RC Booster

[kevincurtis]

After a deal of research, the considered opinions of the good folk of this board and a trip to the very nice people at the Guitar Store in Soton, I am the now proud possessor of a nice new toy as an early christmas present.

Me + Crawler'd Strat + RC booster + JCM800 = Happy Me :)

[ailean]

Cool.

err, what is it? :)

[froglord]

It's a boost/EQ pedal of God-like awesomeness. To paraphrase Charlton Heston, you'd have to prise mine from my cold, dead hands.

[hunter]

How are you guys setting yours? I am having both Treble and Bass around 11 o'clock, gain 10 and vol 1. More like a slight mid boost this way.

[froglord]

Gain at 9 o'clock, Volume at max, Treble at 2 o'clock, Bass at noon.

A cross between a big clean boost and a mild treble boost. Into the Minimat with volume at full, this means I can clean up by backing the guitar volume off to about seven, and add overdrive to taste by going higher.

[viking]

Frog,if you had to choose between the RC and the BB (seems you have both..),which one would you take and why ?

[froglord]

They're different animals.

The RC is a boost pedal with very little gain available (just a touch of hair at the higher settings). It's quite transparent and great for pushing your amp a bit harder without changing its fundamental tone. It also sugar coats your treble in a very nice way.

The BB goes from clean boost (but with more colouration than the RC) up to medium gain with plenty of crunch and sustain, but still retaining lots of clarity, smoothness and note separation. It also has something of a mid-range bump, but not as much as a tubescreamer.

If forced to choose, I'd take the RC. It's subtle, sweet, and I never switch it off. It's an essential part of my clean and low-gain sound.

If you like your tones hotter, the BB is more suited, but be aware that if you like hard, gritty, high-gain tone, you should probably choose something else entirely.

[viking]

Thanks,Frog 8) That's really a nice explanation!You covered it all...

[kevincurtis]

Sod's law I haven't had a chance to play with it since saturday :(  but I was massively impressed that with it set flat, turning the wick up just gave me the sound that I already loved, but more saturated, which is exactly what i wanted, the added tonal flexibility may prove to be a godsend too :)

[Johnny Mac]

These sound cool! Are they like a clean boost with a bit more control?

[kevincurtis]

Hi Johnny

Exactly that - it will add 20db of transparent boost (I defy anyone to tell the difference between the bypassed signal and the boosted signal, apart from added volume or saturation depending on the amp setup). It also has a gain control that adds in a little overdrive, its a little sizzly for me personaly so far but useful extra flexibility. Then it has active bass and treble control so could be a treble/bass boost/cut as well.

http://www.prosoundcommunications.com/english/xotic/effects/rc_booster/

Im hoping to have more of a play with it today, so may get a chance to do a couple of clips...

K

[Johnny Mac]

Thanks for that Kevin.

It does sound good having some eq control. I have a HBE Dos Mos and I just love it. It's like having another 2 channels on your amp.

Have you used it on a clean amp to just break it up a little? I've found that just so nice!  8)

[kevincurtis]

I haven't had a chance to juggle it with gain right down on the marshall - have rolled it off half way and used the RC to roll it back on, but indeed I must have a play at getting a nice bluesy break up :)