Benson Germanium Boost | Secret Weapons Demo & Review

[@reverb508]

The background music makes me feel like I'm in a Resident Evil save room. I dig it

[@aaroncurtis4476]

Great job, Mark. I like hearing a pedal like this in context with the other "wet" effects, because that's, well, how most of us would use it.

[@patchpittman4981]

Mark, Great Video ,man your tone is just crazy good and Benson Amps killed this preamp it is my favorite ever just blew me away . also your playing is always on point great job!!!

[@tylergoodwin4332]

Once again, amazing job. Gonna add this to the list.

[@raygehring]

Just got it last week. I was floored by it for exactly what Mark is describing. For gigs or recording where pedals aren't needed, this boost is now always on. I won't be surprised if they make another version that, Like Fairfield, has no switch because it doesn't need one.

[@egor1g]

did you compare it? barber and benson?

[@raygehring]

@@egor1g I didn’t make comparisons because the Benson is used for my jazz gigs to give me more tube sounding amp. But, anything Barber puts out is always excellent. The Benson is way more subtle and useful for me especially when giving more life to my overdrives when they’re a bit muddy in the mix.

[@egor1g]

@@raygehring thank you, sir

[@NickFabi]

Another great posting. It’s deceptive how complex such a simplistic setup can be especially when you compare it to all the other people out there doing videos with huge pedalboards that have such a limited palette despite loads of pedals. As my teachers once said to me less is more! Not only does this apply to playing but also setups when it come to being more creative

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Oh trust me, I’ve got some overkill boards too.

[@danielleelizabeth9417]

I agree with you. Whenever I have too many pedals I find I don’t even use them all as I should. Each to their own but less has always been more for me and my sound. Totally pick up what you’re putting down!

[@maxpeck4154]

Firebird with Lollar Firebird pickups -- Strymon Flint -- Morgan MVP 23. That's my whole rig. I wouldn't be able to spell half of the gear mentioned in the rundown in this vid.

[@willwilson3377]

Didn’t get past the intro song before I got mine lol. Love the context you present the pedal in 👍

[@EdgeofBreakup]

Awesome stuff Mark!! Can’t use it wrong, that’s for sure!

[@ThePedalboardOrchestra]

Great demo, Mark. 👍👍 As always, I love your tone and the way you play. 👌

[@BobbyCrane]

Such beautiful playing

[@bernardbrennan1612]

Damn that nice. The EQ wasn't effected at all when you turned it down. That going to be useful.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Yeah that was HUGE for me. Especially with the Vinny.

[@mrrootytooty5797]

I cant find a decent schematic for the germanium boost but the internet pedal wallahs seem to agree it uses the buffer stage and pickup simulator stage from the Bensen fuzz pedal...if that is the case then i would have expected it to be auditory perfection! I've built circuits for years and my favourite is a germanium boost configuration but i only recently discovered pickup simulator builds (thanks waylon mcpherson). Putting one of those in front of a germanium boost and a tube amp is phenomenal, it just works so well in making the guitar and amp have complexity. Its so good, so nice to listen to, that not only has it moved me towards an almost clean tone as a preference, it has also made my playing less busy..its possible to argue it made me a better player 😊 I'm not going to argue that i now dont use other pedals, but i would argue that i can always get a sound i love with just that setup, a 5w tube amp and maybe a little reverb. I guess Bensen figured all this out long before me though! 😂 (I'd say next on my list would be an electra type pedal like the Tchula)

[@bastian6755]

Could a pedal like this, always kept on at the beginning of the effects chain (set to no more than 12:00), replace a buffer pedal?

[@valdon116]

Just bought this pedal and 2 others because of your demos. 👍🏽

[@WESLEYNFSMW]

Vídeo: 1:15 Me: Hit the vol+ button 15 times Very good job bro, Brazil here 👌🏻

[@ojaisherpa]

Wow- just stumbled on this. Amazing demo and tone. Pedalboard envy :)

[@bastian6755]

a technical question. Do I get the same functions as the Benson Germanium Boost (green pedal) by setting the Benson germanium fuzz as a clean boost?

[@ianwedegartner3920]

ah, good question.

[@gringopig]

I have one and it is fantastic!

[@markjohnstonofficial]

It basically hasn't left my board since it came in. Hands down my favorite boost I've ever used.

[@gringopig]

@@markjohnstonofficial agreed! I bought one after getting the Benson preamp which is impressive enough but the boost is even better!

[@LeeHoMusic]

love your music.... great, absolutely great yt channel!

[@normanholditch4504]

Yeah...nice sounds and all that but you just can’t hear the boost properly cos of all the swimmy reverb/delay...

[@tkASAP]

Although I think this is a great video, I cant help but point out the fact that theres a ray of sunlight slowly moving across your board acting as a sun dial of sorts. Kinda cool if you fast forward through your vid haha

[@stereodamage]

🔥🔥🔥

[@tomt55]

Great and informative review. Another clean drive pedal with color that is terrific is the Vertex Steel String Supreme, based on the Dumble Steel String Singer. Lots of amazing tones in that pedal. There's a Lyrock clone of this pedal too that does a great job as well.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

I’ve heard great things about the That one and, in particular, the SSS. Need to try one out.

[@john808welk]

I think a lot of guitarists are catching on to what you are talking about. The whole "transparent" overdrive thing went a bit overboard. I think the beauty of traditional amp overdrive is that it changes your tone. My 69 Bassman sounds and reacts completely different when its cranked then when it's clean. A super full frequency clean tone (like yours) would turn into a muddy mess with a layer of transparent gain slapped on top. But with a colored boost or drive cutting and boosting certain areas it can and will sound glorious. Also when your were being transparent (you walked into that one) about your bias towards benson I was on their site looking at the boost page which states that it is bias correcting. Just wanted to let you in on that layered pun.

[@kimmieandtheking7672]

dope review as always. have you been able to play with Fairfield's Barbershop? curious to hear how you'd get along (or not) with it

[@markjohnstonofficial]

I have not, but I am such a fan of Fairfield (and I am deeply biased towards JFET drive circuits) so I’ll have to check it out eventually.

[@slimturnpike]

The most distinctive thing about this pedal is the way it can be used to clean up an overdriven signal without turning the OD off.

[@mattmcgrath2822]

How would this compare to the collaboration devises compressor on bass?

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Completely different effects from top to bottom. Collab is a compressor w an additional gain stage. Benson boost is a germanium clean boost that, by the merits of germanium, has some slight compression to it. But theyre super different

[@mattmcgrath2822]

@markjohnstonofficial right yeah I had heard people mention the benson act as a "sort-of" compressor or sharing some slight similarities to them. I'm super new to compressors fwiw. I appreciate the answer and insight!

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Germanium can slightly compress but it’s not a compressor so to speak. Kind of like how a compressor, set really aggressively, can distort your signal but you wouldn’t call it a distortion pedal.

[@mattmcgrath2822]

@markjohnstonofficial cool, makes sense. Ended up picking the compressor up after seeing your bass video so hopefully it works out! Love all the content you make too!

[@erpringle]

I don't know, have you tried the badbob boost? It's pretty hard to beat. J.S.

[@ryuyamakawa4431]

Do they work well with the compressor?

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Yep. There’s some examples of that during the samples in the back half of the video.

[@MegaChoo2]

Still like it? Still on your board?

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Constantly. It’s one of my most used gain pedals

[@karabinerstudios]

I love the opening song with some bass and and drums. It makes me feel a lot like how the Boys of Summer makes me feel. Open, atmospheric and melodic 😀

[@bryanh3057]

That Benson is fantastic, but it’s terrible (actually unusable) for outdoor gigs on warm/days. Learned that the hard way. Lol

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Yeah the Benson germanium stuff (fuzz / boost / preamp) are more stable and reliable than the majority of germanium gear out there but it’ll all have its heat limits.

[@wheresallthezombies]

I wish benson wasn’t so expensive. I LOVE the tones but i can’t justify the price for a hobby. I’m keeping this as an option for a boost though. It’s between this and the ep booster. The ep booster is cheap enough that I’ll probably get both.

[@shredaintdead9323]

Just buy it. Just buy gear

[@FuzzFace]

Sounds good. Would be nice in a treacle format.

[@oldasrocks9121]

I really want to hear this thing on bass...

[@sagittated]

I'm absolutely tickled that it has only one knob, and the knob is completely unlabeled. I'm positively giddy about it.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

The implied “more less” of it all is so perfect.

[@sercastamere9853]

You are missing out on the best type of drive pedals by not considering lower gain and boost pedals

[@LewWelchThePoet]

🤘👍🏿

[@joshuasummers6109]

Yeah, boost pedals don't really do what they're supposed to do without an actual amplifier, the entire point is to increase the signal to the preamp tubes and push them harder. In context with even a 1w amp, you discover why people have been using them for decades. It's one of those effects that is difficult to recreate in an entire digital environment, because you don't have those physical components actually interacting - it's just an audio engineer's approximation of what that sounds like in the real physical world of sound waves and line signals.

[@gilguajardo7808]

I was gonna ask Mark how many of the previous boosts were tried with that 1W Benson amp. They’d all surely sound best through a real tube amp vs a digital amp modeler. Although, I think the Iridium takes such pedals better than other modelers. But not better than the real thing.

[@afterglow2020]

Nice... why do I feel like once the check clears we will never see this pedal on this channel ever again.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

I get the impression that it’ll stick around this channel longer than you’re likely to.

[@RexWax]

Would be nice to hear the pedal without all the other effects. I came to learn about this pedal. Not just hear your ambient noodling.

[@BeepBoopReBoot]

It’s a single knob boost - what’s to really learn? Plus, the guy’s wet dry wet setup means you’re getting a really clear picture of what the boost does, to some degree, regardless of the effects.

[@RexWax]

@@BeepBoopReBoot it is easier to hear shift in tone/volume/dirt without five other effects

[@BeepBoopReBoot]

@@RexWax I hear you. There’s value in that for sure. I guess I appreciate the practical application of this as I dabble with a decent amount of wet effects.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

There are a bunch of super talented guitarists on this platform that do exactly what you are asking for here. I recommend you check out Demos in the Dark and Edge of Breakup's videos on it.

[@RexWax]

@@markjohnstonofficial I went ahead and saw that collecter/emitter had a video that fits my needs. I don't know why I don't always just go to him or knobs first.