Heather Brown Electronicals Clean Break Boost

Heather Brown’s clean boost, built around an active Baxandall EQ with Warm and Bright voicings and up to +25dB on tap.

Most tube amps have a point volume-wise where they start to give something back: a little more sustain, a touch of compression, notes that hang on longer. The Heather Brown Electronicals Clean Break is made to take you there from the pedalboard, and to let you decide what the amp hears on the way.

That shaping comes from a fully active Baxandall-style EQ, the bass and treble arrangement hi-fi designers have relied on since the 1950s. Treble and Bass each work in both directions, so you can pull the lows in tight before they reach an amp that is already full down there, or add top end to help a darker guitar cut through a dense mix.

The Volume control offers up to +15dB of clean boost. Keep turning and the circuit transitions into wideband gain, up to +25dB at maximum, with the op-amp’s feedback supplying the push. One pedal covers a level lift for solos, an always-on push into the front of the amp, and a harder shove at the top of the dial.

A two-position toggle picks the voicing. Warm gives a thick, traditional response. Bright moves to a higher treble shelf for added clarity, which is where we would start with humbuckers or a darker amp.

Heather Brown learned the trade working for Mike Matthews and Robert Keeley before building pedals under her own name. The practical details on the Clean Break include a low noise floor, silent soft-touch switching, and your choice of true or buffered bypass. The signal path is 100% analog, and it runs on standard 9V DC.