Rangemaster instead of FET? (slightly heretical)

[Luthierwnc]

Some time back I built the FET into an amp and didn't mave much use for it. I also have a homebrewed Rangemaster variant using an NPN transistor which sounds good with an ODS.

So ... I'm wondering if anyone ever put a foot-switchable treble boost inside the front end of their amp?

FWIW, the circuit board for the boost goes about 1.5" x 1.25" even with my crude traces -- takes up very little room. It has a single pot which is a little scratchy because of the DC.

Comments, questions, castigations?

Thanks, Skip

[pedro]

Interesting - I have a home built germanium Rangemaster clone - but have never tried it with my ODS - I'll try it this weekend and report back !

cheers
Pete

[nickt]

I've spent the last 30years with the first box I ever made (some sort of treble booster from Electronics Australia) directly feeding my amp (I think I've changed the battery exactly 3 times ) . Your idea I like... and kinda wonder why I never thought of it

[Luthierwnc]

My musings are in the theoretical stage right now. I'd also want to take a little of the ultra-high off the device. These ODS clones get a lot of high end by themselves and you need to quick on the tone control to compensate.

Nickt, Australia seems to have a pretty vibrant online stompbox community. A decent percentage of the old germanium IC's on EBay are down under too. The Rangeblaster on Fuzz Central is the model I cloned. It is the same basic deal but modernized for pop and hiss reduction. The transistor set-up is different in that it has a negative ground which works with pedal power supplies. FWIW, I used a Mullard OC140 I got from Small Bear here in the states.

Skip

[d95err]

So ... I'm wondering if anyone ever put a foot-switchable treble boost inside the front end of their amp?

http://www.voxamps.co.uk/acseries/ac30bm.asp
(This has to be one of the coolest amps ever!)

Here's a rather clever input booster mod:
http://www.missionamps.com/turbojax.shtml
(You could do this yourself with any simple booster circuit.)

Since we want to tap into B+ for the low voltage supply, a JFET or MOSFET based circuit is probably the best solution since they draw very little current. Just changing some cap values and lowering the input impedance of the existing Dumble FET preamp would give essentially the same result as a Rangemaster.

[Tonegeek]

Here's a rather clever input booster mod:
http://www.missionamps.com/turbojax.shtml
(You could do this yourself with any simple booster circuit.)

That is rather brilliant, especially the way you adjust it thru the hole...

[Luthierwnc]

To finish off this thread, I added a tone control to the stompbox treble boost and it compliments my HRM head really well. I'm using the RangeBlaster from Fuzz Central:

http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/rangemaster.php

The mod was to run a .01 cap from the collector through a 25k pot, wired as a variable resistor to ground. All else is stock. It takes enough of the ice-pick off to work with a "D".

FWIW, Skip