Xotic EP Booster review

Echoplex preamp aping stompbox

  • £113
  • €142
  • $145
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On the surface it looks simple, with just a single knob to dial in up to +20dB of boost

MusicRadar Verdict

A tiny tone transformer to boost your sound.

Pros

  • +

    Noticeably improves your tone. More control options than you'd think. Classic Page and EVH sounds.

Cons

  • -

    Not a lot.

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The Echoplex EP-3, although designed for its primary role as a tape echo, featured a nice-sounding preamp that guitarists such as Jimmy Page, EVH and Eric Johnson used as a tone booster in front of their amps - it's the sound of that pre-amp that Xotic's EP booster seeks to emulate.

"What you are getting here is a tone enhancer - stomp on it and things just sound better"

On the surface it looks simple, with just a single knob to dial in up to +20dB of boost, but internal DIP switches give you options, one selecting whether the pedal (with no boost dialled in on the knob) kicks in at unity gain or with a +3dB boost, while the other offers a brighter sound with a glassier top end.

What you are getting here is a tone enhancer - stomp on it and things just sound better, with more top-end shimmer and a more defined bottom end, making it a pedal that you may just wish to leave on all the time.

Tone conditioning, with or without a boost - a 'more' pedal to add character to your sound.

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.