This pedal does not 'make your guitar louder' when activated. At least the one I got doesn't. When activated on a clean channel, all the way 'down' - no change, turn up the knob, it adds distortion??? Not exactly what the product claims it does. Maybe mine's broke. ??

This little pedal kills. It is awesome for boosting your signal. I use it as a boost for solo's on my drive channel. It gives me extra gain and a little more volume to sing right over the other instruments in my band. It gives your guitar great sustain without unwanted noise. This thing is the best in its class.

I've used the MXR M-133 micro amp for 4 years now. My pedalboard has changed significantly in 4 years, but the Micro-amp has always had a place on it. I used to use it for a boost pedal but as my pedal board has grown I now use it as a signal boost. I have a moderate signal chain, MXR Super Comp, Fulltone GT-500 overdrive, an old 1990's Tech 21 XXL overdrive, Voodoo Labs Super Fuzz, MXR Micro-amp, MXR Phase 90, BBE Soul Vibe, EH Stereo Electric Mistress, TC Electronics Nova ND-1 Delay and NR-1 Reverb. The signal, stereo left and right goes into two Epiphone Valve Jr. heads which feed two EarCandy single 12 cabinets with Peavey Scorpion speakers. The Micro-amp adds nothing to the signal, just a nice even clean boost. I've never had a problem with the pedal. It's one of the best buys I've ever made. I'll be buying another soon for another pedalboard I'm putting together.

I have this pedal at the beginning of my pedal chain and it is a must for anyone mixing old and new pedals together. I have a humbucker equipt guitar I play through a mid 60's Fender Tremolux and in my pedal chain I have a Vox wah pedal. It is an excellent sounding wah pedal when its on, but it absolutely kills your amp's tone when its off; the Micro Amp pedal is excellent for bringing the brightness, lost in the chain, back to my amp. I leave it on all the time. For boosting I use a Boss eq.

If you're like me, you have invested a lot of time, money, and energy into an amplifier that sounds perfect to you without needing any pedals. For me, that was the Marshall Vintage Modern 2466 100-watt head with an Avatar custom G412 cabinet loaded with 2 Celestion Vintage 30's and 2 G12H30's. I love the organic sound of the amp so much that I am extremely hesitant to put any extra interference between my guitar (Gibson Les Paul Double Cutaway) and the amp. This pedal is the only pedal I have heard that pushes your amp's tubes to add slightly more gain, and adding some extra decibels for solos, while preserving every aspect of your tone (even while it is bypassed). A lot of people like to use overdrive pedals to achieve the "boost" effect, like the Fulltone OCD. I actually used to use an Analogman TS-808/brown modded pedal on an older, solid-state amp. I now see this as useful only if you are not completely happy with your amp's natural tones. The MXR Micro-Amp is simply like having the "master volume" level shoot up a few notches on your amp by stomping on it, which I use for solos to push my sound out from the rhythm guitar. So, if you are using a solid state or hybrid amp, try using a OCD or TS-9 which emulate an overdriven tube amp...or just use the micro-amp if you actually have an overdriven tube amp!