Boost Pedal Shootout: Fortin 33 vs. Airis Nemesis vs. Airis Mid Screamer

[braintheory]

Not all amps need a boost, first of all

But second of all, no one ever takes into account the rest of the rig - especially the pickups someone is using.

If you're using a guitarmoury Patriot that's like 6 gorillion k output, its gonna behave differently than a 10k PAF style hb

I hate the fortin 33, I think it's thin and gross sounding, which is weird because I love TC pres

Boost hate is generally rooted in preferring flubby low end sounds, and not liking that everyone else has different preferences. But sometimes, it's true, people boost shit that does not need to be boosted.

That’s what I was saying in one of my posts before. I mostly play vintage pickups with a DC reading anywhere from 4-8k max and find that can for me work a bit better with my boosts than my hotter pickups. The Supertrons though despite the 4k reading sound like 10-11k to me

 

[Eazy-ESP]

I guess not. What are the standards? An Ibanez tube screamer and a Maxon 808?

Yeah, or SD-1. Not that I disagree with what you are doing. Just seemed funny. To be honest I like weirder choices, like my AC booster. But it is definitely not for everyone or everything.

 

[MetalThrasher]

Could be your amp just doesn't really need a boost! On my Mesa Mark's, I never boost them as I don't think it needs one and when I did try a few boosts with them, I never really liked the way it sounded. I would try something simple like a TS9 or 808. Set the volume to max, tone in the middle, gain at zero or a hair above. I would also try lowering the gain on the amp a little when you are using a boost. Do you have a noise gate? I would recommend using a noise gate whenever you use a boost pedal. Good luck!

 

[JackBootedThug]

Which ones cut highs?

Big Dave basically said all boosts were just treble boosters. I paraphrase him very loosely. You might look at using an eq for a boost.

 

[mooncobra]

I like to use these with high gain

 

[FourT6and2]

Could be your amp just doesn't really need a boost!

Could be. But like I said, I've seen vids/clips where people were using the 33 with the exact amps I have and they sounded great. So I'm left wondering what's up. Granted, in one video, the player was using EMGs and in the other video, the guitar was an 8 string... But in both videos, there was massive low end. In my situation, I've got the bass nearly maxed out and with the 33, for example, nearly 100% of the low frequencies are just stripped away.

The other two boosts I have from Airis are definitely better. They retain more lows than the 33.

 

[MetalThrasher]

Do you have another guitar handy to try out with different pickups or tuning? Might make a difference

 

[FourT6and2]

Do you have another guitar handy to try out with different pickups or tuning? Might make a difference

I do not. I do have another guitar coming in... ohhhh... maybe 12 months haha. But it will be set up for Drop C with Lundgren Black Heavens.

 

[Erock]

Which ones cut highs?

my Superdrive and Flux do well at taming high end. I'm not sure the new Superdrive is the same as the OG though.

 

[FourT6and2]

Played around with 'em more today. Getting better sounds across the board. Just gotta EQ the amp specifically for running a boost. Really darken/muddy the amp up and reduce gain a bit. Then when you kick in the boosts, it tightens and brightens everything. Still reduces low-end a lot. But I can see how that wouldn't be an issue once I'm playing a 15-string guitar tuned to drop K. I'm getting some pretty aggressive tones with these pedals, but my thoughts are about the same for each.

33 is very bright and aggressive.
Nemesis is darker, chewier, less upper mid emphasis. More of a thicker, low-mid emphasis.
Mid Screamer lets you do either because you can select which mid-range frequency to cut or boost. Really cool pedal.

If I had to keep one at this point, it would be the Mid Screamer. It's a toss up between the other two since you're basically stuck with the built-in EQ of each.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Played around with 'em more today. Getting better sounds across the board. Just gotta EQ the amp specifically for running a boost. Really darken/muddy the amp up and reduce gain a bit. Then when you kick in the boosts, it tightens and brightens everything. Still reduces low-end a lot. But I can see how that wouldn't be an issue once I'm playing a 15-string guitar tuned to drop K. I'm getting some pretty aggressive tones with these pedals, but my thoughts are about the same for each.

33 is very bright and aggressive.
Nemesis is darker, chewier, less upper mid emphasis. More of a thicker, low-mid emphasis.
Mid Screamer lets you do either because you can select which mid-range frequency to cut or boost. Really cool pedal.

If I had to keep one at this point, it would be the Mid Screamer. It's a toss up between the other two since you're basically stuck with the built-in EQ of each.

Yeah I found the same thing with my Deliverance which doesn’t take pedals as obviously and easily as my 2203. I ended up winding up the “thick” setting on the gain and lowering the mids and gain a bit. Not how I would ever run the amp normally. I like a tighter sound. But when I add a boost it works well. I guess that’s why Rectifiers and ODs go hand in hand.