One Control Granith Grey Booster review

Simple, clean boost pedal

  • £109
  • $155
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Unity gain is achieved somewhere near the 11 o'clock point and the boosts beyond that

MusicRadar Verdict

An immensely practical add-on for your signal chain. A very clean boost with a hi-fi sheen.

Pros

  • +

    Clean boost. Easy to use. Works to reduce volume, too.

Cons

  • -

    Max boost not as extreme as some.

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This pedal from Japanese effects maker One Control is very fitting because it comes with just one large knob! The Granith Grey Boost is a clean boost pedal with a design emphasis on low-noise operation.

"There's plenty here to drive an amp or take a dirt pedal up a notch"

Designer Björn Juhl says that the pedal achieves the same signal-to-noise ratio as a high-end audio amplifier, and we can vouch that it adds very little in the way of noise.

At the lowest level of the knob you get silence, unity gain being achieved somewhere near the 11 o'clock point and the boosts beyond that, which means that you can use the pedal to reduce volume as well as boost it, which is useful for making a driven valve amp instantly a touch cleaner.

With a maximum boost of around 16dB, it's not as extreme as some, but there's plenty here to drive an amp or take a dirt pedal up a notch.

Trevor Curwen

Trevor Curwen has played guitar for several decades – he's also mimed it on the UK's Top of the Pops. Much of his working life, though, has been spent behind the mixing desk, during which time he has built up a solid collection of the guitars, amps and pedals needed to cover just about any studio session. He writes pedal reviews for Guitarist and has contributed to Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Future Music among others.