Acoustic "boost" pedal recommendations?
 

I play acoustic guitar in a 4-6 piece ensemble that includes another acoustic player, electric guitar, bass, mandolin and percussion. When I switch from strumming with a plectrum to fingerstyle or when taking a lead, I often find myself "lost" in the mix. Is there a pedal that boosts the volume for this sort of application. I tried a Boss Super Overdrive pedal and the results were terrible (these are obviously made for electric guitars). Ideally I'd like to find something with a simple switch for turning the extra volume on/off.

Thanks for your feedback/suggestions.

A regular volume pedal should do the job. You just need to remember to set up at the quiet end of the pedal, rather than setting up with the pedal at full volume. Then when it comes to melody / picking time you just crank up the pedal until it's at a nice level for you.

Depending on the guitar and electronics, though, it might be tricky to find a volume pedal that works well.

A switch would work but it means you only have two levels - quiet and loud - with no fine control. (Also I don't know if such a thing even exists, though I'm sure there is one somewhere.)

I use a Boss eq pedal for a boost. For the increase in volume and for an alternate tonal setting. I usually roll off slightly the highest and lowest sliders to reduce the boomy and shrilly bits.

I used to use a volume pedal for boosting and it worked OK, but I found it a little tricky to get the exact volume I wanted and I found that I lost some my playing focus when I was fiddling with the pedal! I also used Boss EQ pedal which worked better in that regard. I now use a Baggs Venue DI which has many excellent functions including a boost. The unit has a a preamp with EQ and gain controls, a tuner (a very good one, and also functions as a DI box! For the boost, there is a foot switch to activate it when needed--very easy and helps keep me focused on the playing. There is a gain knob for the boost so you can pre-set how boost you want when you press the foot switch. I highly recommend it!

I use a compressor. Sustain set low.

I've read good things about the Red-Eye:-
http://www.fire-eye.com/welcomepage.htm

eq pedal...

Boost
 

I have used two seperate boost pedals. A Keeley Katana is extremely transparent and provides a super clean tone. I also have a Hermida Dual boost which has two channels and can be adjusted separately. Both of these boost I would recommend. Both provide about 20db of boost which is way more than you would ever need. I believe about 6-8db of boost is perfect on an acoustic. I currently am using the Keeley on my acoustic set up and the Hermida on my electric.

Fred

Radial ToneBone PZ-Pre

http://www.tonebone.com/tb-pzpre.htm

Thanks all for the great suggestions. I'm going to do a bit of research on these.

I use a MXR Micro Amp.
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...al-?sku=151104

A pedal that has worked well for me with both acoustic and electric solid body applications is the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster. It streets at about $80 bucks US and has a three position resonance switch to help single coil electrics sound fatter. However in its center position it is entirely neutral and amps up my Taylor ES system very well. 6db to 25 db. I do recommend it. True bypass switch, small footprint.

http://www.bmusic.com.au/links/prodn.../sd-sfx-01.jpg

I play in a similar sort of ensemble, and a simple Boss GE-7 EQ pedal does the trick. Just set the volume and the EQ how you want it for the leads or finger-picking. It bypasses when it's off. Just step on it when you're ready for the lead, and hit it again when you're back to strumming. Very easy and simple. There are better quality EQ pedals out there, if you've got the cash. Any of them will do, and perhaps will do even better, but I have no complaints about the GE-7.

L.

colinmac - While I don't use a boost pedal, I have a friend who uses an old-school Dynacomp foot pedal with great results. Just a bit of compression, without much sustain; that should do the trick!

I accomplish my volume requirements with my right hand attack - I've learned how to strum with energy, but not at full volume; when I play single note lines or fingerpick, I just dig in a bit. It's a good thing to know, how to vary your playing dynamics w/o any electronic "help", IMHO...

My technique gets tough to do if I'm real excited or nervous on stage - my knee-jerk reaction is to play too firmly with my right hand - If I do that, all is lost!

Good luck! Hope this helps...

Actually there are plenty of clean boost pedals that will accomplish this. However like any stomp box there are issues with tone-sucking when they're turned off and even if you avoid that problem with true bypass switching, you get popping or clicking when you engage them. It might not be worth it for just one feature, but the new LR Baggs Venue DI seems to fit the bill for you since they added a "one louder" stomp switch.