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Hi Team,

Opinions please. It's the old "humbuckers into dark amp needs brightening up" situation. I think i want to be in the position where i have slightly too much treble so i can dial it back to taste. I also want to keep the other frequency cuts to a minimum.

The dedicated treble booster's out there seem a bit spendy for what they do (not counting the EHX screaming bird), but if they are worth their price i'll get on with it.

Can a reasonable result be achieved with a DIY effort for the cost? Not concerned about build time, i've got plenty of that. I've soldered pots and cables but nothing that will be this fiddly.

Ta.

Man if I had any solder chops at all I'd build just for the experience. But I don't (along with not enough patience either). Sounds like you have the most important ingredient (time) so I'd heartily encourage you to go hard. I'm sure TmcB and others with experience would be more than happy to drop some wisdom your way.

Get a Silverpistol, they are the best Treble Boosters I've ever played, and I've tried many!

Take the covers off your humbuckers if they have them, problem solved!

jeremyb wrote:Take the covers off your humbuckers if they have them, problem solved!

or take the blanket off your amp etc

Rangemaster looks simple to build on paper but they have a funny thing with 9v being the other way round to usual and it can cost you a few germanium transistors before you figure it out..........or of course you could get it right first time and it sounds awesome!
Screaming bird would be a simpler build as it's basically the LPB1 schematic with 2 different resistor values for input and output.
In fact if you bought an LPB1 you could easily mod it to the screaming bird and I doubt you could build one for the price of a S/H LPB

Mattallica wrote:Hi Team,

Opinions please. It's the old "humbuckers into dark amp needs brightening up" situation. I think i want to be in the position where i have slightly too much treble so i can dial it back to taste. I also want to keep the other frequency cuts to a minimum.

The dedicated treble booster's out there seem a bit spendy for what they do (not counting the EHX screaming bird), but if they are worth their price i'll get on with it.

Can a reasonable result be achieved with a DIY effort for the cost? Not concerned about build time, i've got plenty of that. I've soldered pots and cables but nothing that will be this fiddly.

Ta.

With most boutique treble boosters what you're paying for is:

• *A discontinued Germanium transistor that's in the right spot for gain and other fun stuff
  *The knowledge of how to set said transistor to the sweet spot
  *The knowledge of how to not ruin said transistor by wrong polarity or heat
  *Extra features like EQ switching or controls

What you sound like you're after isn't too complicated - you're really just wanting to knock the bass off, not to particularly go after the flavours Rangemaster circuits will provide.

You could just get a Screaming Bird and be done with it in your case, or the fun way is to get yourself a Rangemaster Kit.
If you get a silicon version you'll be pretty safe and it'll sound good.

Other things to consider:
- Speaker change to something with more top end
- Using the G&L/Reverend Bass cut circuit (I recommend this)

What amp? Get a vox and start your search for treble subtraction ...

do it, build one, transistors aren't so hard to come by, for a treble booster Silicon is fine, at 20c or less each you can fry them all day until you have it right.

Thanks for the great feedback everyone!

What's the best place to get a kit from then? My initial thought was to get one of those $30 Nux OD-3 jobbies, plus the others bits needed and go from there.

Leaving the covers on the pickups is far more titillating for me

I'll give the screaming bird another sniff. The couple of Youtube videos i watched earlier weren't that great.

With most boutique treble boosters what you're paying for is:

*A discontinued Germanium transistor that's in the right spot for gain and other fun stuff
*The knowledge of how to set said transistor to the sweet spot
*The knowledge of how to not ruin said transistor by wrong polarity or heat
*Extra features like EQ switching or controls

Thanks for that T, that puts a good perspective on the cost. Is the germanium transistor the most temperamental component in the guitar electronics?

I think Darth posted one a few months back that got me humming, Aston CC? so a boutique one could come in further down the line.

Other things to consider:
- Speaker change to something with more top end
- Using the G&L/Reverend Bass cut circuit (I recommend this)

Duly considered. Speakers would be more work and cash! I like the ones i have currently. I use a few guitars and they have different levels of treble-ness. I could whack that circuit in the worst culprit. Adjusting the pedal to suit each one would be the easiest option for me.

What amp? Get a vox and start your search for treble subtraction ...

*

Amp is the Laney IRT Studio. I'm quite fond of it. Definitely don't want to mess around with it. I have a Vox Lil' Night Train if that counts lol

Mattallica wrote:
Thanks for that T, that puts a good perspective on the cost. Is the germanium transistor the most temperamental component in the guitar electronics?

Oh my word yes! I've spent way more time on my own builds getting my silicon transistors to be more germanium-like so I don't have to fart around with the little bastards. Silicon is way more consistent too. Germaniums can change their tone just by you holding them due to your body heat

Nothing beats them in a Rangemaster when you get a good one, I'll have to admit.

Kit wise I like these dude the most - http://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/Range_Mast ... 96874.aspx

Here's the schematic I used for my RM clone* (bottom) and original schematic (top). These are about the easiest type of pedal you can make. (note these use a PNP transistor, so everything is wired for positive ground)

*bias trim pots and true bypass wiring added.

RM cloney thing True bypass by tubeswell, on Flickr

Cheers for that!

Since this thread died off i've asked Tony to make me a germanium Ophidia, but i'm yet to hear back from him.

I'm going to make a silicon based one in the mean time, once the donor pedal arrives. I've been looking at schematics for a Brian May treble booster which must be nearly identical to the RM? I'm keen on a tone and volume pot, and that bias thing would be a cool edition too. Also true bypass.

Could your schematic be easily redone for a silicon transistor and negative grounding?

I'd want to power the pedal off a PSU. Unless i use one of those invertor cables perhaps...

Flip the polarity of the caps, the supply (9v) and use an npn transistor.

The next easiest thing to build is a fuzz face, the technology of the fuzz face article online somewhere (google it) has info and diagrams about flipping polarity.

The other Orion is leaving it positive earth, but it is a pain if you want it to share a supply.