Electro Harmonix LPB-1

Electro-Harmonis LPB1 is a perfect pedal for those of you who just need a basic volume boost. It features only one single volume knob which is quite sensitive. There are basically two ways to use it: 1) as a booster in front of the amp (before going into the amps input) - this can be useful if you want to warm the tone up a little bit or increase your gain a little in case you have low-output pickups. 2) as a volume/lead boost in the fx-loop of the amp, so you just increase the overall volume of your amp, in case your amp doesn´t feature a volume boost. But watch out, the volume know is much more sensitive in this approach and reacts to even minimal adjustments with rather big volume increases. The way I use it is a volume boost for my solos/leads. I found dialed the right amount of boost in, so that the leads cut through the mix well (around 9 o´clock) and taped it over with gafo, to prevent the setting from getting messed during gigs and transport. The pedal doesn´t affect the sound considerably, dunno if it´s got a passive bypass though. But there are no sound issues with that. Of course the xotic ep booster sounds much sweeter and you can fine-tune the sound with midcontrol, etc. But the LPB costs only a small fraction of the EP price, so it´s really acceptable.

All in all, it´s a good solid volume-boost pedal, with a good value for money.

This small Box is a Booster who fits on every FX-Board.

The LPB-1 comes in a small yellow package, just with a short user guide and a warranty Card. A 9V battery is included and already inserted into the Pedal. You can use a power supply too, if you want.

The LPB-1 sounds very neutral, when the gain knob is on 9 o'Clock to 10 o'Clock.
It just gets the Volume louder as it's supposed to do.

When you crank the gain knob to 11 o'Clock or more, you get an overdriven Sound, which sounds a bit harsh, that's why i gave just 4 Stars.

But used just as a Booster, it works very well.

The EHX LPB1 is a compact pedal which doesn't take up much room at all on the pedalboard. It's a true bypass clean boost based on a design that's been around for a long time.
This can hit your amp with a load of extra gain if you run it in front of the amp, giving a bit of a volume boost but also working as a great little overdrive to fatten up your sound. It also stacks well with other pedals, goosing ODs and distortions into smoother, thicker solo sounds. The other way to run it is either at the end of your fx chain or even better, in your amp's fx loop - this gives you a massive clean volume boost, not adding much gain at all, just smashing up the volume to help your solos stand out above the band in the live mix. It fattens up the tone a little in the mids and lows which is a really nice extra effect for lead playing.
EHX sometimes have issues with quality control but this LPB1 has never given me any trouble at all. It's happy in a gigging situation and is versatile enough to be used in a number of ways. The true bypass also means it won't affect your standard guitar tone too much either. Recommended!

I honestly don't understand why this pedal doesn't cost more than it does, as its relative quality far outweighs its price.
I opted for the LPB-1 over an MXR Micro Amp purely based on price, and safe in the knowledge that Electro Harmonix equipment is consistently high quality. Having played through both pedals, I cannot see any difference in sound or quality, only that the EHX is significantly cheaper.
At lower volumes, in front of the amp, the boost is relatively clean, but breaks up my Orange head beautifully when pumped up. In the FX loop the boost is totally clean.
The casing is sturdy metal, the switching is silent and even the plastic knob seems very robust.
I have noticed that there is a bit of a 'pop' when the pedal is switched on or off, which is the only downside. This could be remedied by installing a higher quality switch quite cheaply though.
An absolute must if you need a boost pedal on a budget.

I have purchased this booster because I only needed a volume boost for soloing purposes.

1. Setup:

Booster after overdrive and distortion.
-> Booster set to 10 'clock and increases the volume of the overdrive without coloring the tone too much. The dist unfortunately didn't increase in volume. The LPB only colored the tone in a very twangy way.

2. Setup:
Booster to increase Volume of plain guitar signal using tubeamp overdrive.
-> increases volume but still colors the tone in a very brassy manner. Has a lot of attack but too much trebel.

3. Setup
Booster before overdrive and dist pedals
-> booster increases volume for all pedals an colors tone in a very subtile manner.

Conclusion:
If you (like me) don't have 100 bucks to spare on a line booster like the MXR line driver the LPB is a good option. You just have to find the pedals sweetspot to keep the tone coloring to a minimum.

I bought the Electro Harmonix Nano LPB-1 because I needed a little "extra-punch" for my guitar sound. I play a small single channel amps and wanted to tickle a little extra-crunchy sound out of it... and that's exactly what the LPB-1 does.

I did not recognize any disturbing hums other unwanted sounds.

The simplicity (only one knob that adjusts the boost) and the solid construction (completely made of metal) and as well the LED (which is bright enough!) makes this pedal perfect for live gigs and for rehearsals.
But there is one disadvantage I would like to mention: The battery (which is included) can only be replaced by loosing all four screws of the bottom plate. This is a bit annoying... but anyway.

I love this pedal and I am sure that it is a great offer (regarding it's price)!

The simple one knob control is quite enough for what this pedal can do.

I didn't quite enjoy the boost that this pedal provides. Have tried it both before and after my overdrive/distortion pedals, but none of the setups satisfied me.

I am now using a Keeley compressor which I also use for boost and sustain. I know I am comparing totally different things, but I would say that the compressor/booster which I keep on pretty much all the time it's quite important in my setup. So If you have a similar setup, you might consider investing in a high quality piece.