Treble Booster
A treble booster is an effects device for changing the sound character of an electric guitar . Treble boosters are used, for example, on the pedalboard or on the guitar strap in the guitar rig. In electronic terms, it is a single-stage active amplifier in the signal path of an electric guitar.
functionality
The first devices of this type were made with germanium semiconductors in a common emitter circuit and used as ballasts in front of tube amplifiers in order to feed the weak signal from the electrodynamic pickups to the amplifier input with low sound loss even over longer distances and cable routes. As a side effect , there was a significantly more brilliant sound, i.e. a change in the sound character, since parasitic cable capacitances and impedance matching problems were less evident. The concept of the Treble Booster was born.
Electronic switch
Originally, they were minimalist amplifier circuits with bipolar transistors , which achieved a high-pass characteristic through the capacitors at the input and output and through the elimination of parasitic cable attenuation . Nowadays, variants with operational amplifiers are predominantly in use. The built-in variants are called active electronics . The gain is typically 6 to 35 dB . With a little manual skill you can solder such circuits yourself.
Executions
One of the first devices of this type was the 1965 Dallas Range Master . Almost unusable versions are also known from the 1970s, for example a plug-in device from Elektro-Harmonix that was plugged directly into the amplifier input. It mainly increased the cable noise and broke into its individual parts when subjected to mechanical stress from cable pull.
Fryer Guitars
Fryer Sound Ltd. have released three pedals signed by Brian May . The purple “Treble Booster Deluxe” aims to reproduce the sound of Queen in the mid-70s with 35 dB gain . Blue is the "Treble Booster Plus" with 36 dB and differs through the sound of an almost violin-like voice in combination with humbucker guitars. Red is the "Treble Booster Touring" with 31 dB gain, which Brian May has been using himself since 1998.
BSM
Low gain
The "VX-C Clean Treble / Bass Booster" is a replica of the Vox Treble Booster for guitar and bass from the late 1960s. It has a rotary knob for the sound and has "true bypass". With this pedal it is possible to reproduce the sound of a wah-wah fixed in the middle position . The successor to the Vox booster was modeled on the "VX-T Treble / Mid Boost" with more amplification and a modified sound network. A custom-made Vox booster in homage to The Byrds guitarist Roger McGuinn, especially the song Mr. Tambourine Man, is based on the "RMG Clean Boost".
Medium gain
- RM Treble Booster
- RM Velvet Treble Booster
- RM Early Days Treble Booster
- HS-S Treble Booster
- OR Treble / Bass Booster
- DM-T Fat Treble Boost
- RW-F Treble Booster
- AP-WA Treble Booster
High gain
- HS Treble Booster
- BSM HS-C Treble Booster
- RG Treble Booster
- RM-Metal Treble Booster
- Ambassador mid-voiced treble booster
- BM-Q Treble Booster
- BM-Q Special Treble Booster
- FireBall Treble Booster
- "Albuquerque" Special Booster
The amplifier manufacturer 65amps has released a hand-wired germanium pedal called (65 Pedals) Color Boost, which has a four-stage "color" switch. The circuit is an exact copy of the Dallas Range Masters. The Four Banger mk2 / mk3 from Color Boost has four different boosts: Dallas Range Masters, JFET , OpAmp and MOSFET .
criticism
Some of the pedals do not have a “true bypass”. Many models have no LEDs to indicate the battery level, and some models have no control options at all.
Known users
- Brian May
- David Gilmour
- Eric Clapton
- Gary Moore
- Marc Bolan
- Mark Knopfler
- Ritchie Blackmore
- Rory Gallagher
- Tony Iommi
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fryer Guitars: Guitar effect pedal technical resource info. Retrieved March 3, 2016 .
- ↑ thomann.de: BSM Treble Booster RM. (No longer available online.) In: thomann.de. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on March 2, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Chris Burgess: Fryer Sound Ltd. Brian May Treble Boosters Review. In: premierguitar.com. Retrieved March 2, 2016 .
- ↑ aNaLoG.MaN Vintage Guitar Effects . Analogman.com. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
- ↑ Tony Iommi on Early Black Sabbath: 'People Were Very Frightened of Us' ( Memento of the original from April 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Gibson.com. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
