Treble booster pedal
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A treble booster pedal is an effects unit used by guitarists to alter the sound of their guitars.
Popularized by legendary guitarists such as Rory Gallagher, Brian May of Queen and Eric Clapton, treble boosters have been used to overdrive tube amplifiers (such as Vox AC30s) in order to create a cleanly-driven and yet "crunchy" type of distortion. There have been many different types of treble boosters made.
[edit] Rangemaster
One of the most important early examples, though not a pedal, was the Dallas Arbiter Rangemaster, which was used widely in the late '60s and early '70s. The Rangemaster is the most well-known treble booster, although other designs such as Hornby Skewes and Orange. Though hard to find today, the Rangemaster's sound is still sought after, and many clones based on its extremely simple circuit have been made commercially and by hobbyists. The key to the Rangemaster's sound, and indeed most treble boosters, is the OC44 germanium transistor. While obsolete for most purposes now, germanium devices provide a unique sound that is difficult to duplicate with commonly available silicon transistors. One can hear the Rangemaster in many Queen songs, a good example being Procession off of Queen's second album, Queen II. Also, most of Eric Clapton's guitar work with Cream used the Rangemaster or other treble booster. Tony Iommi was another Rangemaster user, and can be heard using one modified by his friend on many Black Sabbath recordings. Presently Iommi has a signature model amplifier, the GH100TI, made by Laney which incorporated a Rangemaster-style treble booster into the amplifier itself.
