First thing I'd try is just guitar - boost - amp and see if it behaves the same way.
@@GoodwoodAudio Okay! Tried that and it not oly retained it's clarity, but putting it back in the chain has has now kept that quality. You fixed it! How'd you do that??? :)
I’d imagine the quality of the buffer in the boost makes a difference, along with the input and output impedance levels of the buffer. Do you recommend any buffered boost pedals? I hear the vertex boost is awesome but maybe a cheaper option the mxr boost/line driver? Curious to hear what you recommend.
I really like the vertex boost. A cheaper option that is not sexy by any means but has a very powerful EQ is the RC booster. Big fan of that one as well. I haven't spent much time with the MXR boost, but honestly, if you like the sound of it... do it. Wish I could give more of an opinion on the MXR in this case!
I'm wondering what would happen if a boost was placed at the start of the chain to give overall boost at the beginning and another at the end of the chain and set them to give to find a sweet spot.
You'd probably find that the boost at the beginning would need to be set quite low so as not to destroy the front end of your OD section (causing a ton of extra clipping)... You could also try more of an always on OD / tone shaper closer to the front which is less about volume and more about setting a sound that your ODs can build off of. I've done this on my personal board and really enjoyed it.
if it's working for you - it's perfect! I'd just have a think through the genre / style you normally play and see if there are any gaps in your effect choice. Compression, reverb, octave etc. None of these are needed, just worth considering. If you don't feel you need them, stick with what you have - sounds like it's working well for you!
@@nissanlev Ya so you aren't as worried about reverb and compression as such. If it's been working for you up until now and you feel like your bases are covered when you play... I wouldn't look for things to change. I'd wait until you feel like there is a gap in the sounds you can produce (that day may never come).
up to you! I'd experiment, but also depends if you're running compression pre or post ODs and how hard you're running it. If you're running a lot of compression and a boost BEFORE... the boost might not do much as far as level.
