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recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:01 am
by dubkitty
i've come to the conclusion that i need a Rangemaster to push the front end of my amp. what are some good clones or variants of this circuit, particularly ones somebody like me can afford?
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:41 am
by colin
smallsound/bigsound Sparkle Motion is great, and I'm pretty sure I saw one for a good price in the B/S/T earlier today.
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:56 am
by devnulljp
Ghost has just done a run of killer looking Rangies. I have one of Ian's HS treble boosters and it's excellent.
PigeonFX does a really nice rangemaster too -- I built one from one of his kits, but he builds em too and they're cheap as chips, especially considering how good they are.
CreepyFingers Sugar Boost is awesome.
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 5:52 am
by univalve
devnulljp wrote:Ghost has just done a run of killer looking Rangies. I have one of Ian's HS treble boosters and it's excellent.
He is making more! In that housing:
Link:
http://www.ghosteffects.co.uk/the_horn.html
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:26 am
by Chankgeez
I don't know if you're set on a Rangemaster style boost, but I've been liking the BAT Black Forest (which is Colorsound Overdriver based). It doesn't have that crispy sizzle of a Rangemaster, but i think it's a little more versatile of a circuit. It all depends on exactly what you're after, I guess.
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 11:15 am
by Gunner Recall
Besides the amazing ones already mentioned (sparkle motion, ghost, and the sugar boost),
there's also the new monlith dark horse... I just got one and dig it so far. It's a rangemaster stacked with a certain crackly boost.
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:04 pm
by devnulljp
Gunner Recall wrote:there's also the new monlith dark horse... I just got one and dig it so far. It's a rangemaster stacked with a certain crackly boost.
You got one already? Post clips? I'm so tempted to grab one of those
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:08 pm
by univalve
devnulljp wrote:Gunner Recall wrote:there's also the new monlith dark horse... I just got one and dig it so far. It's a rangemaster stacked with a certain crackly boost.
You got one already? Post clips? I'm so tempted to grab one of those
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:43 pm
by 777mick777
Sparkle motion!
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:55 pm
by blahquaker
I just got a catalinbread naga viper last week and I think it's pretty great. no idea how it compares to the others, though.
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 11:56 pm
by dubkitty
thanks for all the recommendations so far...they've helped me to define better what i'm talking about.
what i'm looking for is something that does the relatively controlled Beano Boost kind of sound rather than the fuzzier version that a number of the modern variants are going for, and there's also--as usual--a particular tonal quality i want that's hard to define verbally. for me, at least as far as i can tell from the available demos, the Sugar Boost has too much fuzzy breakup and the Sparkle Motion leans in that direction as well. the Ghost Effects Horn, on the other hand, seems too sedate. i like the Naga Viper, but it doesn't make me do cartwheels. there are some other boxes i like in demos--the Throbak Strange Master and the Plum Crazy Squawk in particular--but they're all complicated, and i still haven't heard the one that makes me say YES yet. the idea of building one of the Pigeon kits is tempting, especially since it's such a simple circuit.
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:51 am
by Chankgeez
Again, I'm going to suggest the BAT Black Forest (even though it's Overdriver based, not Rangemaster based). It's a very flexible box, it can go from cleanish boost to fuzzy with a broad tonal range. I don't think it really has a distinct sonic character all its own. Which may be a good or bad thing, depending on what you're looking for.
I've got a Plum Crazy The Squawk. I like it a lot, but I'm not totally crazy about it. There's something about it (which I can't put my finger on) that I'm not completely happy with. I keep going back and forth with how I feel about it. It can get searingly fuzzy (which I do like about it).
I've been wanting to try a ThroBak Overdrive Boost (and to a lesser extent the Strange Master) for a long time, but haven't really wanted to shell out the cash.
dubkitty, are you wanting to place the boost towards the beginning or end of your signal chain?
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:05 am
by madmax1012
Chankgeez wrote:
I've been wanting to try a ThroBak Overdrive Boost (and to a lesser extent the Strange Master) for a long time, but haven't really wanted to shell out the cash.
my suggestion exactly. i don't have one, but the features are awesome, and i love that you can switch from germanium to silicone. also, i'm pretty sure it's as close as you can get to a dallas rangemaster
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:28 am
by dubkitty
i haven't yet decided where to put the treble boost in the signal chain. my gut instinct is to go the full traditional mode and set it on top of the amp and have it as the last thing the signal sees before the amp input so it kicks the preamp tubes in the teeth. i'm really not sure, though, because i have the main board/looping board thing....i don't want my loops going through the TB, in which case i'd need to have it somewhere on the main board. in that case i guess i'd put it at the end of the main board, after or just before the compressor which is currently the last device in the chain. i'm going to have to experiment and see what works, though. i could put it where the Hi Five is now--at the front of the chain just after the Phantom Ring--and use it as a general boost/OD thing, but i'm not sure the RM is really well-suited for that role for my sound. it could also end up at the end of the fuzz array. hell, i don't know. wherever it sounds like Marc Bolan, i guess.
Re: recommend a Rangemaster-style treble booster?
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:32 am
by Zounds Perspex
dubkitty wrote:i haven't yet decided where to put the treble boost in the signal chain. my gut instinct is to go the full traditional mode and set it on top of the amp and have it as the last thing the signal sees before the amp input so it kicks the preamp tubes in the teeth. i'm really not sure, though, because i have the main board/looping board thing....i don't want my loops going through the TB, in which case i'd need to have it somewhere on the main board. in that case i guess i'd put it at the end of the main board, after or just before the compressor which is currently the last device in the chain. i'm going to have to experiment and see what works, though. i could put it where the Hi Five is now--at the front of the chain just after the Phantom Ring--and use it as a general boost/OD thing, but i'm not sure the RM is really well-suited for that role for my sound. it could also end up at the end of the fuzz array. hell, i don't know. wherever it sounds like Marc Bolan, i guess.
what kind of amp/guitar are you using, doood? btw, I don't find the Sugar Boost to be fuzzy as you suggested - again, probably has more to do with the other gear you heard in the demos than the Sugar Boost.
any kind of straight up treble booster is going to be pretty similar with each other, I think. Something like a Beano Boost that can also be more full-range is a different kind of thing, for sure.