Carl Martin Boost Kick

Very stright forward, labeling might confuse, but just an idiot wouldn't get it.

basically all sound you are getting from it is as good as your other gear, it does not dicrease sound quality, just boosts your signal (and changes equalisation)

I'm using it with Orange AD30HTC and TT15HTC, it's just the right kick the valves deserve.

It does just what would you expect from boost with equalizer. Equalisation is not very strong just few Dbs (don't know the number) but it is defenietly less than any equalizer I have ever met... However, this is mostly enough.

Problem is true bypass... which is not really true bypass... it seems to be self-oscillating under certain settings...
The problem might be on my side - wrong grounding, but still this can't be true bypass!! It is the only pedal I've ever had doing such crap, and I used number of pedals...

You can see demonstration of this problem on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-VXIQT9Mc0

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Rating for this category:
when it's on: 10
when it's off: 0

built like a tank...

We will see, I'm about to return the bloody thing

It is brilliant boost

my problem might be solved by beter grounding or whatever
but when I buy true bypass, I want true bypass!!

Before I used Electro-Harmonix LPB1 which is not true bypass as well, it was "normall" You wouldn't recognize the sound with the boost pluged (off) and without unless you know the guitar and amp very well, certainly it wasn't entirely new instrument like is the carl martin (you would be able to play some bloody electro on that). However while switched on carl martin rules!

I wish it had true bypass

I have been playing for couple of years both guitar and bass, last few years using only Orange A class valve amps (or Ampeg for bass), my guitar is Framus AK1974, bass Fender Jazzbass. Used number of effects including: Ibanez, Electro-Harmonix, T.C. Electronics, Carl Martin, Dunlop, Boss and so on...

its simple,volume treble middle bass.....and a button u stand on too make i work...simple

it allows u boost ur volume without changing ur tonal character(transparency i think is the correct term).It pushes ur tubes beautifuly and allows u too cut through any live mix...i use it afer a tubescreamer running into a bluesdriver,beautifull i tell u

it hasnt givin me any problems and ive bn playing live with it for year now,the paint is coming off but i dnt think that really counts against it.i think that knobs might break after a while but i mean its fairly priced soo i cant complain

dunno never had to contact them

its a great pedal for lead guitarists who need to cut through a loud band..i think i will own a few of these pedals in my life..another great pedal from carl martin...

This is my second review.
I am using the Boost Kick with new gear this time.

I am using my Fender J-Bass into the BOOST KICK. I then split the signal from the output of the BK into Two chanels. The first runs into the Comptortion(Tech 21). The second runs into the Bass compactor(Tech 21).
I run the two individual signals into a stereo power amp. Channel 1(COMPTORTION)) and 2(COMPACTOR) are running two EVM's in a nice cab that I built.

Looks better than a BOSS.

I bought this to replace the BOSS GEB7.
This sounds so much better than the GEB7 split into the Tech 21 pedals. The GEB7 sounds very nasal in comparison to the BOOST KICK.
Using the BK in front of the tech 21 pedals REALY brings out the magic.
I give this a 9 because it is the only thing in the same class as the Fodera Model 2000 preamp pedal.

The controls are very basic but are also very powerful. Very simple to dial in several unique boosts. 4 knobs, 1 switch, job done.

I run a PRS singlecut into my effects board, out in to a Laney TT-20. I use decent quality gear, and the main thing for me about this pedal is that it doesn't colour my sound beyond all recognition. Don't get me wrong, I love my sound without this pedal, but slapping it on when soloing really brings things alive. It's great for pushing cleans a tad harder, but it really sings when pushing a tube amp. It's sometimes tempting to leave it on all the time, but the effect when used sparingly is startling every time. I love it, and would never be without it.

Solidly built, no problems. Battery rattles ever so slightly, but I use a DC jack instead anyway, so that doesn't matter. All high quality components. It's also very quiet.

n/a

I play mostly heavy stoner rock, but I have the odd clean plonk too to keep the missus happy. If I lost this pedal, I'd be on the phone to my dealer in 10 minutes to order a new one. I just cannot rate this highly enough. Sure, in reality all it is is a booster, but every time I break into a solo, or a chunky rhythm, I kick this puppy in and the hairs on the back of my neck start the Riverdance. It's so difficult to describe, the fact that your sound is barely touched, but it's louder, meatier and an overall unique experience in a box. I'm picky though; If this gringo has bass and treble controls (particularly treble) then this would be my favorite pedal ever. As it is, that title is currently held by my Voodoo Lab Fuzz.

Buy one. Today.

Sounded perfect right out of the box.
No manual necessary.

Fender Jazz bass, into the boost kick, into a Demeter preamp, into a Crown power amp. Good speakers too.
The Demeter preamp has a great solid tone-the best. I needed a boost to icrease the gain to give me some clipping and some more EQ control. The Demeter has a warm clean sound with a limited EQ. The Boost Kick can overdrive the front end of your amp, Mad Ballzy Clipping sound. The EQ on the pedal can make up for the limited range of the Demeter EQ. I have to give it a 10 for sound because it's transparent.
Look out Geedy!

Looks stong as hell.

I play Prog-rock I guess... This is perfect for a boost stong enough to overdrive your tube amp and boost out frequency that are lost. I have owned everthing. This just is the perfect pedal for a kick in the Ball sac...

Very easy. Just the punch, attack, edge and level buttons and you get all the sound you can dial in.

In regard to transparancy, its excellent. It has a true by-pass and the transition of the parameter you dial in are very smooth. You can't get a bad sound out of it. I play rock and blues mainly and it suits my style very much. My Tube screamer TS-9 is now put aside in my drawer.Its strong point is that it can vary the tone character of my guitar, including the les paul, the tele, strat and the Ibanze JM1000. After all, it is almost free of noise, transparant,juicy and toneful. I am 200% satisfied with it.

I used it for a year and encountered no problem. I think it must be good because the electronic components inside are the best I've seen so far in my stompboxes collection.

Not sure. I never come across this situation. But they have a website, though not very detail.

I have been playing guitar for over 20 years and have poccessed over 40 stompboxes through these years. This one sure among the top 3. I deduct one point from it for missing an easy assess chamber for batteries replacement. Using screwdriver everytime is so inconvenient for me.

This pedal - which in my case is stock - is basically a three-band booster with four buttons: Punch (low), Edge (mid), Attack (high) and a boost-level control. The manual explains the meaning of Punch, Edge and Attack, so getting started is easy.

I play a stock Tele Thinline 1974 reissue and a standard strat with Duncans and DiMarzios. Pedal board: CryBaby wah-wah> MXR Super Comp > Gollmer "The Blues" Overdrive > Boss DS1 distortion > T-Rex Alberta Overdrive > Carl Martin Boost Kick > Carl Martin Delayla analogue delay > Line 6 MM Modulation Modeller. My amp is a Sovtek MIG 100H head played through a Marshall Valvestate 4x12" cab.

The Boost Kick is very quiet. I actually don't know if it's true bypassed, but there is no detectable colouring of the original tone, when it's not in use.
And it sounds excellent. The three filters seem to operate over a large band width, because the cut/boost effects in all three areas are very soft and smooth. It's temping to play with the effect on all the time even with the boost level set to match your original signal, because tones seem better, more lively, and more dynamic. The only potential problem is getting a sound that will work well for boosting clean tones as well as distorted ones. It has taken a bit of adjustment on the distortion pedals' tone controls to get all the sounds going.
As far as emulating other players' tones: For a pedal that is just a warm sounding EQ/booster, you can get a large number of tones, from a dark, jazzy texture through a Marvin-esque soft twang to Nile Rodgers' raspy, trebly strat rhythms.

The knobs are a little heavy to move around, but the casing and switching seem solid enough.

I play a varied blend of covers in a number of bands. The Boost Kick is fine for everything I do (rock, funk, pop, soul). I've owned it for 7 months (since June 2002), and I would definetely re-purchase it, if it was lost in any way. It's a musical pedal. I like it.