Everyone needs to give their guitar a little goose from time to time and the Blackstar Boost is one of those great utility pedals that is up for the task – plain and simple. The basic layout of Gain, Bass and Treble is something we are all familiar with, and within a few seconds, it’s very easy to inject your sound with ample amounts of volume, brightness and/or bassy-ness.
At unity gain (11 o’clock) and the tone settings at high noon, the Boost added a ton of thickness, warmth and body to an already great sounding Tele, Jazzmaster and ES-335. Our basic tone remained unchanged, we just had much more of it. After an afternoon of playing, we actually found ourselves leaving the Boost on all the time and simply setting it up for rounding out, enhancing and complimenting our basic sound. This is something we’ve done in the past with pedals like the MXR Micro Boost and the Xotic EP Boost, but the Boost has much more tonal flexibility.
If you stick to one guitar, this is a set and forget type scenario. If you are switching between single coils and humbucker equipped guitars, you will need to make small tweaks to the treble and bass knobs to bring out your best sound. For us, the Tele needed some treble rolled off, while the ES-335 sounded better with some bass cuts. Both tone knobs are well balanced and musical throughout the throw.
While the Blackstar serves as an amazing clean boost, taking the Gain knob past the 2 o’clock mark definitely starts imparting excitement and bit of fat edginess – perfect for pushing a clean, or barely broken-up amp, into a creamy overdriven crunch. It responds remarkably well to any picking dynamics – much like playing through a great tube amp. In short, it’s super tough when pushed and tastefully tame when your playing is passive – perfect.
Whether you need to stand out for solos, need that extra bit of oomph for when the chorus hits, or simply give your guitar that hint of sparkle, the Boost makes plugging in very pleasurable. It’s easy to use, and one of those remarkable workhouse pedals that is sorely missed when removed from your signal chain.