RGW Electronics Bad Bob Boost

Its simple. A boost pedal with 1 knob and an off-center bright red LED so you know if its on or off.

After a long search for a boost pedal that would drive my already distorted amp into even more saturation without changing my tone. I had settled on a vintage pre-dunlop MXR Micro amp. I sold that pedal right after i got the BAD BOB Booster. It does everything the micro amp does but it sounds better and its true-bypass. Its true-bypass so it doesn't change your tone when its off.

I looked inside, the board is high quality, nice wiring, clean solder joints. Its not gonna break anytime soon. I'd deffinately go without a backup.

I was really suprised at how cool RGW was to talk to in email. I emailed him asking what the design differences were between my mxr micro amp, his bad bob, and the zvex SHO which i was also thinking about buying. He explained it all in detail, how all 3 pedals were different. Its nice to have rock-star treatment :)

I use my BAD BOB for 4 different ways. 1) To drive my mesa dual rectifier into even more distortion. 2) To take my vintage Fender Vibro Champ over the edge into total saturation. 3) as a mild overdrive pedal when it don't crank up the boost and just turn it on with a clean amp. 4) To push my Analogman Ts808/Silver hard for more gain and thickness of sound. It does an awsome job with all 4 of those too. If it was stolen i'd buy another one for sure.

I use a Fender Blues DeVille 2x12 TUBE amp, which is necessary for the desired effect. I have tried the effect with solid state amps, too, and it sounds pretty damn good anyways. Because the design is so simple it always sounds great, no matter what. Just make sure it isn't too loud or soft (around 50% is the sweet spot). I use it as a signal booster for solos and to make my amp break up better at low volumes (that's what it does best). I also use it when I want to kick the shit out of a rockin' song and tear a hole in the ceiling of the club. Works wonders.

Very similar in size and shape to an MXR Phase 90 pedal, but has a better footswitch and tighter AC jack. Very high quality parts - a great characteristic of boutique pedals. I am depending on it because I don't know how I could break this bitch even if I tried. I have been gigging with it for about 2 months now, and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere.

The guy who made these (Robbie) is very present in the boutique pedal world. I think he values his reputation and would be more than willing to talk to you if your pedal has a problem. Yet another plus of owning boutique pedals.

Here's the deal - Boutique pedals have many advantages (listed above), but tend to cost far more than they are worth. They are for rich people who play guitar on the weekends, and the few professionals who have enough extra money after they have paid off their producer and the advance from their record company. 90% of the boutique pedals I have tried are just not worth the money. Shhh. It's a big secret, don't tell anybody. Boss makes great pedals with great warranties, and they are much cheaper and better designed than most of the other expensive pedals out there. They have 40 smart people working on every pedal to make it the best possible. How can one guy in his garage compete with that? The only reason I took a chance on this pedal was because I figured they couldn't screw something this easy up, and Ibanez is ripping people off selling the Tubescreamers (which are one of the few pedals that I agree on modifying) for the same price as this pedal. The fact is, this baby is just as good as the modded tubescreamers, but costs less and is handbuilt by a guy who actually cares about what he is doing. The design for this pedal isn't new, and the fact is it does the same thing as an overdrive but is more simple and foolproof. I don't believe everything I hear, and I don't have time for techie-talk, (although I am thankful for those who pursue it to improve and innovate guitar pedals). This pedal is a diamond in the rough, and I don't dish out compliments that often. This pedal is my secret weapon, and it makes the girls say, "Your guitar sounds so pretty". I like that. Thanks to Robbie for making a great pedal. You broke the mold on this one. I hope you get rich off this, and if you ever need anyone to endorse you, give me a call (jesus, aren't I a pompous little rock star?).

one knob, an led, and a punch. doesn't get much simpler than that.

setup: gretsch jet / orville les paul junior
60's gretsch 2x12 combo with jensens / gibson atlas piggyback

pedal sounds incredible. the output is insane. on like ONEish/TWOish or thereabouts and my gretsch 2x12 50-watt combo on TEN, i get what seems like 5% to 10% extra volume out of the amp, and it's growling like crazy. very mean. lots of harmonic overtones. the sustain is literally infinite. i can finally get proper sounding feedback, though it's difficult to control once the knob is turned up past FIVE or so (and the amp is still maxed)... but that's the nature of the beast with feedback, right?

my rig is setup as A | B | A+B . That is : the Gretsch combo by itself or the Atlas by itself or both on simultaneously. That's a total of 3 states (+ OFF). The songs I write are all based on this concept and have been that way for years and years. Now, I've got the Bad Bob positioned between the A output of my Rapco AB box and the Gretsch, giving me two new permutations (lower-case "x" is the Bad Bob):

A | B | A+B | Ax | Ax+B

That nearly doubles the range of textures i can get. I might get a second one to use with the Atlas for even more combinations. Note that the Bad Bob does the same thing to my Atlas, but the result is a completely different tone, since the Atlas is a _completely_ different sounding amp, and all the Bad Bob is doing is juicing up the signal from your guitar to the amp's frontend. there's no tone modification inside the pedal. All you're doing is heating up the tubes a little more and pushing the speakers harder, BOTH of which lead to bitchin' tone if the amp already sounded great to begin with.

looks sturdy. punch is is high quality, metal. metal case. light has a metal shroud around it for protection. i'm fairly certain i can't hurt this pedal. time will only tell. i've only had it a few days now, so i can't really speak of its reliability with any real accuracy at this point.

i purchased this pedal through analogman.com . mike at analogman is extremely helpful and really took the time to help me with a situation i was having with another pedal i bought there -- which i ended up exchanging for the Bad Bob. the other pedal was not defective; it had a design "feature" that bothered me. the bad bob does not, obviously, have this same issue.

i'm a one-trick pony... ROCK, so i can't really comment on much else, although i'm certain the Bad Bob would be a fantastic blues pedal or country & western, or what have you. but... without a doubt, this thing is a fantastic rock pedal, assuming that your rig already rocks to begin with. remember, the tone's already gotta be there... as Bob's only job is to give it a little kick in the ass, although it's ridiculously more than a "little" in this case. you'll probably very rarely turn the knob past 3 or 4... well... actually, i guess it all depends on how your amp is setup; i keep my gretch on 10 all the time, and it has some mild natural overdrive like that. that's why, when i put the Bob in front of it, and turn it to like 2 or 3 or so, the overdrive and volume increase is VERY dramatic. if i want a cleaner sound, but with comparable volume, i can turn the amp volume down and the Bob up... but that would make me a two-trick pony. ;-)

One knob simplicity. Battery life is long, but happily there is a plug to run it off my PedalPower2 so I can forget about how fresh the battery is or not. No real instructions needed-but a simple sheet is included - turn the knob to taste for a clean boost or some added girth and wool. Nice.

This is a great booster. No added noise-extremely silent. It has its own little personality too - which I wanted to hear. Fairly transparent clean boost up to about 11oclock. From there it continues to boost but adds a bit of midrange girth and light wool around your tone. And it does this differently with every guitar and amp combination I put it with--which is great for me. Humbuckers are a bit too thick through this and seem to work better if I roll the guitar vol down and then use the BadBob at lower settings. Single coils just sound great in all settings - but I think that's where my ears at these days in general. I'm using this with a custom Cage KT66 head and 2x12 cab, a SonicCord Bantam and an Electrosonic Thermosonic; so far the Cage sounds best with it. Again-with a Telecaster its magic. A bit too clogged up and too thick too soon with humbuckers on 10. With P90s you get nice warm boost that can be pushed to get the added wool that is not too much - just right-seems to really let each pickup personality come through. Very cool. True bypass too - thankfully.

Construction looks solid and should be fine with no backup although I have several. Switches and jacks all feel good and solid. Graphics are simple and sharply executed on a hammered grey smaller size box -reminiscent of a 50s toolbox logo or something I'd see in my grandfather's gas station. Subtle charm from a simpler age.

I got this through ToneFactor. Had some email dialogue with Brad and got his input on booster options-there are many! His advice was right on the money and his prompt service and followthrough was top notch. Have not contacted RGW directly yet. I will not hesitate to buy more pedals through ToneFactor. Ever go to buy a pedal and the maker or store acts like they're doing you a favour by even talking to you about it? If you're tired of that treatment, get on board with ToneFactor; they actually care about you and your tone goals.

Great simple boost - with a little dose of its own personality too at higher settings. If I could change anything I'd move the input/output jacks up to the top edge to allow for more room on my crowded pedalboard. It could be used as a set and forget-keep it on all the time pedal, but with humbuckers I'm finding some adjustments are necessary. I use this more as a dedicated boost for single coils.

One knob.Set it pointing strait up and you'll be in Heaven.

Gibson Les Paul and marshall style amps.Probally the quitest pedal I've ever owned and i've owned a quite few (Klon,SIB,Fulltone and alot of others.My amps are already set for rhythum so I just use the BB to goose for leads.I also sometimes leave it on and roll of the volume knob for another rhythum sound and crank it for solos.

I've had mine for a year and I've never had a problem.

I've never had to deal with the company so I can't say.

I like the breathing marshall AC/DC type sound for rhythum and to use the Bad Bob Booster for fat solos.I've been playing guitar for twenty years and I pretty well know what works for me.It's everything I look for in a boost.I would honestly buy another if it were stolen.

One knob, just turn it and be pleasantly surprised.

Here's the current setup: Strat->Teese PW->Keeley TS9/808->Bad Bob->Fulltone CF-1->Boss TU-2->Barber Launch Pad; into a SRRI, Vibroverb Clone, and maybe if I ever get the damn thing up and running - a '68 Twin.

The Bad Bob is not noisy at all, period. It hads harmonic richness to your sound that is worth more the 100 bucks, or whatever it costs. I would have easily paid 150 for this unit.

Built like a good 'ol truck.

A+. I posted a pic of the Bad Bob on my website, telling how great I thought it was and Robbie emailed me and told me how great it was that I had done that. He complemented me on my gear and such, great guy!!! Plus he makes a great product.

Badabing. Great value, great boost. Look no further.

Couldn't be simpler or more elegant. The mark of something truly exceptional.

I use this 2 ways.

1. To push my tubes into earlier saturation.

Les Paul w/ Seymour Duncan sh-14 Custom 5 in bridge--->Bad Bob--->high input of 1979 Marshall JMP 2203.

2. To add fullness and harmonic richness to cleaner tones.

Stratocaster--->Bad Bob--->low or high input of 79 JMP.


Never noisy.

Always sounds great, no matter the setting.

Using it to achieve earlier tube saturation with the LP, it's the best boost I've used yet. I used to use a Boss Blues driver with the level up, and the tone and gain set to zero. This gives me much more of what I want: pure amp sound with no loss of frequency across the spectrum.

I can get great metal high gain sounds using this with the LP as boost to push my tubes. It's also great for rock settings. EVH sound, etc.

With the Strat, think the great sounds you hear from great players on record: John Frusciante, SRV, etc. really up to how you eq your rig.

I bought it to boost my signal for metal sounds, but literally dropped my jaw when I plugged a Mexican strat into it. I had planned to upgrade the pickups--unnecessary with this booster. It sounds richer and fuller than my Texas Special American pickups (my fav, but the point being, try this, you might not upgrade pickups as often or any more at all)

Built by someone who obviously takes pride in his work. Very rugged jacks and switch, metal housing. I wouldn't ever worry about this one.

A+ Super nice guy. Very knowledgeable, and he meshes technological know-how with a player's perspective.

I feel 100% confident he stands behind his product.

For what I do (Metal band, rock and other styles outside the band) this is something I'll use every time I gig or play.

I've been playing for 11 years, gigged regularly for 3 years before going back to school, now I'm getting back in the groove, hehe.

I might even buy another just to explore the cool option of placing them inline for greater variations of boost levels.

I was more than satisfied with the pedal for achieving early saturation for my heavy sound, but I have to admit, I was completely blown away when I plugged a single-coil strat into this thing. I played the intro to 'under the bridge' and srv's 'mary had a little lamb' and my brother and wife came into the room to comment on how good it sounded. (a non-guitar player commenting on sound means something to me!)

My favorite feature is the knob. (the simplicity is the best feature, nothing I don't need here)

It definitely helps make music.

can't get much more easy then that, one knob, one stomp:)

i use it (live) after an overdrive and distortion pedals to boost my level for lead, it does a GREAT job, for recording i find my self using it insted of my keeley modded ts9 pedal (the keeley pedal is great by the way) i just get REAL tube amp overdrive when i use the bob to push a tube amp, you can even run it at 18 volts for extra headroom, the best boost i tried (you should know that it does have a bit of dirt, in a very good way it's clean but not like when you use an eq pedal for just lifting level)
it makes the sound bigger and with more fat sparkle to it, i'm very selective about tone and i love the bad bob!!!
one more thing, unity gain is at about 9 oc'lock and at 11 you get about 9-10 db of boost , which is what i need in a band level, the great thing about it that you can push it from noon up and get an overdrive sound from your tube amp that to my ears no pedal can touch!!!

looks very solid.

i got it from tonefactor.com , brad is very nice and kind he is up there with keeley in terms of listening and doing whatever it takes to keep you happy,
i would love to buy more stuff from tonefactor!

for live gigs,recordings, whatever...
it's now my number 1 pedal, nice guitar , amp and this pedal is all you need to express your self!
have fun:)

Like others have said; one input, one output, one knob. The magic is learning where to set that one knob along with the guitar and amp volumes once you begin leaving the BB on all the time as most of us do!

First let me say this to be fair; I've waited to submit a review until others had done so to avoid my review appearing biased. I have the original Bad Bob as Robbie actually built it as a favor for me. That being said, I would've returned the favor to Robbie if there were things I didn't like about the pedal.

I have 2 Custom Shop Teles and a Japanese '72 Thinline Reissue that I play through either a '66 or '74 Vibrolux Reverb. Even a hack like me can get a great tone with that rig, so I was just looking for something to make the sound bigger. The word "transparent" gets used, and abused, to death in the world of guitar effects, but folks I'm here to tell you that this pedal does zilch to the tone of your guitar whether it's on or off. It makes it louder, period. I have Fulltone Fat Boost as well and I really like it, but it does alter the EQ (which can sometimes be a good thing) regardless of where you put the tone knob. Show me all the schematics you like about how this can't be if the tone knob is full open, I'm just telling you what I hear. There are times that this makes the Fat Boost preferable, but the Bad Bob is the one I leave on all the time now, adjusting the volume from my guitar.

It hits the front end of the Vibrolux just hard enough to give you that "on the edge" tone. You actually have to turn the box off sometimes to realize that you were getting just a bit of grit, and that is exactly what I was after. What I told Robbie within a week of receiving this pedal; listen to the opening riff of Rock My World Little Country Girl. Obviously not a Bad Bob, but it could be.

Like death and taxes.

I should probably abstain. Obviously Robbie is a friend of mine, so I can just call! Seriously, I know the guy and I know he'd do whatever it took to make something right.

Looking for true overdrive? Look elsewhere. Not happy with the basic sound of your rig? Shop for a guitar or amp. Love your tone and want more of it? Buy a Bad Bob. Know how you've been reading hype all these years about this or that pedal "truly emulates" the sound of an overdriven tube amp? Tip; let the Bad Bob do it for real. If what you realy want is a boost, you're just not going to do better, especially for the price. Nuff said I guess.

If you can't figure out how to use the BAD BOB then it's a miracle that you've actually made it to this page...

BAD BOB

Current Set Up

87 PRS CU 24 > Bad Bob > Boss T-Wah > Boss DD-5 > Stereo out to Stereo H&K Tube Rotosphere MKII to a jcm 900 1x12
Fender twin through a 2x12 Marshall cab (borrowed)

FWIW, i'm not sold on the 900 but I can't afford anything else atm (baby due in 5 weeks ) The combination of the 2 amps however does make up for limitations in each amp.

The BB is awesome. It does exactly what I hoped it would do at a good price. It seems to be well built w/good components.

The 900 actually has a good clean sound but you have to CRANK the thing and I don't have the space to do that. The twin is in a similar situation but if you crank the Twin your eyeballs will bleed.

The BB adds that cranked amp sound without adding any unwanted EQ. It's like having a 'better sound' dial in a pedal!

After our jam, the owner of the Twin plugged in his strat and was messing around. He was shocked at how good the amp sounded (he doesn't use it anymore, ever). I turned off the BB and the sound was gone...he didn't realize that the BB was still plugged in :-)

Bottom line...If you need a boost pedal...go for it.

It also pushed my 900s gain to insane amounts of saturation but the 900 certainly doesn't need that. The BB actually has 'unusable' range for me. I don't turn it past 80% or so. I just don't like the sound, but it's not a problem at all because 70% or so just sounds sterling. Love it. It's nice to have a pedal that is not made for dummies. Something you can actually push beyond what you would normally use.

I hesitate to give 10s but this pedal did *exactly* what I wanted it to do. I do not use it as a volume boost I leave it on *all* the time. I keep it on top of my amp and use it accordingly. When I switch to the 900s gain channel (on 10) I turn down the BAD BOB otherwise it's WAY too much gain. Great for feedback though...

There is no noise to complain about and it does not color the sound at all. Very impressive pedal. I would reccomend it in a heartbeat and at the price...$99...I did receive an email stating that the price was going up to $119 but still...a killer deal.

Bottom Line: it's give a very similar sound to a cranked amp w/o peeling the paint off the walls.

Oooooh, the clean channels on those amps w/the BAD BOB at 70% just makes me drool. It gives such a presence. Just a little breakup. It just adds MORE. It really is a 'Better Tone' knob. LOVE IT, did I say that already?

Yea...it's not critical to the sound path I suppose i'd just rip it out of the chain if it died for some reason.

I doubt that will happen. Looks like good clean construction. The switch seems to be of good quality.

Rob seems like a great guy. He always responded to emails and seemed friendly. Pedal came quick and he even sent me an email making sure I got it and liked it.

Wouldn't hesitate to do w/business with him again in the future.

I searched the internet and read the 4000 'recommend me a clean boost please' threads that are on the effects forum (doesn't anyone search?) and the Bad Bob got some good press even though there aren't that many out there. I think mine is #31 or #39.

I did want to try some Z.Vex stuff but was not in the market for a $200 boost. I basically rolled the dice and figured if I didn't like I could get rid of it...but it's not going anywhere.