Effector 13 Dark Boost Overdrive/Boost

Description

Tim Shortnacy hand-builds Effector13 pedals at his shop in Austin TX and they’re fairly rare. Other than one Torn’s Peakerpedal, this is the only one I’ve had. This one was built on 3/9/04 and looking at their production stats, there were only 10-20 of this model built in ’03-’04, and a total production of around 65, give or take, over its run of ’03-’09. According to Tim, the Dark Boost was actually a fluke while trying to design a Bass overdrive/distortion. He said it “Made my Strat sound more like a Jazzmaster, so I figured : What the hell… someone’s bound to want something like this.” Other guitarists claim it makes their Strat or other single coil guitar, sound fatter and darker, more like a Les Paul. Not surprisingly, it has also been positively reviewed by bassists (link). It’s circuit board is suspended inside the pedal, covered in black tape, and features true bypass. Here are some reviews at Harmony-Central. I don’t know what Effector 13 is doing now, but they have a budget line of pedals out, from the Orient no doubt, but back when this one was made they sold for $150 and, I’m sure, of significantly higher than their new line which are distributed by Ooh La La manufacturing. If you’re looking for a transparent clean boost, this isn’t for you, but if you want something to fatten up your signal, perhaps after running through your favorite OD/Distortion, this is a great choice. $99.