Dumb treble booster question

Dr. Lo

Dr. Lo

New member
I've never tried a treble booster. Although this may sound really dumb, can I assume that treble boosters only boost treble? If so, doesn't that mean they would sound horrible on an amp+guitar combination that you already find bright enough? Put simply, why would someone buy a treble booster instead of a booster that boosts across the tone spectrum?
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

Dr. Lo said:
I've never tried a treble booster. Although this may sound really dumb, can I assume that treble boosters only boost treble? If so, doesn't that mean they would sound horrible on an amp+guitar combination that you already find bright enough? Put simply, why would someone buy a treble booster instead of a booster that boosts across the tone spectrum?
Click to expand...

It's not that they boost the treble, but they cut the other frequencies some making it sound like the treble is boosted but it's the overall volume that's getting boosted. The frequency cut is not so drastic that it's all treble. The sound is actually still full, just not as full as if it was off. Some setups work great with treble boosters, some don't.

Good examples of treble booster users: Tony Iommi - early Black Sabbath, Brian May, George Lynch used one on Tooth and Nail.

If your rig is bright, a treble booster isn't something I'd recommend.
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

I read that the Screaming Bird is very ear-piercing and unpleasant. But for some reason I've been wanting to build one. It's only got a few parts. One guy said it should have been named the "screaming audience".
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

IMO, if you want to build a treble booster, build the Rangemaster. That is the best one there ever was, IMO.
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

ErikH said:
IMO, if you want to build a treble booster, build the Rangemaster. That is the best one there ever was, IMO.
Click to expand...

+infinity.

I've built two so far and I'm actually building my third right now, since I sold the other two. This is the one I'm building. It's a rangemaster with some minor mods, none of which change the tone, but are there to ensure that the transistor doesnt reverse bias and keeps the temperature down, preserving the life of the transistor.

http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/rangemaster.html --> I'm building the one on the bottom titled "rangeblaster"
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

Trebleboosters are also fun to build into distortions and overdrives!
Our Crush Zone has two stages running in to each other, the treblebooster slams the OP-Amp and produces a mix of an old and new sound, and when rolling off the volume of the guitar it stays open.
Same with the Lovepedal Eternity, and a few of Seans other products:)
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

The Rangemaster isn't just a treble booster, it's also a Germanium distortion device. The distortion is subtle, but that's the magic in the sound, otherwise a graphic EQ would work as well.
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

Rid said:
It boosts the higher mids, gives a Marshall like sound on the right amps!
Click to expand...


It boosts everything in a 6db/decade fashion. Not just mids. Higher frequencies are boosted more than lower ones.
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

Rid said:
Trebleboosters are also fun to build into distortions and overdrives!
Our Crush Zone has two stages running in to each other, the treblebooster slams the OP-Amp and produces a mix of an old and new sound, and when rolling off the volume of the guitar it stays open.
Same with the Lovepedal Eternity, and a few of Seans other products:)
Click to expand...

Speaking of which Rid, have you ever considered having a Plexitone with the crunch channel, regular 20db boost, and a Rangemaster type boost built in? One of those would be an everything-in-one-type pedal for me.
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

Like it needs more topend;)
No I am not really, as it would require some fundemental change of the pedal.
And after yanking about a whole year out, to get the thing to sound the way I wanted, I am not going to change much about it anymore:D
Besides having two boosters is pushing it;)
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

You're right, I don't really know much about pedals, I'm just spouting off crazy ideas of mine :fingersx:

The Plexitone will definetly be my first pedal purchase, I've heard so many good things about it and the clips are great.

Sorry for hijacking the thread :smack:
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

I've got all the rangemaster parts I need to build one in my work truck. I was gonna make Brisk loan me his soldering iron for about an hour and build it the other day, but he had a late night soccer game. The parts are still sitting in my work truck all lonesome etc. :) They will be built into the rangemaster soon enough however...
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

I just fired up my Rangemaster build for the first time in forever. Through my Vox AD50 it sounds incredible. With the UK70's and UK80's models it's beautiful sounding. With the Tweed 4x10 (Bassman), look out, it's Heavenly.

I hadn't used it because I was having a problem with RF frequencies getting in. Tried all the usual treatments but never could totally get rid of it. I think it might have been my other amp causing it. Doesn't matter because I'm going to use my build rather than an overdrive for a while. :)
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

I like to use my equalizer pedals. My parametric EQ goes all they way up to 16kHz. This is close the the upper limit of treble detectable by an adult human. Through my regular guitar amps, fluctuations in this range don't even sound out; however, since bass amps and keyboard amps reach farther in both tonal directions than guitar amps, these high frequencies can be tuned when I play my guitar with my parametric EQ through my bass amp.
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

AdmiralB said:
The Rangemaster isn't just a treble booster, it's also a Germanium distortion device. The distortion is subtle, but that's the magic in the sound, otherwise a graphic EQ would work as well.
Click to expand...

So what's the best way to approximate a treble booster with an EQ? Boost upper-mids and highs or boost upper mids and highs AND cut some of the bass?
 
Re: Dumb treble booster question

For a start, give a slight boost to frequencies between 1kHz and 5kHz, and decrease the other frequencies a little.
 
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