BBE Boosta Grande

1 knob... you can't screw it up unless you plug it in backwards.

I bought it just for 1 purpose: lead guitar boost. My setup is Telecaster>ernie ball volume>RMC wah>analogman bi-comp>analogman King of Tone>SupaTrem>Orange Rocerverb 50 amp. Effect loop is Eventide Time Factor>BBE Boosta Grande. I tried it as the last pedal in the chain and it added crunch, but not much volume. Then I put it last in the effect loop and Bam! Perfect volume boost without changing my tone, and plenty of headroom. I have been trying other things to boost solo work, but it usually just ended up more gainy and not louder. This does not color the tone at all, very transparent.

It looks as well built as most of my other pedals, I'm not afraid I'll break it.

No experience with them, so I can't comment

I've played guitar for 20 plus years, owned lots of cheap gear and lots of expensive gear. More expensive doesn't always translate to better sound and cheap gear doesn't always suck.
This pedal does what I needed it to do and I'm very pleased with it. I gig all the time and this gives me more control over my volume. It has a permanent place on my pedal board.

very easy.
1 knob.
1 switch.

excellent with a loud clean boost.
doesn't lose the tone of the amp.

very dependable.
housed in a metal chassis.

just got the pedal tonight.
I hope I never have to call them.

I use a Strat with a Blues Junior
and this is a great clean boost pedal.

Check out my YouTube channel to hear it.
guitar62751 is my name.

One knob--turn it up or turn it down; it doesn't get much easier than that...

Here's my signal chain: '05 Gibson Les Paul Classic with a pair of Gibson Burstbucker Pro Humbuckers > Planet Waves Chromatic Pedal Tuner > Morley Lil' Alligator Volume Pedal > BBE Boosta Grande > Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive > Fender Hot Rod Deluxe outiftted with three JJ ECC83S preamp tubes and two JJ 6V6S power tubes. The sound quality of this pedal is awesome. I usually don't have a "crystal clean" sound coming out of my amp at all. My cleanest sounds are always on the verge of break-up (thus the JJ tubes--they make the amp sound warmer overall, and the clean channel has a very nice and bluesy break-up point around 4 or 5 on the volume knob now). When I kick in the Boosta Grande, it causes that clean sound to warm up and thicken up at the same time. Yes, it does boost the volume, but also adds this warm character to it. If I have my Sparkle Drive on and I kick in the Boosta Grande (prior to the Sparkle Drive in the chain), it sounds fantastic! The overdrive from the pedal/amp gets a little hotter with the Boosta Grande engaged (and the volume increases to my liking). Overall a very nice boost/edge/warmth pedal. Sometimes I don't like the way it warms up the sound, and sometimes I do.

No problems as of yet; I have one on my pedal board and don't feel like I need a replacement.

Since I haven't had any issues, I haven't had to contact customer support.

I like to jam out with friends a lot, but I more often play electric for leading worship for the ministry I lead. The style of the music we create when leading the worship ranges from mellow and ambient to very energetic and edgy. I don't really ever go for a distorted rock and roll sound or anything heavier than that. I particularly like the nicely-overdriven and "tasteful" sound of an electric guitar going through a tube amp (with an overdrive pedal in there sometimes). I don't do a whole lot of lead work (as I usually have another guitarist taking care of those duties), so a simple setup is good for me. I've been playing for about 10 years, and you might call me one of those "tone freaks". If it was lost or stolen, I'd probably try to get another one. I really enjoy the way it adds to my tone, which could be described further as: "warm, overdriven, bluesy, thick, etc."... Hats off to BBE!

1 knob, 1 button, stupid simple. Too bad the douche bag sales person at GC isn't familiar enough with the product that his store sells (he actually asked me what this pedal did!!!) but that is another rant...

In a single word... AWESOME. I wanted something to juice up my signal & slam the front end of my AC30, and this thing was the ticket. I have it set around 7 (2:00) for just a slight boost which sends the AC30 into chime heaven. Along with my DredgeTone pedal, I get 3 different versions of AC30, from clean to chime to ripping controllable feedback. Though I almost bought the BBE treble booster instead, I am SO happy with the way this has worked out.

Seems solidly built but will have to let time tell... Having owned a Sonic Maximizer back in the "rack daze", I never had an issue with it so I expect the same quality from this pedal.

Yet to have to deal with BBE

Again, was looking for something to just push my AC30 into chime/grind territory & this little guy was the ticket. With so many choices out there, the BBE was in the same league as other "boutique" pedals costing more than twice as much. Would have liked to try the Keeley Katana just to compare (as I have heard/read some really great things about it). But for the performance and the money, the BBE is just AWESOME.

Easy easy easy to get a good sound...Uh..I would say this is essentially transparent....so..the impact is not getting a "good" sound..rather how "thick" you want your sound... and...One knob. Hellooooooo

Running this into a Vox Clyde-> Keeley TS9->Voodoo Lab Preamp->BBE Maxcom->Digitech GSP2101 (effects only)->Carvin T100 poweramp-> (2)1-12" closed back cabs with Eminence Cannabis Rex speakers. The Voodoo preamp has no effects loop...so I run this thru the front end...yes, it essentially just adds gain and a bit of volume on the distortion channels...altho' the cleaner stuff is a HUGE volume boost. The preamp has 3 channels.Clean/rhythm/lead. The rhythm and lead channels are very very close, so I set the lead channel at a higher volume and set my Boosta Grande and TS9 as auxiliary levels of extra gain and fatness.
This pedal is transparent. It DOES add balls,bottom end..some volume and I guess an extra level of perceived gain thru the distortion channels..but really..it just seems to make it thicker...fuller.But with no loss of detail. It is pretty quiet...true bypass for sure. Made in China...found this out after the fact...but hey. It was a cheap pedal.I try to buy domestic stuff only...but this one snuck in..lol. It is my 5th channel for my preamp. I dunno what else I could ask for from this simple device. Comes with adapter. Solid 9.

Seems well built...Yeah..I would go w/o a backup.I don't "need" this pedal for my rig..it just helps a bit to go over the top for metal stuff..and it is easy to hit a button to back off on tone when I need to...
Solid button,steel casing..hope the insides are not rotten...lol

No idea.....

I play all sortsa crap... fusion-y metal type music...Shred..that sorta thing. Perfect fit...but not vital to my sound. Been playing over 20 years..barf...Les Pauls,Strats,Teles,etc...Not sure I would buy it again for *THIS* rig...if I had only a clean/dirty channel and an effects loop...and could get a more comprehensive dedicated volume boost...it would be invaluable to me...but as it stands...I could certainly get by w/o it. It does help me make music...I utilize it for different shades..but it really does not affect my tone much...but it is NOT supposed to!

One knob. It doesn't get any simpler.

I use this pedal as a transparent overdrive to get more distortion out of my Fender Blues Jr. Full on, it pushes my amp from gritty blues to about Black Sabbath-level hard rock. Before I got it I had a Digitech Bad Monkey, which is a very good overdrive, but like every other overdrive it screws with your tone. So I got this. It sounds great because it doesn't sound like anything. It stays completely out of the picture tonewise, adding only a small amount of noise.

I'm can't be entirely sure about its reliability, as I've only had it for a month or so. However, I've heard that BBE products are just about bulletproof, and it certainly has a rock solid casing. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Haven't dealt with them.

This is a great product for me. It pushes my amp beautifully without altering my tone at all. I haven't been playing long, so I just have one electric that I use, a G&L Tribute Legacy which goes through my tube amp. However, I'm sure the Boosta Grande would work with virtually any set up.

This pedal cannot possibly be easier to use. It has one knob to pump up the volume. It came with a manual, but I didn't bother to look at it. I'm giving it a 9 because a person that has never used a pedal will still probably have to take 1 minute to look at the manual.

I am of the opinion that no effects pedal is completely transparent. Even with the effect turned off, there is usually some alteration of tone. That said, this pedal is about 98% transparent. the other 2% adds a slight fatness to the tone, which I find quite pleasing. I use a Fender 65 Twin re-issue. I don't use distortion of any sort - the tone I seek is exclusively clean. My latest toy is an Ibanez AS73 modded with '59 Seymour Duncans. This pedal does EXACTLY what I expect it to do - it boosts my volume when I want to take a solo. With the pedal turned on, I cannot detect any additional noise.

It's new, so I can't say. BBE apparently has confidence in their product's reliability - it's got a 5 year warranty.

I've been playing about 30 years, and I've always sought the elusive perfect clean tone. I can pretty much get the best clean tone out of any given guitar along with my Twin Reverb. I give this product a solid 9. I don't give 10s for a product because perfection cannot be achieved. However, in this case, a high level of excellence has most definitely been achieved. I've not tried other boost pedals. I don't need to. This one is only 80 bucks - most of the others are more expensive.

Very simple to use, 1 knob, 1 footswitch.

For what this pedal is made to do, it does an excellent job. Completely transparent clean boost. My setup is Am strat->Marshall DSL100 with the Boosta grande in the effects loop. I bought this pedal to give me the volume boost i needed to switch from rhythm levels to lead levels, but without altering my tone. It achieves this easily. It has heaps of boost to spare, i leave the knob at about 12 o'clock, and that is plenty for me.
I should add that when using this pedal with your amps distortion channel, it should be used in the effects loop. If you use it in front of your amp, you will simply saturate your distortion more, will little to no volume increase.
My only gripe with the pedal (hence the 9) is that when switching it on there is a noticeable "pop", which of course during a gig is no prob as this noise is drowned out by the rest of the band, but at home by yourself it can be a little annoying.

I have gigged and rehearsed with it for around 3 months now and it hasn't missed a beat. I suppose time will tell, but i cant see it breaking any time soon. Don't use a backup cos i not made of money. I give it an 8 because i do not like the look of the plastic battery cover, it could be broken easily. This is not an issue for me as i use a DC brick to power my pedals, but it may be a concern to others.

Never dealt with them.

This pedal is useful for any style of music where you need a volume boost to play leads. I play in an experimental/rock/funky sorta original band, and it serves me very well. For the money (very well priced I think) this is an awesome pedal, which does just what the box says it will do. If it were stolen, i would not hesitate to buy it again.

Mmmmmmmmm One Knob, what do you want it to do? Either Boost your lead to cut the mix, or boost your clean to balance your board!

Outstanding! The boost is transparent, no additional color, trble, etc.

No problem expected. I've own another BBE product and have had no problems.
Just wish it wasn't made in China. Just for that reason I'm only giving it an 8

N/A

What a great pedal! My set up runs like this: Korg tuner, Zen Drive, Keeley Compressor, Boosta Grande, Hoochie Mama, (what a sweet OD), AD9 Delay, Marshall Vibe ... into either my '69 Dual Showman or 30 watt Fargen Blackbird.
Using the Boosta Grande as a clean boost,(leaving it on), I can then balance the overall output volume, then by kicking it off when lighting up the Hoochie Mama, I get the OD sound when needed yet my overall level is balanced.
Running the Boosta at max, the volume is level with my OD fully kicked in, then I just work the volume on my Strat.
Also one other nice note: The bright blue light is a plus when engaged. Just a great flexible pedal no matter how you use it. For me it's staying on the board!

If you know how to use it you'll achieve exactly what you're looking for.

To get a VOLUME boost it should be placed after any other pedals (distortion for example), if using the amp's distortion it should go into the amp's effect loop. To get a GAIN boost you should place it before the desired effect and it'll make it sound more robust and you'll get some great sustain. Whichever way you decide to use it won't color your sound at all.

Would not go on a gig without it.

Never dealt with them.

I play in a classic rock band which requires a lot of soloing and this pedal let's me cut through the mix in a heartbeat. Paid about $80.00 and it's worth every penny.

It doesnt get much easier than this. One knob controls clean gain from an addtional +2db to + 20db. One input/one output. An on/off switch. Any questions so far??

I have it running through the effects loop of what I consider to be an under-powered amp. It adds a bit of "fullness" to the amp's eq which I like. More importantly it provides exactly what I hoped for...lots and lots and lots of clean, clear volume. It doesnt mess with my pickups tone at all. No noise at all even at the peaked gain. Nice super bright blue LED effect-on light. Noiseless heavy duty on/off switch. Metal casing. Comes w/a 9v adaptor or runs 300 hours on a 9v battery. Only weak spot could be the battery door which is a little flimsy.

Comes with a 5 year warranty. No worries here.

No experience w/BBE but they have been around a long time. They never responded to an email I sent them but some companies prefer a phone call.

An excellent device. C'mon all this for around $80.00 new?? Its a bargin. Its like BBE's ad says, "Boutique doesnt mean expensive". Ive been a loyal Boss user for decades but Im admittedly tired of their stuff. I intend to check out some of the other BBE products as a result of how good this is.

Very easy to use! Set the knob for the amount of boost and you're done! It even comes with a free power cord! Nice.

Sounds great if you put it in the right place. Some of the other reviewers have said that it has to go through an effects loop for it to actually boost your volume. WRONG!!! I have a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Re-Issue that doesn't have an effects loop and it works great! I plug my Fender American Strat into a Digitech Bad Monkey (killer O/D Pedal!) then into a Digitech Chorus Factory (another killer pedal!) then into the Boosta Grande, and finally into a BBE Sonic Stomp! It doesn't matter if I have my other effects on or off, when I need a volume boost for solos I just step on the footswitch and BANG! Instant volume boost without any coloring of my sound. And with this amp anything that colors your sound is really amplified!

I've only had it a few months but it seems very well built and should last a long time from what I can tell.

Haven't needed them yet. I've heard good things though so that's a plus.

I play a lot of different styles and have been banging away on guitar for about 35 years! Yikes! If it came up missing, I would buy one as soon as I could get to a music store! It does exactly what it's supposed to do, IF YOU USE IT CORRECTLY! If you put it in front of a distortion box for example you'll only get a gain boost, not a volume boost! I like it, I like it a lot!!!

Well, it has an input, output, LED light, one volume knob and on/off switch...in my opinion, it was ridiculously easy to get a good sound out of it. I bought a demo model from guitar center, so I didn't get a manual, and I don't forsee any upgrades needed for this pedal. Overall, I think that this pedal is built very well!

I bought this pedal simply to match the output of my Fender Deluxe Player's Stratocaster to my Epiphone Les Paul Standard, as I didn't really feel like turning around and re-adjusting my amp every time I change guitars onstage. I'm using this to balance the output between single coils and humbuckers. My effects are a Boss Tuner>BBE Boosta Grande>Dunlop Crybaby 535Q Wah>Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Chorus>Boss Noise Suppressor>Line 6 DL4>Ernie Ball Passive Volume Pedal>Mesa/Boogie Nomad 100 (12AX7 & EL34)>Mesa/Boogie Traditional Rectifier 4x12.

The pedal is never noisy when I click it on or off, and gives me all the clean volume boost I need, which is exactly what I bought it for. It doesn't color my sound at all, and as far as I can tell, it has true bypass.

I can and do depend on this pedal, and while playing gigs I do use it without a backup.

I've never delat with the company, so I can't offer any opinions on their customer service.

I don't see any need to have this pedal upgraded.

I've played mostly hard rock, blues, gospel and reggae for about four years. It matches what I do very well, and I would buy it again if it were stolen. I love that it has an LED light to tell me when it's on, and it's about the average price for an overdrive/boost pedal. Overall, I like it.

To the guy that give a 5 and disappointed - here's what you need to do:

if you want more VOLUME on the distortion channel you have to put this boost pedal in the effect loop of your amp,
here is the rule - if you want more GAIN from a distorion the booster need to be before the distotion - if you want more VOLUME it need to be after the distorion!! simple as that..
if you don't have effect loop in your amp you cannot do it - use a distorion pedal and put the booster after it. or get an amp with effect loop and then use the distorion channel.
offcourse that in your case you'll gey more GAIN !!!

but don't say that a product is not good because you don't know how to use it properly...
hope it helps.

Couldn't be much easier--one knob!

I am very disappointed in this pedal. After reading glowing reviews here and generally hearing favorable comments about this boost pedal, I thought I'd FINALLY find a pedal that simply increases the volume, nothing more nothing less. Well, it does that on the clean channel, so for that channel, it gets a 10. However, on the gain channel, even with the gain only at 9 to 10:00 or so, it really adds very little if any volume. What it does add is GAIN, and plenty of it. This was not what I was looking for, but that's all this pedal really does. So on the amp's gain channel, it gets a big fat ZERO.

I'm surprised to see so many comments below that it's great for soloing on the gain channel. All it really does is send your guitar into higher gain territory with lots of (undesirable) feedback.

VERY disappointed! Thankfully I got it from Musicians Friend, so I'll get my eighty bucks back.

Seems very solid; 5 year warranty.

No idea. BBE does have a good repuation though.

Well, it didn't do what it says it'll do (or only halfway does, ie on the clean channel) so I can't give it a very good rating here. It states it provides up to 20db of CLEAN boost; not to my ears it doesn't. :(

Does anyone know of a pedal that is simply nothing more than bumping up the volume of the lead channel so that your solos will jump out more? I haven't been able to find anything, and I usually like to keep my guitar volume max'd or nearly max'd so that's not an option.

Very easy to use, plug it and activate when desire.

I bought this unit(Barcus Berri BB Boosta Grande) for adding a little boost on my overdrive channel who mainly is my rytmh channel(Marshall JCM 600).
The sound is amazing.
This unit when activate allow me to play solo like Scorpions, Kiss, Van Halen,Cheap Trick, Streetheart, New England... and so on.
When I deactivate it, I still maintain my cool Marshall tone.
It is a true-bypass pedal.

Been playing Rock since 1978, and with the help of some guitar amplifiers forums and harmony central, I have made a great, great choice.
At first I was going for a mod, but you just need to boost the signal with the BB Grande Booster.
My main guitar is Epiphone with GIBSON 57 pickups, and 57+ for the bridge.
It sounds great with the new pickups, before it sounded ok, but now along the Marshall JCM 600 and the BB Booster, i'm in heaven.
Also got a slap back echo.

Marshall and Gibson is a winning duo for rock.

One knob and the true-bypass switch. Battery and AC adaptor included.

It's a clean boost that's perfect for raising your volume to solo levels. It doesn't add any color, though pushing the amp (and the speaker) harder will make your overall sound a bit fatter.

I haven't really read the reviews below, but I've got a couple things that might be worth mentioning. You may get strange results depending on what you use this with... I once set my rig with the Boosta Grande, a Tubeworks Real Tube, and a BBE Crusher. No pedals on, the boost was fine. With the Crusher on, the boost was fine. With the Real Tube on, HOLY CRAP! It was WAY too loud! Yeah, I bet some of you are thinking that there's no such thing as too loud, but it was two or three times louder than the other two scenarios. That's just no good, especially since the Real Tube was my light crunch sound, and the Crusher was for the high gain solos. I use it now with a BBE Green Screamer and the Crusher (the BBE stuff is really fantastic - if I was famous, I'd endorse them), and it's perfect. I think that since the Real Tube uses a *ahem* tube, it pushed too much power into the amp. Test out this pedal with other 12AX7 (or in my case, 12AU7) pedals before you commit.

Another possible snag is that it doesn't really boost a solid state amp if you're using other overdrive/distortion pedals with it. At rehearsal, my Peavey Ranger 212 (modded to sound like a heavenly Twin Reverb) had a problem, and I had to borrow my friend's Roland Blues Cube. Great sound, but the Boosta wouldn't boosta-nough. Clean it was fine, but nothin' doin' with my other pedals. I guess this thing wants a tube amp. Fine by me - all of my amps are blessed with tubes.

Regularly, this is a 10 (hey, it's simple, but it does what you want it to). I'll mark it a 9 because of the above issues, but those could have just been anomalies.

I've stomped on BBE stuff for months, and these things hold up like champs.

I once had a problem with an AC adaptor - very friendly and fast service.

I play alternative, prog, classic rock, and what I sometimes pretend is jazz. This thing is perfect for any style that makes use of guitar solos. Remember, this thing loves tubes!

One knob! For my style - I'm setting the dial between 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock max.

I'm using less gain on my main amp since incorporating this pedal.

I was looking to get more drive with sustain, so I could back off of using pre-amp gain - I'm using this pedal as a non-coloring overdrive.

I'm still experimenting with my effects chain- which are Boosta Grande >MXR (EVH) Flanger>MXR Block logo phase 90>EQ> BBE Sonic Stomp
Echoplex ep-3 for delay post amp signal.

I use a variety of amps Marshall,Ampeg,Laney etc.(all tube)

I think this pedal actually helps bring some underlying harmonic overtones out ( in a good way )

I have owned a BBE Sonic Stomp for a year
Very solid pedals!

For 79.99 this does everything as advertised - nothing more and nothing less.

I'm sick of BOSS pedals that continue to screw with my tone!!!

I'm getting closer to the tone I'm looking for(early VH) with a basic arsenal of quality MXR and BBE pedals.

I've been playing since 1982 - This is one of the better NEW pedals out there!

I guess it could be easier if there wasn't even a volume knob, but that would suck...

This is why I'm writing this review. I own a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster (crap), a Fulltone Fat-Boost (great, for it's purpose) and this as far as boosts go, and let me tell you, THIS IS THE BEST CLEAN BOOST OF THE THREE BY FAR! I like and use the Fat-Boost, but it's not a very transparent clean boost, it's a very ful sounding boost that adds some grit, so I love it for that, but it's not a great clean boost, the BBE is, so figure out what you need.

Haven't had a problem yet, except the latch on the battery compartment broke right when I first got it... I don't reall care though, that's not exactly a reliability issue.

Haven't dealt with them.

THIS IS A FANTASTIC, LOW BACKGROUND NOISE, TRANSPARENT CLEAN BOOST!!!! So if that's what you're looking for, try one out. I use mine a lot.

This pedal is a no-brainer to use: simply set the volume knob to anything between 1Db-20Db gain, and, whenever you need to give your axe a volume boost, you engage the stomp-box style effect-on switch.

You get the volume gain you want without any distortion or coloration of your tone. When the pedal is not engaged, its true-bypass circuitry ensures that your tone is not effected. I put the Boosta Grande right before my BBE Sound Sonic Stomp pedal in a signal chain that includes a small brigade of Schecter Stiletto basses, a Line Bass Floor POD, an Ashdown MAG 300H amp head, and SWR WorkingPro 1X15 and 2X10 cabs.

This thing is built like a tank--no need to have a backup for it, as far as I can see--and, with the AC power adapter that comes boxed with it, I never have to worry about dead batteries.

I've never had the need to 'test' BBE Sound's support. The way this pedal is built, I don't think I ever will!

I play classic rock and some contemporary rock; and I've been doing so for a number of years now. I needed a pedal that would enable me quickly to boost the volume on my bass for a given song (or a given section of a particular song) and free me from relying on my amp for that. This bad boy gives me just that and, better yet, it entirely preserves my tone.

There is only one control -- volume -- and in this case that's all you need.

This pedal offers a boost similar in quality to the Fulltone Fat-Boost, at roughly half the price. Very low noise, bypass works flawlessly, and no coloration of your sound. The battery is very easily replaced by lifting a plate on the bottom, there's no need for a time-consuming removal of four screws, etc.

It also works very well with the BBE Sonic Stomp pedal, which can add a nice sparkle on top of the sound.

So far so good.

Haven't deal with BBE.

The Boosta Grande is almost certainly the best clean boost pedal for under $200. If money is no object, the $210 Durham Sex Drive offers more mojo than the Boosta Grande. So if you're a normal person, the Boosta Grande will fill the bill, if you're a tone fanatic get the Sex Drive.

dead easy

it works as a boost and helps out on my a/b box,there is no volume loss when i turn on both amps. i use it with a vox ad50vt,and/or a peavey classic 50 4 10,a vox ac15.this pedal is quiet,i run it half way up

i depend on it for the extra bit of sound it gives on both my clean and over drive sounds.it is truly tuff.if i thought i needed a backup i would have gotten something else.

i dont expect to need them

this works with all the music i play.i have been playing for over 30 years.i would buy another if it became necesary.i love what it does ,i hate the battery door,and the crappy stick on pad it had on the bottom.one knob one switch, how cool.i got it to try, i kept it cuz it works.

Super Easy

Fantastic Sound. Orig. Purchased b/c of Guitar Player's Editor's Pick. They were dead on. A must have for tone freaks. I am running it in a variety of set-ups.

For electric I run a early mod. PRS<Ernie Ball Jr. Vol Pedal<Dunlop Crybaby wah<Boss Tu-2 tuner<Boss Cs-2 Comp.(The good one says Monte)<Keeley mod. Vintage Tube-screamer<Elect Harm small-clone chorus<Digetech Digiverb<Boss dd-5 w external tap tempo<B.B.E. boosta grande<modded Peavey classic 30 amp. This is held together in a Boss Bc-60 pedal case.

For acoustic I run a similar setup but at the end of the chain, after the boosta grande, I run an L.R. Baggs Para D.I. box. into the P.A.

I have used the pedal in both electric and acoustic live settings. Orig. I wanted just a signal boost at the end of my chain b/c of all the pedals. It does a great job of that, but it also seems to add warmth and overall quality to my tone. It's kind of like when I figured out what compression can do when used correctly. It was a tonal break through. I feel this is the same kind of thing.

The mandolin player in our group runs a Fishman bridge mounted pickup, into his Baggs Para Di, into the board. His tone is a little weak, so I tried the boosta grande on his unit as well. It completely changed his thin sound to a warm tube preamp kind of tone.

The box itself is Built like a tank. The housing width is a little larger than I anticipated, but no big deal.

The rubber pad on the back of the pedal came off, after less than a day. It was held by this resin that I am still trying to clean off. That's the reason for the 8. The jacks, gain knob, housing, etc. are all top notch.

I'm a 27 year old full time musician. I play a couple of roles to support my family. I'm a resident guitarist at a large church in B'ham Al. I play with a well known Christian staff writer. I also play in a New grass band. I run a small music school. I do a recording session every other month or so. I've been playing 18 years. I play electric and acoustic guitar, dobro, mandolin, and lap steel. Favorite players are Eric Johnson, Dan Huff, Lincoln Brewster, Brad Paisley, Chris Thile, Monte Montgomery, Sean Watkins, Bryan Sutton.

Check out my website's www.griffinstrings.com & www.myspace.com/actofcongress

I have really been searching the last few years for good professional tone on a budget. That has led me to a host of pedal, amp, and pedal chain combinations. The Boosta grande is a great addition to a variety of applications. I compared it with the Seymore Duncan model. I have no regrets.

Turn it up more clean gain turn it down less. Pretty simple!

This does what it is supposed to. Nice clean boost when you need it! I am currently running it Chafin custom volante (Primary axe -- bye the way an awsome axe if you have not checked one of these out Ben Chafin is doing some amazing things for under $1000) / epipone dot / Gibson LP --> Boosta Grande --> Qtron --> Cry baby wah --> Tube screamer x2 --> sonic stomp --> fender blues man. Mostly I play Jazzy Garcia type stuff. In the vain of Jazz is dead. This thing sounds great no noise. I would be lost without it. I liken it to Emeril --> let's kick it up a knotch --> Bam!!

Built like a tank, not one of the current little tanks I'm talking WWII sherman.

Good price nice pedal! One of the most cherished pedals on my board. Never knew I needed it until I got it and now I can't live without it. In a word awesome! I would by another in a minute just give me the. Hopefully I won't need to. My only complaint is the battery door is in the wrong spot and a little cheesy.

Easy to integrate into your setup, put it last in line before your amp. Has some nice features like true bypass, high input impedence, included AC adaptor (you get a battery too), easy access battery compartment, nice looking box as well. Feels solid. Put it on 10 and leave it there.

I run it into a single channel class A tube amp. At lower settings (25% volume) it overdrives the amp nicely for recording, like Angus on steroids. At high volume (WFO) it makes for a perfect lead tone that's not only a little louder but also fuller and more ballsy. It doesn't color your tone at all. I run the Boosta at full gain (10) always. I kinda wish it had a little more boost although 20 db is nothing to balk at. It has a clean, ballsy sound and I love it. I used the MXR Micro Amp for a while and thought the sound of it was a bit cloudy. This sounds clearer and seems much more solidly built thatn the MXR (it's about the same price too) although I think the MXR had more gain. I'm sold on the BBE though; it's a keeper.

This is my first BBE product (I don't need a Sonic Maximizer - my f*cking right hand is a sonic maximizer!!). I've gone through 2 Micro Amps 'cause the switches suck. The Boosta seems very well built and I applaud BBE for getting it right!

Never dealt with them.

This is a great sounding and fuctional box and meets all of my needs for a clean boost - nice features, well built, clean full sound, good price. I don't do boutique; I need something affordable and easy to get if (more like when) I need a replacement. Highly recommended.

plug n play for sure, gain knob... adjust to taste

I play a large variety of styles, but my primary is progressive/power metal. The clean boost set to 4 (or aroudn 8db) really tightens up my amps. My main amp is a Mesa DC-5, the Boosta really helped give the DC-5 a nice tight higain rhythm tone. It worked really well with my Marshall Jtm30 as well, the only thing I put in front of that it didn't do so well was any of my LIne 6 gear (Old POD, XT, Flextone II+) in these digital amps it really made the digitalness of them present, (bad thing).

All in all I htink it is a great pedal for analog gear, but wouldn't recomend it for modelling gear.

built solid, came with power supple... but jsut got it so we will see.

Itdoes what it says, boosts the signal, very transparent, a good pedal for boosting your amps natural tone.

This pedal is very easy, as easy as it gets. in & out Jacks, Gainknob. there is a manual but you dont need it. plug n play.

I'm using the BBE Boosta Grande with:
Voodoo Lab Proctavia, Barber Direct Drive, Homebrew Treble Boost & Dunlop Wah.
my Guitars are:
Heritage H140cm (les paul)with humbuckers
50's reissue strat with single coils.
going into an early 70's Carlsbro 60w tube amp (like plexi) non master Vol. and a matching 4x12 vintage Carlsbro Cab with Celestions.
this usnit is not at all noisy. boosts the signal up to 20db.CLEAN.
when used in conjuction with the Barber DD & the treble booster, the results are sonic bliss. i use the treble booster to increase the gain on my signal, then the barber for various overdrive sounds. when i engage the BBE, it gives me great, and i mean great, lead tones. nice and liquid. if like your tone with your current Guitar & pedals, it will simply amplify that sound and push your amp into saturation. with the wah pedal engaged too, it sounds incredible. seems to work well in any position but obviously you may want this unit after your OD pedals. i also tried it on it's own and it acted kind of like the treble boost but with less grit - great if you need little effects and just want to push the front end of your non master amp and keep just the tone of guitar.
from reading up on BBE it seems they take great care when designing there products. it has true bypass too, which i think is a must, and great selling point in the pedal market today. i put my wah in an effects loop because i only want true BP in my chain. no biggie, just another small button to press. i like this because, when you press the wah to switch it on, its starts up in the hight band frequencies, i prefer it cocked back so you can swell up instead of down at the beggining of a lead passage.

this unit is solid metal ali casing. very rugged. metal knob too. bit like a telecaster vol knob. sturdy as hell. i expect it to hold up for a long time. only the switch could go in the fore-seeable future. i would use it without a backup as i can always use the barber as a boost, even though it isnt clean boost. i have this thing set at about between 12.00 noon and 3 O'clock.

i bought new off ebay from a dealer. great service. dunno about BBE themselves.so i cant really give an opinion on them. not a multi-million cash sucking corporation, so they may be alright.

i play rock, funk, blues, punk rock styles, anything really. been going for about 10 years now. play in 2 bands - one cover band, the other an original 5 piece. i own qiute a few pedals, and mostly use the ones that arnt on my board fir recording purposes. (VL Bosstone - Maxon Phase tone - Analog Chrorus) i have reverb on my Amp (Hammond reverb) i would def buy this again. no bullshit 20db of clean boost at a good price. i love the robustness of this pedal, the knobs turn nice, butter-like, and on inspection inside its very neat and tidy. 3DPT switch, good componants. i'm thinking of getting a Sonic Maximizer (Sonic Stomp) as i think that would be a great addition to my set up. makes live playing sound like a studio recording. i compared this to lots of boutique style boosters out there, from all over the globe. i was really interested in the Barber Launch pad, as that doubles up as a DI box, and a phase corrector too. in the end, the price of this unit was the deciding factor, and i didnt want to pay British import prices on the Barber. this thing def helps me make music. if you have good set up, and just want to increase the vol for leads without changing the sound of the signal - this is the pedal. I've also been tempted to get one of there compressors, but i think if i get the sonic stomp, there may no need for the Comp, unless Comp is really your bag. i think the design of the pedal (looks) is also quite cool. also, in the pic of the unit, it looks white, but reality it's actually a cream colour. dont mean shit really but i thought it looked better in reality. try it. does what it says on the tin.