Treble Booster

[Genericmusic]

I used to use a first generation Rat. While visiting ProCo back in the day one of the engineers explained to the Rat like most distortion and fuzz pedals accomplish their sound by squaring the sound wave. The problem I found with this concept is that one is losing highs in the wave. I remedied the situation by using a wah to compensate for the difference but not without its own own set of issues. I think ThroBak has solved the problem. 

https://www.throbak.com/store/p33/ThroBak_Strange_Master_Treble_Booster.html

 

 

 

 

[TalismanRich]

Somehow it amazes me how a pedal based on an extremely simple circuit could be worth so much money.   The original Dallas Rangemaster had about a dozen parts, including jacks and switches.    For this much money you can get a 55-60" 4K smart TV!  I can get several different laptop computers with decent specs.  

 

[Steiner]

^^^ Ain't dat the truth!

[Genericmusic]

29 minutes ago, TalismanRich said:

Somehow it amazes me how a pedal based on an extremely simple circuit could be worth so much money.   The original Dallas Rangemaster had about a dozen parts, including jacks and switches.    For this much money you can get a 55-60" 4K smart TV!  I can get several different laptop computers with decent specs.  

 

 

Just now, Steiner said:

^^^ Ain't dat the truth!

Yes but you do get three sets of string with the purchase. 

[Steiner]

17 minutes ago, Genericmusic said:

 

Yes but you do get three sets of string with the purchase. 

Personally, I've never been offered guitar strings when updating the tele.  

[rwinking]

Ya gotta just love capitalism.....alomg with a little P T Barnum.

[greatmutah2112]

There’s a few variations of the Rangemaster out there.  The more expensive ones rely on germanium diodes.  Analogman’s Beano Boost is the top of the heap after ThroBak and it’s raved about. There’s other options too, like the Fulltone Ranger, the Catalinbread Naga Viper and PLX Biom Boost.  The Naga Viper and Bion use Silicone diodes instead.  Some prefer Germanium for a warmer tone but they are temperature sensitive.  I’ve had my Bion forever and have zero complaints with it.  It does what a treble booster does but with more range (see what I did there?).  One dial sets the range you are boosting anywhere from lower to the treble frequencies a TB boosts, another controls the amount of boost and a 3rd knob for gain.  Some are more simple. They’re all great though.  The Treble booster tone is more aggressive than a TS style boost.  It takes a good midgained up amp and makes it sound like it’s on the verge of nuclear meltdown.  It’s an awesome sound. 

[greatmutah2112]

Also, I’ve used a Treble booster in front of both my Metroplex and a wound up AC30 on the normal channel and it’s fucking awesome. 

[bolero]

I had a Throbak, I liked it but I sold it. I still have one of these:

 

[DetroitBlues]

On 9/15/2022 at 9:27 PM, TalismanRich said:

Somehow it amazes me how a pedal based on an extremely simple circuit could be worth so much money.   The original Dallas Rangemaster had about a dozen parts, including jacks and switches.    For this much money you can get a 55-60" 4K smart TV!  I can get several different laptop computers with decent specs.  

 

You can say a lot about Throbak's pricing.... Why are their pickups so much more than Seymour Duncan?  Both use original machines and basic components.  The pedals Throbak sells are no different.  There are dozens of cheaper models out there that do the same thing.  

It comes down to quality and brand power.  Obviously, Throbak believes theirs is best to charge this much.

[rockabilly69]

6 hours ago, DetroitBlues said:

You can say a lot about Throbak's pricing.... Why are their pickups so much more than Seymour Duncan?  Both use original machines and basic components.  The pedals Throbak sells are no different.  There are dozens of cheaper models out there that do the same thing.  

It comes down to quality and brand power.  Obviously, Throbak believes theirs is best to charge this much.

I don't know about their pedals, but their pickups are ridiculously consistent when it comes to quality of the sound and construction.  More than once I've seen their pickups transform a guitar into something pretty special sounding. As for Duncan, I rarely keep them in any guitar that I own, I just don't get along with the voicing of their pickups. The only set I've ever kept in any guitar is the Peter Green Set in my Heritage H150. They were wound in the custom shop by MJ who has a good rep in the winding world:) It's just a PAF style set, and I asked them not to do the reverse magnet PG thing to them. They are unpotted, Alnico II, in the high 7K range for the neck, and high 8K range in the bridge.

[DetroitBlues]

4 minutes ago, rockabilly69 said:

I don't know about their pedals, but their pickups are ridiculously consistent when it comes to quality of the sound and construction.  More than once I've seen their pickups transform a guitar into something pretty special sounding. As for Duncan, I rarely keep them in any guitar that I own, I just don't get along with the voicing of their pickups. The only set I've ever kept in any guitar is the Peter Green Set in my Heritage H150. They were wound in the custom shop by MJ who has a good rep in the winding world:) It's just a PAF style set, and I asked them not to do the reverse magnet PG thing to them. They are unpotted, Alnico II, in the high 7K range for the neck, and high 8K range in the bridge.

What I meant was, all things considered, when you factory in the quality of workmanship in compounded by their reputation, the value of the product goes up.  Didn't mean it's not a good value, you're getting what you paid for.

Memory serves, Throbak made some killer amps for awhile too.

[rockabilly69]

29 minutes ago, DetroitBlues said:

What I meant was, all things considered, when you factory in the quality of workmanship in, the quality of the work compounded by their reputation, the value of the product goes up.

Well I agree with that! And btw the way I love rangemasters, I have two Marshall style amps, and one handwired Vox AC15 that both come alive with them. I don't know if you remember my post from last year, but I wired a rangemaster treble booster into one of my Zemaitis guitars, along with a passive G&L PTB tone circuit, and that guitar into my 18 Watt Marshall Style amp puts a huge smile on my phase everytime I kick the treble boost switch into gear!

The 18 Watter

Treble Boost at the switch

[DetroitBlues]

Just now, rockabilly69 said:

well I agree with that! And btw the way I love rangemasters, I have two Marshall style amps, and one handwired Vox AC15 that both come alive with them. I don;t know if you remember my post from last year but I wired a rangemaster treble booster into one of my Zemaitis guitars, along with a passive G&L PTB tone circuit, and that guitar into my 18 Watt Marshall Style amp puts a huge smil on my phase everytime I kick the treble boost switch into gear!

[img]https://i.imgur.com/Z8SkFbj.jpg[/img]

 

I have a couple amps that come to life when a simple boost circuit kicks in.  Even the Electro-Harmonix LBP-1 adds some special sauce to an amp.

[rockabilly69]

Just now, DetroitBlues said:

I have a couple amps that come to life when a simple boost circuit kicks in.  Even the Electro-Harmonix LBP-1 adds some special sauce to an amp.

In the late 70's I used two LPB-1 boxes chained together with a Brown Princeton and that tone slayed!