Boost recommendations for a 5150?

[DumpyWumpy]

What's the general consensus on a clean boost/overdrive to slam the front end of a 5150 with? I know nothing about what's out there so any help would be awesome!

[CharvelRocker]

I've heard the Keeley Katana is awesome, but pricey. BBE also makes a clean boost thats suppossed to be good. In terms of OD, the MXR Distortion + and Ibanez TS808/Ts9 are great choices as well.

[Firebird V]

I would try a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster. I use one with my SLO and it is awesome. You could always use a Boss GE-7 Eq too. That would work well.

[sworn_enemy]

The Maxon OD9 and OD808 have been my favorites so far.

[mhenson42]

I liked the Bad Monkey. It's too cheap not to own one of those. I've heard the Maxon OD-808 works well to. I've never played with one though. I've heard clip comparisons of various OD pedals used as clean boosts, including several high $ boutique OD pedals, and I honestly could not hear any significant difference between most of the pedals. The bad monkey sounded just as good as any of the others.

[Fragle]

the 5150 loves stomp boxes no matter what.....hell, just for fun i once boosted it with a boss mt2, and i got a kickass sound! (pretty much exactly what cannibal corpse are doing, only that they're using rectifiers)

but my personal faves are the boss sd1 and the ibanez tubescreamer....the TS has more of a midrange honk and less low end, whereas the sd1 has more sizzle and also doesn't cut as much low end.

[Rupe]

I don't know why in God's name anyone would want to boost a 5150 as it has more gain than anyone who knows how to play should ever need.
If you are using it more for a different tone than actually upping the gain, then there are a huge number of choices and many cool ones have already been mentioned. I'll throw in the Z Vex SHO as it is my personal favorite boost...very transparent, simply awesome boost pedal.

[Firebird V]

I think he is talking about juicing up the clean channel not the crunch channel.

[mhenson42]

I don't know why in God's name anyone would want to boost a 5150 as it has more gain than anyone who knows how to play should ever need.
If you are using it more for a different tone than actually upping the gain, then there are a huge number of choices and many cool ones have already been mentioned. I'll throw in the Z Vex SHO as it is my personal favorite boost...very transparent, simply awesome boost pedal.

I used it for a clean boost on the Rhythm channel with the gain dialed back. The 5150 doesn't really have a clean channel. It sounds great to me. I also clean boost my Uberschall. That is mainly done to tighten up the rather loose low end. I don't use the boost to add gain.

[DumpyWumpy]

Nah, I want to use it on the lead channel. I'm not trying to add gain, I would run the gain lower to compensate. But throwing an overdrive in front of that amp REALLY tightens up the low end, and that's what I'm looking for.

[lynchfan6]

I understand what you are saying,,as on my SLO(which has tons of gain too), I only put the gain on the overdrive channel to about six, which is great for heavy rhythm playing, and I still love the sound of kicking in my Boss SD-1 for leads for a bit more "hair." I set the pedals level all the way up and the drive basically at zero, and it is a nice "juice boost" for solos. I recommend the SD-1 for an in front of the amp pedal,,,,but if you are looking for more volume, I used to have great luck with a Boss GE-7 in the loop. Will give you an awesome volume jump if the 5150 is pedal friendly. My SLO is not, and I get a jump with a lead preset using a TC Gmajor in the loop. One stomp and it can change channels on the amp if needed for each preset, and gives me my volume boost and a bit of delay/reverb all at the same time. I recommend the Gmajor, too. Very transparent and you can't beat the relay switching.

[lefty]

Nah, I want to use it on the lead channel. I'm not trying to add gain, I would run the gain lower to compensate. But throwing an overdrive in front of that amp REALLY tightens up the low end, and that's what I'm looking for.

I like a Fulltone Fat Boost in front of an already-
distorted amp. Just makes everything sound bigger.
That pedal's a clean boost, but I also use a
Fulltone OCD, which is a distortion pedal. I just
back off on the drive, and also back off the
gain on the amp. The pedal seems to give a
better sound than the amp's built-in drive.
I'm talking about an ENGL 530 preamp here,
which has lethal amounts of gain on its own.
I just like goosing the input of the preamp.
also gives, in effect, an additional channel...

theo