Sutton Instruments' Boostopia Clean Boost is superbly engineered for maximum surgical impact and resilience

As with anything pedal-wise - not all boosts are created equal - not even close within key categories - there are always some which will punch through clearer and with more precision-honed impact. And the Boostopia is just one such marvel which has that supremely crisp Burr-Brown-opamp-like clarity when it hits.

There is a whole +30dB of clean gain boost onboard - far more than you could ever need - but giving you the extended granularity to deploy in all situations. I stuck the Boostopia near the front of my chain - and used the High Mode to temper the low end of my Hello Sailor Effects Anchor Drive, then the Low Mode to add a little more beef to my Tone For Punk Trebled Youth overdrive, and finally STD full range mode to crunch up further my Tubesteader EggNog Tweed-style preamp - all perfect scenarios where the Boostopia delivered exactly what was required on each occasion - with style - and plenty more to spare!

In the below demo - the Boostopia is being used into the front of a MESA/Boogie Dual Rectifier - and it really excels at gaining up and saturating amps and pedals. While you can also use it after your favourite distortion as more of a transparent solo boost - just to punch through a little more - while still maintaining the integrity of the tone and texture.

Controls : Gain (0 > +30dB of Gain Boost), Range : LOW (Hi-Cut @ 1.5kHz), STD (Full Frequency Range), HIGH (Lo-Cut @ 350Hz).

While I can easily adjust the Gain Knob with my toes - the Range Rotary Selector does not allow you to do that for the style of boost. It would be cool to have a second footswitch - where you could step through the 3 Modes  - rather than having to bend down and adjust for different applications.

Each of the 3 modes is perfectly calibrated for maximum impact - whether you wish to tighten up the low end or make something sparklier or just louder. So it would be cool if you could flip though the modes in an easier manner. A long-throw toggle-switch could work - but that would make the pedal more fragile - I’m obviously a huge fan of dual footswitch pedals - and here we have a perfect scenario to execute just such a solution.

I know that you’re not exactly short of choices for boost pedals nowadays - with some really smart ones recently release - in all manner of  different sizes and complexities and prices. You should definitely share a thought for the Boostopia though - which is handmade in Hessle, Yorkshire to the most exacting standards - in fact the proverbial - built like a tank - in the best way of course!

Available for a very reasonable £129 from the Sutton Instruments Webstore - as well as my good friend Joe Light’s Joe’s Pedal Boutique. These really are incredibly beautifully put together in robust custom enclosures with superior components.

Early owners of the original Sutton Instruments pedal - the Del Fuego Ram’s Head Muff + Boost were so impressed by the Boost side of the pedal - that they asked Paul and his son David to make a stand-alone version of just the Boost - and hence the Boostopia was born! It’s something of a secret weapon as of the moment - but word will surely get around soon enough!