Chandler Limited Little Devil Colored Boost
By: Barry Rudolph
Chandler Limited's Little Devil Colored Boost is a highly configurable guitar boost pedal that's capable of as much as 37dB of gain. Its Class-A circuit design is completely malleable while you're playing--the Feedback & Bias rotary switch actually changes the (usually fixed and non-adjustable) component values in the pedal's circuitry. F&B's six different combinations of negative feedback and bias settings change the whole character, gain, frequency response, harmonic distortion of Little Devil and allow for an extreme range of tones from slight fuzzes all the way to sweet, overdriven blues sounds.
LD's controls begin with the Colored Boost knob that sets boost amount within any of the three Boost (frequency) Range switch settings. With the Little Devil, the more you boost, the brighter the sound. Set the boost range to High if you're looking for a classic treble (only) top boost; the Mid position broadens out the swath of boost frequencies to include most of the midrange; and the Full position jumps up the entire range--but not excessively in the bass.
The Highs switch is a final mastering equalizer for the pedal's output. In general, we thought of this switch as a way to match the pedal correctly to any amp. Certain amps "load" the guitar or the pedal's output--the same pedal can sound completely different from amp to amp even though the pedal's settings remain the same. The Little Devil's manual lists all the amps Chandler tested; Little Devil will work and sound its best on any amp from small thin-sounding combo amps all the way up to Mondo and ridiculous, sludge-filled stacks that only 'look' impressive.
Once the Boost Range and Highs switches are set, that leaves dialing in the Boost Range and the main Feedback & Bias controls to arrive at the tone/sound you're after.
Since the F&B switch changes component values with the LD's circuit while powered up, an unavoidable "pop" will be heard in your amp--it's unavoidable so mute your pedal board's output or bypass switch your amp and get over it.
For our tests we used a Hamiltone Deluxe (Strat style) guitar plugged into a Fender Deluxe amp--an amp whose sound is well known to guitarists. We found the Little Devil to produce a range of guitar sounds we couldn't believe could come out of any Fender amp--even the immaculately vintage example in front of us.
Everything from clean Hi-Watt Pete Townsend tones to treble-boosted, steely AC 30 VOX leads to singing, Class-A tube amp smoothies or with a few tweaks you'll have a hot mid-range, Blues amp tone. This is an excellent pedal well worth "woodshedding" with--to spend time building your own signature guitar tone palette. There are recall sheets provided for documenting all the guitars, settings and amp types you could use.
It took us about 10 milliseconds; it was love at first boink to know that we desire the Little Devil Colored Boost because its versatility is empowering. In the right hands, it's capable of sculpting very specific and unique sounds that will be individual to you and your music. The Little Devil Colored Boost is a "Swiss Army Knife" of a pedal that can cut both ways: tone punters step up and learn this one. The Little Devil Colored Boost sells for $335.
