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by Jim Button June 17, 2021 4 min read
The Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster has been used by the great and good of rock: Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Rory Gallagher, Tony Iommi, Marc Bolan, Brian May...rumour even has it that Eric Clapton used one on several tracks of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton - the famed "Beano" album.
Released in 1966, the Rangemaster Treble Booster was effectively a germanium-based pre-amp in a simple box that would sit on top of your amp. Consisting of one germanium transistor (typically a Mullard OC44 or NTK275), three resistors and four capacitors, it sums up the simplicity of the era's guitar equipment, but the sound it was capable of producing...well, let's just say it made more than one guitar legend!
The idea behind the Dallas Rangemaster was to bring upper-frequency clarity to typical British amps of the day, which tended to be on the darker side. The "growl" of the pushed germanium transistor running into the first tube in an amp's pre-amp section not only adds grit and texture to the final sound, but it provides the amp with an EQ'd sound and light compression.
The germanium transistor asymmetrically clips the signal in a relatively smooth way, which the amp's pre-amp valve then builds on by clipping the peaks on the other side of the waveform. The result is a smooth, compressed signal which works wonders when the volume is then turned up.
Interestingly, the "Treble Booster" name is a bit of a misnomer - it's not just a case of simply boosting the treble frequencies. Instead, the upper-mid and lower-treble range "feed" the pedal and dictate how much boost it produces: the more high-end signal, the more dBs of gain. There is also no cutting of the bass frequencies like you find in something like a Tubescreamer.
The result is an extremely responsive tone with plenty of texture, zing and girth - a perfect match for an overdriving Marshall!
You can buy an original 1960s Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster today for around £2,000, which is great if you want a piece of history and have a wad of cash burning a hold in your pocket. Of course, vintage equipment can be unreliable if it's not properly maintained.
Some companies build exact replicas in the unique amp-top chassis the Dallas Rangemaster is known for, but if you're after something more pedalboard friendly I stock the Tate FX Hot Coals Germanium Rangemaster, which I can thoroughly recommend.
Based on the Dallas Rangemaster, it brings just what I want to my sound: plenty of cutting mid-range and high-end clarity. It's difficult to express in words the grin this simple one-knob pedal puts on my face!
Stuart Tate explained to me how he uses the best components he can find: "The Hot Coals uses NOS UK military-spec germanium transistors with NOS Soviet-era Russian germanium diodes for temperature stabilisation. It's based on the classic Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster. The switch toggles between the classic treble frequency boost and a fuller frequency boost."
The Formula B Fuzz Rangers has become one of my bestsellers. Combining the classic silicon Fuzz Face circuit with a silicon version of the Rangemaster Treble Booster (for better stability when run together with the fuzz), it's a serious bit of kit that brings all the character of the Rangemaster circuit but adds a Low/Mid/Hi toggle to zone in on particular frequency ranges.
It's not as historically accurate in sound as the Hot Coals, but it's still tons of fun when combined with the fuzz circuit. One of the great things about this pedal is you can choose which order the two circuits operate - so stick the Rangemaster side first for a saturated fuzz tone, or put the Fuzz Face side first for more clarity and volume to push your amp.
So grab yourself a Marshall (other amps are available...), a Tate FX Hot Coals or Formula B Fuzz Rangers, your favourite guitar and 30 minutes to yourself, and see if you can unplug either of these pedals afterwards. My bet is that you can't!
[product=signal-cheyne-oberon-germanium-boost]
Handbuilt in France, The Oberon Germanium Boost comprises a single knob and a 3-way toggle, making it a simple but effective tool in your pedalboard arsenal. A built in charge pump reverses polarity of the power supply, ensuring your modern power plays nicely with the old-school NOS germanium transistor.
[/product]
[product=drunk-beaver-hoverla]The Hoverla is a germanium Rangemaster Treble Booster-style pedal with adjustable bias and impedance controls, enabling you to dial in the perfect sound regardless of your pickups. "Does magnificent things to near enough every fuzz and gain pedal it comes before" - Guitar Pedal X.[/product]
[product=tate-fx-hot-coals]The Tate FX Hot Coals is a Rangemaster-style germanium boost, made with NOS UK military-spec germanium transistors and NOS USSR germanium diodes for temperature stabilisation. Based on the classic Dallas Rangemaster, the Hot Coals takes the best parts and expands on it - notably including a toggle to switch between the classic treble-boost and a fuller-range setting for those occasions when you don't need all that treble. It's your one-stop shop to raucous Iommi riffage.
[/product]
[product=formula-b-fuzz-rangers-anniversary-edition]
The Fuzz Rangers Limited Edition combines Rangemaster and Fuzz Face circuits for an awesome all-in-one pedal. The Boost circuit is based on the Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster, with silicon BC549 transistors to reduce compatibility problems (polarity, power etc) with the Fuzz circuit. Uniquely, there's a toggle switch to shift the Boost emphasis between Low, Mid and High frequencies, making it more flexible than a traditional Rangemaster. With the option to run the Fuzz and Boost channels independently, it's an incredibly flexible pedal for your pedalboard, but where it gets interesting is that there's also a toggle to set the direction of the signal. You can choose whether to run the Boost into the Fuzz, or vice-versa. The results differ dramatically.
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by Jim Button April 18, 2023 12 min read
by Guest Author August 26, 2022 3 min read
by Jim Button June 24, 2022 5 min read
This Pedal is easy to use and has many sweet spots! Perfectly tuned combination of two legendary circuits! Highly recommended!
super fun trem, decent sound, huge volume. havent spent a lot of time messing about with it, but did have a play with the slide and drift feature which are a nice bonus. cant wait to have more time to play around with it.
Boost Guitar Pedals are great as always, fast delivery
been playing it a few days now, and have it set up so it works with with whatever i thow at it. its in my chain after OD but Before Distortion. feedback dial is great and can have it very far clockwise before it sends you in an infinity loop, mix is a bonus, i haven't messed about with the shapes much yet because i found a dreamy setting i dont want to change. would highly recommend isolated power suppy, it did not like daisy chain or cheap single wall one, but works smooth with isloated brick
Boost Guitar is great again to got it within 24 hours of shipping
Perfect for that traynor amp growl on bass. There’s a lot of scope with gain and EQ controls (which sound ace wherever you dial them in). Had the Tronographic Rusty Box before this which I regrettably had to sell; this is a perfect (and smaller, less power hungry) substitute.
I spent months searching for an affordable vibe pedal that actually sounded authentic.
Not only does this have the very sound that I was after, without a ton of tweaking, but it is priced reasonably too. It is not at the cheap end of the market, but for a hand-built pedal with dual speeds this is unbeatable.
The sound is spot on. Warm and rich with the throb missing from many of the lower-priced pedals. The second speed makes it easy to switch between chord and solo settings.
The delivery was amazing too - ordered in Friday afternoon and delivered on Sunday morning!
I can’t recommend this highly enough to anyone looking for the best univibe around.
add another 5 stars, im no pro but i know what sounds i like and the Bloom is the sound i like. ive had Boss BD2, donner dumble drive, Tumnus and Tumnus deluxe but to me The Bloom tops them all. its a well built easy to dial in. having full gain is so clear and not nosiy. only tried with my strat single coils atm. the distortion isint the best but im comparing it to the Drunk Beaver Batv2 and have a feeling that its a layer distortion for another distortion pedal. fuzz is lush. the chip and fat switch really bring it to live and gives you more options for sound. i cant believe this is made by 1 guy. To me Drunk Beaver are up there with the best pedal makers. could send hours going on about the great things. and im only useing a boss katana mk2 no tube amp but you can get some faux tube headroom with the right switch. if you like the demos, well i got good news, it sound way better in person
Boost Guitat Pedals are great too, fast delivery, great communication. couldnt ask for a better store
Bone white Davies 1611
The Bleak District Tapescape is one of the best delay and ambience style pedals ever invented. The controls are all intuitive but highly flexible, the sounds are rich and detailed, the modulation can go from dreamy to nightmarish very quickly, and all of that inside a small footprint with a low power requirement. It's difficult to get a bad sound out of it, honestly.
Add in that Boost shipped it out quickly and it arrived with a nice note written on the invoice, is there anything else you could ask for? Definitely will be buying more from both Boost and Bleak District in future.
Part came as described. Website was easy use.
very cool pedal
Awesome service and communication all along!
Will gladly order again
I ordered a set of strings from Boost, that did not initially turn up. After contacting Boost via the website they immediately sent out another set (no questions asked). Both sets arrived a few days later (Thanks Royal Mail!). Boost were prompt in dealing with the issue (gave) me a set of strings and got things sorted out. Highly recommend you use these guys.
My favourite strings, at a great price! Very reasonable postage rates and speedy service. My first purchase from Boost, but will definitely not be my last. Hassle free, excellent...
Jazzmaster happy🙏
I didn’t know that particular manufacturer from Italy, but I definitely recommend their "Vintage Vibe”. It’s simple, intuitive, it looks awesome, the build quality seems impeccable, and most importantly, it sounds fantastic.
Pre-ordered the Tapescape through Boost Pedals. Great pedal, great order experience
I'll be away from my pedalboard from 6th - 18th April...but you can still browse!
I'll ship all outstanding orders on Friday 19th April.
All the best,
Jim