Which booster do you like?

[PB Wilson]

I'm thinking about building a booster pedal and don't have lots of experience with the usual DIY ones. I've built the NPN Boost a long time ago but was wondering what else has made a big splash and lasted on your boards. I'm not realy looking for a clean boost. A little grit is fine by me. So, out of the commonly-built ones, which do you like the most and why? Thanks.

[Xavier]

I have an AMZ mosfet boost now. It's a *pure* clean boost, it raises your signal up to 4x. it's kind of clinical clean (adds some sparkle and "crystal" to your sound). It is also a great buffer, you could put it at the end of your signal chain to recover the high frequencies. Very useful. I like it better with humbuckers.

The LPB2 is also a great clean booster, but it's more organic sounding (doesn't add any distortion but cuts *oh so slightly* highs and adds some lows. It works well for fattening thin strats.

The AMZ Mini Booster. Many people seem to like it. When I built it I was warned about it adding some grit. Well, actually sounds like a pretty wild distortion pedal to me, not a booster, but that's just my opinion

MXR microamp. Falls in the middle of the AMZ mosfet boost and the LPB2 soundwise, but I don't like it. It seems to add some strange overtones when using it with distortion, can't tell what it is.

You can even build 2 into the same enclosure. They have just a few components and can be build in 30 minutes (both of them !!)

[petemoore]

 Low-Med gain boost attained from ~3 Jfets
  Super user for me, I can get nice amp tone, use a little volume and gain boost to 'enhance' attack/sustain and tone a bit, also is quite useful for 'enhancing' with same settings, a Fuzz or OD, for two 'stage attainable', gain/volume/Fuzz type settings. That and a volume control does wonders, of course depending, I'm talking my case scenario here, which probably differs from yours to the point of misleading or moot texts.
  Otherwise the 'finicky', sometimes [when used with 'other effects] noisy Rangemaster does wonders by itself to the tube amp I use, kicks a FF into TB Territory [and has similar 'enhancement effect on a BMP or]...but I find it's one or the other [I could string effects down the hall if space etc. noise, wiring didn't exist] very interesting character, too interesting unless one was doing mostly Yardbirds type tones...which is cool but doesn't really fit the context of what most cats play/like to hear..which is...another subject sorta.
  How to put it...
  Tube pre-amp.
  For 'regular' solid state amps I've tried...the amp, going into a clean channel that likes having an external Fuzz go into it, Such as FF, a Jfet booster might be worth the time between the FF and the amp, not so much to get the output level, but to match the FF to what might look to it more like a tube input.
  For tube amps, Jfet booster...or whatever you A/B elimination test-choose for your amp, with guidance from many sources as to voicing, etc.
  I'm using 'Matchbox" mostly, but I have another Jfet in Q1, and other mods.
  They do what they do, all a little different, recent posts about how to switch them around, [I think it was about a buncha amp sims], in one box...as much as I like tweek-dialing these things, sometimes having two in a row or in a chain, one at a time or both depending on settings etc., it makes sense that I'd probably like a couple of them in a box, with fancy switching. I like 'em cause they sound great alone, all that 'tubeylike' stuff, and can generally bet set for clean-ish boost to mild OD.
 

[chaddhamilton]

I definitely agree with the comment about the Mini Boost adding some grit. It's very OD-ish to me. 

I  built a Sixteen Overdrive-minus the gain control(I  jumpered the .1uf cap to the 1M res)  and to my suprise, it's a very clean boost.  I was expecting it to be full gain with the jumper, but it's the exact opposite. Anyway, I love it.  I played around with the bias of the trannies(q1:j201 q2:2n5457)  and found that it cleans up with a slightly higher voltage and get's dirtier with a slightly lower voltage. My first project involving biasing and i've enjoyed it.

http://diy.erikhansen.net/sixteenod.htm

[mojotron]

I really liked the Mini Boost - I built the "Fat Boostered" ( http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/joam_sc_fb.gif ) varient and really like it with most guitars - the tone controls make it extremely useful.

The other boost that I really really like is the Sparkleboost - this is awesome for use with Strats - in front of non-Fender amps to get a more Fendery sound.

[petemoore]

  On the 16 OD, at Q2 gate to ground, as long as you have a 'big' [bigger than 470k, smaller might load signal], say 1meg there to bias the gate, a parallel resistor isn't needed.
  With the pot in the circuit, Q2 gate to ground R value is between about 500k and 0k, depending on the pot setting

[Mark Hammer]

What do you want a booster to do for you?  Do you want it to bring clean levels up so as to maximize S/N ratio?  Do you want it to let you get the most clean volume possible from a guitar with weak pickups?  Do you want it to make sidechain-base devices (autowah, compressor, etc.) beg for mercy?  Do you want it to push your fuzz into retching gasps? to make your amp break up?  Do you want something you leave on ALL the time regardless of what other pedals are doing, or do you want something for momentary riff-wise use?

Specifying the goals is important in identifying a suitable candidate.

[Arn C.]

I like the AMZ DUAL BOOSTER.  I just use one side of it, but have made one that was dual,
It uses a TL072 op amp and is really clean!!!!

Peace!
Arn C.

[jmusser]

John Hollises "Titan Boost" is excellent, especially if you want to get the Knofler "Sultans of Swing" tone.

[MartyMart]

I second the "Titan" very clean and a nice sparkle too.
Fat Boostered is also a good one, eq very handy

MM.

[Paul Marossy]

I like the AMZ Mini-Booster and Mark Hammer's "The Crank". There is also a clone of a boutique booster pedal that I built that rocks, but I can't divulge the name of the product (or the designer) without getting lynched. 

[birt]

I like the AMZ Mini-Booster and Mark Hammer's "The Crank". There is also a clone of a boutique booster pedal that I built that rocks, but I can't divulge the name of the product (or the designer) without getting lynched. 

oh that one

[Dragonfly]

pure clean...  amz mosfet boost
fat and "mostly clean" ...amz mini booster
clean, but with "controllable" amounts of "dirt"....sparkle boost, snakebite boost
clean, added treble (just a touch)...mxr microamp
mostly clean, a bit of added treble and bass...eh lpb boosters

[chokeyou]

i also like dragonfly's sparkle boost. I added another grit stage with an additional J201. it makes my silverface bassman sound GORGEOUS when cranked.

[Dragonfly]

i also like dragonfly's sparkle boost. I added another grit stage with an additional J201. it makes my silverface bassman sound GORGEOUS when cranked.

very cool....i just picked up a blackface bandmaster (w/ a showman 2x12 cab) today, but i havent had a chance to try out the sparkle boost or the snakebite boost on it yet...dont wanna disturb the neighbors

btw...im sure people would be interested in a schematic for your "modified" sparkle boost...

rock.

[aron]

I use something like the Shaka HV.

Have been using it for years.

[RDV]

...Talent.

RDV

[Ry]

TITAN!!!  Especially if you are using a tube amp.  I'm not sure how it reacts with a solid state amp, but I imagine it would be devine.

[brett]

Hi.
Stratoblaster.
Almost clean, really clear JFET tone.  It gives the most wonderful and incredibly subtle variation in tone.
I suspect that some guitars and amps would benefit from using one all the time.
cheers

[pswoods]

DIY: Fat Boostered; Rangemaster with variable input cap vals; simple, 1-stage FET gain
Commercial: Digitech Bad Monkey; Duncan SFX-01