Looking for a pedal to add "thickness"

Just as the title says, I'm looking for a pedal to add some thickness to my sound (and maybe keep the thickness of my wallet too). I currently run a Telecaster into my Vox AC30 :cool: which I run a bit hot. I am looking for a pedal that can thicken out the sound to make for slightly more saturated rhythm and much less thin sounding lead. I just want that "oomph" and less of a "thin" sound that I can use to push my Vox. I've been looking at the Bearfoot Effects Honey Bee, but that's about it. Any other suggestions :?:

My BBE Boosta Grande (http://www.bbesound.com/products/stomp-boxes/boosta-grande.aspx) does that for me. Great for making ho-hum pickups sound alive.

http://www.bbesound.com/img/products/stomp-boxes/Boosta_Grande_L.jpg

Turning the treble knob down on the amp will definitely help you keep that thick wallet.

Turning the treble knob down on the amp will definitely help you keep that thick wallet.

I do, but I would prefer something footswitch-able that adds just a touch of gain.

I use a Fulltone Fat Boost to add girth or oomph to my sound. It stays on all the time and it's been 3 years and running on my board, yet I am still happy with the pedal.

Xotic EP-booster is another alternative.

Another recommendation for the Xotic EP Booster.

I use a Fulltone Fat Boost to add girth or oomph to my sound. It stays on all the time and it's been 3 years and running on my board, yet I am still happy with the pedal.

The Fat Boost may be what I am looking for, adding thickness and some more gain. Hmm...

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMTg4/$(KGrHqFHJBME-dq2kM)eBPrIi401O!~~60_3.JPG

Gives my sound thickness in spades - say "chau" to the wallet thickness though. Here's (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hermida-Audio-Zen-Drive-Zendrive-Overdrive-Effect-Pedal-WORLDWIDE-SHIPPING-/140751290628?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item20c56e4104) one on Ebay.

I use a Carl Martin Compressor and then next in my chain is a Barber tone press. I find that the Tone Press is a great pedal for filling out the depth of a signal. You can dial in the amount of push you want and it is very transparent.

Keeley Katana Boost..................it may thin the wallet, but it works:mrgreen:

i´d rather recommend Xotic the RC booster than the EP booster

i'm not sure exactly why, but my danelectro FAB echo pedal (at about $15.00) does that for me. i wanted slap-back echo from it, and it will do that, but not quite the "'50's" style sound i was looking for. but i keep it in the pedal chain, on most of the time, because it definitely thickens the sound of m tele thru my vox pathfinder or Acoustic fg35R.

again, didn't really expect that.

The EP has fattened up my tone for sure.

maybe a SD pickup booster pedal? or an EQ pedal? or an active midboost and TBX control a la Clapton sig. series strats? Not a pedal solution but different possibility. or 4-way switch for series p'ups? Lots of options for switchable girth enhancers...

DOD fx10 bi fet. $40. Poor mans klon. Great preamp made for acoustic that is fantastic on electrics. Has tone knob that really fattens things up and gooses the front and of a toob amp.

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Hmm a Klon clone might be a good idea...

I am confronted with the same issue with my new Squire CVC through my AC30. My other, much more expensive American made Teles, sound great through the Vox but the Squire is noticeably thinner sounding, which just won't do. The compressor and/or an extremely conservatively set MXR Overdrive pedal (Output at 10 o'clock, Tone just past Noon and Drive around 8 o'clock) help but the next two things I am going to try are a Chorus (set so it doesn't sound chorus but a doubler) and a Analogue Delay with only the slightest delay, to again double up the signal, which is along the same lines as the Slap Back echo already suggested. Anyway I will try out my ideas later on and report back with my results....

A hearty thumbs up for the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster. Works either as a flat EQ boost or does two pretty convincing single coil-to-humbucker impersonations plus the jacks and power are on the top - yay!

Well, put me down for another Xotic EP.
To me, maybe it just adds a "fullness" to the sound, usually just put it right before the amp input and leave it on.
Set it all the way down (unity gain) to maybe 9 o'clock, so not much "boost" so to speak.

Xotic EP Booster all day long.

BBE boosta grande/end of thread

I like the EH LPB-1 myself.Cheap,simple and effective.

+1 on the E-H LPB-1

Have you tried an EQ pedal? A Nocturne Brain will definitely thicken up your tone.

Would these clean boost pedals add volume, or more so provide more of a unity gain from my amp? I don't want things getting too loud so to speak.

Would these clean boost pedals add volume, or more so provide more of a unity gain from my amp? I don't want things getting too loud so to speak.

The DOD has a volume knob and tone knob. So you can set as less, unity or louder. And beef up the tone with the tone knob.

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The DOD has a volume knob and tone knob. So you can set as less, unity or louder. And beef up the tone with the tone knob.

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I don't think they make these anymore, I definitely can't find any for sale or much info on them :confused:

I don't think they make these anymore, I definitely can't find any for sale or much info on them :confused:

They are not made anymore. There are two on eBay and one on The Gear Pages for $35 shipped.

Just ask around how awesome the old DOD pedals are.

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This is what .11 gauge said about them...

It is a simple dual op amp booster. The bifet part is misleading - the two jFET transistors (which are much more common in expensive boutique boosters) are really only used for the buffered bypass switching - they are essentially just electronic on/off switches!

The tone control should be fairly "coloration free" at "minimum" - it mainly just blend one of two high pass filters, with ~2190Hz and ~5Hz at the two extremes.

It is "attached" to the second op amp stage, which is mainly just a "recovery stage" (won't clip much on its own).

Any EQ character or substantial clipping will come from the first op amp stage.

Incidentally, that was one of many pedals that DOD used the TL062 op amp in. It is a great op amp if you use batteries, as it has very little current draw. But if you swapped it for a TL072 or NE5532 you would get a bit more clean out of it (those chips have more headroom since they use more current). The TL072 is what is used in the Klon Centaur, so you really can't go wrong with that one.

IMO, op amp boost = potentially good clean boost candidate. And I really like the older DOD stuff, because the circuits were much simpler, like the MXR pedals that some were based off of. It wasn't until the mid-80's that the circuits started to get really bloated, mainly to compete with Boss.

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I think I am basically sold on the BBE Boosta Grande, good price + does what I would need it to. I just need to know if it's going to drastically increase my total volume, or just push a bit more gain out of my amp. A little bit of volume push is good, but I don't want it to sound just like i went and turned the master up or anything like that.

I dont know how it will go on your wallet, but Fulltone OCD's thicken up a Vox sound really well....its what I use it for.

+7 on the EP boost.

A hearty thumbs up for the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster. Works either as a flat EQ boost or does two pretty convincing single coil-to-humbucker impersonations plus the jacks and power are on the top - yay!

This.

Boosta Grande is crap.

The other one everyone is recommending I've never used.

SDPB's can be had for $30-something used.

I dont know how it will go on your wallet, but Fulltone OCD's thicken up a Vox sound really well....its what I use it for.

Best pedal for Fender amps and thick tones. I broke down and bought another, my 3rd, I keep coming back to it.

- slightly more saturated rhythm

- much less thin sounding lead

So by "fat," you simply mean more saturated, with less treble emphasis.

That is what the two things you said above are how I interpret them.

More saturation/less treble = compression. That doesn't mean you want a compressor, but that is the precise effect that you want.

There are many pathways to getting that kind of compression, and most of them can be quite affordable. In order to accomplish it, you might want to concentrate on selecting something that does the following:

- doesn't add enough clipping to bring out treble, which emphasizes the "thin" thing.

- doesn't try to fix "clipped treble" with a tone control. That's what an OD pedal does. IMO, if a booster has tone control stuff, it typically is creating nasty treble spikes at some settings.

- compresses the mid-band frequencies to make things sound thicker

- doesn't really "add" bass, since it can intermodulate the treble frequencies and make things sound thin/unpleasant

...Probably the CHEAPEST way to do the above, IMO, is with two pedals. It could most likely be done with just a comp and a very mild OD that simply adds *some* pleasing clipping, but not enough to require a tone control.

IMO, a booster is probably going to be too much of a gamble, since you can't control the clipping, and a simple "tail end" tone circuit to remove the treble will probably not have a dynamic nature to it.

That said, Dyna Comp clone into a LPB-1 would probably actually be a good and cheap place to start. Get a Biyang Compress X for a GREAT and cheap DC clone, and any LPB-1 will do - grab a EHX Nano, for example.

And - play with the order, despite what logic might dictate. It might not work putting the comp second, but you never know.

IMO, AVOID anything that is going to generate much treble AND distortion, and avoid things that are basically tone controls. JMO.

I think the ClinchFX EP Pre might do what you want, but it won't be cheap at all, so I'd try the DC clone/LPB thing first.

For now you can just turn the amp up, guitar volume down on your thin settings, and for thick roll back your treble on you guitar slightly, volume up to full.

Then id pick up the cheapest clean boost i could find. Imo. :)

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Any clean boost pedal will help. But you could also try a BBE Sonic Stomp.

Has anyone suggested a voodoo labs Giggity yet?
http://www.dirtbox.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/voodoo-lab-giggity-f.jpg

Killer pedal IMO

maybe a SD pickup booster pedal

Yep, that or an EH LPB. I've tried almost everything
people have listed on here, and sold all of them. The
only things I've tried that have worked have been the:

EH LPB
Madbean Fat Pants
Madbean Bacon Bits
TC Sustain + Parametric
Nick Greer Royal Fromage and Butter Tone
(I mention those, but should add that his
customer support is TERRIBLE, and his prices
are way too high for simple modded clones of other
pedals, which is what they are.)

I have not had a chance to use the SD Pickup Booster yet.
But they can be had for cheap, as can the LPB. I've heard
nothing but good things about the SD PB. It's on my list of
remaining boosts I haven't tried.

A wiggle box with the rate at it's lowest setting adds thickness. Adjust depth to taste.

Get a delay and set it for about a 23 ms delay... Works for me.

i´d rather recommend Xotic the RC booster than the EP booster

+1 on the RC Booster. I don't own one but I've tried one and I was hooked! :eek:

Keeping with the theme of easy on the wallet, there's always the Bad Monkey. Subtle dirt with nice tonal options. I love my TS9 with the pushed mids, but the BM does the slight boost thing really well. The two-knob EQ makes it quite versatile. You can mimic the EQ curve of your amp, but just dial in some oomph from the BM. Or add a little hair to your tone. Pretty cool and dirt-cheap new, like $39.95.

I use a Zendrive 2 or a Fuchs Plush to do just that. They are worth the price in my book. I haven't used a boost per se, but I am getting more and more interested in trying one, although it might be unnecessary if I always leave the OD on.

Yeah, and a delay. I always have one of those on, too. Just so it is not noticeable as a delay.

Yeah, and a Bad Monkey. Why am I parroting what others are saying? But it is true, the Bad Monkey does an incredible job for the price. OK, I'll stop.

I am surprised nobody has mentioned the Catalinbread SFT.

As a fellow AC30 user, I have to say... I'd stay away from the EP Booster for fat sounds. With my Vox, it makes everything sound a lot sharper- it has a ton of upper-mid "kerrang" to it, which is cool, but probably not what you're looking for.

Instead, I STRONGLY recommend a Red Llama. I think you'll love it- you can keep the gain down and pump up the level to really goose your amp's front end. You'll find some excellent grainy sounds in there with a really full, resonant bass character. As far as ODs go for a Vox, I think the Llama is one of the best. Match made in heaven, and we all know how temperamental that amp is when it comes to drive pedals...

What I am looking for is a pedal to take my already slightly overdriven signal, and add a bit more gain, beef it up a little so it sounds a bit more present and less "thin" so to speak. Trying to make some gravy with my Vox, thicken er up! Fatter/chunkier rhythm and slightly more sustained, present, and well-rounded single-notes. This would be for mainly live stuff to go from a chimey/sparkly overdriven sound to a slightly more round/fat overdriven sound with a bit more gain. I know trying to get my idea across using jargon isn't the best idea, but its all I got!

My RC Booster does precisely what you describe. Quality build and very reliable. One of my "must have" pedals.

EP Booster. As I just posted in another thread, the RC excels at transparent clean boosting and the EP is the best thing I've found for fattening up single coils and adding natural sounding warmth. It's based on the Echoplex preamp and very warm and natural. I use both on my board but for your purpose I find the EP to be much better and what that pedal does best.

What I am looking for is a pedal to take my already slightly overdriven signal, and add a bit more gain, beef it up a little so it sounds a bit more present and less "thin" so to speak. Trying to make some gravy with my Vox, thicken er up! Fatter/chunkier rhythm and slightly more sustained, present, and well-rounded single-notes. This would be for mainly live stuff to go from a chimey/sparkly overdriven sound to a slightly more round/fat overdriven sound with a bit more gain. I know trying to get my idea across using jargon isn't the best idea, but its all I got!

So it seems that the boosters are getting the most love on this thread, the Xotic lineup in particular. Which do you think would work best with my AC30, for the tone I described above?:

EP Booster
AC Booster
RC Booster
Fulltone Fat Boost
BBE Boosta Grande

or something else...

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, keep em coming! :grin:

So it seems that the boosters are getting the most love on this thread, the Xotic lineup in particular. Which do you think would work best with my AC30, for the tone I described above?:

EP Booster
AC Booster
RC Booster
Fulltone Fat Boost

or something else...

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, keep em coming! :grin:

Again, speaking from my experience with my gear, I don't think the EP booster is quite the ticket for thickening up a Vox on the edge of breakup. Too much kerrang; not enough thump. Lots of people here dig it, and it really is a cool pedal, but as you and every other AC30 owner know, that amp is picky as heck when it comes to drive pedals, and not every shade of drive that works for the Fender amp-playing majority here is going to cut it with an AC30.

I'm not familiar with the other Xotic pedals, but I did hear that the AC Booster is patterned after the breakup on an AC30. I still say Red Llama.

Again, speaking from my experience with my gear, I don't think the EP booster is quite the ticket for thickening up a Vox on the edge of breakup. Too much kerrang; not enough thump. Lots of people here dig it, and it really is a cool pedal, but as you and every other AC30 owner know, that amp is picky as heck when it comes to drive pedals, and not every shade of drive that works for the Fender amp-playing majority here is going to cut it with an AC30.

I'm not familiar with the other Xotic pedals, but I did hear that the AC Booster is patterned after the breakup on an AC30. I still say Red Llama.

The only thing I'm afraid of with the Llama is that I already run my amp with a good amount of overdrive (not on the verge of breakup, it is breaking-up), and I think the Llama may cascade it to be a bit too "gainy" (just looking up some videos on the tube), not sure if my suspicions are true at all, do you have any audio clips or anything like that?

+ The gain structure of the pedal sounds really fizzy to me, fizzier then my Boss BD-2 that I am currently running...

Interesting thread. I play into a solid state amp often, and use a Tech21 Blonde to accomplish the same thing. I set it for a very clean sound/character, and run the output above unity gain. Adjust the highs to suit the room, bingo, thicker tone. It has a bit of natural compression and responds very naturally to the volume knob.

I found my answer in the TC Electronics "Spark Booster" just the right options, and sounded right in the videos I found as well! Putting in my order in the morning.

http://static.musiciansfriend.com/derivates/18/001/717/498/DV016_Jpg_Large_H82611a.jpg

i'm not sure exactly why, but my danelectro FAB echo pedal (at about $15.00) does that for me. i wanted slap-back echo from it, and it will do that, but not quite the "'50's" style sound i was looking for. but i keep it in the pedal chain, on most of the time, because it definitely thickens the sound of m tele thru my vox pathfinder or Acoustic fg35R.

again, didn't really expect that.

Thank you! I think I'm crazy sometimes for really liking this pedal... I mean, all things point to "no" right?... cheesey look, name, price tag, yet, I can't stay away from it, it really sounds great!

Solid choice! Yeah if "fizz" isn't a desirable characteristic the Llama definitely might not be the right pedal... it's not as fizzy in real life through a slightly driven Vox as it is on Youtube through all those Fenders, but it's still there. Sounds like the Spark Booster would work a lot better.

Yeah I think I'm going to be happy with the spark booster!