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HomeBrew Electronics … ever hear of em? If not, I can guarantee that you soon will. Even amongst $200 boutique pedal collectors, HBE is not a known quantity yet, but all the reviews have been unanimously ecstatic. “Better than Fulltone” and “Better and Barber” are two phrases you will come across as you research HBE pedals … not compliments to be taken lightly!!

I discovered HBE thanks to my forum bro, Brow. We went boutique pedal shopping when he was in NYC, where I discovered this curious, day-glo orange overdrive pedal that I thought was the most neutral sounding OD I’d ever heard. Brow found it to be a bit too clinical, if memory serves. (Brow will chime in to correct me, I’m sure )

HBE pedals are made by hand in Arizona, USA by Joel Weaver. I’ve already posted 3 other threads about my Big D overdrive pedal (‘Review’ [Parts 1 and 2] and ‘Joel Weaver, Prince of Boutique Pedals’). This one is about the latest addition to my pedal arsenal, the Dos Mos dual channel boost/preamp/buffer pedal.

Like the Big D, the Dos Mos is a tweaker’s dream: versatile in the extreme, and made with insane attention to detail and build quality. It can function in the following ways:

As a single channel clean boost.
As a dual channel clean boost. As such, you can either cascade Channel 1 into Channel 2 as a gain stage, or you can toggle between channels 1 and 2.
As a buffer stage for driving long cable runs.
As a combination of the above.

OUTSIDE
Like the Big D, the chasis of the Dos Mos is approx. 4.5” W, 3.5” D and 2” H. The pedal is painted in an outrageous ‘adobe’ textured paint style that is very tactile! I have tried to capture it in the picture below, but it really needs to be seen to be believed!!
There are 2 chicken-foot style volume controls across the top of the pedal, appropriately labeled “Uno” and “Dos”. The feel of the pots is similar to the Big D; very smooth audio taper pots are used. There is a mini switch that allows you to select output 1 as a preamp or buffer. Another mini switch allows you to operate the volume boosts separately or cascade them together.

The right side of the pedal houses the input and 9V plugs. The left side houses the output plugs, labeled “Uno” and “Dos” to match the volume controls.

There are two foot switches as well, which allow you to select which channel you are using or bypassing.


INSIDE
I was very pleased with what I found when I opened up the Big D, but I was amazed by what I saw inside the Dos Mos! A ton of point to point wiring, more ultra high quality componenets, and a mini trim pot. The trim pot can be used to adjust the output in dB of Channel 1, in case you are encountering noise when cascading. Another use can be if you’re using the Dos Mos through your FX loop for soloing, and find the volume boost to be too much, you can trim down the output to allow for fine tuning your solo boost.

Seeing all of the audio jacks connected with actual wires instead of being sunk into a PCB board brings a tear to my eye. Actual craftsmanship in a pedal – what will they think of next?!!
SOUND QUALITY
Of course, it could be the best-engineered and built product in the world, but if it doesn’t deliver the goods when it’s go-time, then all this preamble is just a waste of space. I’m sure no one will be surprised to know that this pedal is AMAZING! I was very curious to see how it would stack up against the Fulltone Fat Boost, my old boost pedal.

I first plugged straight into the Dos Mos and used output 1 going into the front of a JCM800 ½ stack. With the pedal off, there was no loss in tone from the guitar I was using – a Bare Knuckle VHII loaded Strat. With the pedal engaged … WHOA; thick, fat slabs of tone! My first thought was ‘Fat Boost? WHAT Fat Boost?” Unlike the Big D, which is the picture of neutrality, the Dos Mos is very euphonic, while not sounding sludgy, muddy, or tubby. Just the right amount of lower midrange boost (.5 – 1.0 dB around 540 - 600Hz, to my ears) to thicken the sound a bit, but not enough to colour the sound beyond recognition.

When I cascaded channels 1 2 together is when things got interesting; there are way too many tonal variations to get into here. It will take me days of experimenting just to see what all the possible combinations are. I will say that the tone thickened even further, and got REALLY loud. (We’re talking up to 50dB of boost here, folks) It was very Sabbath-like to my ears.

I then plugged the Dos Mos through the FX loop, with the Big D providing OD gain through the front of the amp. When used as a solo boost through the FX loop, the Dos Mos is much more transparent. I didn’t try cascading channels 1 amp; 2 through the FX loop yet, nor have I tried the buffer option yet.

So, Joel has another hit on his hands with this pedal! Now I’m REALLY GAS’ing to play his CPR compression pedal.

Bottom line: if you’re in the market for a $200 preamp/dual boost/buffer pedal that is fanatically built and sonically amazing, then put the HomeBrew Electronics Dos Mos on your short list.

Nice review there Ben

When we went shopping, and they bought out the HBE Big D for me to use, I was very surprised to hear that you'd never heard of Home Brew Electronics before. Being the 'boo-teek' pedal fan/geek that you are

I wouldn't say I found the Big D to be 'Clinical', it was (imo) a very bright sounding pedal. Although my opinion of this is based off my using it purely as a stand-alone Overdrive on the clean channel of an Orange amp.

If I used it on the Orange with some amp overdrive, or the OD channel of a Marshall maybe, then maybe I would've formed a different first impression

The functions of the Dos Mos sound similar to those of the ZVex Super Duper that we both bought In the fact that it's a 2 channel booster with a hell of a lot of boost on offer and the ability to cascade them together

If you remember, I bought a copy of 'Vintage Guitar' magazine to read on the plane and there's an article in there about HBE pedals and the company itself

Craig

bump

Sound clip I just tracked with the Dos Mos:
from : localhost/mono guitar is just amp gain. The stereo guitars are with 1 channel of boost. The solo is both channels cascaded. Guitar is Miracle Man equipped Gajic.

My biggest prerequisite for OD pedals is that they make the sound fuller, richer, and sweeter in all frequencies. If I plug into something, and it makes it gainier, but thinner, it's junk IMO. HBE makes great stuff, same with Z. Vex, and a few others.

I'd be interested to find out what amps the Homebrew Pedals are tested with. I think my Power Screamer is very bright and when I E-mailed Joel (to ask a few questions about the Big D) He said the Big D was a bit brighter than the Power Screamer. And now I've heard that the Dos Mos is the same.

Great Pedal though. I absolutely love the Power Screamer. Best O/D I've ever heard/ used/seen ever.

Yay for Homebrew, spread the word!