Xotic EP Booster - what's the deal?

[napalmdeath]

So much being said about this pedal, and many great things said in reviews. But, what's it really do, who has one, and are you running it in front, or in the loop?

To me, it seems to act as a light delay, which actually layers/fattens the tone?

 

[Dave L]

It´s just a booster like the name says, so it goes in front. Nothing fancy at all, but it does sound good and adds some compression when you crank it.

 

[napalmdeath]

It´s just a booster like the name says, so it goes in front. Nothing fancy at all, but it does sound good and adds some compression when you crank it.

So what's it's relevance to an echoplex?

 

[japetus]

It´s just a booster like the name says, so it goes in front. Nothing fancy at all, but it does sound good and adds some compression when you crank it.

So what's it's relevance to an echoplex?

Some guitar players used to use the preamp of the echoplex to boost their amps.

 

[fusedbrain]

So what's it's relevance to an echoplex?

It has a bass bump or tape bump in the low end.
I kept one around because it sounds great into my Vox AC30.
Not the pedal to use to tighten up a Recto

 

[Exo-metal]

It's a very anemic effect. Sold mine...

 

[billboogie]

I use mine in the loop for a clean volume boost. It’s effect is similar to an eq in the loop. Internal switch for bass adjustment. EZ sell if it doesn’t suit you.

 

[ChurchHill]

I use mine up front. Sure it works just as well in the loop. Seems to add a little presence bump, too. Just a clean boost, nice, but nothing terribly special. It's supposed to be based on the preamp in the EP-3 Echoplex, but it uses surface mount components, so it's really more "in the style of" than an exact copy.

 

[Bronco]

I use mine in front of my Mojave Scorpion, and I love it. I just like the 'sauce' it adds -- really gives a cool bump to the mids that I find very cool. Heck, I only use it for that reason alone. The boost is only at about 8 o'clock.

As was mentioned above, the EP boost pedals are NOT for tightening up low end chunk, etc. It's all about warming up the sound.

 

[Sierra Voodoo]

I've been using one for years in front of my JMP and most of the time it is my "always" on pedal. My amp settings usually range from the gain cranked (my JMP has a Jose mod) to setting the amp right at the point of break-up and hitting it with my BE-OD with the gain set low. To my ears the EP Booster just adds that little extra "girth" or "punch" making the overall sound much fuller. It's not that I find those dynamics missing in my amp....for me the EP Booster just seems to add that little extra kick in the nuts. I do not find that it changes my tone in any type of unpleasant way. That said, I do keep the setting fairly low...between 9:00-10:00.

 

[reverymike]

So what's it's relevance to an echoplex?

It has a bass bump or tape bump in the low end.
I kept one around because it sounds great into my Vox AC30.
Not the pedal to use to tighten up a Recto

I couldn't disagree more. The EP sounded freakin' fantastic in front of my Ref F Dual Rec. I ran it in Orange Hi Gain mode, with the EP in front, and it was the chewiest, more organic, fat tone. I loved it.

It doesn't sound the same with all amps though. Didn't really benefit my SLO. Sounded good with my 101b, JMP, and Friedman '71 Superlead. I use it as an 'always on' pedal.

 

[lll]

It, like so many other fake EP-3 preamp boosters out there nowadays, tries to come off as an Echoplex (EP-3) preamp, but has none of the DNA of a real Echoplex preamp.

I had one and it was cool, but I wanted a true EP3 preamp, so I sold it and got a Badgerplex Trilogy (which has a TIS58 running @ ~22-24V).

By itself, it's a cool boost. But an EP-3 preamp? It ain't.

 

[Exo-metal]

Maybe the fulltone SS has the goods?

 

[glassjaw7]

It's just a really fat boost. I used to push my overdrives with it but now I prefer it after my other dirt pedals or in my amp's loop as a volume boost and tone sweetener. One thing it won't do (at all!) is tighten up the front end of an amp like a screamer does. The EP is a super big sounding pedal. Fattens up anything after it.

It does sound really good but I won't say it nails the real Echoplex pre sound. I had an EP-4 next to it for awhile and they were definitely different.

 

[fusedbrain]

So what's it's relevance to an echoplex?

It has a bass bump or tape bump in the low end.
I kept one around because it sounds great into my Vox AC30.
Not the pedal to use to tighten up a Recto

I couldn't disagree more. The EP sounded freakin' fantastic in front of my Ref F Dual Rec. I ran it in Orange Hi Gain mode, with the EP in front, and it was the chewiest, more organic, fat tone. I loved it.

It doesn't sound the same with all amps though. Didn't really benefit my SLO. Sounded good with my 101b, JMP, and Friedman '71 Superlead. I use it as an 'always on' pedal.

Well....I never said it would sound bad in front of a Recto. It does exactly what you describe: It's a chewy, organic, fat boost that works great as an always on pedal in front of a large selection of amps.
Key thing to note about the pedal is the "fat" part. That's what it does.
99% of the guys looking to boost a Recto are looking for a bass cut a la the TS808 / SD1 type pedals.
The Xotic EP aint that kind of pedal.

 

[napalmdeath]

I bought one. I'm going to run it with an OD, kinda how I do with the Spark Booster. The Spark Boost in front of my GT-OD into the Mini Jube totally rocks. If you stay away from the diode/rhythm clip and use your own boosts, it's huge with my Les Paul. I don't use the Spark with my EMG loaded Sphincter BansheeFR. That guitar is a BEAST.

 

[reverymike]

So what's it's relevance to an echoplex?

It has a bass bump or tape bump in the low end.
I kept one around because it sounds great into my Vox AC30.
Not the pedal to use to tighten up a Recto

I couldn't disagree more. The EP sounded freakin' fantastic in front of my Ref F Dual Rec. I ran it in Orange Hi Gain mode, with the EP in front, and it was the chewiest, more organic, fat tone. I loved it.

It doesn't sound the same with all amps though. Didn't really benefit my SLO. Sounded good with my 101b, JMP, and Friedman '71 Superlead. I use it as an 'always on' pedal.

Well....I never said it would sound bad in front of a Recto. It does exactly what you describe: It's a chewy, organic, fat boost that works great as an always on pedal in front of a large selection of amps.
Key thing to note about the pedal is the "fat" part. That's what it does.
99% of the guys looking to boost a Recto are looking for a bass cut a la the TS808 / SD1 type pedals.
The Xotic EP aint that kind of pedal.

I never found the EP to be too bassy with the Recto. I just used the bass knob and dialed it back a little. Sounded great.

 

[aftec]

I kinda like it with single coil pickups, but I can't use it with hot humbuckers, just makes the low end too dense.
The Echoplex pre was a way to boost signal of low output pickups hitting a low gain amp with something different, when only 3-4 guitar pedals existed.
It's a cool boost, but rather a flavour pedal, if you like it and matches your style and music, fine, any other case, a flop.

 

[glassjaw7]

Yep, it's a bassy, almost woofy sort of low end when you push most amps with it. One cool thing I sometimes do is double boost my Ecstasy Red channel > TS9 into the EP into the XTC. The TS9 tightens and the EP makes it sound huge. Coolness

One amp it can get away sitting in front of is a Mark series. It just sort of fills out what the Mark is "missing" so to speak. Not that it's really missing anything but it's a thinner, more focused sounding amp than most to begin with so the low end doesn't get out of control with the EP. I still think the EP's greatest strength is when it's sitting after a good overdrive pedal. It just brings it to life.

 

[Deleted member 13074]

The deal is..
A guy in Oz decided to recreate the preamp section from the original Echoplex into a pedal housing
He got very creative and did it for himself. It created a buzz and enabled the guy to start up his own pedal business. At the core of his success was he was the first to manage such an authentic miniature recreation. He gave up his regular job and followed his dream.
Seeing the interest, he was piggy-backed by Xotic who didn’t manage to recreate the circuit authentically, but squeezed in with aggressive marketing using the same claims with a similar name and aesthetic. Any mention of their tactics on their own forum, which was quickly overrun with complaints, were immediately deleted and all accounts terminated for life.
That caused the start-up company many problems, and they struggled to fend off competition in their niche market. Xotic were seen to squeeze out the small man and there are many who will not forget the opportunism and heavy-handed tactics of the Japanese company.

The small company was Clinch FX, with their EP-Pre pedal. The guy is Peter Clinch.
https://www.clinchfx.com/ep-pre/

At the time, the Xotic sounded nothing like the Clinch (I a/b'd them) and has since been much changed. I can’t say if it is closer, as I was one of those banned forum users, having simply asked a question about the similarity, and have not looked at anything Xotic since.