Xotic Effects brings back its AC Booster Smooth Overdrive Pedal in improved V2 Edition with added Boost!

So the history of the slightly mis-named AC Booster is a really interesting and tangential one. The AC Booster was first introduced in 2002 - where the AC is a reference to the Vox AC30 amplifier. The AC Booster was Xotic Effects’ original smooth overdrive - where the RC Booster (Rig Conductor - supposedly) was a lower gain version for those who liked a lot of headroom.

Scott Henderson loved using the AC Booster with his humbucker-loaded guitar, and wanted a similar sound for his stock single-coil signature guitar. And so Xotic beefed up the AC Booster a touch to deliver the BB Preamp (’Big British’) kind of voiced a little after a Marshall stack, and certainly not a Blues Breaker which it often gets mistaken for. RC and BB are just Lower and Higher Gain variations of the AC Booster supposedly! There may be some tweaks to core EQ - in particularly with more Low End for the BB Preamp.

Xotic Effects parked the AC Booster a year or so ago - which is often what happens before they have a new release candidate as such. And the AC Booster is now back in a much improved version with the added Boost circuit and footswitch, alongside 4 Shaping Dip-Switches on an externally accessible side panel - and as pictured!

I personally own the core trio of Xotic Effects Overdrives - mostly the enhanced and custom versions - as per the below visual. I obviously need to complete the set with this AC Booster variant - which is entirely to my liking - and goes straight onto the target wishlist. I of course also own he original trifecta of Xotic Mini Pedals - in both standard and Alchemy Audio modified editionns - with the stock internal dip-switches externalised as toggle-switches.