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Nux Lacerate Boost Review – The John Mayer boost on a budget!
Introduction
I have been going through a John Mayer phase (again!) Doing this, I have put together a compact Mayer board (article incoming). In doing this, I have been looking at the Keeley Katana! This is when I quickly discovered just how expensive they are! Even the Mini ones are fairly pricey for a boost pedal. This is where the Nux Lacerate boost comes in.
Doing some research, the Nux Lacerate always gets recommended as an alternative to the Keeley Katana pedal. So I wanted to see what it was like! Of course, this isn’t going to be a comparison; this is going to purely be a review of the Nux Lacerate! How is it as a mini boost pedal? Does it outperform its price point? Let us find out!
Before we get to the sounds and then my thoughts, I will go over the controls and what the pedal is and why people do compare it to the Katana! So what is the Nux Lacerate?
Nux Lacerate Boost Pedal
The Nux Lacerate Boost is a high headroom and super clean boost pedal. Designed to increase your signal by up to 35dB. This can be useful for solo boosts, or can be great to boost an overdrive pedal or a fuzz! Luckily, this boost pedal contains a few extra features to make it even more useful and adaptable! So what makes the Lacerate different?
The Nux Lacerate is housed in a full metal housing with a plastic knob and a metal soft touch switch. Inside the Nux Lacerate boost pedal you will find a dual FET circuit giving you a huge range of boost. The circuit is also taking your 9v input and boosts it up to 18v internal boost for even more boost and headroom.
What controls does this pedal have? Well, the Nux Lacerate only has one control, well, actually it is two controls. So why don’t I go through them quickly?
- Volume: This increase the output of the pedal all the way to +35db of boost.
- Footswitch: This allows you to turn the pedal on and off. Holding it down for 1 second will switch the boost mode. Press and hold while starting the pedal up will change the bypass mode.
More on the Nux Lacerate
This pedal contains two main kinds of boost. It is still a boost pedal, but they have added two types of boost. The first one is a standard “Clean boost”. This is a super high headroom, ultra-clean boost. It doesn’t colourise or affect your tone in any way, only make it louder! The second mode is the “Crank Mode”. This adds a second stage to the boost, which adds a small amount of grit and overdrive to your boost. You can select between these two options by holding down the foot switch. An LED at the top of the pedal will light up if you have “Crank Mode” engaged.
The Nux Lacerate has both a true and buffered bypass. You can select which one you want on start-up by holding down the foot switch. Meaning you can use it as a buffer for large pedalboards or you can just use it as a simple clean boost.
The Sounds
The demo songs in this video show the pedal off in two ways. One using the NUX Lacerate to boost an overdrive pedal. The other using the NUX to boost the front end of my amp! Can you tell which one is which? Which one do you prefer? Both sound great and both allow you to expand your sound so much more.
For the sound sample section of the video, you will hear three sounds. The first one is using the amp as a clean boost. I run the pedal into the front of my amp, which is set super clean. Secondly, I run it into the front of my amp with the amp set to a more overdriven sound. The final sound is using the pedal to push the front of an overdrive pedal. I use my Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini and push the front with the Nux Lacerate.
What are my thoughts?
The Design
This pedal is tiny! I love it! If I am going to use a boost pedal, then I don’t want it to be massive and take up loads of space on my pedalboard! This pedal is the perfect size! Small and compact. Perfect to add to any pedalboard to give you that extra flexibility. Along the same lines, I think the pedal looks fairly good as well! A very clean and simple-looking pedal with only a simple logo in the middle of the pedal.
Inside the box, you get the pedal, the warranty, and also some foam and Velcro strips for the pedal, which is always welcome. As you would imagine for a pedal of this size, the box and decorating are fairly basic. So if you like a good pedal box (I will admit I do), then this won’t be one of them!
Having the two boost options is really nice and allows for a lot more flexibility! This means you can use the pedal in a few more ways than you can other boost pedals! Plus, the dual bypass mode is a nice touch and makes the pedal usable for a lot of different people.
"It isn’t an overdrive pedal, just a bit of sizzle on top of your boost!"
The Sounds
Clean and very clean! In its normal setting, the Nux Lacerate is very clean! It has a huge amount of boost on tap and will push any pedal or amp it is going into. It has a lot of volume on tap! A lot of boost! This is great as you can use this pedal in so many ways! And thanks to the optional buffered or True bypass foot switch, you can fit it into any rig.
Press and hold the first switch down, and you switch it to the “Dirt” mode, which does add a little bit of punch and grit to the boost. So, if you are running a super high headroom amp and you just want to dirty up your sound a little bit, using the “Dirt” mode on the Lacerate is the perfect way. I found it adds just a little bit of hair; it isn’t an overdrive pedal, just a bit of sizzle on top of your boost!
More on the Sounds
A great way to use a boost pedal at home is if you have an amp that has no master volume (Fender Deluxe Reverb, for example). Using that amp at home will mean you won’t be able to get it loud enough to overdrive; however, being able to push the front end means you will force the amp into overdrive while keeping the amp at a fairly low volume! Of course, this depends on how much clean headroom your amp has.
As mentioned, the Lacerate contains a lot of volume! A lot of crystal-clean volume! If you have a good amp and you slowly turn up the volume on the NUX Lacerate, I would bet you give up before you reach the Max pedal! It is loud! This has two sides; it is possible to get a lot of volume/boost but also can be loud and unwanted if set to harsh. So, you need to learn how it needs to be used at the volume you plan to play it with.
The Drawbacks
There isn’t really much to critique with this pedal. It is a boost pedal and it does that very well! I will say, and this is nothing against NUX, but due to the brand, the resell value might not be as strong as some other pedals as brands. Meaning you won’t be able to hope into this pedal and out without losing some money. This isn’t a huge issue as the pedal isn’t that expensive anyway, but if you buy one and don’t like it, you might as well keep it!
One thing I did notice (and I understand the reason) is that the pedal starts at 12 o’clock. If you go counter-clockwise, the volume decreases and go clockwise for your boost sounds. For me, this is a bit strange. I would have preferred the pedal to only be a boost pedal. I can understand that this feature might be useful, however, for me, and how I want to use the pedal, I want a boost-only pedal. What this means is that your adjustments can make a huge difference! It has a huge amount of output to fit in the second half of the knob!
"Also, be careful on price! Some of them can be very expensive and set you back a lot of money!"
Final Thoughts
I love this little pedal! There are so many little features that they have added to it, which makes it incredible for the price they are selling it at. The ability to enter the Dirt mode by just holding down the foot switch means you can do it on the fly and have that little bit of punch if needed. Granted, changing the bypass mode is a little bit more complicated but still not difficult.
If you find yourself swapping between overdrives and distortion pedals, I highly recommend that you check out a boost pedal! My favourite way to use one is to push and boost the front end of an overdrive pedal. Allowing you to get more gain and saturation as well as compression from a single overdrive pedal!
There are loads of boost pedals out there, and they all come in various sizes. I would highly recommend a mini one like this one as they don’t take up much space. Also, be careful on price! Some of them can be very expensive and set you back a lot of money! Price-wise, you won’t be able to beat it! Considering it has a similar circuit to the Keeley Katana, it is so much cheaper and easier to get hold of! I won’t compare this pedal to the Katana in this review, but as this pedal is based on it, it is worth noting!
Conclusion
What do you think about the Nux Lacerate boost pedal? Do you think it is good value for money? Do you even feel the need to get a boost? As I mentioned above, for the price that this pedal is, it is definitely worth grabbing one and giving it a go! I believe every pedalboard should have a boost on it! They can help you achieve so many sounds with a very small footprint!
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Nux Lacerate Boost Links:
- Nux Lacerate Boost (Andertons Affiliate)
- Nux Lacerate Boost (Thomann Affiliate)
- Andertons Affiliate Link
- Thomann Affiliate Link
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