Treble boosters? Who uses them?

[Matts Tone]

Thinking of getting a treble boost pedal, & was wondering if any of you guys still use them?
Saw a youtube clip of a 65amp Colour boost which sounded excellent!!

I'm playing mostly playing with a Telecaster going through a Carr Viceroy amp.
Would a treble booster be a good choice? From clips I like the gritty dirt that you can get with that hint of fuzziness.
I don't actually like Fuzz pedals myself, every time I have owned one, a couple of months later I will have sold it, think a treble booster would be more me.

Style of music I like playing a cross between hint of americana, alt country, & raw bluesy style tone.

Thanks guys for any info you can share.

 

[Dereksslide]

I use a LP Jr into a 5E3 clone. I have a SHO on order which is pretty much a treble booster I think. I play very similar things to you. Also planning on getting a Strymon Flint today or possibly Bluesky/hall of fame if the Flint doesn't work.

 

[semi-hollowbody]

Would an Eq do the same thing
I have a barber barbq...it's active not passive. ..I use it as a treble booster

 

[Chadjohneto]

Beano Boost here. Adds that certain something.

 

[Sterling#Sound]

Been using them forever. Typically work better into a crunchy amp. My money would always go to BSM pedals from Germany.

 

[66Park]

Pigdog Competition Driver and Don Butler Rangemaster here. The Butler is a straight copy of the old Rangemaster, and the Pigdog has a filter control. Both sound great. It's not the same sound you get with an eq or a SHO. The Rangemaster is its own thing and very cool. It's best I think driving an edge of breakup amp, but works driving other pedals as well. A very cool sound that has a thing of its own going on.

 

[melodiusthunk]

Germania44 into Germino Masonette, THE rock sound from the 1970's. Like others will say, TB's are most useful goosing an amp that is already starting to break up but not yet fully saturated. Not so useful for goosing a mid-scooped Fender-like clean.

Also, I suspect that many favorite MIAB stomp boxes incorporate elements of the Rangemaster circuit to get the upper midrange boost that is characteristic to the genre (just what my ears tell me, I have never tried to understand the actual circuits used.)

 

[melodiusthunk]

OP, you might also want to look at TB units that embellish the original Rangemaster circuit with extended EQ options (ex. Naga Viper, Germania44, & others). Most Tele bridge pups are already on the bright side, so have even a rudimentary eq on the TB might fit your needs better.

 

[Roe]

treble booster work best into classic tube amps that are run at the point of breakup or that already distort. the pedal then pushes the amp into distortion. plexis work better than blackface and silverface fender and hiwatts for this application.

I like treble boosters better with humbuckers than strat and tele single coils. P90s work well if you can live with all the noise

I've tested my byoc tribooster against the suhr koko boost reloaded and prefer the latter for most things. the mid boost mode of the koko can give you a great treble boost sound

 

[Matts Tone]

Thanks guys for the comments - I'm still liking the sounds of the 65 amps Colour boost. These were the 2 youtube clips I found appealing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSJqHtlRmxk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij-bifGpd3Y

 

[erksin]

I use a LP Jr into a 5E3 clone. I have a SHO on order which is pretty much a treble booster I think. I play very similar things to you. Also planning on getting a Strymon Flint today or possibly Bluesky/hall of fame if the Flint doesn't work.

Would an Eq do the same thing
I have a barber barbq...it's active not passive. ..I use it as a treble booster

The SHO isn't a treble booster, and an EQ pedal while probably okay for approximating a treble booster's particular mids peak won't give you the gritty boost they also provide.

Treble boosters don't really boost treble - a little top end presence but not a huge push - they mostly boost an upper mid so that a darker amp will cut through a mix. Unless you're using one that has some additional tone shaping and gain controls they can be very particular about the amps they get along with.

 

[Belmont]

trebleboosters are also really useful for tightening up fuzz pedals.
I use them in front of my Tonebenders and Fuzzfaces, once you try it it's hard to turn them off.

 

[lefort_1]

I used a Hornby-Skewes clone on my lap-steel a lot. Usually into a Silvertone 1482 w/a big 2x12 cab I made.

Also, I like the treble-boost side of the CB Galileo v1. As is the CB Naga Viper (which I'm told is very flexible/shapeable to the pickup/amp in play).

 

[mach1]

I suggest you take a look at the ARC effects Gamut. Super flexible treble booster with sensational control and tone.

 

[strangec]

Love TBs. Beano, Hartman, Squawk are all good ones I use.
I'd expect Divided By 13, 65Amps, and Throbak versions to be good too.

The Keeley one I had was noisey- sent it in and it still was. Maybe just that one who knows. Other stuff by Keeley has been good.

 

[Dereksslide]

The SHO isn't a treble booster....

What's the main difference? Apart from the high impedance it seems to do very much the same thing as the treble boosters I've tried.

 

[sg~guy]

TONY IOMMI

 

[Magi]

I love treble boosters. Like has been said, the name is deceiving. They don't just boost volume and treble. They actually do four things:

1. Boosts upper mids (and lower mids if it's a full range TB)
2. Adds dirt w/ a particular voicing that's very classic rock
3. Adds a certain presence that also helps to cut through the mix
*4. Alters the signal path in a way that allows you to use your volume knob to clean up almost any amount of dirt that comes before it (which is why you can still add dirt to higher gain fuzzes like MKIs and MKIIs as well as fuzz faces without things getting too muddy).

Few people realize the virtuosity of a treble booster because they assume the circuit works just like the name implies.

 

[erksin]

What's the main difference? Apart from the high impedance it seems to do very much the same thing as the treble boosters I've tried.

The main difference being the SHO is a clean, full range boost - it has some sparkle on the top end, but it's not a focused mids push with dirt as is the case with a classic treble booster design.

Run both into a clean amp and the differences are dramatic.

 

[stormymondays]

I love treble boosters. Like has been said, the name is deceiving. They don't just boost volume and treble. They actually do four things:

1. Boosts upper mids (and lower mids if it's a full range TB)
2. Adds dirt w/ a particular voicing that's very classic rock
3. Adds a certain presence that also helps to cut through the mix
4. Alters the signal path in a way that allows you to also use your volume knob to clean up almost any amount of dirt that comes before it

Few people realize the virtuosity of a treble booster because they assume the circuit works just like the name implies.

^^^ THIS!!!

You can't even get close to the TB effect with a graphic eq. If I remember correctly, every octave is boosted a lot more than the previous one, and it falls out of the range of normal EQ units.