They should build this INTO guitars

I used this buffer/boost pedal with some velcro attached to the bottom back of my guitar, with a small 5cm patch cable coming from the guitar output into the Super Clean, and then through a 3 or 6 meter cable straight into the amp. The result is magical, it "activates" my low output alnico pickups, gives them the power to properly load a 6 meter cable and not loose any tone and dynamics when rolling the guitar's volume and tone pots.

This was a crazy idea I had and the result really blew my mind. I decided to get a buffer to play direct into the amp for the purest and most dynamic sound possible, but I came across some issues: I started to realize the impact the length of the cable had on tone and feel, and most important, the way the length of the cables affected the volume and tone pots response. If I rolled the volume down (to control amp breakup) the treble would start to fade away, or if I rolled down the tone knob I felt it was losing "punch" and dynamics...

So I researched for active pickups to solve this issue. Thing is none of the active pickups available were really what I wanted, the Fishman Fluence looked nice but missed the alnico dynamics and were very high output...

I thought a buffer pedal oughta do the trick, and indeed it does, if placed in the right place! And that's not necessarily after a 3 meter cable, a buffer won't magically restore your signal, it will just "balance" it from that point onward, and the impedance of a 3m cable has a great impact on tone and feel. The best was for it to built into the guitar! But I lack the skill, so I just sticked it with velcro to the back of the guitar with the smallest and highest quality patch cable I found.

Verdict: I used the Super Clean always on sticked to the back of my guitar at 12 o'clock on gain, my volume pots are set to 5 and tone knobs set to 7 and that's my "base" tone, it sounds better then plugging straight into the amp! The amp is set to "medium heat", it's a bit before "edge of breakup", so when I raise the volume pots it starts breaking up, when I roll it back to 5 I have my base clean tone back, and it's really jazzy clean, with lots of body and dynamics. I never thought such a little device would have such a great impact on my playing. I'm having more fun playing and spend zero time tweaking.

The dip switches work great, they are not infinitely tweakable and i'm glad they're not. Bass boost adds very nice body and allows to overdrive the amp sooner (I have it on), hi cut helps to tame brittle highs (I have dark low output pickups so I have it off), and the two mids dipswitch are also great to slightly adjust your style/voice. The small potentiometer is hard to spin and has a detent position at 12 o'clock, perfect for set and forget. Inside comes a 9V battery (unique on such a small footprint, bravo Xotic!) and a true bypass/buffered switch. Since I use it always on set it to true bypass, so when I put my guitar down I just switch it off and it doesn't drain the battery.

EDIT: Ops, actually even when it is in True Bypass it still drains battery if the input is plugged. John from Xotic support confirmed me: “ the battery keeps power going to the board to keep it "ready" and "powered up" so that there is no delay when switching on” I also asked why they went for 1K Ohm output instead of something lower like 100ohm, the answer was short and funny: “ the designer prefers the sound.”