Does a Rangemaster have similar tonal characteristics to a clean Fuzz Face?

[EPL]

I'm new to modding and building pedals and to analog effects in general, having used modeled effects for years. So please forgive my ignorance.

I received and built a Fuzz Face kit--Build Your Own Clone E.S.V. Vintage Fuzz, germanium version--this Christmas. I built it with no complications; this surprised me because the Bazz Fuss kit I built earlier this year proved to be all sorts of problematic. I like it, the Fuzz Face. I like its fuzz and how it cleans up with the guitar's volume knob, which the Bazz Fuss doesn't do. And I really like what it does to my sound when it's clean; it makes my guitar come alive, brightens it.

I'd like to get this same sound without breaking into fuzz with more vigorous playing (although I like being able to move from clean to fuzz according to my attack, usually I want to stay clean). Does the liveliness I'm finding with the clean Fuzz Face come from its germanium transistors? And if so, would a germanium transistor-based boost like a Rangemaster provide a similar effect? I'm considering a Rangemaster because kits are readily available and inexpensive and look fairly simple.

I'd be using the boost always-on to give myself that beautifully bright tone, not on-and-off to emphasize solos (I rarely solo) or to push my amp into overdrive (my solid-state Fender Princeton Chorus doesn't do that). Is the Rangemaster what I'm looking for?

[aflynt]

I'd say it's quite a bit different. The Range Master will clean up in a similar way when you turn you guitar volume down, but when it's full out it has more of a squaking screaming sound. It also only really sounds the ways it's supposed to when you put it in front of a tube amp. The effect reacts with a tube preamp to generate overdrive. When you listen to it though a squeaky clean solid state amp it sounds pretty awful, and has almost no fuzz on it's own. It's a really cool effect though. It's kind of like it sends all the wrong frequencies into your amp to trick the preamp into sounding awesome.

[jasperoosthoek]

I find the Rangemaster too bright for my taste even though I used to use it directly on my tube amp. But not I've almost finished my partscaster with Duncan Jazz humbuckers which are very warm. I'll test it tomorrow. What I do like is the wah effect you get when playing with the guitar's volume knob. Still it sounds very different than the FF.

The FF however is in my rig right now and is one of my favorite effects. Especially when the volume of my guitar is turned up. But if you like the softer settings of the FF you could place a resistor/pot in series with the input. That will make it fuzz less and you could increase the volume of the FF to compensate. I think you can find a mod on geofex that has such a pot in a silicon FF. Search for 'smooth' control. Something like 22k or 50k connected as a variable resistor will do.

[John Lyons]

A huge factor in a rangemaster sounding "good/right" is the amp.
If the amp goes gracefully into overdrive/distortion (the input is a little
hot already) then it will sound good. If the amp does not overdrive
much or at all the RM will sound horrible and harsh/trebly.

Also. making the first cap in the rangemaster either variable or larger
can help a lot. .01 into a cleanish amp helps a lot! More of a midrange, full range
boost then.

[bwanasonic]

I find the secret of the Rangemaster is to run it into a "dark" and slightly dirty vintage style tube amp. For a proper crotch-rock sound, I prefer vintage style humbuckers. I wouldn't compare it too much with anything I've gotten out of a Ge FF, other than both generate what would be called "Old School" tones. The Rangemaster in particular is more of what I'd call a tube amp accessory, than an effect in the modern sense. For what you are describing, I'd try Jack Orman's Mosfet Boost: http://www.muzique.com/schem/mosfet.htm . It's a low part count and elegant design like the Rangemaster, but for "always on" use into a modern solid-state amp like the Princeton Chorus, I think you might find it more useful. Build it with a big knob you can adjust with your foot for maximum utility.

[aflynt]

Yeah. It definitely requires a tube amp that can distort at a volume appropriate for whatever room your using it in. I've never been able to use it with my Twin Reverb. I use it all the time with my Pro Jr and Deluxe Reverb, though.

-Aaron

[EPL]

Thanks for the quick and informative replies.

Sounds like the Rangemaster might not accomplish what I'm hoping for, since what I'm wanting is something that colors/brightens the sound by emphasizing harmonics or whatever the FF is doing while it's clean.

[mac]

The RM cuts the lows and boost the highs, and distorts a bit if you use hot pickups, a kind of quacky sound.
A cleanish FF is also bright but has much more lows than a RM.
Besides, one is in the edge of saturation and the other near cut off so the distortion patterns are not the same.

I have a Laney LC30 II/HH speaker and a Valve Jr. The RM has proven to be perfect for my Laney, and it also sounds good into the VJ but since this amp has no tone control I need to cut highs a bit.

BTW, my RM has a variable cap at the input to allow full boost.

mac

[petemoore]

  Yes or no.
  Yes, in my case, hafta report the FF rolled back as having some similar tone-content to the RM.
  Guitar volume rolled back creates HP filter because the value of the bypass cap I put on it is large enough to.
  This makes for a large reduction in the distortion created in the FF transistors because the lows [which tend to drive-saturate the transistors in the circuit] are cut and the highs are allowed through the lower impedance of the potwafer-bypass capacitor.
  FF can sound somewhat or more similar to RM: Ge transistor[s going into mild distortion. Amplifying what's been 'bass cut' ='s Ge treble boost in both cases.
  The guitar/pickup[s, the actual Ge, the input cap value, and the amp...not to say any sound can come from an RM, but that "the sound of Rangemaster" can't be defined with a few words.
 

[Hides-His-Eyes]

One way to tame the fuzz face might be to roll off the highs on the way out along with attenuating the input. just a medium value cap to ground off the output before the volume control might do it.

[EPL]

Thanks again, everyone, especially petemoore, who's given me some hope that there are other ways to achieve the sound I'm hearing.

My original post wasn't clear. I didn't mean to suggest that I'm dissatisfied with the FF's performance; I like it. I guess I just want an additional pedal. Then again, doesn't everybody?