Dunlop MXR MC-401 Boost/LineDriver

I have been watching reviews about boost pedals for a while. I didn't get how a pedal that just increases volume could have so much influence on the overall sound coming from the amps. I have a couple of pedals that I used for boosting - one is the Seymour Duncan 805 Overdrive, but it colors the sound dramatically, making it mid rangey, and it has a gritty boost. It's like plugging into another channel on the amp. Another pedal I have that I've been using as a boost is my Xotic SP compressor. If you think about it, it can really be a clean boost because it has about +20DB of gain, runs on 18volts, and you can pull the compression completely out of the mix.

But this Dunlop MXR MC-401 Boost/LineDriver is the real deal. My background is semi-pro. I am using this pedal before a Marshall Jube and a Dr. Z Z-Lux, both excellent amps. I think the best way to describe what it does is this - by hitting the front of the amp with more volume, it seems to engage the tubes a certain way to tighten the sound. The sound is more immediate with a tightened bass and a bit of a hollowness, like more clarity. Maybe the hollowness is the buffer cleaning up the line noise. It sounds 'electrified', like the amps are on another level of goodness that I didn't know they could get to at lower volumes at home. I once experienced something like this by overbiasing my tubes in a Fender Vibroverb. The amp sounded like it was sizzling, kind of like Angus Young's sound from the early days through Back in Black. That was right before the tubes melted. The tubes were, in fact, sizzling.

So this pedal really adds some character to your sound without coloring it too much. I do think there is a little bit more hi-end. It makes the sound more hi-fi, more refined. I've been leaving it on all the time instead of using it to boost solos because it sounds that good. And I'm only at 9 o'clock on the dial, maybe adding about 5db. It has made my already great amps sound much better! Also, I use single coil pickups and it's brought a lot of life into them. If you're using single coils, you should get a boost to juice up your sound. The pickups can be heard so much better.