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Post by Vibroluxer on Jul 17, 2022 12:03:37 GMT -5
I'm not really a tone chaser but I wouldn't mind getting a little closer to a Brian May tone at times. The real goal is to understand the difference between a clean and treble boosts, just tuning up the tone and volume on any pedal, an eq that has a volume and gain, and lastly, what's a germanium boost? Ok, one more...why the love of OC44s?
Thanks in advance.
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Post by Seldom Seen on Jul 17, 2022 12:55:52 GMT -5
I can only offer my personal very non-technical observations:
Clean Boost: Klon Centaur silver non-horsie sweetens every rig I've ever played when I play clean. I have a KTR on my small pedal board and these pedals are usually in the mix. They just bring the tone forward like playing a BF on 5-6 when it's set on 3. My Klon's work well with any pedal through any amp in my collection. I'm sure most clones do too.
Treble Boost: I've owned a '63 Vox AC30TB (since sold) and I have a Dallas Rangemaster reissue. Unlike the Klon, I've never found a tone I really liked using single coils and BF style fender amps (sounds brittle to me). I love playing it through older Marshalls, early tweeds, and I have an early fifties Supro that comes alive with the treble boost and humbuckers. To my ears it affords a decent May-like tone but it's just so subjective that I'm going to avoid stating it "nails" his tone. I've never liked Queen enough to explore further. That said, I've long admired May's playing and tone and that's why I have Queen in my library, not to take anything from Mercury because he was an amazing vocalist.
Germanium Boost: I use my Keeley Oxblood as a clean boost on the wet half of my larger pedal board. I also have the Oxblood germanium. I really can't say there is a huge difference between them but I haven't spent a lot of time A-Bing them. Perhaps the germanium version is slightly less smooth (grainier?). Both offer a great range of tones, probably too many for me. I understand germaniums are less stable and the tone can drift with temperature changes. I can't confirm this, never played live on a hot stage and probably never will. The older I get the cleaner I play so my pedal time gets less and less. I need to sell a few for sure.
OC44s: I have many pedals with them but I don't understand the finer points as to why they are considered to be primo.
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Post by Vibroluxer on Jul 17, 2022 13:40:31 GMT -5
Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of that! I've had my eye a a Swart Atomic Boost which uses the military version of the Mullard OC44. I know nothing about them though I can say that I can hear a difference between an RCA and a British Mullard which, of course, is comparing a tube to a transistor.
Again, thanks for the insights.
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pdf64
Wholenote
Posts: 557
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Post by pdf64 on Jul 17, 2022 16:24:19 GMT -5
Germanium circuits tend to operate without negative feedback, kinda like valve preamps. Unlike valves, they overdrive at rather low signal levels, even SC pickups can do it, humbuckers can push them really hard, and generate lots of asymmetric distortion, and the transistor can almost choke out. They’ve definitely got their own thing going on, but if you use high output pickups and like to keep overdrive subtle, they may not fit your needs. Treble boost circuits may be better described as being a drastic bass cut. Germanium types have a low input impedance and need to interact directly with the pickup, kinda like a vintage wah. By arranging it like that, spiky treble from from the pickups gets rolled off. So such pedals need to get the guitar signal direct, no buffered (or always on) pedal between the guitar and them. Here’s an interesting link, if the technicalities are intriguing www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/Rangemaster/atboost.pdfRegular clean boosts have high input impedance and transparent types should have no distortion or tonal effect, other than clipping when they’re turned up. Of course the boost they add may kick the stuff later in the chain into a different place tonally, eg the amp may fatten up, get more ragged etc, depending on the relative settings. |
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Post by reverendrob on Jul 18, 2022 3:16:48 GMT -5
The fundamental thing is "is it a 'clean boost'"? If so, it's like turning up the fader on a mixer. It just gets...louder. It may cause overdrive if the amp is there, but by itself, it's not going to impart ANY gain because of its native circuit in the dirt realm.
There's the "Dirty boost" which basically is a clean boost up to a certain point on the dial, but after that starts imparting overdrive on its own at higher settings. The Klon in the settings I like is basically ths - it just makes everything BETTER generally, I almost never turn off my germanium Klon(e).
The classic "treble boost" is a light overdrive and frequency spike in a pleasing section of the frequency range with the right amp. It'll take mud out of things, and makes you generally sit in a mix with distortion a bit better - you're not eating up every conceivable frequency range.
The germanium stuff breaks up in a particular way and are VERY sensitive to voltage as well as temperature. At the same time, you can get a good sound out of silicon whatever, but a gifted tech who can "pick his transistors" (often going through a hundred more more and finding ONE that works for that circuit), you can get magical, magical things. Some of it's mojo or nostalgia, but there's a truth to it with the right pedal. It's why all the old pedals have such a variance in sound - one Fuzz Face is the voice of god, the other sucks, and ...that variance and interaction is why.
I have magical OC-44 treble boost that I had an audio wizard do (in a 2-in-1 with a dirty boost from a Roland Bee Baa alongside a Rangemaster clone, switchable order - I loved both and thought rightfully so that it would be magical together but rolled the dice) that was worth every damn penny. Same with the tuned-for-me Fuzz Face from Hell that has all sorts of switchable options for order of the transistors, alternate ones, additional stages, etc.
I could likely live with a couple of the ones I have and be happy, but I don't have to and I like varietal options.
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Post by Vibroluxer on Jul 18, 2022 7:10:09 GMT -5
Once again I'm grateful for the sharing of knowledge a this place. Thank you, fellas!
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pdf64
Wholenote
Posts: 557
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Post by pdf64 on Jul 18, 2022 18:34:28 GMT -5
Just to note that the frequency response of a regular treble booster is that of a simple, single order high pass filter, corner frequency about 2.5kHz. So below that, the gain drops at 6dB per octave.
Away from the test bench and in the real world, the corner frequency will tend to be somewhat lower, due to the pickup impedance interacting with the RC filter. eg maybe around 1kHz.
The lowish input impedance should act to damp down the pickup’s resonant peak, which is usually in the range 1-4kHz.
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Post by Vibroluxer on Jul 18, 2022 20:58:27 GMT -5
Just to note that the frequency response of a regular treble booster is that of a simple, single order high pass filter, corner frequency about 2.5kHz. So below that, the gain drops at 6dB per octave. Away from the test bench and in the real world, the corner frequency will tend to be somewhat lower, due to the pickup impedance interacting with the RC filter. eg maybe around 1kHz. The lowish input impedance should act to damp down the pickup’s resonant peak, which is usually in the range 1-4kHz. PDF64, if you don't mind me asking, what's your background in the musical world? I've followed many of your posts and am amazed at your knowledge. |
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pdf64
Wholenote
Posts: 557
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Post by pdf64 on Jul 20, 2022 11:10:14 GMT -5
I've been tweaking, repairing and building valve amps, and solid state bits and bobs, for over 4 decades, nearly as long as I've been trying to play guitar. I studied EE at college then uni as I'm a geek and like to try and find out how things work  |
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