Tech 21 Boost D.L.A and R.V.B. (street $149 each)

Analog Effects with a Twist—er, Boost

www.tech21nyc.com

By Jon Chappell

Tech 21 has always been known for its innovative guitar effects and amps, and now they’ve released two new pedals, the Boost D.L.A. and the Boost R.V.B.—a delay and a reverb pedal, respectively—that feature the analog tonal characteristics associated with vintage effects, as well as a clean gain boost of up to 9dB.

Both pedals feature heavy-duty construction, noiseless footswitching with buffered-bypass circuitry, and intuitive, straightforward controls. Andrew Barta, founder of Tech 21, and designer of the Boost series, has opted for a buffered bypass rather than a true hardwire bypass, because he contends it’s better for the guitar signal. With a buffered signal, pops, clicks, and high-end loss are largely eliminated when multiple pedals are placed in the chain. So even when the Boost pedals are off, they’re working to keep the integrity of your signal level up.

You can power the Boost pedals with a 9V battery or an optional DC power supply (not supplied). Across the top are the standard controls that would be common to any modern delay or reverb: Mix, Feedback, Tone, and Time. These are ordered in the same left-to-right scheme on both pedals, making for an easy “learn one/learn both” scenario.

Uncommon Control

The pedals share some common-named controls, some of which act identically on both pedals. Others behave according to their specific effect (delay or reverb). In both pedals, the Mix control adjusts the ratio of direct and effected signal. Unlike some effect pedals that max out at a 50/50 blend (effect equal to straight signal), the Mix goes all the way to 100% wet, making the D.L.A. and R.V.B. viable for use in an effects loop with your amp or mixer. The Tone control acts the way a guitar tone control does: at full-out position, there’s no cut. Then when you roll off the knob, the filter employs 6dB per octave of shelving EQ. On the D.L.A., if you’re using multiple repeats (i.e., if your Feedback control is high), each successive repeat will get darker, just as it does in analog delays.

The same-named Feedback and Time controls act slightly differently depending on the pedal. Feedback adjusts the number of repeats on the D.L.A., while on the R.V.B., it simply feeds the effected reverb signal back into the input. This is less useful, and you quickly get into runaway feedback (in the true sense of the word), but you can achieve a sort of edgy, springy, on-the-brink sound just before you enter into unlimited-oscillation mode.

Time Is on Your Side

Fig. 1. The Boost D.L.A. uses the Flutter control for effects ranging from the Echoplex to psychedelic.

The Time control is quite versatile. On the D.L.A. it’s the repeat time, from 30 ms to 1,000 ms. There’s no read-out, but the 12:00 position is approximately 300 ms. On the R.V.B., Time adjusts the decay time, from short to long. On both the D.L.A. and R.V.B. Time is continuously variable, which means it provides a full, smooth sweep and allows you dial in the exact amount delay time or decay time, rather than being limited to the specific, discrete, pre-programmed intervals found in other stompbox effects. Of course, this flexibility is mitigated somewhat by the lack of a display.

On the second row of knobs is a Level control, which acts identically on both pedals, and provides up to 9dB of clean gain boost. Next to that you have the control that is unique to each pedal and gives it the analog, vintage character most associated with that particular effect. Here’s where the pedals diverge in function significantly.

Warble & Roar

On the Boost D.L.A., you have a Flutter control, which introduces—very convincingly—that tell-tale warble or shimmer associated with older tape-based delays, like the Echoplex or Roland Space Echo. At lower settings it sounds like just a bit of modulation, and at higher settings you get more radical and trippy effects, like pitch shifting (check out the mp3 file here: BoostDLA_Flutter.mp3).

The R.V.B. has a control called Rumble, which reduces the low end the more you back it off from its full-out position. In other words, it too is similar to the way your guitar’s tone control works. At the maximum, full-out position, or 10, there’s no cut going on—the filter is wide open. Then when you back it off, it starts to roll off the low end. So in the lower positions, you get a tighter, more spring-like effect. Higher positions yield a more full-range sound (BoostRVB_Rumble.mp3).

Built for Pickers

Fig. 2. The Boost R.V.B. has a Rumble control, a low-end roll-off, which simulates a full-sounding reverb in its full-out position or a tight spring at maximum cut.

As with all Tech 21 products, these pedals react very responsively and very “guitaristically.” So users will find musically useful settings throughout the range of controls. On the D.L.A., if you want that lush ’70s jazz chorus sound, set up a short delay, and put the Flutter at about midway or the 12:00 position. On the RVB, if you want, say, a vintage surf sound, set the Rumble to its minimum position for that really tight, “sproingy” sound (BoostRVB_Surf.mp3).

The manual provides some useful settings for classic and artist-based sounds. It’s not available online, but I’ve included the sample settings page here (see Figs. 1 and 2). So before you go to the music store to check out these pedals, copy a few of these suggested settings you see here, and then go to the store with your paper and dial in these presets to give you a good starting point.

Of course, the Boost D.L.A. and Boost R.V.B. work as standard delay and reverb effects, without the vintage applications. Except with one twist: you can kick in a 9dB boost. The reasoning here is that when you play rhythm, you use a sound that’s not only a little quieter, but drier, less effect-drenched. You don’t want too much delay or reverb in your rhythm sound, because that just muddies up the mix. But when it’s time to solo, that’s a different story. That’s when you want a more pronounced effect, whether it’s a deep delay or a more spacious ambient sound. So the Boost D.L.A. and R.V.B. reduce that two-step process of increasing your effect level and kicking up your gain to one foot press. A simple concept, but ingenious, and well implemented here.

Specs

• Uniquely combines delay and clean boost, up to 9dB, in one pedal.
• Custom tailor a wide variety of delay styles, such as digital, tape and bucket brigade.
• Highly sensitive controls provide a broader range of tweakability and maximum flexibility.
• 100% analog Mix, Feedback, Tone and Level controls for warm, organic sounds.
• Up to 1,000 milliseconds of continuously-variable delay time.
• Flutter introduces modulation for slight shimmering/chorus-like effect of a vintage tape echo.
• Mix control ranges from 100% dry to 100% wet.
• 1mega-Ohm high-impedance 1/4" input
• 1kOhm low-impedance 1/4"
• Custom, silent-switching actuator.
• Buffered bypass eliminates the shortcomings associated with “true bypass.”
• Heavy duty, all metal construction.
• Optional DC power supply (Tech 21 Model #DC2).
• Price: $149 (each, street).
• Contact: www.tech21nyc.com