Since boost circuits are simple things, building them in small enclosures makes a world of sense. So if MXR had merely stuffed its legendary Micro Amp into a mini enclosure and called it a day, we’d probably be pretty happy. What makes the Booster Mini doubly cool is that MXR managed to fit two of its hippest boost tools in this diminutive silver box—a Micro Amp at the input and the Echoplex Preamp at the output. With the inclusion of a flexible tone control, they’ve created a most malleable and miniature means of tailoring your drive.
The Booster Mini has one minor drawback: The trim pot to adjust the Echoplex Preamp’s gain is on the inside. That means experimenting and tailoring the pedal to different guitars and amps on the fly is trickier than it could be. That said, it’s easy to find a sweet spot for the Echoplex boost and fine tune with the gain and tone control. My fave settings were light, compressed drive sounds from the Echoplex side and hot, trebly lead tones from the Micro Amp. But there are copious, cool light-to-medium drive sounds available from this impressive little box of boost.
Test gear: Fender Deluxe Reverb, Vox AC4, Fender Jaguar, Fender Telecaster Deluxe
Fender Jazzmaster, Fender Champ, TC Electronic Ditto Looper. Booster switched off at 1:21 and back on again at 1:30. Booster volume at 10 o'clock. Booster tone at Noon.
Ratings
Pros:Many varied and potent drive tones. Nice compression from Echoplex side. Useful tone control. Adds nice body to single-coils.
Cons:
Internal trim pot for Echoplex Preamp is a hassle.
Street:
$99
MXR Booster Mini
jimdunlop.com
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