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by Jim Button March 28, 2020 3 min read
Can't go out? No gigging allowed?
How are you supposed to scratch that guitar itch when the other half despises the volume on your amp set to anything more than 0.5 and you're just not feeling it?
Well, there are several ways to approach playing at home when low volume is a must, and you'll be glad to hear that it is possible to achieve a great sound as well as a great feeling of interaction between guitar, pedals and amp.
The most straightforward and family-friendly way of getting a good guitar sound at home is to use a digital amp. Most digital/solid-state amps these days utilise modelling technology to emulate various famous amp variants, and many also include effects such as reverb. Not only that, but you'll more than likely find a headphone jack, making a small digital amp the perfect solution for jamming at home. Look for something like a Boss Katana Air or Marshall Code 25: it's just a matter of plugging your favourite set of headphones in and getting on with it. Easy!
But what if you have a valve amp? Well if your amp has a master volume, the first step - and this may seem counterproductive - is to turn down the gain or channel volume (we know you have it cranked 😉 ) and turn up the master volume. You can balance this so it's still very quiet, but by opening up the master volume it lets the amp 'breathe' and tends to yield better results than having the channel volume up high and the master just off 0 on the dial.
Your best bet for a fire-breathing non-master volume valve amp is to either use a volume pedal in front of the amp, or hook up an attenuator. The Universal Audio Ox seems to be a very popular choice, although (as stated before) our preference is for the awesome Fryette Power Station as it can do so much more than simply attenuate the signal.
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There are other options is you're of a more practical mentality. How about constructing an isolation cabinet for your speaker? An old-school alternative to modern IR tech, it basically involves shutting your favourite speaker and mic away in a strong wooden box padded out with anything from old duvets to sound absorbing foam. Do it right and you can crank that amp and barely hear the speaker. How to build a guitar amp isolation cabinet
You could, of course, purchase a professionally made isolation cabinet, but where's the fun in that?6
Finally, you could ditch the amp altogether. If you happen to own a computer with DAW software and an audio interface, simply run your guitar straight in ('DI') or run it into a preamp pedal and then into the audio interface. Use the pedal as a replacement for your amplifier's preamp stage and use IRs in the DAW to replicate the sound of a Greenback-loaded 4x12 cabinet, or whatever is your poison.
Hopefully this has given you some ideas for getting the best guitar tone at home volumes.
by Jim Button April 18, 2023 12 min read
by Guest Author August 26, 2022 3 min read
by Jim Button June 24, 2022 5 min read
I’ve just taken delivery of this beautiful pedal.
To get a first impression I’ve put it through a Simplifier DLX and straight into a FRFR speaker. Delightful.
I’m a guitarist in a Christian Church worship band, so I’m always looking for O/D that is both subtle and musical - that makes a statement without the darkness. The Forest Song, with its rich range of driven tones delivers.
Indeed, high gain plus low volume is an interesting musical mix in this pedal. It works. My complements to the DB development team, and to Boost for supporting them.
This Pedal is easy to use and has many sweet spots! Perfectly tuned combination of two legendary circuits! Highly recommended!
super fun trem, decent sound, huge volume. havent spent a lot of time messing about with it, but did have a play with the slide and drift feature which are a nice bonus. cant wait to have more time to play around with it.
Boost Guitar Pedals are great as always, fast delivery
been playing it a few days now, and have it set up so it works with with whatever i thow at it. its in my chain after OD but Before Distortion. feedback dial is great and can have it very far clockwise before it sends you in an infinity loop, mix is a bonus, i haven't messed about with the shapes much yet because i found a dreamy setting i dont want to change. would highly recommend isolated power suppy, it did not like daisy chain or cheap single wall one, but works smooth with isloated brick
Boost Guitar is great again to got it within 24 hours of shipping
Perfect for that traynor amp growl on bass. There’s a lot of scope with gain and EQ controls (which sound ace wherever you dial them in). Had the Tronographic Rusty Box before this which I regrettably had to sell; this is a perfect (and smaller, less power hungry) substitute.
I spent months searching for an affordable vibe pedal that actually sounded authentic.
Not only does this have the very sound that I was after, without a ton of tweaking, but it is priced reasonably too. It is not at the cheap end of the market, but for a hand-built pedal with dual speeds this is unbeatable.
The sound is spot on. Warm and rich with the throb missing from many of the lower-priced pedals. The second speed makes it easy to switch between chord and solo settings.
The delivery was amazing too - ordered in Friday afternoon and delivered on Sunday morning!
I can’t recommend this highly enough to anyone looking for the best univibe around.
add another 5 stars, im no pro but i know what sounds i like and the Bloom is the sound i like. ive had Boss BD2, donner dumble drive, Tumnus and Tumnus deluxe but to me The Bloom tops them all. its a well built easy to dial in. having full gain is so clear and not nosiy. only tried with my strat single coils atm. the distortion isint the best but im comparing it to the Drunk Beaver Batv2 and have a feeling that its a layer distortion for another distortion pedal. fuzz is lush. the chip and fat switch really bring it to live and gives you more options for sound. i cant believe this is made by 1 guy. To me Drunk Beaver are up there with the best pedal makers. could send hours going on about the great things. and im only useing a boss katana mk2 no tube amp but you can get some faux tube headroom with the right switch. if you like the demos, well i got good news, it sound way better in person
Boost Guitat Pedals are great too, fast delivery, great communication. couldnt ask for a better store
Bone white Davies 1611
The Bleak District Tapescape is one of the best delay and ambience style pedals ever invented. The controls are all intuitive but highly flexible, the sounds are rich and detailed, the modulation can go from dreamy to nightmarish very quickly, and all of that inside a small footprint with a low power requirement. It's difficult to get a bad sound out of it, honestly.
Add in that Boost shipped it out quickly and it arrived with a nice note written on the invoice, is there anything else you could ask for? Definitely will be buying more from both Boost and Bleak District in future.
Part came as described. Website was easy use.
very cool pedal
Awesome service and communication all along!
Will gladly order again
I ordered a set of strings from Boost, that did not initially turn up. After contacting Boost via the website they immediately sent out another set (no questions asked). Both sets arrived a few days later (Thanks Royal Mail!). Boost were prompt in dealing with the issue (gave) me a set of strings and got things sorted out. Highly recommend you use these guys.
My favourite strings, at a great price! Very reasonable postage rates and speedy service. My first purchase from Boost, but will definitely not be my last. Hassle free, excellent...
Jazzmaster happy🙏
I didn’t know that particular manufacturer from Italy, but I definitely recommend their "Vintage Vibe”. It’s simple, intuitive, it looks awesome, the build quality seems impeccable, and most importantly, it sounds fantastic.