A lot of times, when a Boost pedals comes to us, it’s intended to just boost your signal, and why shouldn’t it? However, we love it when a Boost comes in that isn’t JUST for boosting, but enhancing your tone, and maybe even getting a little bit dirty. The Germanium Boost from Expresso FX does both of these things, adding a shimmer and sparkle to your tone, giving you a number of options to use AND driving your favorite tube amp into glorious breakup all at the same time.
As most boosts go, the controls here are minimal, but do play an important role. Level, as expected, sets the Boost’s overall output volume, and will go from quiet to scorching with a flick of your hand. The thing that really gives this pedal its mojo, though, is the 7 mode switch off to the right. This gives you the opportunity to enjoy and experiment with seven distinctive voices, that range from bass-focused to mid-focused to treble-focused. These differing sounds are made possible by separate, high quality NOS Mullard Tropical Fish and Philips capacitors, as opposed to simply adding a tone stack.
Speaking of internal components, Expresso FX also gives you tonal options via either Mullard OC141 or OC42 germanium transistors. The OC141 transistors are creamy and well-balanced, while the OC42 transistors (our pedal had these) are a bit brighter overall, but remain balanced as well. The latter are PNP transistors, which require reverse polarity power, or you can just use a 9V battery.
Using Philips electrolytic capacitors, Xicon/Yageo 1% metal film resistors, Switchcraft jacks, Alpha 16mm potentiometers, and featuring true bypass switching and all hand-wired circuitry, the Germanium Boost is truly at the top of its game in all aspects. No one trick pony here, folks, this boost is the real deal – check out the demo below if you don’t believe us (you should do that anyway). Cheers to our friends at Expresso FX for a marvelous creation – this pedal promises to rock our world for years to come, be sure to head to their website to grab one for your own!
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