Treble booster vs Boost with 3-knob EQ

Yorkie

So, I've been learning a bit about pedals and their circuits, to the point where I have now built some kind of fuzz/distortion thing on a breadboard. And believe it or not, I can get usable distortion from it. So I'm now thinking about trying my hand at a different type of circuit. I don't have a proper booster, so I was thinking about building one, and the first thing that comes to mind is a treble booster (got a Marshall, and a Vox AC15C1 on the way, and I'm guessing both would love it). However, the circuit doesn't look very challenging; I was keener to make something like a boost with a 3-knob active EQ. 

Is there anything special about a classic treble booster design that could not be replicated with a boost with a 3-knob active EQ?

Thanks,
Jon

soma1975

Yes it's very different and very worthwhile despite its simplicity.

It's basically a 1 transistor fuzz more than a traditional boost and despite the name, boosting the treble is the tiniest part of its sound. I love them

Cookiemonster

It’s a fantastic circuit. I would recommend a germanium build 

soma1975

Yeah germanium all the way for me too. 

roberty

Here's a tweaky one https://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/product/hotsnake

DoctorX

Silicon treble boosters can sound great. I had a Pigdog Treble Twin which is 2 x treble boosters in one box, 1 side germanium and the other silicon. I preferred the silicon side.

soma1975

I should add I have a cheap Naga Viper Clone for sale at the moment. It's great but cuts more than i need and works better for gainier sounds for me compared to germanium which I tended to enjoy the fatness and woolyness more. 

Yorkie

Wow, some great suggestions here. 

Germanium: just the diodes, or does the transistor also have to be Ge?

soma1975

all about the transistor - no diodes - only diodes you might find in one is for polarity protection. 

Yorkie

soma1975 said:

all about the transistor - no diodes - only diodes you might find in one is for polarity protection. 

Oh. Doesn’t the circuit do any clipping? 

Cookiemonster

Yorkie said:

soma1975 said:

all about the transistor - no diodes - only diodes you might find in one is for polarity protection. 

Oh. Doesn’t the circuit do any clipping? 

It’s a boost pedal, no diodes except for polarity protection in more modern layouts. If you go for Germanium I would say somewhere around 100hfe but it will probably sound good on lower HFE. Just remember if you get PNP Germs to change the cap polarity, or you can use a battery. Alternatively you can use NPN germs. 

It’s a very simple circuit. You could build on vero. 

Cookiemonster

Here is a silicon NPN layout for a breadboard. It’s a slightly different layout and is supposed to be similar to the Brian May one 

http://beavisaudio.com/beavisboard/projects/bbp_BMTrebleBoost.pdf

Cookiemonster

soma1975 said:

I should add I have a cheap Naga Viper Clone for sale at the moment. It's great but cuts more than i need and works better for gainier sounds for me compared to germanium which I tended to enjoy the fatness and woolyness more. 

Does that have a gain control ? 

Cookiemonster

Yorkie said:

soma1975 said:

all about the transistor - no diodes - only diodes you might find in one is for polarity protection. 

Oh. Doesn’t the circuit do any clipping? 

If you do breadboard and want to try and see what it sounds like with clipping you could put diodes after the cap on the output to ground. Not sure how it will sound, maybe try Red LEDs

soma1975

Cookiemonster said:

soma1975 said:

I should add I have a cheap Naga Viper Clone for sale at the moment. It's great but cuts more than i need and works better for gainier sounds for me compared to germanium which I tended to enjoy the fatness and woolyness more. 

Does that have a gain control ? 

yep

In the thread here - https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/245913 ;

Yorkie

Thanks, @Cookiemonster ! 

Any good places to source Ge transistors? I think all the eBay ones are very low gain? 

Sassafras

I wouldn't get too hung up on germanium.
My favourite TB is the Thundertomate silicon one.

soma1975

Sassafras said:

I wouldn't get too hung up on germanium.
My favourite TB is the Thundertomate silicon one.

My experience is they are both great sounding but not the same sounding. 

SI ones seem to cut more and suit heavier styles and GE ones seem a bit fatter and smoother. 

In my head I tend to think - SI = Sabbath or Brian May and GE = Cream 'Woman Tone'. 

But that's probably just the way I play them. 

Sassafras

soma1975 said:

Sassafras said:

I wouldn't get too hung up on germanium.
My favourite TB is the Thundertomate silicon one.

My experience is they are both great sounding but not the same sounding. 

SI ones seem to cut more and suit heavier styles and GE ones seem a bit fatter and smoother. 

In my head I tend to think - SI = Sabbath or Brian May and GE = Cream 'Woman Tone'. 

But that's probably just the way I play them. 

That's why I like the Thundertomate one, it's the most versatile TB I've owned. It's got loads of dip switches inside for endless combinations.

soma1975

ooh nice

Cookiemonster

Yorkie said:

Thanks, @Cookiemonster ! 

Any good places to source Ge transistors? I think all the eBay ones are very low gain? 

Build a silicon so you can try the circuit and then on eBay you can look for the Russian germs. They often are available from the Ukraine. If you type in HFE Germanium Transistor into eBay you will see some listed that way. Often they are more expensive though and watch the pin outs. 

I would definitely say try the silicon first though, you will probably have most of that parts and you might find that circuit isn’t for you, but if you do like it, I would then suggest building the germ. 

Also add a switch for the input cap, then put a 4.7nf one side and something like a 100nf the other.