Pick-ups - try the I-beam, and yes K & K are indeed good (not got one myself) - but I like the Fishman Blender system best - you have a good transducer and also an onboard mic (it's fitted within the preamp assembly, so no problem locating it) and best of all a sliding fader so you can have all transducer, all mic or any shade between. I use mine (Martin GT16E) on 90% mic / 10% transducer and always get sighs of relief from sound guys cos it's so bomb-proof and sweet - and if I have to work at a louder volume on a big stage or in a band I can slide to say 75% transducer but still with 25% mic - or whatever I can get away with. They make a mic/magnetic sound-hole pick-up system too, I think.

As for the pedal, forget a booster. What you need is a variable CUT switch.

I have a number of diecast boxes I've made. Jack plug in routes to a foot-switch which goes to a) jack out (straight through), or b) a volume pot and thence to jack out. (The other pole of the footwitch goes to an LED and battery, so I can see which way I'm switched).

Straight through is for quiet picking/lead work, switched via the pot for strumming - and I can adjust the differential with the volume pot. Very simple - I don't think I've ever changed the battery in one, and the oldest must be 15 years now!

I had one for a while with TWO foot switches, via two volume pots, which gave me four volume states - 1) full volume (e2e), 2) small cut (pot 1 only), 3) bigger cut (pot two only), and 4) quietest (both pots).

Simple solderin' fun for a rainy day, very cheap (all the parts from Maplin), and no danger of overload or feedback.

Tom