Who's a Rangemaster?

[Darg1911]

[PFDarkside]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

Shootout?

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

Shootout?

Nah, he just likes a bright sound ....

[Mincer]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

Pretty, but are those all the same with different colors?

[Darg1911]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

Pretty, but are those all the same with different colors?

Not exactly. They all use a PNP Germanium transistor but some have a charge pump/inverter for negative ground and some are passively "inverted". Some different input cap values, some switching differences, different transistors ...

[Darg1911]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

Shootout?

Sort of.

[Mincer]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

Did you build them? I'd love to hear your impressions.

[DankStar]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

I built GGG's version a long time ago and more recently had a diamond version. I ripped apart the GGG circuit and sold the latter. I can honestly say it's not my thing. I wanted to like them though. Possibly user error lol

[Darg1911]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

Did you build them? I'd love to hear your impressions.

Yes, I built them. I assume you mean impressions of the "Rangemaster" in general.

There are some rules, sort of. Best into a tube amp that's just at break-up, or beyond. No buffer ahead of the pedal. They can really sound like ass following a buffer.
There are some caveats too. The specific transistor is biased in the circuit. There is some inherent noise (hiss). Use a transistor in the right gain range and with low leakage and it's minimized but it's the nature of the beast.

They are very sensitive to pick attack, the harder the note is hit, the more crunch/distortion. They also clean up nicely with the volume control. The higher the frequency, the more it is boosted. Unity gain is at about 80hz. So while it's actually boosting mids too, it's boosting higher frequencies more. Increase the input cap value (I make it switchable) and it warms up as lower frequencies get more boost. PM me Mincer, I'll send you one. Gratis.

[Mincer]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

Wow, that's very nice!

[DankStar]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

I think this is the article that got me interested in building pedals and sparked my interest in the rangemaster in particular. A good read about the magic behind the circuit.

http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/rangemaster/atboost.pdf

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Who's a Rangemaster?

Been wanting to build a Rangemaster clone for awhile and have 75% of the parts....hmmm