Foxgear QBoost

The Foxgear QBoost is an analog booster pedal built around a semi-parametric tone filter. Instead of a single fixed boost, it lets the player choose the precise frequency to boost, which RockBoard's PedalPedia says can be used to lift middle frequencies for a cutting tone, push an amp's preamp with selected frequencies, or run always-on as a personalized tone shaper¹. It sits in the wider family of boost pedals, but the tunable filter sets it apart from a simple clean volume push.

What the QBoost does

The heart of the pedal is its tone filter. RockBoard's PedalPedia describes the range of the QBoost's filter as much akin to that of a wah-wah pedal, meaning it sweeps across a wide band of the guitar's frequency range rather than acting on one narrow slice¹. Because the boost is semi-parametric, the player selects both that a frequency is boosted and which one, from lows to highs, with what the maker calls a natural Q factor².

In practice, that gives a player three broad uses:

• As a mid boost, it can push a solo forward in a mix.
• As a preamp push, feeding selected frequencies into the front of an amp, it can drive the amp into break-up in a more targeted way than a flat boost.
• Left on all the time, it can act as a fixed tone shaping stage.¹

The Stone Deaf QBoost connection

The QBoost has also been covered in the press under the Stone Deaf FX name. Guitar.com described the launch of the QBoost as "a pedal that combines a preamp and a parametric frequency booster"³, and MusicRadar noted an onboard frequency booster covering 35Hz to 6kHz⁴. Guitar World put the range of sounds this way:

Guitar.com's review described the pedal as "a full-range booster/preamp with switchable vintage saturation and a separate frequency-tunable boost circuit". The same publication suggested uses including pushing an amp into break-up with the preamp side and cutting through the mix for a solo with the frequency side, or pairing it with other drive or fuzz pedals to bring out more focused, filtered sounds from them³. The Stone Deaf version of the pedal is covered separately on the Stone Deaf QBoost page.

How it compares

A conventional boost pedal usually raises the whole signal evenly, or tilts it with one fixed tone control. The QBoost's semi-parametric approach means the boost can be aimed: the player dials in the frequency, and the filter's wah-like range covers everything from low-end body to upper presence¹. Where a player wants the preamp-pushing and saturation behavior the press described, the QBoost overlaps with preamp pedals as well as boosters⁶⁷³.

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