built mini booster...is that all there is?

[oczad]

No offence to the mini booster. It does it's job of boosting the signal. But before i waste too much time and money i need to know something. Is there any magic in any clean boost? I've used numerous devices like screamers and EQ's to boost the front of a distorted amp for years. I always figured a clean boost is  nothing magic since all you're doung is boosting the signal. (yes, i realize some will alter the freq curve some. EX: tubescreamer=mids)But i keep reading these reviews of expensive pedals that are just clean boost and people raving at how incredible it made thier amp sound. In theory it doesn't seem likely, but what i want to know is this....If there ARE clean boosts that truly enhance the tone considerably instead of just driving the amp into more distortion, are there any DUI  ones  considered as good as some of these boutique boxes i keep hearing raves about that conjure a lot of similar raves and sounds much better than the AMZ MB? If so, what? And if ther IS no magic, i'd like to know that to so i can end my quest and just continue using a screamer or EQ.

[Peter Snowberg]

One advantage of many boosts is that the input impedance is higher than your average pedal or amp which makes for a clearer high end.

At least one of those super boutique boosts is a part-for-part clone of the AMZ MB with a tone control added to the end.  :shock:

Much of the performance of a setup has to do with how well the impedances are matched. You can think of a boost as a way to make your guitar output electrically a bit more like the output of a pedal.

Boosters are so simple that I would recommend building a few, even if they are never placed in boxes. You'll never know until you play with them. Try an AMZ MB and Gus' NPN booster from the beginner project forum and make some comparisons by ear..... then cascade them.

Welcome to the forum too!

[mlabbee]

I just built the AMZ Mosfet Boost and was stunned at the effect it had on the sound of my guitar.  It doesn't sound good in front of everything (it completely throws the flatline compressor out of whack and sounds really harsh in front of my treble booster), but it made my TS clone sound alive for the first time.  

They're so easy/cheap to build, it's definitely worth building one just to see if you like it.  I'm still experimenting with mine but will definitely be boxing it up.  I'm also thinking about building a TS clone with the mosfet boost as the input buffer.

[RDV]

One thing about boosters in general is that the sound of the booster is only as good as what you're boosting.

Crappy guitar + booster + crappy amp = Louder crappy guitar & amp

RDV

[petemoore]

One thing about boosters in general is that the sound of the booster is only as good as what you're boosting.

Crappy guitar + booster + crappy amp = Louder crappy guitar & amp

RDV

Many SS amps and some guitars have boosters built in them. Preboosting/Postboosting these boosters may not achieve any desired result/. Also the Fuzz [built into most SS amps] is tuned to the amp already, Fuzzing the clean side may work well / may not...
 Try that same booster into a tube input [or tube amp] and a different result will probably be seen.

[Jason Stout]

One thing about boosters in general is that the sound of the booster is only as good as what you're boosting.

Crappy guitar + booster + crappy amp = Louder crappy guitar & amp

RDV

Or in my special case, Crappy guitar + booster + crappy amp + crappy player = Louder crappy guitar, amp and playing.

[Torchy]

crp

[oczad]

Welcome to the forum too!

Thanks Peter.

After reading some of the replies I guess i should have said "all things being equal" and also mentioned that my rig is all tube, sounds very good, and any boost i use works just fine to simply add more drive.

That said, as mentioned before i just wanna know if there are any DIY circuits that the general consensus  says enhances your tone instead of just boosting the signal. Harmonic complexity would be my main goal, as thats where the magic is. If not theres really no reason to build another since i already have a TS, and EQ, and the mini booster i just built. I gotta say tho, the MB doesn't work as well as the  2 pedals i use now which kinda suprised me since it seems to be the standard for DIY boosts schematics. I had most of the parts so it only cost me about 5 bucks. But thats 5 bucks thrown away just as if i took the bill out of my wallet and tossed it. Not a big deal, but if i gotta build 5 or 10 of these things only to find the TS or EQ work as well, that too much cash to just throw away, never mind the time and trouble to build them. (not to mention some will cost me more than $5)

So i was just wondering if there WAS a general consensus as to a circuit that would do what i want, as otherwise i'll just continue to use the TS.

[Dragonfly]

i'm gonna pat myself on the back a little bit and recommend that you build this booster that i designed...it has a low parts count (ez build), sounds amazing, will do a LOUD clean boost that you can also mix some "dirt" into....everyone who's tried it has raved about the tone.  (so far ive used it with a Marshall JMP, a '56 tweed Harvard, a Egnater TOL50, a Dr. Z route 66, a Fender Deville, and even a Marshall Valvestate with GREAT results (teles, pauls, a strat, and a prs cst24 were the test guitars.)....im gonna be marketing them, but ive made the schematic available to the great people on this forum....

Andy
Dragonfly FX

[/quote]

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

[ i just wanna know if there are any DIY circuits that the general consensus  says enhances your tone instead of just boosting the signal.

I guess the difficulty is, that there is no agreement whatever about which tone sounds 'enhanced'. Especially when, the effect is only a (small?) part of the chain. But if you are trying to emulate a particular sound on a particular song, then I guess plenty of peopel here will be glad to make suggestions :wink:

[oczad]

i'm gonna pat myself on the back a little bit and recommend that you build this booster that i designed...it has a low parts count (ez build), sounds amazing, will do a LOUD clean boost that you can also mix some "dirt" into....everyone who's tried it has raved about the tone.  (so far ive used it with a Marshall JMP, a '56 tweed Harvard, a Egnater TOL50, a Dr. Z route 66, a Fender Deville, and even a Marshall Valvestate with GREAT results (teles, pauls, a strat, and a prs cst24 were the test guitars.)....im gonna be marketing them, but ive made the schematic available to the great people on this forum....

Andy
Dragonfly FX

[/quote]

Ok, i'll bite. I'll build it tomorrow if i get the chance. Sounds like a winner, and i like the fact you included the note mentioning the cap that can be changed for more mids, which is great because i'm really picky about how much mids it has. How about setting the drain to 4.5v....do i measure beween drain and ground to get this reading?

Thanks for this......sounds like it may just be the ticket !

[RDV]

The mini boo can also be modded for more mids(replace 2.2uF with .1uF), and many other things.
Here's a great article from GEOFEX on Mu-Amps.
http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/modmuamp/modmuamp.htm

RDV

[oczad]

Hmmm.....i just realize something....reading your post again i'm inclined to think you might have thought that when i said clean boost i meant a volume boost to use with a clean amp. I'm actually lloking for a boost that is clean into a distorted amp. It's a master volume with the pre set around 12:00-1:00, and i simply want the boost to drive it into sustain city. Did you realize thats what i meant or did you think i meant boosting the volume of a clean set amp? If you meant the latter, would it work equally well for my purpose or would it sound like any other average signal booster?

[Dragonfly]

Hmmm.....i just realize something....reading your post again i'm inclined to think you might have thought that when i said clean boost i meant a volume boost to use with a clean amp. I'm actually lloking for a boost that is clean into a distorted amp. It's a master volume with the pre set around 12:00-1:00, and i simply want the boost to drive it into sustain city. Did you realize thats what i meant or did you think i meant boosting the volume of a clean set amp? If you meant the latter, would it work equally well for my purpose or would it sound like any other average signal booster?

if youre asking me, then yep, i realized it....just set the gain knob to zero and the volume knob wherever you like

i ran it through a jmp100 today that was set up like you described....les paul--->sparkleboost---->jmp .....tone city....

enjoy !!!

[Dragonfly]

oh...btw...the "mids" thing is still a "theory"...it works in many circuits, but may not in this one. iirc, you can possibly "tailor" the sound by sending a small cap to grund at the end of the circuit, but this too is simply an idea...this is a brand new circuit that sounds amazing and shows a lot of promise as a building blosck for other circuits....

also...when you build it, let me know what you think

andy
dragonfly fx

[oczad]

I'll let ya know. by the way, i can use an mpf102 can't i ? I noticed the mini boost mentions the mpf102 along with the one yours uses, so i assume they're the same, no?

[Dragonfly]

I'll let ya know. by the way, i can use an mpf102 can't i ? I noticed the mini boost mentions the mpf102 along with the one yours uses, so i assume they're the same, no?

i havent tried it...youll need to watch the pinout...also, you'll probably get less boost with the mpf102....

give it a shot and let me know !

andy

[oczad]

I'll let ya know. by the way, i can use an mpf102 can't i ? I noticed the mini boost mentions the mpf102 along with the one yours uses, so i assume they're the same, no?

i havent tried it...youll need to watch the pinout...also, you'll probably get less boost with the mpf102....

give it a shot and let me know !

andy

iwill....i already have the 2 mpf102's i got for the mini boosted which i'll be taking parts from for this.If it doesn't have enough oomph i'll try another. But i really don't need much boost. Just enough so that with my pre gain at noon it'll boost it so that it'slike i turned it to 3:00. 2 or 3 numbers on the ol' pre gain knob is all i need.

[Dragonfly]

I'll let ya know. by the way, i can use an mpf102 can't i ? I noticed the mini boost mentions the mpf102 along with the one yours uses, so i assume they're the same, no?

i havent tried it...youll need to watch the pinout...also, you'll probably get less boost with the mpf102....

give it a shot and let me know !

andy

iwill....i already have the 2 mpf102's i got for the mini boosted which i'll be taking parts from for this.If it doesn't have enough oomph i'll try another. But i really don't need much boost. Just enough so that with my pre gain at noon it'll boost it so that it'slike i turned it to 3:00. 2 or 3 numbers on the ol' pre gain knob is all i need.

ok...i did a bit of testing for you... a mpf102 works fine, and as suspected, didnt give nearly as much boost...it still boosted the signal a "decent" amount, but not even close to the amount that the NTE458's do (and likely the J201's)....

also...as i mentioned, the place to tweak the tone is at the end of the circuit...if theres too much hi end, try running a cap to ground from the output...the bigger the cap, the more hi end loss....  you can get a nice midrange/low end boost by using something close to a .047 cap...

hope this helps....

[ryanscissorhands]

Don't forget the use of a booster for a 3-6 dB boost for a solo/lead take-over. In places where you want to keep you r sound, but just need to stand out more, boosters do what a TS can't. Especially whan you are running a clean sound, and want a slightly louder, SLIGHTLY more driven sound.