An EMG PA2 afterburner is an excellent way to run low impedance output from passive pickups. It earns a 5 star rating on the on that alone. The boost can be nice to flick on for a solo when you want to really pull away from the rest of the band, but pedal jockeying could do the same thing with work. However, Low impedance operation is necessary for live play, in my book. The more cable you run, the more you will notice yours mids and trebles flattening out. Loosing that Brian May sparkle. That's just physics of running 500K impedance. Running 50K impedance lets you run 100 feet of cable and never know it. Also necessary if you want to use a passive pickup alongside an active pickup. A guitar tech buddy of mine taught me that a while back, and it's an amazing trick. Overall value on this is outstanding. Total tonal upgrade for live play, and the ability to run passive with active pickups is very useful in some situations. Low impedance operation is key to good live tone. And the whole 20db thing ain't bad, either...