The Greenchild Amplification Mr. Boost is a clean boost pedal, a pedal that raises the level of your signal without changing its tone. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio describes it as "a transparent workhorse": a pedal designed with a boot-strapped power supply that delivers 27dB of boost and up to 12Vpp of clean output signal, all from a regular 9V supply1. It sits in the boost family, alongside overdrive-style pedals that color the tone as they push it.
What it does
A clean boost is one of the simplest and most useful tools on a board. Turn it up and your amp gets hit harder, which is how players use a boost to lift a solo above the band or to push an amp into its own natural breakup. JHS Pedals, whose first boost was the Mr. Magic, put it plainly in a piece on why players need boost pedals2.
The Mr. Boost's headline figures are the 27dB of boost and the up to 12Vpp of clean output signal. Both come from the boot-strapped power supply, the design feature that lets the pedal produce that headroom from a regular 9V supply1.
Power
The pedal runs from a regular 9V supply1. The boot-strapped power supply is what makes that ordinary input enough: it is the reason the pedal can deliver its 27dB of boost and up to 12Vpp of clean output without needing a higher-voltage feed1.
How it compares
Clean boosts differ from overdrive, distortion and fuzz pedals in that they aim to raise level without adding their own character. The Mr. Boost is described as transparent for exactly that reason1. Among other boosts players consider, the Mr Black Boost Tiger was, as of 2015, described by Dave Depper in a Strymon pedalboard feature as "Sadly discontinued."3
Hearing it
Delicious Audio notes that GearManDude and Mike Hermans shot demo videos of the Mr. Boost, which show the pedal in use1.
Videos
intheblues
gearmanndude
Sean Gibson
Questions
How much boost does the Greenchild Mr. Boost give?
Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio describes the Mr. Boost as delivering 27dB of boost, with up to 12Vpp of clean output signal. That is enough headroom to push an amp or another pedal hard while keeping the guitar's basic tone intact, which is what players generally look for in a clean boost.
What voltage does the Greenchild Mr. Boost use?
The Mr. Boost runs from a regular 9V supply, according to Delicious Audio. The boot-strapped power supply inside the pedal is what lets it deliver its 27dB of boost and up to 12Vpp of clean output signal from that ordinary 9V input.
What is a boot-strapped power supply in a boost pedal?
In the Mr. Boost, the boot-strapped power supply is the design feature that lets the pedal deliver 27dB of boost and up to 12Vpp of clean output signal while running from a regular 9V supply. In other words, the circuit works around the limits of a standard 9V input to produce a hotter, cleaner output than the supply voltage alone would suggest.
Is there a demo video of the Greenchild Mr. Boost?
Yes. Delicious Audio notes that GearManDude and Mike Hermans shot demo videos of the Mr. Boost, which are available on YouTube.
Sources (3)
- Greenchild Mr. Boost, Delicious Audio, 2018-10-23
- WHY YOU NEED BOOST PEDALS, JHS Pedals
- Pedalboard Feature: Dave Depper, Strymon, 2015-10-05