MXR Custom Audio Electronics MC-401 Boost Pedal

Small form factor, clean pass-through, clean boost. Three thumbs up. If you held a gun to my head to come up with something negative, I would say that the physical switch is a bit loud. However, that sound does NOT make it into the signal chain, so no real problem.

Great volume boost for solos. Doesn't cut into your tone. Actually enhances it. I was expecting just a decibel boost but this box adds sustain and clarity as well. Does not distort. This box will never leave my board.

I wished I had bought this pedal a long time ago. If you like your tone on your amp and just want to boost your lead...this pedal is for you. It adds some gain but doesn't change your tone.

put this guy anywhere from 8 to 11 o'clock for a nice clean and clear boost to your natural sound.

I must say that this is a very nice piece of equipment. It makes pushes my Marshall Class 5 amp and my Mesa Boogie Royal Atlantic very nicely. I was hoping for something to give a boost without having to touch knobs while playing and this does it very nicely. Well made, sturdy, and simple to set up. I use it with the Vodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus to pump 18 volts through it (which the manual suggests) to get a more headroom and make it a bit clearer. The standard 9 volts is sufficient, however. It's a nice way to kick in some power to stand out during a solo, or just to have your playing shine a bit more on stage or practicing solo. It's worth it to me and is reasonably priced. Too bad the stores don't stock them, so I had to way for it to be shipped.

The first thing I noticed when I picked this out of the box was the build quality. The build quality is tremendous. I could probabally drop this down the stairs and wouldn't be effected. Custom Audio Electronics--Bradshaw is trusted by the pros. You'll see these pedals in many pro rigs. This is what peaked my interest. I run mostly analog pedals for drive and distortion and use a Line 6 M9 for effects and modulation through a tube amp. Not only did it make the M9 shine it brought my analog pedals to tone heaven and yes it does improve headroom. This pedal sits at the end of the chain and stays on 24/7. If you want to take your rig to tone heaven buy this pedal!!!