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.
Pros
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Two levels of max boost.
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Lots of tone-shaping power.
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Very versatile – can be used as an EQ without boost.
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Compact and reasonably priced.
Cons
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Not much but be warned, a little goes a long way with the EQ.
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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.
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.