Analog Man Bad Bob Booster

As simple and puristic as it gets, informative one page manual.

Humbuckers and P90's through Hiwatt amp with TAD Tone Bones. This pedal suits my setup gracefully. The Bad Bob is a clean booster with a tad of hair or grip added, which makes it perfect for my needs. I love the way I can dig into the neck pickup with it - and kiss those dull overdrives good-bye.

Looks really well made inside and out.

Never had to deal with them. The discription on the Analog Man page is quite good in comparing the Bad Bob to other well known pedals.

I play in not-clean-anymore-but not-yet-full-tilt territory 85% of the time. Old school Rangemaster-kinda stuff with germaniums colours the tone a bit too much for my tastes while boosters with no attitude at all sometimes need to be turned up too much. The Bad Bob covers a nice field in between those worlds. I am glad I tried one - very musical.

One knob, one footswitch. If you can't figure it out don't chew gum when you walk.

This pedal should come bundled with every tube amp ever sold or, better yet, simply integrated into the amp itself. It's just a clean boost. At parity with the amp volume you get a bigger, fuller BETTER sound on any amp. I never turn mine off. Think your '59 reissue Bassman sounds huge? Add a Bad Bob and get slack-jawed at the difference. Your 65 Deluxe Reverb perfect? Add a Bad Bob and discover real nirvana. This pedal can get LOUD if you turn it up and has some nice hair to it. (Like the review said below, NOT for a digital amp. You can't push a circuit board, you need tubes). Put it in front of a TS-808 (yes it's true bypass) and have the sustain sing for days. Just an absolutely amazing pedal which I can't say enough about. If you have a tube amp, buy one.

This thing is simple, housed in a box an elephant could stomp on. It survived the postal delivery system so it's gotta be solid right? Like I said, mine doesn't get touched much, its on all the time.

Got a question? email Robbie and he'll get back to you in a flash. Fantastic guy.

Been playing for 35 years and I play blues using a strat and 65 deluxe reverb so this pedal is an essential piece of gear for me. Not to mention my gear sounds dead without it. Once you've tried the BB there's no going back. It's as essential as pickups as far as I an tell and as I said before will make ANY tube amp better. No exceptions. If it were lost or stolen I'd buy two new ones in case Robbie gets tired of making them and I'd always have a backup in case the second one got stolen. This has got to be the most underrated pedal on the planet. I'm not going to say how much I'd have paid if the price were higher. Suffice to say I'd get the pedal.

It has only one knob, which raises the volume. Pretty simple.

Here's the thing- I basically bought this pedal for the wrong reason, and I'm writing this review in case anybody else has the same (wrong) idea.

I play bass, and I was looking for a FET pedal that would add some "fat" tube simulation as many pedal-makers claim. I first got an early-model Fulltone Fat-Boost, but I decided it didn't have enough "effect" other than volume boost. Then I read the reviews of the Bad Bob, and decided it must be the real deal.

Well, here's what it does: It gives lots of volume boost, and adds a really annoying-sounding distortion. Not a good, pushing-your-SVT distortion, not a fat sound, just a buzzy and unclear tone. It does not improve when I put it before or after other pedals. I tried it with three different basses and two different solid-state amps.

So, I'm sure this thing is the bee's knees for guitarists with tube amps. It probably does just what they want, and makes their tube amp sound awesome. But for a bassist with a solid-state amp trying to add "fat tube" sound, it's worthless and sounds like crap.
I'm giving it a "5" to split the difference.

Oh, it's very well-made. No worries there.

Analog Mike is a nice guy, I feel that he would take care of anything that might come up.

I'll probably keep buying pedals in the vain hope of not having to lug around an 80-pound tube amp. Oh, well.

This is a simple device. There is only one knob, and it controls the level, essentially a volume knob.

I am using a strat with EMG pickups into a marshall jcm 900 combo. This is a clean boost, so the natural hiss of the amp is accentuated by the effect, but this is to be expected with this kind of effect. Basically, this is a subtle effect that only true tone-heads will appreciate. It is the kind of effect that actually makes me play better because my sound is more dynamic, more full. It is especially great on the low-gain channel. It really allows the tone to come through and the sustain it gives me is ridiculous. Notes just go on forever. On the high-gain channel the effect is less noticable, but that is probably because my amp's high gain channel is incredible on its own.

Mine is still new. If it failed at this point I would be shocked because this is a hand made product produced in the U.S. by people who obviously care about their work and love music. I'm really not worried about it. This ain't a boss for christ's sake.

I haven't had problems yet, which is the true test of customer support, but my limited interactions with these guys over e-mail have been helpful and positive.

I have been playing for 16 years, and have been recording and doing gigs sporadically for 13, but have not made a gear change or added new gear in at least 8 years. I play rock that is colored by blues, funk, and indie influences. This effect will work with any style. I think this effect is great and the best option for what it does. The fat boost by fulltone is also very good, as is the meat by toadworks. With those pedals you have more control because there are tone knobs. The thing is, you will just wind up turning the knobs to one setting and leaving them on an effect like this. With that in mind, this pedal basically does not allow you to screw it up. If you want to spend 40 dollars more to have knobs that you can fiddle with then go with the toadworks pedal, but that might be like paying more per pound for shrimp with the shells on when you can get the peeled one for less. There is no need for me to turn off this effect unless I want crystal clear sound with no gain. I am very pleased with this product. If it made grilled cheese sandwiches and took my dog for a walk I'd give it a 10, but nothing's perfect. 10 is reserved for things like Jimi's intro solo on Power Of Love or the view from Half Dome. As good as this pedal is, I'm not prepared to say there could never be anything better, but if you know what a clean boost does and want that then there is no way you will be disappointed.