Legendary Tones Time Machine Boost

This boost pedal is easy to get around on. There is a true bypass footswitch, along with a footswitch that allows you to go choose between a Vintage or Modern boost, and a toggle switch that gives you two vintage modes- 1966 which is a Clapton/Rangemaster boost that boosts the mids and scoops off some lows, or the 1973 mode which is a Brian May type treble booster. There are Volume and Intensity knobs for the Vintage side and a Volume knob for the Modern side which is a full range boost. A well laid out set of pages comes with it and does a great job of explaining it. It also mentions the people behind this pedal which is cool. You can tell this was a labor of love and not some hack attempt to make money off the boutique pedal craze.

I have to say when I first got the pedal I had it here at the house and I was trying to keep the volume down (you know, you don't want to hurt family members and small pets), I wasn't really knocked out with it. Remember, it's a boost pedal, not a overdrive or distortion pedal. With a typical od/dist pedal you just turn down the volume and you can still here what it does and keep the peace with the neighbors. I took it to a session here in Nashville where the other guitar players on the date were Dann Huff, Gordon Kennedy, and Dan Dugmore. I finally got to play it through a tube amp that was cranked and then kick in the TMB. OH MY GOD. I was using a 70's Les Paul goldtop through an old Jim Kelly amp (think black faced Deluxe with a 60w output) that was set for clean but just starting to break up. Using the neck mini humbucker and with the TMB 1966 boost kicked in, I got a tone that I've NEVER had before with overdrive and distortion pedals. The notes just sang! It was hands down the most expressive lead tone I've EVER HAD!!! When I would bend notes there is now this vocal/phasing quality to the bend (think Brian May). It was so great to see the reaction from the other guitar players- that look where they point to the pedal, screw up their face and do a slow approving head nod and ocassionally say "Oh my gosh, there it is!" I've never done drugs (and I don't recommend them), but I have to think this pedal is like cocaine for a tube amplifier! I can't wait to try other guitar/TMB/amp combinations out. I know that I want to pour epoxy over this Les Paul/TMB/Jim Kelly combo and freeze that sound for future work.

As far as dependability, open up the back and have a look. It's like opening the hood of a Ferrari. Special kudos go out to Tom Leavenstruth (he's mentioned in the papers that come with the pedal) for wiring these up. Personally in my years of collecting pedals I've never seen it's equal. It looks like the same kind of wiring you get with an old Mark Sampson Matchless. Also remember this pedal is a collaboration with Robert Keeley! You already know how killer the Keeley stuff sounds and how bullet-proof his pedals are.

The guy at Legendary Tones, David Szabados, was really good at getting emails back in a timely manner. I've never spoken to him, but he seems to be a good guy that would support his stuff.

I hope that I don't come across as gushing. It's just that as a session player I know what my stuff sounds like, and this pedal just KICKS it to the next level. I have a lot of od/dist pedals- Bixonic Expandora, a vintage large case ProCo Rat, a vintage law-suit model Tube Driver, an old tube Garnet Herzog overdrive, a Nobels ODR-1, a 70's Japanese Boss DS-1, Fulltone Distortion Pro, an old Vox Tone Bender, an old Dan Armstrong Blue Clipper, an early 70's and late 70's Big Muff, a DOD 250, a Boss SD-2, a Line 6 disortion modeler, a Foxx octave fuzz, an Ibanez Smash Box, a primo condition TS 808 Tube Screamer, etc..... I've never gotten the expressiveness from any of those pedals like what I've gotten from the Time Machine Boost. It will be in my gig bag from now on.

This is as simple as can be. You have two channels: Vintage and Modern, which you can choose with footswitch Vintage/Modern.
Modern channel is operated just by Volume control, which sets for boost level.
Vintage channel has two options: '66 or '73, which gives treble or full range boost accordingly. This channel also has an Intensity control to set the tone of the channel.
With this you effectively have three channels of boost to choose from: two vintage/dirty kinds of boost, and one modern and completely clean (!) kind of boost.
This description is really much much more complicated than the real thing. Takes about two minutes to get the hang of it.

I use this with my Fender Jaguar, Epiphone Les Paul and Gretsch Setzer Hot Rod. This along with either my Fender Twin Reverb or Vox AC30 gives incredible results. The setup was pretty good to start with, but the TMB increases your tonal range beyond belief.
Like others have said before me: It takes the tone you have, and it makes it better, better, better, than ever.
One comment though. You have to have a good adapter for this pedal. Thing is: It comes with a great adapter included, but as this is an American type plug, and I live in Holland, it didn't work over here (well duh). Don't try to power this sweety with a cheapo adapter, because you will get a lot of hum. Works fine with a Boss, Ibanez, or Pedal Power.
You can get the sound of all, I repeat, all your favourite artists. In my occasion, this varies from Brian Setzer to Peter Green, and a lot more.

This pedal is in my opinion totally reliable. I had a little peak inside and it is, like others noted before me, a piece of art. Hand wired, point to point, only the best of components. I can't imagine this breaking down, although one of my friends keeps claiming he can break anything.

I have dealt with David Szabados and Robert Keeley. Because of the aforementioned trouble with adapters I couldn't get the TMB to work at first and I was worried it was malfunctioning.
Both of these gentlemen were very concerned with this, as it is a unit they hand tested themselves(!). Both of them wouldn't rest until the solution to the problem was there (being a better adapter, Boss in this case).
You don't find this kind of customer service anywhere in Holland these days, I can tell you that.

To summarize: This is a great pedal. An absolute must have for anyone who is into Boost pedals (clean boost, Dallas Range Master or clones of it, and otherwhise). It is also some sort of secret weapon to great tone for anyone who isn't in to Boost pedals, or who just doesn't know what a great boost pedal can do to your tone.
In my opinion this pedal can help any kind of guitarist playing any kind of music, ranging from blues/jazz/roots/rockabilly to rock/hard rock/heavy metal.
It is not cheap, but it is worth every penny. I would trade in all of my other effects pedals just to keep this one (and I have collected a lot of little boxes in the last ten years that I have been playing guitar).

3 knobs two buttons and one switch. It's pretty self explanatory. I can't fuss with pedals while performing so this is perfect. It's basically two modes. One is a clean boost and the other is a mid and treble boost with a switch for one or the other. The modes are not cascadable like a Fulldrive.

Here is the main feature that I need. It takes the tone you have and makes it more. I use the modern setting the most which is amazing with my Hiwatt DR-103, but works equally as well with the other amps I use which are mostly vintage non-master volume amps. The mid boost is the one I use next to most and it allows you to overdrive the front end of the amp without muddying it up which is I suppose the main use for a treble booster. This is a professionally built piece of gear with a sound to match. I highly recommend the '73 setting for the normal channel of an AC30. I recently got to try the Keeley Java boost, and while it is a similar sounding pedal in the treble boost position, I definately prefered this. Simply put, this pedal helps me to get the sounds I need to get while gigging and recording.

It is built like a tank except for the toggle switch. (see customer support).

I took a break at my regular gig and it was one of those crazy nights with half clad people packed to the rafters and spilling into the street. When I got back onstage, I noticed that the toggle switch was lying broken on the the pedal. I'm not sure if I broke it or some yahoo climbed onstage and stepped on it. I rarely use the '66 setting so I just made sure the toggle was set to '73 and played it like that until I sent it back to Keeley the next week. I think I had it back in less than a week with an apology from Mr Keeley for it breking. No charge for the repair and I only paid to have it shipped there. Pretty kick ass if you ask me.

I bought this as a promotional launch on ebay. I took a chance and am glad I did. I love AC30's and I needed a good treble boost pedal. The modern setting turned out to be even more useful. Bonus! Like I said, I can't screw around with pedals. If one works, it may stay on the pedal board. Usually, the first time it lets me down or gets in the way, off it goes, often to be sold, traded or lent out. This pedal has earned it's place on my board over and over and for me, that's saying a lot. Sorry, you can't borrow it.

The unit is an easy effect to get a good sound out of. It gives you a little bit more of what your amp sounds like with a couple of twists. There are three selectable settings that make it very versatile. The data sheet provides a very good explanation of the functions and preset suggestions. David also emailed me some thoughts which I appreciated.

This item is used with one of several Marshalls, Mostly 1959's and 2204's as well as a Hiwatt DR103. Primarily, I use a 1972 Marshall Super Lead into a Hotplate and a Marshall 4x12 slant bottom with Celestion Greenbacks. I run the guitar into a Teese RMC3 wah, a TS9 Tube Screamer (either an Analog Man or Keeley), and then the TMB. I like Gibson Guitars.

The TMB is pretty quiet and adds some nice "cheese" to the setup. On the 60's setting, I get a Billy Squier kind of tone "Ma Kind a luva" etc. The '73 is good for the early Aerosmith stuff. The Modern setting is very usable alone or with the Tube Screamer on for more aggressive sounds.

I like this pedal with my '79 Hiwatt DR103. The Hiwatt is not a real high gain amp and the Tube Screamers don't really push it enough alone. By using a Tube Screamer and the Modern setting of the TMB, it puts it where I like it. This makes a really versatile set up. Fron "clean" to "whoa" in a second

I think this piece is very well built and was fully tested prior to delivery. I use it without a backup.

I have purchased from Legendary Tones on a couple of occasions and have had a very good experience. David has a genuine interest in customers and goes the extra step to ensure questions are answered. Robert Keeley contacted me as well. I like his Tube Screamer too.

I play mostly classic rock and heavier stuff. I like the TMB because it accentuates the pedals I already use and functions well as a stand alone too. I was getting bored with just the Tube Screamer. I now have many more sounds available and that helps me get closer to the tones of my favorite players. It's a nice addition.

It's really a no-brainer to get three very useful sounds out of this thing. There are two footswitches - one is on/off, the other is to select the Vintage or Modern boost modes. Each mode has a different color LED indicator, as does the on/off mode - so you can see at a glance where you're at. Within the Vintage mode there is a toggle switch to select either "1966" or "1973", and there is an Intensity knob to adjust the harmonic content of this channel. Both channels have a Volume control to adjust the level of signal boost.

The sounds available from this unit are fantastic! Each is also very useful in its own way.

In the Vintage mode, the "1966" boost gives a creamy bright (but not at all glassy) boost with nice harmonics from the germanium transistor. It's fantastic for general lead work when playing the blues or rock. The "1973" boost is fatter, with a little more harmonics and output - perfect for getting a very sweet "woman-tone" sound on demand. It should be noted that the Vintage mode does not offer a totally clean boost; however, the harmonics don't sound like an overdrive. Rather, they seem to put an amazing "haze" around the notes and seem to be part of them rather than sitting on top of them. And I like the fact that the harmonic content is adjustable, which I understand is something the original Dallas Rangemasters (on which the Vintage mode is based) didn't offer.

The Modern mode, on the other hand, is totally clean. The guitar's personality remains the same but is made better rather than just louder. Some very mild, yet very sweet chiming highs become part of the tone, which gives the sound a three-dimensional quality. Much better than other clean boosts which often seem to either make the sound either too dull or too glassy. (I believe JFETs rathern than Germanium transitors are used in the Modern mode.)

Hard to say - I just got the thing a few weeks ago... It feels very solid, though, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Dave Szabados at Legendary Tones is very friendly, and he responded to all of my emails promptly and thoroughly. Dealing with him gives me a high level of confidence that I'll be taken care of if anything should go wrong in the future.

The Time Machine Boost is, I think, unbeatable for offering a wide variety of incredible, yet subtle, boost styles. It retired all of my overdrive pedals. It also retired one of my other boost pedals (but it would be impolite to say which one). The TMB would definitely be my choice for "desert island" stomp box; of course, since I don't live on a desert island I also use my Colorsound Power Boost for the over-the-top stuff. ;-> It essentially starts where the TMB leavs off...

The only reason I can't give this unit a perfect "10" is because it requires a battery eliminator "wall wort" for power. In a perfect world, the TMB would also be battery-powered.

If I lost unit #088, I'd definitely be on the Legendary Tones website the next day to buy another one.

Very easy, can't say anything else.

This thing works well with everthing I've tried so far. My favorite has been a Boogie Mk IV. With the Time Machine I have a 9 channel amp. On the lead channel (1973) it makes my strat sound like Carlos, really. I'm very happy. I have learned the less you have invloved the better, the more pedals, the more noise. The amp and the booster are all you need. If you want one pedal, this is a good choice.

Keeley is a great guy. It is as well built as anything out there.

Don't know much about David, I bought the thing because of Keeley.

I got to try the prototype out last summer. I just waited for a few units to go out before I bought mine. I'm happy with the thing. I have tried it on a 1970 Marshall too, with a Weber MASS and it worked well there also. I'm just very pleased with the way the thing works on the Boogie. The perfect match to me. $250.00 is not cheap but I don't know of anything that will do all this does for any less so...

Very easy to use. Everything is layed out clear and youve got a vintage boost and a modern boost that you can switch between. The manual is great, there's a clear diagram of everything but also full notes about how to get the most out of this pedal.

I use a Gibson with EMG active humbuckers through a Marshall JMP head and 4 x 12 cabinet. I play a heavy style and the Time Machine gives my distorted tone the boost I need. I bought this for the Modern boost side but after I heard the vintage side too, that was a surprise. Really wild tone all around. the guys in the band even commented on how this really made my guitar tone feel more open. I had a tube Screamer before and this is so much better for boosting my amp.

Looks bulletproof to me. I saw the pictures of how the Time Machine was put together at the site. Im not an expert here but I'm not worreid about reliability at all.

I know if there is a problem, Dave will take care of it right away. He answers e-mails very friendly and helpful and gives a lot of info to try to help you out. He really seems to care about his customers and that makes me feel good that I'm buying from a cool company.

I can't say enough good things about the Time Machine. Definitely worth checking out. It would be cool if I had the option to use a battery with it, but since it works with my pedal board power supply its not a big deal. It comes with a power supply and Dave told me its the same kind as what you would use with a Boss or Ibanez pedal so that's fine. Other than that, I've got nothing bad to say about the Time Machine. It just sounds amazing!!!!!!!!

I find the Legendary Tones Time Machine Boost very easy to use. There's not much to understand. Vintage is a treble booster with two tone settings, volume and intensity. Modern is an extremely clean and tight boost for boosting were no tone coloring is wanted. The manual takes great care to explain not only the controls but the idea behind it's construction and applications. i don't know if this is an ease of use item but the Boost doesn't have room inside for a battery so David sends it with an extenal supply

Firstly, this PEDAL IS FOR TUBE AMPS ONLY!! I use several guitars and the Boost acts the same to all of them, although it is partial to neck humbuckers and the two single coils nearset the neck on a Strat. I use a George Dennis Blue head and two 4-12 cabs. Line6 modulator and delay pedals, a first issue Big Muff, '68 or '69, Digitech S100 for standard delay, and a Chicago Iron Parachute Wah, the coolest. Place the boost after Drive pedals in the chain.
The Boost has less noise than vintage treble boosters but with increased gain you'll have noise. It's far less than the Big Muff. The main use of this pedal will be boosting solos of rock and blues in the vintage setting with some drive, Clapton, Brian May, Mick Ronson, Frampton. It works excellently for SRV leads that need to cut through a two guitar band mix. The Modern Channel is perfect for my second guitar player's JCM900. All the gain and then a controllable unaltered volume increase and little drive, some call it "over the top gain."

David has a great warranty policy that I hope I never have to use but responds to your e-mails usually in a day or two. David, I had to open it up to have a look. Inside are two Fulltone 3P2T heavy duty footswitches, high grade Pots, military grade components through out, all hand wired and in an aluminum chassis. The only thing worth noting is the position of the tone switch. I'm concerned that I may step on it one time too heavy and break it. It hasn't happened yet and I figure if it becomes an issue David will rework it. I'm giving a 9 because of this.

David is great to work with. I bought mine through his Ebay sales, this will save you about $10. Shipping is included. He answered all my questions with a couple of days and was actually ahead of shipping schedule with mine. I highly recommend his services.

Overall, if you play 70's rock, rock/ blues, or just plain blues using a single or two channel amp that doesn't provide you with a good brown sound and a strong lead channel that will cut through a mix then this pedal is for you. The modern channel would do very well for Boosing Glenn Tipton solos and just as well for Roy Clark.
Here's THE TONE from this pedal, using a brown sound rythym have the pedal in vintage, intensity maxed, volume as needed. Put the guitar in either the neck humbucker or two neck singles of a strat and here this huge bottom end with singing highs. This is really hard to get without a treble booster and this one gives you the two tone variations. This pedal is a must for ANY LEAD PLAYER worth his salt. Of course if you use solid state this pedal is not going to help you. I haven't any idea how it would react to rack style systems.

3knobs(vintage:vol-intensity modern:vol) 2 stomp switches(on-off effect L vintage-modern R) 1 toggle(66-73 vintage ch only)
manuals good
pretty easy your tone just more
66=range master ala eric clapton
73=modded range master ala brain may/tony iommi
modern=full range clean boost

tested with strat-les paul-epi 335- acoustics 12&6 / marshall 100 watt-ampeg jet 2- vox ac15-matchless dc 30 - acoustisonic jr/ lots of pedals
pretty quiet o.k. that said
this pedal sounds great in every application i tried
if you dime out you amp/pedals ect then turn on the boost you won't hear much.this is best when amps/pedals are set to the edge of break up or rythem gain & use the boost to push it over the top.
this is where this pedal shines
the 66 hitting the treble side the 73 more mids &the modern full
i found this turning all the single channel amps (& pedals for that matter)into 4 channel amps/pedals VERY COOL multi-ch amps endless combinations
it seems to like single coil & humbucking pu's equally
this pedal also does wonders for clean tones & acoustics making things more punchy &thick choruses/phases/flangers are warmer sounding or push the hell out of them & make them go nuts AWESOME
i also let a freind try it w/ a reissue vibro king -fulldrive 2-TMB- g&l asat - this was one of the most clear high gain sounds i've heard changed my oppion of that amp
does a great job of retaining your amp/guitar tone
it takes a more than a treble boost & vox to sound like brain may but it does touch this territory
i found this pedal best for discovering better tones in my sound than immetating others but imo that should be the goal & TMB deliverd

had it about 6 mon. to soon to tell but it's built like a brick shit house i would have no problem using it without a backup

david&robert are both awesome guys very freindly very helpful
they did'nt mind taking time out of ther day to talk to me on the phone & make sure i was getting what i wanted
great 10 so far

i've been playing 17 years i dabble i all kinds of music
i think this pedal works well i all styles
i also have a fulltone fat boost i find these to be dif. so i kept both
i would buy another if stolen my favorite pedal yet & i've had TONS of 'em
if your gear sucks this won't save you
but if have good gear& you like you tone now you should like it a hole lot more w/ the TMB

Couldn't be easier to use. Two footswitches, one to choose the circuit or true bypass, and the other to select the vintage or modern channel. The lights are REALLY bright, it really is almost like christmas! Two volume knobs for the respective channels, an intensity knob on vintage and a 1966 or 1973 mode switch in the vintage channel. It's very easy to use.

First of all I would not describe myself as a "pedal" guy. I have 2 pedals, one of which is a slapback delay and the other is an octave pedal that I use for ONE song that my band plays, oh and a volume pedal but that of course is not an effects pedal. I've never really been happy with fulldrive 2, brown sound, any tube screamer, or similar types of OD boxes. I've never tried a hotcake or Klon so I can't speak to that. Forget about distortion boxes. I never liked the midrange hump, the compression, the fake sound, and the loss of "touch" that comes with these pedals (IMHO). So I decided to try the TMB based on descriptions on the website and sound clips.

In a word... WOW!!! This pedal makes my amp sound like it does when the volume is cranked. It gets the feel, the harmonics, the great powertube overdrive at lower (human) volumes. In order to get my amp to sound like this I would have to really crank it up well beyond ear plug volume. Now at a normal (but obviously still loud, this is guitar playing) volume I get that same overdrive and feel. If you want to use this pedal to get great overdrive at bedroom levels this is not right for you. You have to give the pedal something to start with on the amp.

Please note that this is not an overdrive. When my amp is set on a very clean setting, adding the boost just gives me a lot more clean (which in itself is cool), but i have to set the amp to where it is on the verge of breaking up and magic happens. I have the amp set here and simply use my volume knob to get clean sounds, then increasing the volume and adding the modern channel (tons of clean boost) I get a nice mid-level crunchy sound. For leads I hit the vintage channel and get that great Duane Allman at Fillmore sound that I long for.

This is an extremely versatile pedal because it works with what you have. If you want a certain type of tone (say stinging buddy guy blues) you can get that with some fiddling of your amp. Or if you want Slash you can also get that. But this all depends on if your particular amp is capable of getting close to there. The TMB takes what you have and simply makes it a LOT better.

Pinch harmonics sound better, controlled feedback is easy, the strings feel alive... all of these things happen with overdriven power tubes (at very loud volumes) and the TMB at normal volumes.

For the purist, like me, it is an incredible tool.

It looks like it is built solidly. Strong metal construction, the soldering work on the inside is really incredible.
I haven't had it very long (mine is #29) so I can't talk about reliability, but I expect it to last forever.

David at legendary tones was always extremely helpful. He helped me decide whether this was something that I was looking for. They offer a several day trial period (which is very nice) and a lifetime warranty. David always answered my e-mails promptly and clearly cares about this product.

For the purist this is the ultimate pedal. I have a mesa heartbreaker (great amp) and it is quite versatile and therefore useful for my music. Like I said before this pedal gives me my cranked tone at much lower volumes. I don't play in stadiums and you can't crank the amp high enough in clubs to really get the feel. With this pedal I can get the tone that I want without making the audiences ear's bleed. Everyone's a winner.
If it were lost I would definately buy again.
I would strongly suggest that you head over to www.timemachineboost.com and take a look at the TMB. Listen to the clips and see if it is what you are interested in. It is definately NOT for everyone, but it is gold for me.