Active Boosters

[mattdowney]

i am looking to put some sort of active booster into my guitar. i have been playing my buddys charvel and its amazing it has a rotary switch with 4 positions, mid boost, overdrive, clean boost and bypass. i want to put something simalar to this into my guitar. here are some i have been looking at on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...061691&tc=photo

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...068695&tc=photo

what do you think? worth the money? i know the first one has a bypass setting but does the second one? it says

''the active mode is unity gain (No Boost) it's the exact sound of your guitar but now you're Low Impedance!''

does this mean it is bypassed?

i think i will go with the first one because it has some frequency boosts and a gain boost, not just gain boosts. what do you guys think? do you know of any other places i can get something like this?

thanks, matt

[Daniel Sorbera]

wow those look cool! I want one!

[Jivin]

Im not sure of the specifics, but im pretty sure the 2nd one has some sort of preamp that you run through regardless of what mode your in? So I dont think the first mode is actually a true bypass.... but hopefully someone else can clear that up.

Either way i've heard great things about both of them, and Guitarfetish is great to deal with also.

Let us know if you get one!

[mattdowney]

ok thanks, i think i am going to go with the first one. i think it sounds better because it has mid/trebal boosts as well as the gain boosts. do the mid boosts have a bit of a gain boost as well? also the second one doesent have a bypass setting, but it does have a ''Low Impedance'' setting, what is this? it says ''Your guitar sounds the same, but now it's low impedance and very punchy''. any help will be apriciated

thanks, matt

[Daniel Sorbera]

low impedance is where you have converted the signal(via an active preamp, which is what your buying) to low insted of high inpedence. EMG's are low impedance, The signel coming out of an acoustic is low impedance. A microphone is low impedance.

Be carful and know what your buying. The "gain boost" is nothing but a volume boost. It drives the front end of your amp REALLY hard. But from when the circut is off and when it's on there will be a BIG volume difference. if it were just a tone circut i would get it. Or you can just buy one of bigD's varitone selector switchs that are passive.

[mattdowney]

humm, that is kindof what i am looking for, i wanted something with a clean boost setting to switc on for solos. will al lthe settiings on this boost the volume? or just the 5th one which is the highest gain setting. also i liked the first one better because it had the mid boosts, but will it sound any diferent then the second one, witch just has gain boosts? and will low inpendence affect my tone?

thanks, matt

[Dugz Ink]

If you're looking for tone shaping, I would go for BigD's varitones,

or one of these rigs from Guitarfetish:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3761062231

Just my opinon. Void where prohibited. Not suitable for children with small parts.

D~s

[mattdowney]

ill look at that, does anyone know if there is much of a diference in the one i was looking at (Onboard Boost Guitar Tone Monster Circuit OVERDRIVE F05) and the one Dugz Ink sugested ? is the one he sugested more of a gain boost or a tone shaper? also is the one i was looking at more of a gain boost or a tone shaper?

how much of a gain boost do you think the highest gain setting on the one i am getting have? almost as much as a overdrive pedal?

thanks

Edited December 29, 2004 by mattdowney