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Electro-Harmonix NANO Linear Power Booster
$85.00
The first Electro Harmonix product was the Linear Power Booster in 1969. The pedal massively boosted a guitar signal to provide gain by clipping the signal, dramatically changing the sound.
The current NANO incarnation of this classic EHX effect started appearing on the shelves in 2006 with the manufacturer's claims of using the same circuit to yield a result close to if not identical to the original product.
For this review I used my home practise setup:
Epiphone G-400 > Dunlop GCB 95Q > Danelectro Daddy O Overdrive > Behringer BEQ700 > Vox Pathfinder 15R
Build / appearance
I'm sure many of us would be glad that EH has decided to use the slim and compact anodized aluminium casing and base plate.
Like many of its NANO siblings, this pedal has only ONE footswitch and ONE knob. Talk about simplicity. However one might need getting used to the somewhat loose knob, especially since the footswitch is very close to the knob and accidental contact by the foot during activation is a distinct possibility.
The switch on this pedal is the love-hate true-bypass offering, the review item produced a loud click (from the amp) during the first few uses, but subsequently this occurance disappeared. It feels and sounds very solid.
The input and output jacks for the NANO series are a decent set with a chrome-plated nut and a plastic washer, which does not come loose easily.
thus far - 8/10
Sound / tone
As this pedal is designed to be a booster, I decided to experiment by placing it both BEFORE and AFTER a drive pedal.
[before a drive pedal]
When placed before a drive pedal, the boost knob allows the user to tweak the level of volume entering the drive pedal and hence cause the resultant drive tone to increase in gain and sustain. The driven tone becomes instantly tight and focused. Single notes jump out with definition and it suddenly becomes much easier to do pinch harmonics.
However, there is a subtle drop in midrange and the accompanying increment in volume is rather subtle, only making up for what the drop in midrange could do to make one's sound remain of the same volume in the overall band mix.
[after a drive pedal / with clean signal]
When placed after a drive pedal or used clean, the boost knob turns the pedal into a clean boosting monster, capable of immense increments in volume. Do take note, there is a slight amount of compression and the slightest turn of the knob yields a decent jump in volume.
thus far - 7.5/10
Issues
As mentioned previously, I personally felt the footswitch too close to the boost knob and it would take a certain amount of finesse in one's footwork to avoid accidentally coming into contact with the somewhat loose boost knob.
And unlike some of its NANO siblings, the LPB-1 is not adverse to daisy-chained power, which is good news to many of us who wish to add this little fella to our usually daisy-chained pedal-boards.
However, for battery users this effects unit does not seem to drain batteries (when the input and output cables are unplugged of course), but the changing of batteries is a somewhat fiddly affair involving a screwdriver, 4 screws and the back plate of this pedal.
Conclusion
While a certain number of players locally might have the moolah to invest in a boutique booster or perhaps even a decent volume pedal, this pedal is for players who prefer to have a simple volume / gain booster in a pedal which takes a minimal amount of effort to fit into your herd, both due to size and ease of use.
There is little chance of one not being able to use this pedal in the appropriate fashion be it for volume or gain boosting. Perhaps users might want to attach a piece of sticky tape to prevent the knob from turning when the foot brushes against it during activation.
Overall score: 8/10
Pros:
small size
ease of use and implementation onto pedalboard
accepts daisy chain power
Cons:
switch too close to knob
battery users would find it hard to change batteries on the fly
knob a tad too loose for common taste
What else would do the job:
Behringer Preamp Booster
MXR micro amp
Electro-Harmonix NANO Linear Power Booster
$85.00
The first Electro Harmonix product was the Linear Power Booster in 1969. The pedal massively boosted a guitar signal to provide gain by clipping the signal, dramatically changing the sound.
The current NANO incarnation of this classic EHX effect started appearing on the shelves in 2006 with the manufacturer's claims of using the same circuit to yield a result close to if not identical to the original product.
For this review I used my home practise setup:
Epiphone G-400 > Dunlop GCB 95Q > Danelectro Daddy O Overdrive > Behringer BEQ700 > Vox Pathfinder 15R
Build / appearance
I'm sure many of us would be glad that EH has decided to use the slim and compact anodized aluminium casing and base plate.
Like many of its NANO siblings, this pedal has only ONE footswitch and ONE knob. Talk about simplicity. However one might need getting used to the somewhat loose knob, especially since the footswitch is very close to the knob and accidental contact by the foot during activation is a distinct possibility.
The switch on this pedal is the love-hate true-bypass offering, the review item produced a loud click (from the amp) during the first few uses, but subsequently this occurance disappeared. It feels and sounds very solid.
The input and output jacks for the NANO series are a decent set with a chrome-plated nut and a plastic washer, which does not come loose easily.
thus far - 8/10
Sound / tone
As this pedal is designed to be a booster, I decided to experiment by placing it both BEFORE and AFTER a drive pedal.
[before a drive pedal]
When placed before a drive pedal, the boost knob allows the user to tweak the level of volume entering the drive pedal and hence cause the resultant drive tone to increase in gain and sustain. The driven tone becomes instantly tight and focused. Single notes jump out with definition and it suddenly becomes much easier to do pinch harmonics.
However, there is a subtle drop in midrange and the accompanying increment in volume is rather subtle, only making up for what the drop in midrange could do to make one's sound remain of the same volume in the overall band mix.
[after a drive pedal / with clean signal]
When placed after a drive pedal or used clean, the boost knob turns the pedal into a clean boosting monster, capable of immense increments in volume. Do take note, there is a slight amount of compression and the slightest turn of the knob yields a decent jump in volume.
thus far - 7.5/10
Issues
As mentioned previously, I personally felt the footswitch too close to the boost knob and it would take a certain amount of finesse in one's footwork to avoid accidentally coming into contact with the somewhat loose boost knob.
And unlike some of its NANO siblings, the LPB-1 is not adverse to daisy-chained power, which is good news to many of us who wish to add this little fella to our usually daisy-chained pedal-boards.
However, for battery users this effects unit does not seem to drain batteries (when the input and output cables are unplugged of course), but the changing of batteries is a somewhat fiddly affair involving a screwdriver, 4 screws and the back plate of this pedal.
Conclusion
While a certain number of players locally might have the moolah to invest in a boutique booster or perhaps even a decent volume pedal, this pedal is for players who prefer to have a simple volume / gain booster in a pedal which takes a minimal amount of effort to fit into your herd, both due to size and ease of use.
There is little chance of one not being able to use this pedal in the appropriate fashion be it for volume or gain boosting. Perhaps users might want to attach a piece of sticky tape to prevent the knob from turning when the foot brushes against it during activation.
Overall score: 8/10
Pros:
small size
ease of use and implementation onto pedalboard
accepts daisy chain power
Cons:
switch too close to knob
battery users would find it hard to change batteries on the fly
knob a tad too loose for common taste
What else would do the job:
Behringer Preamp Booster
MXR micro amp
