pickup booster

[Dshow]

Hi,

is there something I can use as pickup booster in the HD? I have only single coils guitars and like the Idea of this pedal

 

Can we simulate that in the POD HD?

 

Thanks

 

[Dshow]

the POD is full of many boosting options..

 

to simulate something you must know what it does exactly to the signal, which in this case we don't know..

 

but I see that the above linked pickup booster can boost the signal going from unity gain till 25 dB.. with the POD you can use one of the EQ FX to get the same signal level increase..

 

regarding the 2 resonance FX options, we don't know exactly what they do, but I imagine a very common practice here, similar to what some built-in guitar pre-amps typically do to the pickups signal, ie applying one of 2 possible EQ curves:

 

- a smile shape eq curve to get a mid scooped sound with high an lows emphasis (for cristal clear strat type tones)..

 

or

 

- (the opposite) a sad expression shape eq curve to get a mid emphasized sound with reduced highs (for fat humbucker type tones)..

 

still using some of the available EQs you can get very similar results

Thanks for the answer hurghanico! I'll try the options your mentioned.

[BillBee]

I'd say Nico is pretty much right on too. Its tough to say (IMO) if the PU Booster is acting like an exciter.

 

Its tough to get singlecoils to do a HB tone and HBs to go SC. For a bit more ooomph I usually add a Tube Screamer in front of the amps with little gain but use the tone and volume (with an EQ too btw).

 

-B

[DarrellM5]

If you're unhappy after trying the above suggestions, you could check out a TC Electronic Spark Mini 20dB Boost Pedal.  They run about $80 and there's a good demo video on Sweetwater.  

 

The solution I chose for my Fender Strat was to replace the bridge pickup with a DiMarzio HS3 for about $70.  Awesome results!

[spaceatl]

I prefer to buy a stock Boss DS-1 (around $20-30) and clip out D3 and D4....Turns it into a very nice clean booster...Distortion potential drops with a drastic increase in clean gain...

 

To make it even cleaner and have a wee bit more clean output you can take out C12 as well...Removing the cap removes half of the tone potential...increases clean level potential just a bit...Best free mod I have ever found...

[Mincer]

Ki own the SD pickup booster above, and while the HD can do the "boost" thing, it can't quite get the resonance switch thing. It lowers the resonant frequency of the pickups, so single coils sound more like humbuckers. There really isn't an eq on the HD that does the same thing.

[Dshow]

I usually add a Tube Screamer in front of the amps with little gain but use the tone and volume (with an EQ too btw).

I use the tube screamer a lot for boosting too but in my opinion it colors the sound too much. I don't like the EQs in the POD, because I feel they take out a lot of the "punch" and that changes the feel when playing (play only with headphones at the time)

[Dshow]

Ki own the SD pickup booster above, and while the HD can do the "boost" thing, it can't quite get the resonance switch thing. It lowers the resonant frequency of the pickups, so single coils sound more like humbuckers. There really isn't an eq on the HD that does the same thing.

Does it work good in combination with the HD? I'm really thinking of buying one. I could get it for around 100€ here, and if it really works, it would be good investment.

[Mincer]

I have used it with the M9, but not the HD500. I love it with the M9. The gain staging on the HD500 is so weird though. I am sure it would sound great, you just would have to worry about distortion on the input. The resonance switch would work the same, though. 

[namklak]

If you want to lower the resonant freq of pickups, just lower the load impedance - I think you can do that with the hd500x?