Hey all,
a while back i breadboarded a BM treble booster like this one: http://www.boardsprep.com/mp3/BrianMayBoost.gif
and i found it wasnt completely clean ie it had an edge of distortion to it, even with my weak single coils. Is this supposed to happen? I also own a crispy cream treble booster, and that distorts slightly when i put my strat on the neck p/u and dig in...Surely these are meant to be clean boosts?
Thanx for any insight,
Alex

Hello Hello--
      What they were originally designed for and what most people [like me...]  actually USE them for are two different things.   My amps are usually a little distorted to begin with so that when I kick the TB in it adds gobs of boosted mids and distorted highs [nice, creamy highs....].
A germanium TB would add a little  dirt to a clean amp, but nowhere close to the dramatic blast  of playing it through a Vox or Marshall thats already turned up half-way or more.  The original TB circuit was designed for English amps, so the effect is different then using one through a stock Fender Twin Reverb or Super Reverb amp.
Brian.

They are supposed to be very slightly distorted.  They add texture and gain to an already crunchy sound.  Amp and pedal combination is critical with a treble booster (or even with a fetzer valve);  I like to say that a booster intensifies the preexisting character of the amp.  So, if your amp is a ss piece of crap, a treble booster is likely to make things worse.

An example is Brian May:  He uses the normal channel of a Vox AC30 turned up to 10 to get max gain and volume from the amp.  He then runs the treble booster into it to push things over the edge.  Since the Vox is still pretty clean even when cranked, the treble booster just raises the gain to marshall levels.  If you ran a treble booster into the high gain channel of a JCM900 it would be insane gain (and noise) and would likely be unusable for most folks.

amp+pedal+guitar+hands=tone  

Each of the first three choices is critical, the last we can't really control.

Hello Hello--
    A lot of Brian  May's lead tones are the result of having two of his pickups in series, so it's not a "single coil" type of sound.   A good example of  single coils-Rangemaster-Vox AC-30 is Rory Gallagher's old stuff.  He ran his Strat into the  RM but did not have the boost knob on the RM all the way up, so it sounded distorted but not saturated.
 Actually, a RM into a solid-state amp equipped with a master volume [pre-amp cranked] can get a decent boosted sound.  [Might have to set the boost knob up high for that one....]
The best tone is when you are already getting good power-amp push [again, a Vox or Marshall with no master-volume], but alot of people can't get away with doing that!
Brian.

hi,
thanx for replies. I guess if you crank up ur amp and overdrive your tubes your not going to notice a tiny more dirt anyway. btw im using an Ampeg J-12t, all valve class a 15 watter for bluesers on a budget, and it sounds awesome with the volume on the amp and treble booster floored! Also, the crispy cream trble booster is silicon, not germanium...

Does anyone know if theres a schematic for either the new greg fryer treble booster, or else the pete cornish treble booster?

Thanx,
Alex

Hello Hello--
    Have you built any germanium TB's??    A good, properly biased germ tranny TB circuit will sound KILLER through your rig, and you can make it yourself!   I would never pay "Boutique" prices for any of that stuff.  Tony Iommi, May, and alot of other people have given up the boutique pedals and gone back to good germanium TBs.  Try the original Rangemaster circuit....there's schematics all over and it's an easy build.  You may have to scrounge  around for a good germ tranny, but it'll be worth it!!
Brian.

Lazy I guess, is there a bare bones schematic of the BMTB?

It was good to hear someone try to clarify how the Brian May sound is aquired. I knew he used a wall of VOX 30s, but I was never sure about how he did what he does. I'm sure there is a degree of distortion to what he does, but he makes the highs seem clean even when they're piercing. Sort of like a loud high flute note dripping in syrup. Doesn't he have some internal stuff in the "Red" guitar too?

Quote from: tcobrettiSo, if your amp is a ss piece of crap, a treble booster is likely to make things worse.

If your amp sucks, it sucks whether it has tubes or not. My ss Sunn sounds awesome with a booster in front of it, the tube Carvin I had sucked with a boost in front of it. Crapness does exist in tubeland sometimes, believe it or not.

First, I agree about the SS/tube thing.  I had a yamaha T100c (all tube, designed by soldano) when I was young and it sucked unbelievably.  Meanwhile I have a ss Peavey Studio Pro 40 that has a wicked tube-like distortion.  My statement about crappy ss amps could have easily read crappy tube amps.  As we say in the south, you can't polish a turd - whether it's tube or ss.

petemoore: schematics for BMTB
http://www.geofex.com/FX_images/BrianMayboost.jpg
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/v2/diagrams/ge_boost_lo_bm_tb.gif
I've been told it's just a si rangemaster.  It was my first project so I figured I'd start easy with a pcb from GGG and a si tranny in case I fried it.  It turned out great.  I plan to build a ge rangemaster so I can A/B them.

Finally, the Red Special is special in many ways and they are detailed here.

http://www.treblebooster.com/brian_may_pickup_mod.htm
http://www.brianmaycentral.com/sounds.html
http://www.burnsusa.com/products/the_brian_may.shtml

I own the Burns Brian May and I love it.  I guess the early ones had neck/fret problems, but mine is absolutely beautiful.  I would say that much of the special tone that he gets is from those Vox amps.  I'm pretty much addicted to my Line 6 set to the Vox settings.  Other settings sound good, but not as good.  I had been using the Vox setting regularly with my strat and Les Paul, but the Burns BM is amazing thru it.