DannySnyder
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 11053
Berkeley, CA
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Posted on Oct 09 2015 07:25 PM
I recently bought a Quilter Steelaire, which I love! One surprising little feature of the amp was a built in setting for the footswitch marked vaguely "boost". It turns out it's a treble boost, probably included for steel guitar players who the amp was designed for. However! by hitting the treble boost I found my reverb drip increased quite a bit, yet the rest of the guitar tone was still quite musical.
Now I have a few songs where there are small sections that require the muted drippy sound, and it's been a challenge for me for years. I've tried A/B switches with a reverb pedal and tank, or 2 tanks, and lately the Strymon Flint gets a decent drip. All these options have their downsides. Hands down the most convenient and effective method for me is a treble boost. I don't own treble boost pedals, but they're out there, you don't have to buy a Steelaire. They're also easy to build from what I understand.
I find it works best with the tone knob on my tank turned up to 6 or so. I hope some of you can give it a try and see if you get similar results.
— Danny Snyder
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo
Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta
Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party
Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF
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DannySnyder
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 11053
Berkeley, CA
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Posted on Oct 09 2015 07:30 PM
Looking around, it seems most treble boost pedals are also distortion pedals, you'll need a boost that is a clean treble boost. Maybe someone can chime in on who makes them.
— Danny Snyder
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo
Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta
Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party
Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF
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ludobag
Joined: Jun 05, 2010
Posts: 620
at south of
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Posted on Oct 10 2015 03:42 AM
for treble booster you have lot in the market
find one with adjustable gain
ex naga viper catalinbread ,you have the control of the amount of gain ,then you could push up your sound without too much distortion
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Igorilla
Joined: Sep 09, 2013
Posts: 42
Berlin
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Posted on Oct 10 2015 04:20 AM
Well, a similar increase of drip can be achieved with an EQ pedal (an old BOSS GE-7 in my case), as I discovered recently. I've kept the bottom frequencies at unity gain and increased the upper frequencies just a bit.
I haven't tried a treble booster yet, but with an EQ pedal the results are rather transparent and pleasant.
I'll try placing the EQ pedal after the reverb unit. I suppose that Steeaire's boost function comes after the reverb either?
— Boris Bond @ Bandcamp
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4536
Wisconsin
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Posted on Oct 10 2015 05:55 AM
Igorilla wrote:
Well, a similar increase of drip can be achieved with an EQ pedal (an old BOSS GE-7 in my case), as I discovered recently.
I played with this last night - had noticed it but didn't think about it too much. An EQ pedal also here, no dramatic changes, just tiny bumps in the range that also seems to yield a small amount of drip increase.
Also have the Boss FBM pedal, set just for a tonal change (not distortion or overdrive stuff) and it has separate gain/level controls in addition to Bass/Mid/Treble/Presence and has a similar effect, just speaking to the drip. Nothing dramatic, but noticeable.
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
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DannySnyder
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 11053
Berkeley, CA
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Posted on Oct 10 2015 09:50 AM
I suggest you fool around with the reverb tank settings. Keep testing as you increase the settings gradually. At the same time try different EQ frequencies. I don't know which one the Steelaire is boosting. There's definitely a slight gain boost as well when I do it, that may help as well.
— Danny Snyder
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo
Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta
Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party
Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF
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el_camello
Joined: Jul 04, 2010
Posts: 369
Ottawa
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Posted on Oct 11 2015 03:21 PM
Tried this with an old danelectro eq. Cool trick, thanks! Just don't forget to turn it off when you hit unmuted high strings with the bridge pickup... ouch!
— -Pierre
The Obsidians! (Ottawa surf)
The Obsidians debut EP
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JObeast
Joined: Jul 24, 2012
Posts: 2762
Finknabad, Squinkistan
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Posted on Oct 11 2015 06:49 PM
Danny,
I have been using a clone of a Rangemaster in the 1st position of my pedalboard. It's a great device that compresses and boosts upper midrange frequencies, yielding more drip among other things. With hot pickups like Hallmark or Mosrite, it can be coaxed into real jangle territory, and it's also T.Rex's secret weapon and a requisite partner-in-tone with a Tonebender Fuzz for any who want to emulate mid-60s London psychedelic sounds. Mine sounded like crap until I got the proper carbon 9V battery for it, the kind that sell for $.50.
— Squink Out!
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crumble
Joined: Sep 09, 2008
Posts: 3158
Guildford England
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Posted on Oct 11 2015 07:32 PM
I used to own a Rangermaster in the early 70s. I remember it as being pretty wild when coupled to a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face.
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LarryLunchmeat
Joined: Dec 30, 2014
Posts: 13
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Posted on Dec 03 2015 05:45 PM
Great tip. But make sure it's a true treble boost and not a high pass filter such as the EHX screaming bird. It claims to be a treble boost but to my ears it doesn't boost anything, rather just cuts your bass making your tone sound like mono shrill ass.
I've never found a completely unusable pedal until I tried the EHX screaming bird. Even mentioning it makes my skin crawl.
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ElBirkerio
Joined: Dec 17, 2012
Posts: 519
Vienna
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Posted on Dec 04 2015 03:18 AM
hi!
the most official drip I was able to squeeze out of one of my guitars was with a surfy bear where dwell was turned down and tone cranked up. similarly, the amp has to be rather trebly, and you need trebly pickups. a clean booster that has a 3way equalizer, BTW, is the T-Rex Twin Boost ...
yours
wolfi
— http://www.surfgrammeln-san.org
https://www.facebook.com/BaluUndSurfgrammeln
http://greencookierecords.bandcamp.com/album/coming-out-soon-los-chicharrones-del-surf-10
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JObeast
Joined: Jul 24, 2012
Posts: 2762
Finknabad, Squinkistan
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Posted on Dec 04 2015 03:49 AM
Three thumbs up! Rangemaster is da shizn!
crumble wrote:
I used to own a Rangermaster in the early 70s. I remember it as being pretty wild when coupled to a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face.
— Squink Out!
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stratdancer
Joined: Dec 11, 2013
Posts: 2533
Akron, Ohio
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Posted on Dec 04 2015 06:27 AM
I just added the ep boost this past summer to the board at the beginning of the chain. In the last month I added a Bearfoot Baby Pink clean boost to just in front of the el capistan that feeds into the tank. That made an enormouse difference in drip. Both boosts are set to 9 oclock.
— The Kahuna Kings
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447
https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases
Last edited: Dec 04, 2015 06:28:13
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ElBirkerio
Joined: Dec 17, 2012
Posts: 519
Vienna
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Posted on Dec 04 2015 06:30 AM
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bitchboysi
Joined: Dec 28, 2006
Posts: 76
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Posted on Jan 12 2016 12:20 PM
Would be very helpful if anyone can record samples so we can hear what you have achieved ..?
I am addicted to this sound (which I call surf booch booch)..and would like to know if there's a way to have great "astronauts" sound and still be able to play normally with defined sound...
I saw this clip and am trying to get in contact with the band,...but no-one knows how to get in touch with them.
Their reverb is dirty amazing and I don't know what they did to get it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfFUjs-NpQQ
bye Robi
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DannySnyder
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 11053
Berkeley, CA
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Posted on Jan 12 2016 12:43 PM
I'm out of town Robi, when I get back I'll do something.
— Danny Snyder
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo
Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta
Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party
Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF
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JObeast
Joined: Jul 24, 2012
Posts: 2762
Finknabad, Squinkistan
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Posted on Jan 12 2016 03:46 PM
I use a Rangemaster clone and find that it doesn't so much as distort the sound as push upper midrange thus pretty severely warping the tone, in a good way, incidentally slamming a reverb input for a pronounced drip. It seems to compress dynamics non-linearly but does not introduce as much distortion as does the reverb tank itself, which to my ear really scrambles guitar tone, again in a good way. The Rangemaster's Germanium transistor, I have been told, is along the lines of 'half of a fuzz circuit'.
DannySnyder wrote:
Looking around, it seems most treble boost pedals are also distortion pedals, you'll need a boost that is a clean treble boost. Maybe someone can chime in on who makes them.
— Squink Out!
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Frelonvert
Joined: Sep 21, 2009
Posts: 275
Toulouse
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Posted on Jan 12 2016 04:33 PM
bitchboysi wrote:
Would be very helpful if anyone can record samples so we can hear what you have achieved ..?
I am addicted to this sound (which I call surf booch booch)..and would like to know if there's a way to have great "astronauts" sound and still be able to play normally with defined sound...
I saw this clip and am trying to get in contact with the band,...but no-one knows how to get in touch with them.
Their reverb is dirty amazing and I don't know what they did to get it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfFUjs-NpQQ
bye Robi
Did you try to contact Ralph Kilauas (HallmarkSweptWinger)? He is on the forum and reccorded the video you linked.
— http://noskons.bandcamp.com/
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DannySnyder
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 11053
Berkeley, CA
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Posted on Jan 19 2016 10:08 AM
Here's a quick A/B I did last night. Let me know if you'd like me to try something different on the guitar.
https://soundcloud.com/tomorrowmen/reverb-with-treble-boost
— Danny Snyder
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo
Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta
Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party
Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF
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crumble
Joined: Sep 09, 2008
Posts: 3158
Guildford England
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Posted on Jan 19 2016 04:46 PM
DannySnyder wrote:
I recently bought a Quilter Steelaire, which I love! One surprising little feature of the amp was a built in setting for the footswitch marked vaguely "boost". It turns out it's a treble boost.
I remember you saying you used a Quilter MicroPro a while back. I wonder if the Steelaire boost differs from MicroPro Boost. Maybe the footswitch highlighted it's usefulness and MicroPro would be good for this also.
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