Treble Booster : what is it used for?

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

so that means no use for it unless i have a good old tube amp ?

Pretty much, unless your solid state rig sounds very warm and needs some upper mid/treble push. Which usually isn't the case with SS amps...

 

[Mincer]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

ive tried several in old tube amps and they sound terrible...i have no idea what people saw in them, i guess it depends on the player. noisy as can be, it boosted hiss, hum, and added some of its own.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

ive tried several in old tube amps and they sound terrible...i have no idea what people saw in them, i guess it depends on the player. noisy as can be, it boosted hiss, hum, and added some of its own.

The wrong pedal for sure for an articulate player...

 

[Gold star]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

I do believe you need a ECC83 pre amp tube for a treble booster to work effectively.. a lower gain No1 pre amp tube ( eg 5751) wont work as well

 

[Sirion]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

I do believe you need a ECC83 pre amp tube for a treble booster to work effectively.. a lower gain No1 pre amp tube ( eg 5751) wont work as well

It has been fifteen years, so he has probably sorted it out by now...

 

[Artie]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

It's still a good question. I occasionally play with a more modern take, (the BBE Bohemian), but it sounds good, through an SS amp, with a darker neck humbucker. Like a 59 or my Ric bass conversion neck pup.

 

[Sirion]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

Ritchie Blackmore used three of them after each other!

Did he? I have completely forgot this!

 

[Securb]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

Page used one also. They work fine with SS amps you are not going to get ice pick highs if the amp is dialed in correctly. You can use it to gain stage your overdrive or distortion pedal.

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

Pete Thorn does a great job in this video explaining treble boosters and playing some classic riffs with and without a treble booster so you can see the difference one makes:

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

Regarding whether a treble booster can work with a Solid State amp, I tried it a few months ago, and it did not add anything beneficial like in the Pete Thorn video. Now, I was trying to specifically get the tone he had going on the Judas Priest "Victim of Changes" riff. I know some people mentioned above that they had success using a treble booster through a solid state amp, but I am not sure they were going for that kind of tone. In my case, I tried using a Cataline Naga Viper treble booster pedal in front of the distortion channel of my Acoustic G120H DSP head. I also tried it in front of a Biyang Metal-End pedal, directly into the power amp, and also into the clean channel of the amp.

And I wasn't suprised that it didn't work out well, either. I had gleaned from Pete's video that the treble booster was developed as a remedy for old tube amps.

 

[LLL]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

The tube amp needs to be cooking somewhat for maximum results... can't rely on it entirely for gain+clipping.

treble booster -> plexi at about 6

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

Naturally best in front of a cooking non-master-volume amp, because that's what they were specifically designed for.

They don't work well with solid state amps by themselves, but can be great in front of many OD pedals, especially the more amplike drives with multiple FET stages. And after drives and fuzzes, they can add brightness & volume.

I still say the term "Treble Booster" is deceptive. They boost mids too. Really everything except bass, which would've made amps sound tubby.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

I still say the term "Treble Booster" is deceptive. They boost mids too. Really everything except bass, which would've made amps sound tubby.

Remember back before the wealth of information was available on everything related to Guitar ever and you just went by a magazine and what some old dude said at the guitar shop? You read that Iommi, May and Clapton used a Treble Booster, but had no idea what it was outside of the description?

Back then there were lots of threads like “Why would I need a treble booster? Why not just use an EQ with the treble set higher?” Then you kind of try to explain its a booster but kind of a Fuzz and it doesn’t really boost treble as much as roll off bass but you really need to play one to understand?

Good times.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

I know there have been a lot of comments since this question, but IT DEPENDS.

There are solid state preamp stages that respond well to being goosed. And some tube preamps that don't.

Honestly, Treble Boosters work a lot like how metal bands in the 80s used Tube Screamers: a little extra gain, and an eq tweak. You probably already know whether you have a signal chain that will respond well to that sort of thing.

thanks for the info John. that means no use for the Treble Booster on a solid state amp i guess....

 

[jeremy]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

i never liked treble boosters, just like i never used to like fuzz pedals. they are quirky and you have to know when/how to use them. i have a rangemaster copy my friend made me and i pretty much only use it with one small amp but with that amp, it sounds awesome! as others have said, i find the rangemaster (germanium quirky device it is) sounds best into a (tube) amp that is already turned up enough to overdrive before you slam the front end with the boost.

 

[Jacew]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

One thing about treble boosters in 60's and 70's: They do give edge to dark tube amps, but guitars we're also darker sounding due to caps and people used tone + effects that sucked high end + worse cables. For somewhat dulled tone the treble boost does wonders, especially when it's hitting hard tube preamp.

I love that classic rock tone. Often I use two singlecoils (SSL-5 being the other) in series and use treble boost to hit preamp = Killer hard rock tone for lower volume levels.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

i dont hear most old tube amps as dark or 50's & 60's guitars as dark either. strats, teles, les pauls, sg's and their ilk are all pretty bright guitars. some silvertone and others were darker but usually still pretty bright. you have a point with the cables though, them old coily cables suuuucked a lot of high end. fx as well had some suckage as well.

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

One thing about treble boosters in 60's and 70's: They do give edge to dark tube amps, but guitars we're also darker sounding due to caps and people used tone + effects that sucked high end + worse cables. For somewhat dulled tone the treble boost does wonders, especially when it's hitting hard tube preamp.

I love that classic rock tone. Often I use two singlecoils (SSL-5 being the other) in series and use treble boost to hit preamp = Killer hard rock tone for lower volume levels.

Nice insight. And, I like your sig. \m/

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

i dont hear most old tube amps as dark or 50's & 60's guitars as dark either. strats, teles, les pauls, sg's and their ilk are all pretty bright guitars. some silvertone and others were darker but usually still pretty bright. you have a point with the cables though, them old coily cables suuuucked a lot of high end. fx as well had some suckage as well.

Don't know if you watched the Pete Thorn video I posted earlier, but he explained the circumstances that yielded the dark tone - circumstances most of us arent going to encounter in every day playing. That being, having to crank the volume up on old NMV amps in order to achieve an overdriven tone... in the process of doing that, the tone often became dark on those old amps.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Treble Booster : what is it used for?

i didnt watch the video but ive cranked up plenty of nmv amps, i dont think they get dark. they do have a ton of low end but there is usually plenty of high end ripping along with it. the treble booster works great with that type of setup since it pushes the gain way up and cuts the low end so it doesnt get mushy