Clean Boost Pedal

[fuzzyhead]

What is the best clean boost pedal that will work for bass. Whether its a boost pedal specifically for bass or one that can be modded to work good with a bass. Thanks!

[smallpoxchampion]

Though I haven't modded one for bass, i've been very happy with the pedal i built off of a byoc board for the Boss Fa-1 preamp. I'm sure a few cap value changes would do the trick. They sell the pcb on their website by itself and not as a part of a kit. Tons of clean boost on tap, nice EQ section, and a wonderful mid cut switch.

[GibsonGM]

I like the AMZ Mosfet Boost.  Not as complex as the BYOC, tho - just a volume knob )  I like my original (guitar) tone, so don't need any tweaking.  YMMV....

[Ben N]

DOD FX10 Bifet Preamp. http://www.americaspedal.net/fx10/fx10schem.jpg

[cab42]

What about the Hogs foot. Isn't that for bass?

[Pojo]

What is your goal for this boost? Are you looking to use it to hit a preamp harder and get distortion? Boost for solos? Or just something to thicken/enhance your tone?

I really like the jfet mu-amps (search AMZ mini booster) when it comes to 'fatness'. Never tried it with a bass though, but oversizing the in/out caps should ensure you're passing the full frequency range.

If you're looking to slam a preamp into distortion, I would go with something that actually attenuates low end to an extent....unless you like the sound of flatulence coming out of your rig.

For solos? Maybe a mosfet boost since they're great at taking what you got and making it louder in a nice and clear way. But, now that I think about it more, maybe a mid-boost would be best there. After all, you don't wanna pummel your audience in the face with extra low end when you begin a solo...just something to help you gracefully cut through the mix a little better.

[moosapotamus]

The SHO sounds great on bass. Retains all the low end and doesn't even need to be modified.

~ Charlie

[digi2t]

Apparently, some bass players claim that the Schumann Lion works really well on bass.

[Canucker]

The SHO sounds great on bass. Retains all the low end and doesn't even need to be modified.

~ Charlie

I love the SHO (A Hell of  LOT) but its not even a tiny bit clean.

The LPB is as clean as I've tried and since the Hog's Foot is the bass version I'd say give it a try or check out some demos.

[merlinb]

What is the best clean boost pedal that will work for bass. Whether its a boost pedal specifically for bass or one that can be modded to work good with a bass. Thanks!

How clean is clean? Do you mean genuinely clean, as in hifi, or "clean" as in adding some colour of a hint of fatness etc.?

[chptunes]

The SHO sounds great on bass. Retains all the low end and doesn't even need to be modified.

~ Charlie

I love the SHO (A Hell of  LOT) but its not even a tiny bit clean.

..this is interesting.  I've breadboarded the SHO to goof around with guitar.. it sounded clean and bright until turning the "Crackle" up and overdriving my amplifier.  Bet it would be a neat Bass effect...

-Corey

[fuzzyhead]

Clean boost as in the just for boosting the sound I'm already producing for solos and other stuff like that, without turning the volume up on the guitar/amp. But nothing that will change this tone, like distortion/overdrive.

[merlinb]

But nothing that will change this tone, like distortion/overdrive.

Heh, everyone says that, then they go for some single FET booster that is far from hifi! 

Anyway, here is my own offering- a high-headroom purely clean booster: http://valvewizard.co.uk/glassblower.html

[allesz]

Hallo fuzzyhead.

The idea about Electro harmonix Hogs foot it seems nice: try first with simpler circuits, then go for more complicated thing if they don't work... the same for the shuper hard on...

Btw I submit my little advice: is a part of a twin effect I made for my bass player (the second one is an overdrive, so you don't need it); it is also a one transistor thing (almost anything will work) but I modded it with a resonant network in the idiot wah style. The nice thing is that the wah effect is really mild but it works good as a tone control in order to make the bass get out a little bit better.
With a passive precision it does non distort, but if you get some dirty problems you can increase the value of the 220K input resistor (470K ?) to tame them.
<a href="http://www.image-share.com/igif-2463-130.html" border="0" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.image-share.com/upload/2463/130m.gif" alt="image gif 2463-130"></a>

[allesz]

[Mark Hammer]

Bass amplifiers typically have much higher wattage than guitar amplifiers.  Why is that?  It's certainly not because we want to hear the bass above absolutely everything.  No, it's because bass guitars output VERY hot signals with extremely wide dynamics.  Moreover, we need the bass notes to be clear, so that the root, or any other strategically-important notes, are easily audible, to give the music a sense of "center".  The much higher wattage provides sufficient headroom for the bass signal, so that as hard as you can pop that sucker, the notes will be clear.  In many instances, bass amps will also include varying degrees of limiting, so as not to exceed the headroom limitations of the amp.

If you want a clean boost for your bass, your primary consideration should be headroom.  Even the most recommended "clean boost" for a guitar may end up clipping in an unpleasant way when a bass is plugged in, unless that bass has a low output and the gain is turned way down.

So, HOW do we keep as much headroom as possible?  Higher supply voltage.  You can't ask a circuit running off 9V with a maximum +/-3.5V swing to amplify a bass signal cleanly more than 2-3x if you're feeding it 1.5v peaks.  BUT, if you use either higher battery voltage (e.g., a pair of 9v in series, for 18vdc), a higher external supply (and some power bricks will deliver as much as 18vdc), or a charge pump to increase the 9v to something higher, you'll be able to get a clean boost from just about anything.

Just pay attention to any biasing requirements (remember that the component values for biasing are derived from the supply voltage), and make sure that all caps involved are suitably rated (i.e., don't be running 25v caps if you're planning on tripling the supply voltage).

[ashcat_lt]

For all of the reasons that Mark just laid out, I've been thinking for this entire thread that the best truly clean booster for this application would be a decent compressor with some gain.

[fuzzyhead]

FET PreAmp --- byoc?? Would this work on a bass

http://buildyourownclone.com/effects-pedals/boosts-preamps/fetpreamp.html

[Mark Hammer]

It will "work" just as well as anything else, and provides a bit of tone shaping (although I can't tell if the tone-control corner frequencies are optimized for bass or guitar, or more "universal").  The challenge of clean headroom still remains, though.  IC1 is set for more gain than the circuit can deliver from a bass cleanly, such that the usable portion of the gain control might extend from the 7:00 to the 8:00 or 9:00 position (depending on pot taper).

I would seriously recommend using just about any single-FET gain stage, with a charge-pump to double the supply voltage.

[Gus]

I built the circuit in reply 16 but with a 50K gain control,more of a low gain EQed boost
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=103688.0

parts to the left of input are a bass and cable sim.  The sim parts are not a part of the boost

Now as others posted simple one transistor or fet stages are not clean but they can have a nice sound when boosting a passive guitar or bass

Question why do you need to boost a passive or active bass?  often the signal is a good level and solid state amps can have a lot of preamp gain
How "hard" do you want to drive the preamp input?

Often with guitar or bass you want to EQ the signal if boosting it.