BBE Freq Boost

[belllinom]

Hi guys, first post here on TGP.

Just bought a BBE Ferq Boost from a forum member here, and I was wondering what you all thought about it.

I have an Epi Valve Jr. combo, modded to sound like a Marshall, and a 70s Electra LP. What I'm shooting for is something in the ballpark of Clapton's Beano tone on All Your Love. Doesn't need to be perfect, but something pretty similar.

Any clips of the Freq Boost, with or without an EVJ, would be appreciated, as well as any input on the pedal itself. I realize it's not the best Rangemaster clone available, but it's what I can afford.

Thanks a lot,
Malcolm.

[Fifthstone]

I had it for a while and returned it. It sounded very good with my LP into a darker Marshall style amp, but that was about it. I don't think it was a shortcoming of the BBE necessarily, but more because I tend to play Strats into brighter amps and I was able to get more out of fuzzes or a good drive pedal like an OCD. Still there's a certain charm to a single knob pedal. For boosting a solo and getting it to cut in a live band setting, I think it would be worth keeping, especially with your gear.

[FatTeleTom]

I got one cheap from Musicians Friend as one of their "Stupid Deals" a while back, and I like the way it sounds driving either my Direct Drive or Small Fry pedals from Barber. Both are fairly warm ODs, so the treble boost seems to work really nicely with them. The Freq Boost into the Small Fry does a really nice Brain May thing that cleans up really nicely when you back off the volume.

My first impressions of it were pretty poor, because it had no clean headroom. Turned out the battery supplied with it was going dead. So, watch out for that. Even fully powered up , it's still gritty if you have your guitar volume all the way up (which I didn't expect), but with the right amount of juice it can do a big boost. I tend to use it with the knob around 5-7 out of 10.

[Uma Floresta]

Tell us about it when it arrives at your house. :knitting

[belllinom]

Definitely. I'm in the process of learning "All Your Love," so I'll let you know how it sounds.

Thanks for the input so far, and any clips still appreciated :)

[Agreed]

I use one quite often, I too got it as part of the Stupid Deal of the Day and it turns out I'm the stupid one since I should have bought two of them, I'd love to have one in front of my DI and in my physical chain. Treble boosters work a certain magic that isn't always appropriate but when it's the right trick, hardly any other will do. They facilitate tones that can't be had in other ways, including with EQ or with TS-like overdrives. The closest I've come to a treble booster-like effect without a treble booster is with my Tim, rolling the bass almost all the way off, but it still doesn't sound like a real treble booster. Our ears interpret its upper harmonics as grit, but an amplifier sees it as a very special kind of frequency shaping... Whereas the amp would normally see significantly fewer upper harmonics and thus would be working primarily on the louder bass and midbass content, when you use a treble booster it attenuates the bass and gives it a lot more treble to work with. The compression and distortion in the amplifier (or, really, in any sort of clipping device, pedals etc.) is then focused in a very different way. When distorted afterward the brightness of the treble booster is tamed and becomes more like tightness than brightness, and the bass though initially attenuated is still there, brought out by the compression in the clipping but not nearly as prominently focused on as when not using the booster. It really is a very special sound; almost any amp has some sounds that you won't hear without a treble booster. Whether they will be good or not is another matter :)

[FatTeleTom]

Oh, and welcome to TGP! I had missed the part where you said this was first post. Fun place, and I've learned a ton from the folks here.

[belllinom]

Waiting on this pedal is driving me crazy! :) Anyone else have any experience with it, or clips?

[Agreed]

I could cook up a clip or two if you're just itching to hear it, haha.

[belllinom]

I would appreciate it. Especially if you happen to have a Valve Jr. using humbuckers.

[Agreed]

Don't have one of those, will a Fender Champ 600 ri work?

[belllinom]

Sure thing. I'm shooting for a Beano-type tone, so something along those lines would be awesome. I really appreciate it.

As an aside, I really enjoy what you're doing with Frugal Guitarist. As a college student, it's right up my alley.

[Agreed]

Thanks, man. It's Will Chen's baby, I'm just a writer (Jeff), but as someone who was a college student a week and a day ago, trust me, I know what you mean. I like that Frugal doesn't mean "cheap," it means spending your money wisely. Sometimes you can save a lot of money (Agile guitars and GFS pickups), sometimes you should buy nice so you don't have to buy twice, but Frugal definitely doesn't mean "stuff only beginners would use." I worry that some people get the wrong idea in that regard, but I think most people understand that good value does not mean budget garbage, you know?

[Agreed]

I'm going to hit the sack, I'll get a clip recorded early tomorrow and post it up. Sorry for the wait but I'm worn out.

[belllinom]

Thanks, man. It's Will Chen's baby, I'm just a writer (Jeff), but as someone who was a college student a week and a day ago, trust me, I know what you mean. I like that Frugal doesn't mean "cheap," it means spending your money wisely. Sometimes you can save a lot of money (Agile guitars and GFS pickups), sometimes you should buy nice so you don't have to buy twice, but Frugal definitely doesn't mean "stuff only beginners would use." I worry that some people get the wrong idea in that regard, but I think most people understand that good value does not mean budget garbage, you know?

Couldn't agree more. I have an SX strat with GFS pickups, and a pawn shop score 70s LP copy that is fantastic. All great stuff, but none of it cost over $150. I'm hoping this pedal is another good piece of gear at a reasonable price.

[kludge]

I got one during the MF blowout, and I LOVE it. I'm sure a fancy boutique treble booster would sound better, but how much better? At any rate, it's an extremely useful sound into a hot amp. I've been gigging and recording with it, quite happily.

Someday I'll get a boutique treble booster. But I want one that takes standard power, has an LED and true bypass and all the other benefits. I don't want a straight-up Rangemaster clone!

[zombiwoof]

HBE's treble booster has everything you're asking for at around $100! Just a suggestion.

Al

[belllinom]

Thanks kludge.

[Agreed]

I'm getting to this now, man. I'll have a clip up shortly.

[belllinom]

Good deal, thanks again.

[Agreed]

Sorry it took me so long, man, but here's a demo.

http://tindeck.com/image/zvvq/stats.png (http://tindeck.com/listen/zvvq)

Guitar's the guitar I usually use to demo stuff, my Schecter C-1 Classic. It's a Korean-made guitar that really gets the job done thanks to a Jazz/JB combo both coil tapped for a wide variety of sounds. This clip is divided into four sections:

1. Single coil, Freq Boost OFF
2. Single Coil, Freq Boost ON
3. Humbucker, Freq Boost OFF
4. Humbucker, Freq Boost ON

Sorry it's long but I wanted to have both chords and lead... and also noodling. If I don't get to noodle around in a clip it's not a fun time :D

The Champ 600 reissue was on its High input, about 8-9 on the (only) gain knob, center miked with a fairly mellow condenser microphone so as not to be too grating since it's a swanky, squawkin' amp.

[belllinom]

Wow, thanks so much! I don't think I'll be disappointed.

[Agreed]

Want to hear it into another kind of amp? It does outrageously wicked things to high-gain amps, tightens low end flub into a gut-punch with killer chunk.

[belllinom]

Definitely. I'm hoping to get it today, but more clips will tide me over til I do :)

[FatTeleTom]

No promises, but if I get a chance tonight, I'll try to do a quick clip showing how it works into my Barber OD pedals.

[thedroid]

I have no clips, but I got a great sound from an Epi Valve Jr., a treble booster and humbuckers. It was a sound that almost made me keep the amp.

[belllinom]

Well I just got, and the EVJ, buckers, and the Freq Boost combination is fantastic. So glad I picked it up. Thanks for the input everybody, esp. Agreed.

[Agreed]

No problem, glad to hear you're digging it :) You'll find more and more uses as you own it. Treble boosters are simple pedals but they do such cool things, it can be like a "more" switch for some amps, a "less" switch for others; it can thin out or thicken a tone, depending on all the other variables.