“You can dial in a potent boost, but also set the pedal to use purely for tonal tweaking”: Electro-Harmonix LPB-3 review

Back in the late ’60s – before the Big Muff – Electro-Harmonix came up with a nifty way to boost guitar signal into a guitar amplifier with its LPB-1 Linear Power Booster, a simple one-knob, battery-powered device.

Now, the company has brought the LPB family right up to date with the much more sophisticated LPB-3, still with the same role of boosting the signal from guitar to amp, but this time with some powerful active EQ to complement the boost.

The pedal gives you the choice of two amounts of maximum boost – a thumping 33dB or less intense 20dB, which does the trick for most instances.

You set the boost by juxtaposition of two knobs – a Boost knob which sets the overall output for the pedal and a Pre-Gain knob which comes before the EQ section and sets the input gain between unity and 20dB.

To adjust the EQ, you get Treble and Bass knobs that cut or boost either side of a central notched detente position plus some parametric control of the midrange via a similar cut/boost knob, and another to set the frequency.

There are two options to set the bandwidth (Q) of the frequencies adjusted, so you can tweak a broad range of frequencies or zero-in on a narrower, peakier area.

Leaving all the cut/boost knobs at their neutral position, you can dial in a potent boost that’s pretty transparent, but you can also set the pedal so you get no boost but can use it purely for tonal tweaking.

While the EQ has the potential to get really extreme, a little goes a long way, like a touch of treble for a sparkly sheen or a midrange scoop to make a mid-forward amp more Fender-like.

The potential, though, for targeted boost with a dialled-in combination of boost and EQ may be the pedal’s greatest asset, with the likes of a decent amount of pre-gain combined with an upper midrange boost delivering some Tube Screamer-style lift-off for solos.

Whether permanently engaged as a tone conditioner or set to change things up when needed, the LPB-3 is a versatile boost pedal that can shape your entire tone.

Specs

• PRICE: $/£129
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Boost and EQ pedal
• FEATURES: Selectable Buffered / True Bypass
• CONTROLS: Boost, Pre-Gain, Bass, Mid Level, Mid Frequency, Treble, Max switch, Q switch, internal bypass mode switch, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: standard input, standard output
• POWER: Supplied 9V adaptor 120mA
• DIMENSIONS: 111 (d) x 67 (w) x 50 mm (h)
• CONTACT: Electro-Harmonix