The Unsung Heroes of the Pedalboard
Some pedals are glitzy and glamorous—the hot new fuzz, the weird modulation that makes you sound like space lasers, or the reverb that transforms your tone into glittery clouds. These are the headline acts. But then there are the pedals that quietly get on with the job—no drama, just pure function. Boost pedals are a prime example. Often designed to make things just one louder, so you can (as Nigel Tufnel says) push things over the edge of the cliff.
Anything that goes above unity gain can technically be used as a boost, but the aim is more specific than that: it's about cutting through the mix, poking your head above the frequency parapet, and having your spotlight moment heard in full HD glory.
Try doing that with a Muff-style fuzz and you'll struggle—the scooped mids mean you'll have to crank the volume so much that you'll drown out the rest of the band. A pedal with a nice mid-hump can help, but it adds its own color to your tone, which might not be what you're after. Clean boosts are often the go-to when you just want to lift your volume a bit—maybe with a slight presence bump, if you’re feeling spicy.
More Than Just Boost
Another example of something you definitely want on your board is a buffer. Long cable runs and true bypass pedals can sap your tone, dull your highs, and leave everything sounding a bit lifeless. A buffer solves this by preserving your signal—think of it as taking the blanket off your sound and bringing the sparkle back.
Here’s where the Sonicake Super Sonic Master earns its stripes—not only does it deliver that trusty boosty goodness, but it also gives you the option to engage a buffer. It’s a classic case of doing more with less. We all hesitate to dedicate pedalboard space to the so-called "boring" pedals, but when one tiny box handles two essential tasks? That’s a no-brainer, surely.
Boost pedals—and their often overlooked buffer friends—might not be glamorous, but they quietly make everything better.
Subtle? Definitely. Disposable? Never.
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