BBE Boosta Grande BG-20

The Boosta Grande BG-20 is a clean boost pedal from BBE, an updated version of the original Boosta Grande with a new look and a compact chassis designed to conserve space on a pedalboard. Like the original, it is built to push an amp harder without altering its tonal balance, with a maximum gain of +20dB. Delicious Audio's report of the release, speaking with Gus Green, described it as a pedal that "doesn't change the tonal balance of an amp, even with its max gain of +20dB slamming those tubes."¹

What it does

The BG-20 is a transparent boost: it raises your signal level so a driven tube amp's preamp works harder, rather than adding its own distortion. BBE's approach to keeping it transparent, as described in the release, is a mild roll-off of some top end starting at about 1kHz, so that driven tubes' upper harmonics do not get shrill.¹

The pedal's 1MEG Ohms input is described as similar to the front end of a good old Marshall or other premium tube amp, which matters for how guitars with passive pickups interact with the circuit. Internally, 1% metal-film resistors are used to deliver consistent tone.¹

When the pedal is not engaged, a true hardwire bypass means the signal passes completely around the circuit, from input jack to output jack, without loading.¹

Versions

BBE later reworked the pedal into a compact chassis. The company describes the newer version as having "a sweet new look and compact chassis to conserve space on a pedal board," keeping the same clean boost circuit in a smaller footprint.¹

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