Mooer Pure Boost, clean boost pedal

Part of Mooer's Micro series of pedals, which takes iconic designs by other manufacturers and then shrinks them down to positively minute proportions, the Pure Boost is based on the Xotic RC Booster. It follows the form factor of its stablemates by having a large chicken head knob for the most-used control, in this case for up to 20dB of gain, with the other functions accessed by small knobs, including a two band EQ featuring 15dB of boost or cut for treble or bass frequencies. However, the Pure Boost is easy to engage (or, indeed, disengage) with the tap of the true bypass footswitch. What sets this pedal apart is that, unlike practically every other boost pedal on the market, the Pure Boost has both gain and volume controls, allowing for a much greater degree of control over the amount of boost or cut supplied. This gives it an almost unparalleled amount of versatility, letting you use it as a transparent boost to hike your volume level for solos, or a treble-booster to push an already overdriving amp into meltdown, an always-on tone conditioner to add sparkle or fatness to an amp that's slightly lacking in those frequencies, or even as an 'underdrive' pedal to lower your amp gain for rhythm playing when the pedal is engaged.The pedal dimensions are ridiculously svelte, measuring a mere 42mm wide by 93.5mm long, with a height of 52mm. If you aren't already used to the current trend in micro pedals, then it will come as a bit of a shock when you unbox it and hold it in your hand! It is also extremely affordable, mainly thanks to the Chinese manufacturing and decidedly un-military-spec components. But, in our current 'Golden Age' of boutique pedals, where the average single-control boost pedal will set you back close to £100, being able to buy a 'Swiss-Army-knife-of-tone' for under £40 is very highly appreciated!I already own a number of Micro series Mooer pedals; the Ninety Orange phaser (MXR Phase 90), Green Mile drive (Ibanez Tube Screamer), Hustle Drive (Fulltone OCD), Solo distortion (Suhr Riot) and Cruncher distortion (MI Audio Crunch Box) and regularly gig them, with absolutely no reliability issues whatsoever. For the sake of transparency, I should mention that all of my pedals are all mounted on a pedalboard and connected to a loop switcher, so I never need to stomp on them to switch them on and off, they stay permanently on and are connected to programmable effects loops. I have found that the form factor of these pedals makes them unstable and prone to toppling over if used on the floor without being velcro'ed to a pedalboard. And there's absolutely no room in the case for a 9V battery, so an isolated power supply is a must if you are planning on running a bunch of these pedals on your 'board. If you like to engage in knob-twisting on a regular basis, then you might get a little frustrated with the shrunken nature of the controls, which make it a little tricky to get a grip in the heat of performance. If, like me, your prefer the 'set-and-forget' approach, then this actually becomes a bonus, as they are very hard to accidentally knock off of their settings.I bought this pedal to fix a very particular problem with my signal chain, namely that my DV Mark Raw Dawg amplifier was clipping like mad whenever I plugged any humbucker-equipped guitar into it, which resulted in me having to set the levels on my drive pedals ridiculously low to avoid ugly break-up and "my amp is dying" noises. The Pure Boost is the last pedal in my signal chain, just before the input of my amp, and is set to reduce my signal level (rather than boosting it) by around 6dB, without affecting my tone in any way. This allows me to run the rest of my pedals at sensible volume levels and lets me have a clean sound to boot! An unintended side-effect of having the Pure Boost always on at the end of my 'board, is that it acts as an output buffer and keeps my signal clear and bright whilst it travels down 20 feet of cable to my amplifier. It completely solved my amplifier woes in one fell swoop and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a transparent boost or tone-conditioning pedal. After all, it's the only pedal used on stage by Stevie Young of AC/DC, and that's a pretty ringing endorsement right there!

This really does boost the signal just enough to break into a lead solo, as a guitarist its very difficult at times to suddenly break into a lead break without turning your volume control up or switch in time with the music so this is the only way to do it with a foot switch you can adjust if needed just before the song kicks off. Because its so small it fits my rack just nicely leaving enough space for another FX if needed later. Made from steel too not plastic so will last the strain of gigging.

I'm using this as my last pedal in an acoustic set up and it certainly gives you that extra boost for any solos. If you turn the gain well up you can get a little bit of break up which is nice.

really can't believe how good this is for the money. Nice and transparent, with a fair amount of gain for a boost.

Well made, sturdy product

I love this pedal. It’s great value for money and was the missing piece for my board.Nice!

Bought this to increase the output from my passive bass, so it's on the whole time. Glad to report that it's very transparent and I can hear no colouration of my bass' sound when 'bass', 'treble' and gain set to twelve o'clock.Excellent, especially considering price.

This is by far the best boost pedal in this price range and can be tweaked for diffrent tones, well built aswell I'm a gigging musician and well impressed with this pedal

Très Bon Booster pour un prix relativement raisonnable, j'ai un Xotic sweet boost (149 euros) également sur un premier pedalboard qui Boost mes effets en son clair (delay chorus reverb flanger echo), et je viens d'investir dans ce Boost Mooer pour le deuxième pedalboard réservé à mes 4 Saturations différentes en particulier pour sortir du mix lors des Solos, le But étant de Booster les effets choisis je précise que le Booster est à placer après les pédales d'effets (en bout de chaine quoi) car si vous placez le Booster avant les effets alors l'effet boost sera très Très Faible et ne servira pas à grand chose ;o) avec ce Mooer pas besoin de mettre plus cher pour avoir une pédale de Qualité et avec différents réglages bien pratiques (aigus et graves + vokume et le Gain) pour ce prix Foncez *****

Riktigt bra, smidig och billig. Härligt med tonkontroll också.

I'm sure this pedal would be great as a real 'clean boost' (as I think it's intended). But in fact I'm using it more like a treble-booster (to both boost and add gain). It sounds really nice - subtle (unless you want to crank it all the way up - then there is a lot of boost) and doesn't colour the sound - providing just a good transparent overdrive boost. Plus, the option of contouring the EQ with the bass & treble controls is a nice plus and they are very responsive with a broad range. I have several boost-type pedals and this is my new favourite.

I love this pedal. The Mooer pure boost is so tiny but it produces a big sound. The pure boost has some of the best controls for a boost pedal that I have seen. It as one big gain knob and 3 tiny knobs for bass, volume and trebble. Want to have just a gain boost? Put every small knob on the 12 o'clock position and crank up the big gain knob to anywhere you want. Want a volume boost? Crank the volume knob anywhere passed 12 o'clock and you have your volume boost. You guys get the picture. Also if you just want to use this as an overdrive pedal this pedal does have a good enough tone to it to give you that slightly distorted clean sound.

Great clean boost! I put it after my OD pedals, and it sings!! Great price, and great quality!!