NPN Ge Treble Booster Schematic Questions

[Ben Lyman]

So that's how it is, huh?
just kidding, but I gotta bump this. After going thru all your answers again, I lowered the 470k to 430k, thanks Jim!

now I have

C  6.41v
B  1.00v
E  0.94v


does the RM create some mild OD when cranked up? I've never had one before.
    Should I solder it up as is or can it be improved in any way?
    Also, can these be used with an OD/fuzz pedal after it? Or should it have a volume pot after the output cap
Thanks

[LightSoundGeometry]

Ben, how can you do a Tonebender and not a RM ? 

[Ben Lyman]

Haha! I know, right?
I guess I just know what FF and TB's should sound like but I've never plugged into an RM before! It's very cool right now, I like it but I just wonder if it is supposed to get slightly distorted. Also, if it will play nice with other pedals

[LightSoundGeometry]

Haha! I know, right?
I guess I just know what FF and TB's should sound like but I've never plugged into an RM before! It's very cool right now, I like it but I just wonder if it is supposed to get slightly distorted. Also, if it will play nice with other pedals

I have built six RM's so far and they don;t really distort or boost ..they add a %^&*ed wah or fat treble tone ..the more expensive transistors I used, which is just two add a slight boost but the cheaper house trannies just give the tone. I went through this with the RM liek I am doing with the TB ..so all the answers I have to pass on are from the guys and gals in here when they helped me through the RM circuit.

I thought the same thing as you did at first,  it should just light the amp on fire with decibel boost ..but they really dont. I prefer them over a preamp though and woudl rather us an RM instead of a preamp to push signal frequencies for sure

[Ben Lyman]

Cool, thanks. So, do you think my voltage readings are acceptable for an RM? I'm between 6.1 to 7.1 at the collector so I figure it's ok but I thought maybe 7.1v is more desirable or something.
BTW, I am getting a HUGE volume boost from this ancient Ge tranny I salvaged. The Distortion it makes is barely noticeable, more of a "mild breakup"

Still really curious about how this can go into another pedal without a volume pot at the end of the circuit, and can I just tag a 100k pot on it after the output cap if it needs it?

[Cozybuilder]

Ben- Just make a voltage divider at the output. Easiest is to stick a pot there, adjust until you find the output volume you want, then read the two values from the wiper to the ends. Then take two resistors close to those values and eliminate the pot. The wiper of a pot is just the junction of two resistors.

[Ben Lyman]

Ben- Just make a voltage divider at the output. Easiest is to stick a pot there, adjust until you find the output volume you want, then read the two values from the wiper to the ends. Then take two resistors close to those values and eliminate the pot. The wiper of a pot is just the junction of two resistors.

Cool, thanks. So, I take this as a "yes" the RM needs an output modification thing (bias adjustment? impedance adjustment? attitude adjustment?)
and then I can plug it into a Fuzz Face pedal and turn everything up to 11

[induction]

The Rangemaster schematic you posted has a volume control already. Remember the Boost control you discussed with Paul? That's the volume control.

In most circuits you see around here, the output cap feeds the volume control, which doubles as a pull-down resistor. In the Rangemaster, instead of combining the pulldown and the volume pot, they combined the collector resistor and the volume pot. The wiper feeds the output cap, which is attached to a pulldown resistor.

If it's important to you, you can replace the 10k Boost pot with a 10k resistor, and replace the 1M output pulldown with a 1M volume control. But you'll end up with pretty much the same thing you already have. In either case, one volume control is probably enough. There is no need to add a second one.

[Cozybuilder]

Ben-
I was referring to the original schematic, with the "Boost" pot of 10KA, and re-reading my post thats not clear. If you want a fixed volume out rather than a volume control, then the following schematic snippet of the RM shows what I tried to describe above. Naturally, if you found a different value is needed for the collector resistor (full pot value) to obtain the desired bias voltage, R1 + R2 should equal that resistance:

[Ben Lyman]

Thanks cozy & Indy! I'm not looking for a fixed output level, I just thought (after reading Keen's Geofex article) that an RM needed to see the front end of an amplifier as the next thing in line due to some sort of impedance issue.
I just spent about 10 min. playing it (breadboarded) straight into my Lil Dawg Tweed Prince and it sounds fantastic. Not so great when going RM into a Boss DS-1 into the amp, but then my DS-1 doesn't sound so great to begin with. 
Maybe later I'll try the RM into my Ge FF

[Cozybuilder]

I'm glad to hear you have this working well now!

There are a lot of mods out there to improve the DS-1's sound

[Ben Lyman]

I'm glad to hear you have this working well now!

There are a lot of mods out there to improve the DS-1's sound

I did have it modded by Keeley back in 2008, it's actually pretty good but I much prefer a good ol' Rat, FF, BMP or TB

[PRR]

How does it *sound*??

[Ben Lyman]

How does it *sound*??

It sounds great, really brings the neck pickup to life, adds a lot of that "boinky" sparkle to a strat in the 2&4 pickup switch positions. 
There is PLENTY of volume boost on tap if needed.
It does get a little more overdriven than I would like when I hit the strings hard.

PRR- What's your take on the ability to plug this into another pedal vs. being an "only into an amp" thing, as I (think I) read on Keen's article?