Father and son British pedal builders Stone Deaf FX released some ingenious and imaginative stompboxes in the past, but today they unveiled something rather simple yet extremely intriguing.
At a first look, the (Mickey Mouse-themed) Q Boost appears to be a simple boost pedal/preamp with an extra, sweepable mid-frequency boost, controlled through a separate footswitch. But the two modes, Vintage and Modern, accessible through a two-way switch in the center of the pedal, sound radically different.
The Modern voice is just what we expected: a clean and transparent boost, with the option of pushing a specific frequency between 35Hz and 6kHz when stepping on the Freq Boost. It never distorts.
The Vintage voice, on the other hand, is surprisingly anything but clean: it’s full of saturation even at low levels, delivering a range of distorted and even fuzzy tones at higher gain levels. The Freq Boost knob allows to sweep through the frequencies with a fixed gain and natural Q (EQ curve) adding bite, air, warmth, or fatness, as needed.
The Stone Deaf FX Q Boost is an incredibly flexible pedal that does a lot by itself but that can do a heck of a lot more when used in conjunction with an amp.
Check out the Stone Deaf FX Q Boost in the videos below.
Give your guitar or bass rig a boost. The QBoost does it all – from transparently frequency boost to saturated overdrive and ‘dying amp’ fuzz. Studios, stages, and bedrooms. It works wherever you need it to, making good tones great.
