Xotic BB Preamp Review: The Best Guitar Pedal Ever

BB preamp

Over the years the Xotic BB Preamp has stood out as one of the best pedals ever. The reason is its unique sound and tone. Reminiscent of a tube amp breaking up, the Xotic BB Preamp has a special place in many pedalboards. 

Whether you are recording in the studio or playing live this is a distortion pedal to consider. As guitarists, we are looking for ways to improve our tone and sound, and distortion pedals are a great way to get a unique tone, especially this one. Due to its unique warm tone, the Xotic BB Preamp stands out as one of the best pedals ever.

The tone

Personally one of the best ways to make the most out of the Xotic BB Preamp is to use it in front of a clean amp. If you have a tube amp with a great clean tone, the Xotic BB Preamp can help you take it to the next level. You can even reduce the amount of gain on the pedal if you are just looking to get a little overdrive for a solo. 

The pedal acts extremely well as a clean tone booster, giving you a little gain, or even a full overdrive tone. Therefore it is a great versatile pedal to use both when recording and playing live. Another great thing about the Xotic BB Preamp is that you can use it pretty much as a sound booster also. 

Capable of producing extremely warm tones, resembling a tube amp breaking up. For blues, and rock, this is one of the best pedals available today. A very full tone, that has plenty of headroom.

No wonder guitarists like Andy Timmons use this pedal and even have their own version.

Andy Timmons playing his signature Ibanez guitar

Why the Xotic BB Preamp should be on every pedalboard

What is great about the Xotic BB Preamp is its ability to be used by many guitarists. Whether you play jazz, blues, rock, or even hard rock you can use this pedal to your advantage. 

For many guitarists, this is the only pedal they would never leave out of their pedalboard especially because you can combine it with other pedals to get exceptional tones out of your rig.

Another great thing about this pedal is how well it works on its own. Some guitarists tend to use several pedals at the same time in order to achieve a certain tone. However, the Xotic BB Preamp is extremely versatile, and it allows you to get a very wide range of different tones. It will work extremely well as a clean overdrive, or even something heavier like a hard rock overdrive tone.

Even if we compare it with the Tube Screamer, the Xotic BB Preamp is still more expensive. But there is a good reason for it. One of the reasons is the versatility and how it bypasses the tone you have on your amp.

Versions of the Xotic BB Preamp

Since it is such a popular pedal, there are several versions of this iconic guitar pedal available. The standard and original versions are still by far the most popular. However, in recent years Xotic released a Xotic BB Preamp Overdrive version. Since a lot of guitarists used the pedal as an overdrive, Xotic decided to release a version more aimed at an overdrive tone.

Price of the Xotic BB Preamp

The Xotic BB Preamp is pricey if we compare it with other pedals like Boss distortion pedals. However, this is a pedal that lasts you a lifetime. You will certainly not find a pedal with such a unique tone and feel. The original version of the Xotic BB Preamp will cost you $172. You can also get a used version of this pedal.

Considering how versatile it is and the quality of the sound, it is by far one of the best distortion and overdrive pedals you can get today.

If you intend to use this pedal as an overdrive, and you might want more gain, then the best solution is the Xotic BB Preamp Overdrive.

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