Author: David Aaron Pittman -

Review Title: Noise Booster

Treble boosters aggressively filter the low end and drive amps into higher gain, via a high-mid boost. The effect was favored by the rock guitarists of the mid-late 1960s, who played through the dark, high-powered British amps of the day. As amp design changed, and overdrive pedals became available, treble boosters declined in popularity. This is important to consider, as treble boosters are largely impractical today.
The notable guitarists who've utilized treble boosters (Iommi, Blackmore, May, Gallagher, etc.) were doing so with the aforementioned amplifiers run at concert volume, at a time when PA systems/stage monitoring were primitive in comparison to today. Treble boosters sound much different when they’re not hitting an already compressed signal.
Knowing this, I still spent years scouring the internet for a budget treble booster to satisfy my curiosity. As a huge fan of early hard/heavy rock, I was eager to find out if I could find an application for a treble booster in my rig.
The quality of the enclosure of the pedal is fine, however, this unit is very noisy which worsens as the gain is increased. I have never experienced a pedal this noisy. I don’t know whether this is because of shielding/grounding issues, the pedal being true-bypass, the germanium transistor, or some combination of the three. To facilitate this pedal with a modern amp, you’ll likely need to back off the treble on your amp's tonestack. The pedal does what it is designed to do. Whether you like that sound, or can incorporate it, depends on the individual.
Tonally, it is different in character from an overdrive. There is some similarity to the graininess/sag/compression of a fuzz, but without the low end. There is a switch for full range boost, which also isn’t particularly remarkable. It provides the same tone without the highpass filter.
I can’t compare it to any other treble boosters, as I have never played any others. The reason for my purchase was simply because it is a third of the cost of the treble boosters manufactured by the boutique pedal companies.
I’d neither recommend nor dissuade anyone from buying this pedal, as treble boosters have a niche market and a specific application. If you have a vintage tube amp, and the luxury of not worrying about complaints from neighbors, give it a try. If you are planning to use this pedal at gigs, or are simply bothered by very high signal noise, you’ll need a noise gate.