I Need a Boost (and Maybe EQ) Pedal for Acoustic Guitar

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

I have a Fire Eye Red Eye Twin. I give it five stars.
I had a platinum stage and it was great with a lot of features but I wanted a simpler unit with two guitar inputs. As others have said, reasonable EQ function with the boost for solos, it has very high technology and it’s built like a tank.
Darren, the owner and designer of the Fire Eye is absolutely a great channel of personable customer service and information. He gets five stars too!

+1 on Darren
He surely has 1,000 things to do running all aspects of a small business, but he took the time to answer my phone call and address some questions.

And he confirmed that the Red-eye indeed provides EQ, if you want it, even when the boost is off. This is the key function I'm looking for and haven't found in any other pedal.

Just two things: EQ with the pedal on or off. And boost only when I want it.

[CarlE]

I use a Red Eye for the very purposes you described. I use my amp/PA to dial in the general EQ I need, then can tweak the treble with the Red Eye as needed from the stage. It has an effects loop as well so you could add an EQ pedal if needed (or any other effect such as reverb, chorus, compression, etc.) and still get a good output signal to your PA. The boost works well, and the overall footprint is small, slightly smaller than your typical Boss pedal. Also, if you have a PA or amp with phantom power you do not need to worry about a battery or AC adapter. The only gripe I have is that it seems a bit expensive for what it does, but my understanding is that it has very high quality components which should help with reliability and longevity. YMMV.

[-GF-]

Originally Posted by tinnitus

+1 on Darren
He surely has 1,000 things to do running all aspects of a small business, but he took the time to answer my phone call and address some questions.

And he confirmed that the Red-eye indeed provides EQ, if you want it, even when the boost is off. This is the key function I'm looking for and haven't found in any other pedal.

Just two things: EQ with the pedal on or off. And boost only when I want it.

To be fair, quite a few pedals do this - the Empress ParaEQ, ThorpyFX Team Medic, Radial Tonebone PZ Deluxe.

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by -GF-

To be fair, quite a few pedals do this - the Empress ParaEQ, ThorpyFX Team Medic, Radial Tonebone PZ Deluxe.

To be fair, I only commented on what I found in my research of at least a dozen pedals. Thanks for apprising us of these additional options GF.

[6L6]

BOSS GE7 is perfect for this.

[guitarwebguy]

+1 on the Sunnaudio Stage-2 Prestine - does what you want and simple to use and built like a tank with high quality components

[meb]

The preamp with boost I use most is the sunnaudio Stage DI-2 Prestine, though I also
have a Red-eye Twin, a Fishman Platinum Pro, and a Venue + others on hand.
I think all would work fine for you. You didn't mention guitar/pickup that you use....that may help break ties. The biggest advantage to me of the larger, full function Fishman PP and Venue
is the inclusion of a phase switch.

[-GF-]

Originally Posted by tinnitus

To be fair, I only commented on what I found in my research of at least a dozen pedals. Thanks for apprising us of these additional options GF.

You're welcome.

Just found another that seems to do that "alway-on EQ + switchable boost" key function - the Foxrox 2Boost.

EDIT: There's soooo many...

Mesa/Boogie Rosette Acoustic DI-Preamp
Xotic RC Booster-V2
MXR CAE BOOST/OVERDRIVE
Walrus Audio EB-10

[Br1ck]

Huge SunnAudio fan. Any of them. The gain stage is very linear and the simple bass and treble controls are effective. Half of the EQ you think you need is due to poor gain stage design. I'd avoid all the pres with the bells and whistles they want you to think you need. I'd add that it starts with your pickup. You are behind the eight ball if the first thing you do is roll all the bass off an amplifier.

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by Daniel Grenier

You might want to consider the TCH Play Acoustic as it can give you all that (plus add many vocal options if you sing). I use the 6 button foot switch to control the boost (on/off) and the other 5 to control phase, chorus, reverb, preset up or down (you can assign buttons to whatever you need). A 3 button foot switch could control your boost and the other 2 to options of your choosing. It’s also got built in bodyrez and eq (which sounds pretty good to me). Worth a look?

I have a PlayAcoustic and have used it for harmonies. How do I figure out how to use it to boost lead work? The owners manual is not very helpful.

[Guitars44me]

I did not find out above what axe and pup you are using, but if it has a K&K the red eye will def bump the tone in a very nice way.

I also like it with my Taylors with the ES 1.3 and the ES2

Super simple, and not likely to get out of whack in the heat of battle. My kind of gear.

Sorry about your duo partner. After literally hundreds of bands, I have played solo for the last 30 years ! No one ever leaves the band!!!

Cheers

Paul

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

...

Sorry about your duo partner. After literally hundreds of bands, I have played solo for the last 30 years ! No one ever leaves the band!!!

...

And when you're a solo act, it's okay of the drummer tries to sleep with your GF!

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by tinnitus

Hey now! I think we're getting somewhere! I think!

Have you played through one of these? https://www.fire-eye.com/red-eye-1
I have a couple questions.

1.) I need the tone (treble) control to work with boost on or off. Does it do both?

They're independent. The EQ is just what you set it at, doesn't change with any footswitch. Note that it's a very simple EQ, just a treble control. If you are looking for a flexible EQ, this isn't it. It just sort of gives many pickups a bit of a "lift".

2.) Can I use that 1/4" effects loop output for a simple guitar cable output into any old amp (without actually looping), or must I use the XLR output to a mixer or PA? Hoping to have the option.

That should work - as long as plugging into the send doesn't break the circuit - I haven't tried that, but usually it doesn't on most devices I've seen. However, the XLR output is what lets you phantom-power the pedal instead of relying on the battery. This is really meant to be a simple DI, not a boost pedal to add to a signal chain, tho of course you can chains stuff together in all kinds of ways.

[Rudy4]

Why not a L.R. Baggs Venue?