H Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 Hi all, I'm thinking of putting a Fulltone FatBoost v3 in front of my 5e3 clone to beef up my single coil tones a little. Anyone tried this pedal with a low wattage 6V6 based amp?
SouthpawGuy Posted June 13, 2011 Posted June 13, 2011 No experience with the Fat Boost, I do have a FT Catalyst which is not bad as a clean boost. I prefer the RC Booster, it works really well with single coils, especially low output ones such as the 57/62s in one of my strats.
DetroitBlues Posted June 14, 2011 Posted June 14, 2011 I haven't tried the fatboost, but I like the idea behind it. Really seems like it picks up fattyness missing from single coils. I've been wanting a Wampler Ecstasy. I heard steviesnack demo this pedal and wow!
squawken Posted June 14, 2011 Posted June 14, 2011 I use it on my Hot Cat 15. Very transparent. Definitely adds width to my tone.
tulk1 Posted June 14, 2011 Posted June 14, 2011 I see Fulltone has a couple blems at a decent price. Not sure I'd want my clean boost to have all that extra stuff, tho'. I mean, a clean boost should do one thing -- boost your signal, cleanly. My Suhr Shiba Drive was designed to fatten up Single Coils. Does a great job on HBs, too. But then, that's an OD, not a CB. My Heavy Electronics Ascend clean boost does a great job of boosting the signal. And just about any boost in volume is going "feel" fatter. IMO.
H Posted June 14, 2011 Author Posted June 14, 2011 I see Fulltone has a couple blems at a decent price. What is a 'blem'? As far as I understand, the 5E3 circuit produces a mid-heavy amp. Some boost and OD pedals produce a mid-range 'hump' which, according to posters on various other forums, isn't an improvement on the sound produced by a 5E3-type amp. Any pedal that lets me dial in/out certain frequencies while providing a boost would seem to be a more versatile pedal than a 'one knob' pedal. Or am I misunderstanding this whole subject?
H Posted June 14, 2011 Author Posted June 14, 2011 I use it on my Hot Cat 15. Very transparent. Definitely adds width to my tone. Do you use the high/low frequency adjustments much? How effective are they?
tulk1 Posted June 14, 2011 Posted June 14, 2011 What is a 'blem'? As far as I understand, the 5E3 circuit produces a mid-heavy amp. Some boost and OD pedals produce a mid-range 'hump' which, according to posters on various other forums, isn't an improvement on the sound produced by a 5E3-type amp. Any pedal that lets me dial in/out certain frequencies while providing a boost would seem to be a more versatile pedal than a 'one knob' pedal. Or am I misunderstanding this whole subject? Short for "blemish". Check out Fulltone's Factory Seconds page. Good deal on the FB3.
squawken Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 Do you use the high/low frequency adjustments much? How effective are they? Not super effective. I usually keep mine mid-way or lower. I have just the one small tone knob-and don't fiddle with too much.
H Posted June 15, 2011 Author Posted June 15, 2011 Not super effective. I usually keep mine mid-way or lower. I have just the one small tone knob-and don't fiddle with too much. Do you have the FB1 or the FB2? The FB3 has two small tone knobs.
squawken Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 Do you have the FB1 or the FB2? The FB3 has two small tone knobs. I believe it is the FB1. If it helps at all, my FB works better on my small Hot Cat better than my large Marshall. My PRS DGT with the Hot Cat is a perfect combination.
111518 Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 I have the Demeter "Fat Control." Used it a lot for a while, and it did a good job of thickening single coils. But then, I started to see it as sort of a crutch --maybe a strat or tele should sound like a strat or a tele-- so I took it off the board. I'll probably rediscover it at some point. During my late 70s/early 80s gigging days I had an Alembic "stratoblaster" onboard boost installed in my gigging strat. (It was mounted on a little flat plate that replaced the input cup on a strat, had a little micro pot inside that allowed you to adjust the boost, and the nine volt battery dropped down into the cavity, so, it was a very easy, versatile, reversible mod.) My whole approach to playing a strat came to be built around that little gizmo.
DetroitBlues Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 I tried to find a couple demo's on youtube. Not a lot of useful demo's. Seems ok, but I think the wampler might have some more useful features as well as a thick tone shaper for single coils.
koula901 Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 So here comes a stupid question, because I've been wondering why people use a clean boost, when it is supposedly to make your guitar signal louder, and in some cases (depending on settings, of course) adds a bit of hair to your sound - when people strive to fatten their single coil sound, could the same thing be achieved by getting a higher output single coil pickup installed into the guitar? And do people generally buy very high output single coils/or hums to drive the amp sooner, but the down side is a less clean sounding guitar when you want it? If that's the case, then what people generally do, if they want capacity for both clean and dirty sound is have lower-output pups, and simply fatten w/clean boost and possibly EQ to get that fat driving sound. I've been trying to figure this out because one of the other women in my bad always gets a fat sound with her strat, with no help from a clean boost and I can't figure out how she does it (they're all single coils) - it must be that the pups are hot.
DetroitBlues Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 So here comes a stupid question, because I've been wondering why people use a clean boost, when it is supposedly to make your guitar signal louder, and in some cases (depending on settings, of course) adds a bit of hair to your sound - when people strive to fatten their single coil sound, could the same thing be achieved by getting a higher output single coil pickup installed into the guitar? And do people generally buy very high output single coils/or hums to drive the amp sooner, but the down side is a less clean sounding guitar when you want it? If that's the case, then what people generally do, if they want capacity for both clean and dirty sound is have lower-output pups, and simply fatten w/clean boost and possibly EQ to get that fat driving sound. I've been trying to figure this out because one of the other women in my bad always gets a fat sound with her strat, with no help from a clean boost and I can't figure out how she does it (they're all single coils) - it must be that the pups are hot. I've got no issue with my strat, it has Fender's Texas Specials in it. If I want a fatter tone, then I should either get P-90's or humbuckers for it.
fxdx99 Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 As far as I understand, the 5E3 circuit produces a mid-heavy amp. Some boost and OD pedals produce a mid-range 'hump' which, according to posters on various other forums, isn't an improvement on the sound produced by a 5E3-type amp. Any pedal that lets me dial in/out certain frequencies while providing a boost would seem to be a more versatile pedal than a 'one knob' pedal. Or am I misunderstanding this whole subject? Had to look up what I have as it's been a while (did remember it was blue...). I've a BBE Boosta Grande that I bought specifically for my strat/tele thru the 5e3. Not as much to fatten up the sound as to hit the front end of the amp harder. Works okay in that regard. Were I in the right band, I'd use that whole tool set (5e3/tele/bbe) more. Not so much for chording, but for single note leads where you want a bit more singing sustain from the power tubes. Know what you're saying on the mid boost and being able to dial in/out frequencies per taste. If using on chords, think you'd want that. For single note leads not so much maybe. So here comes a stupid question, because I've been wondering why people use a clean boost, when it is supposedly to make your guitar signal louder, and in some cases (depending on settings, of course) adds a bit of hair to your sound - when people strive to fatten their single coil sound, could the same thing be achieved by getting a higher output single coil pickup installed into the guitar? And do people generally buy very high output single coils/or hums to drive the amp sooner, but the down side is a less clean sounding guitar when you want it? If that's the case, then what people generally do, if they want capacity for both clean and dirty sound is have lower-output pups, and simply fatten w/clean boost and possibly EQ to get that fat driving sound. I've been trying to figure this out because one of the other women in my bad always gets a fat sound with her strat, with no help from a clean boost and I can't figure out how she does it (they're all single coils) - it must be that the pups are hot. Yeh, agree w/ya Katy. Lower output pickups cleaner sounding, higher outpt a bit-o-hair. Can acheive thru either pu selection or boost (or for that matter by turning up the amp I guess). My strat has low(er) output pus, which sound great clean, but won't drive the amp hard. Something like Detroit's Texas Specials are hotter output.
H Posted June 15, 2011 Author Posted June 15, 2011 Short for "blemish". Check out Fulltone's Factory Seconds page. Good deal on the FB3. US buyers only Shame - $111 is a great price..
JeffB Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 +Ive been using a TREX Twin-boost. Its a cool dual stomp. It has a bass, mid, treble and level controls for both sides. My strat has typical 90's p/ups that dont really have much quack. Not real vintage strat sounding. With this stomp I can tweak away and have one side for real qucky strat sounds and then have the other side full of mids and bass and less highs for a very fat strat sound. Or what ever combination I want. I like how it can be used to fine tune both the guitar and or amp Im using. Its even made od stomps I already have and dont like or use so much useful when run in conjunction with it either before or after it. Discovered its not getting gain thats been the problem for me but the right eq for the gain to operate in. Ive always had a graphic eq stomp in the loop or front for different purposes but looked at it as more of a singular fix or application rather than a over all tone shaping tool for some reason. Since I got this Twin Boost Ive wondered if I had had it sooner and understood its uses if I would have ever bought more than one amp and maybe two od stomps ever. Its easier to make things sound right than using a graphic eq. It doesnt have any gain control other than the level control and I set it up to just past unity with the amp one one side and then the other side as a solo boost above that again.
JeffB Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 US buyers only Shame - $111 is a great price.. YeaH I get that everytime I hit the button there as well.....but I keep hitting it everytime I go there hoping for a glitch to happen.
koula901 Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 YeaH I get that everytime I hit the button there as well.....but I keep hitting it everytime I go there hoping for a glitch to happen. Tully, are u up in Canada?
koula901 Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 fxdx99 - thank you, thank you, thank you. you've cleared up confusion and the mystery is solved.
DetroitBlues Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 Check this demo out. I think its exactly what a single coil sparkle needs to thicken up the tone... Thick Tone!
DetroitBlues Posted June 15, 2011 Posted June 15, 2011 No Im up in Australia Don't you mean Down Under?
H Posted June 15, 2011 Author Posted June 15, 2011 I like the T-Rex stuff too, Tully. I'm gassing for a Möller pedal soon after I've sorted out the FatBoost
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