BUILD A BOOSTER!!!

[demonstar]

This message is addressed mainly to newbs but includes everyone who hasn't seen the light yet. I'm a newb and when people started suggesting a booster to me for my second project a couple of weeks ago I felt rather disheartened that I was going to be building something so uninspiring. Anyway I took their advice and built a mosfet booster.

Oh boy am I glad I built it now. No matter how boring a booster sounds and how tempting that super octave switching fuzzing flanging thing sounds go build a booster. It does wonderful things for your tone. It may not be in your face but the subtle effect will prove to be one of your best companions. Hey, this is my new companion now. All other pedals I could dispense of when I go somewhere to play guitar but I can't imagine me ever going anywhere without this one. It doesn't just sound great on it's own but really push my other pedals and allows them to reach their full potential. 

So it may be subtle but you'll use it no end. I can say I will be building lots more of these little fellas in the future.

I will certainly continue to trust the experienced guys after that advice and I'd suggest others to too.

Thanks folks!

[ulysses]

mofset boosters can also get great clean boost out of your amp.

i was surprised how much extra clean volume i got out of my '78 marshall and jc-120 (head) solid state amps. it was almost like "hey, why didnt they build this into the amp!"

on my '62 marshall bluesbreaker it gives nice volume boost and pushes the tubes slightly.

i tried it on a mates vox ac-30 and was surprised how dirty it got. so it depends a lot on the amp.

the word "booster" does sound uninspiring but definatly worth the build.

cheers
ulysses

edit: grammar correction

[foxfire]

as a new guy myself i learned alot building a hogs foot. playing around with the in/output caps, adding clipping diodes and the like. not to mention the low part count and usally small foot print.

[petemoore]

  Boosters are DIY friendly in a few ways.
  They dont' [imo] make great sales items, say through an amp which already has 'top end boost [many amps like SS amps are 'hot' to begin with], when comparing a booster to say a Fuzz...it is fairly common to think 'the booster really doesn't do much' or 'the Fuzz effect is a whole lot more noticable'.
  Back when I was buying commercial effect boxes, EQ was the closest thing to 'boost' I remember seeing available, does boost, and EQ, but the noise will be greater [all else being equal].
  Once I got a boost on, and got used to what a boost does, boost became an indespensible effect for my tastes...
  With all the tube amps I'd been through [Plexi's, Ampeg Rocket and V4, MkII 50w etc, etc.]...without  boost...I'm pretty sure I missed alot of what they could have been capable of, never hearing it..I never knew it.
 

[Mark Hammer]

Probably one of the most useful and overlooked aspects of a booster is the buffering.  Having ALL the signal your pickups can provide is often a real eye-opener, and for some folks almost like installing new pickups.

[snoof]

Yes, boosters are wonderful tools to have at the ready.  The Fat Booster, and the Stratoblaster seem to have made the cut for me!!

[jasonsmusicgear]

OK demonstar I'm also a newb and I will take your advice.  Which booster did you build?  What are some other good boosters?

[rasco22862]

Hi, wich layout for the mosfet booster do you recommend?

Thanks

[demonstar]

I built the amz mosfet booster from tonepad on stripboard. If anyone wanted the layout I made I'm sure I could upload it? You must use the 47pf cap to cut out the radio interference. i tried without but quickly put it in. The boost isn't amazing with humbuckers but singal coils and p100s are SUPER with it. Well it certainly is in my opinion.

[markm]

Hi, wich layout for the mosfet booster do you recommend?

Thanks

If you're asking about the AMZ MosFET circuit I have two different versions;

http://aronnelson.com/gallery/album76/MosfetBooster_LAYOUT

http://aronnelson.com/gallery/album76/Modified_MosFET_Booster_LAYOUT

Plus, there are a few more MosFET "treasures" to be found if you wanna browse around the gallery a bit.
I like Mos Boosts and if you look around my layout section, you'll find it's quite obvious that I do!

[theonlyrobkeyser]

You've inspired me as well.  I've built a stratoblaster and a red ranger and played through them on my workbench.  I liked 'em,  but never got around to boxing them up and using them with my real set up.  This weekend I'll do that and see how they sound in front of my other pedals. 

ps - My first post.  I've been lurking for a few months and love this site.  Thanks everyone.   

[markm]

ps - My first post.  I've been lurking for a few months and love this site.  Thanks everyone.   

Welcome.....errr
Congratulations?
Ummm okay, Thanks for posting!!
How's that?! 

[petemoore]

Which booster did you build?  What are some other good boosters?
  That depends, I prefer texts to soundclips when trying to figure this one out 'before', but 'after..is where you are afforded the opportunity to A/B with 'you and your's.
  Amp, speaker, pickups, wood..anything in the chain between the wood and strings combo and the brain can influence booster choice, in another note booster choice can help choose speaker cab. [etc].
  If the amp and speaker are responding nicely to heavy boost by distorting, that's one thing, if the cab doesn't 'cotton to' [like much] boosted bass, perhaps a cap change would help, or a booster with a bit more 'grit' in it...there are probably 'more evens than odds'..YMWV.
  hot pickups?/cool PU's? try a buffer [maybe leave some< board open before it to build the boost choice on], stick a boost before, see what you think, maybe try a couple different boosters alone, then through the buffer..see what you get.
  Ge's stand alone well, may not work with others so happily, are finicky about Q choice, voicing, amp...almost a subcategory.
  Bipolars, Fets, OA's make great boosters.
  Jfets can have an 'easy grit' to them, and myriad configurations of one or more Jfets pushed to different levels of distortion are possible.
  Mini-booster, single gain stage 2 jfet Mu Amp, is somewhere between mildly distorted boost and very mild overdrive...[almost OT] stick something else in front and the MB becomes an OD, two Mu's and you have a heavy dirtbox [see BSIAB], what else is used brings combo-complications [but pretty easy to find out by trying the seriesed effects] into the equation, whatever 'cool findings' the boost does to whatever is next in the chain [tube amp or dirtbox>tube amp or SS amp etc.], is what 'should' be considered when choosing a booster.
  ie...just about any boost is going to boost, depending on the response from the amp/speaker, just about any boost could be a 1rst, second, or last choice, it should be noted that some who try boosters have not liked them, some SS amps I believe just don't respond favorably to being 're-boosted'.

[Pushtone]

Probably one of the most useful and overlooked aspects of a booster is the buffering.  Having ALL the signal your pickups can provide is often a real eye-opener, and for some folks almost like installing new pickups.

Totally agree about the buffering.
So much so I feel a great combination is a booster with buffered bypass.

I really like the full range sound of the Strat-o-blaster and it works well as a unity gain buffer.
It has a fuller sound with a better tonal balance than an IC buffer.

I wired the Strat-o-blaster into the bypass path from the footswitch and used the Fetzer valve in the effect (booster) path.
Now my signal is always at least buffered, and I can stomp on it for a variable boost.

You can use any two boosters to make a booster with buffered bypass.
Perhaps a MOSFet buffer with a Mini-Booster.
Or two LBP, one set up for unity gain and no pot and the other with a panel mount level pot.

In the end it is still a one knob boost (but with buffered bypass).

[jasonsmusicgear]

I play through a Fender Super 112 and my guitar has 2 humbuckers, what is a good choice of booster for that setup?

I don't know much about the super 112 other than it is a tube amp with the red knobs and a single 12 inch speaker, I think its 60 watts.

[markm]

I think just about ANY booster you find would work well.
Some better than others.
This is truly becoming a subjective matter where opinion comes into play.
With that said, one Booster that is still overlooked time and time again is the Gus Smalley Boost AKA "the beginner project".
I probably have that somewhere too but, it's up to you to make the choice.

[newbie builder]

With that said, one Booster that is still overlooked time and time again is the Gus Smalley Boost AKA "the beginner project".

AKA my most used clean boost (and I've built more than a few boosts.....though if were going for a lightly dirty boost, I prefer a simple jfet booster with a bypass cap on the source and gain control shunting that cap to ground)

[jrc4558]

Boosters are benevolent!

[Dragonfly]

With that said, one Booster that is still overlooked time and time again is the Gus Smalley Boost AKA "the beginner project".

AKA my most used clean boost (and I've built more than a few boosts.....though if were going for a lightly dirty boost, I prefer a simple jfet booster with a bypass cap on the source and gain control shunting that cap to ground)

hmmmm.....sounds familiar ... 

[newbie builder]

With that said, one Booster that is still overlooked time and time again is the Gus Smalley Boost AKA "the beginner project".

AKA my most used clean boost (and I've built more than a few boosts.....though if were going for a lightly dirty boost, I prefer a simple jfet booster with a bypass cap on the source and gain control shunting that cap to ground)

hmmmm.....sounds familiar ... 

Not to de rail the thread completely, but I was just playing around with one of those and I decided to change the gain pot from linear to reverse log taper- much  better. Better control over the gain range now. One of the few DIY pedals that I built that made it onto the pedalboard on day 1 and has never come off since.