DIAZ TEXAS RANGER question

[bonehead1972]

hi giys,
first of all  i would like to thank you all for the help so far!
i have built some pedals already and i tried the texas ranger these days.  it works, the bias is right on 7.02V measured with an dead on 9.00V power supply. what bothers me is that it does not distort on its own... even with guitar vol on 10. on the other hand the volume boost is quite good.  it seems like it does not boost much treble, but its sounds more of a mid boost to me... it starts to sound more trebly only if turn guitar vol down. is than normal for a treble boost kind of pedal ?

[GibsonGM]

Hi bonehead, can you post the schematic of the Texas Ranger so we can have a look?

[bonehead1972]

Hi, Thanks for your  reply! Here it is
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/853361829379508999/

[GibsonGM]

That's just a Rangemaster, yup.  What are you using for a transistor?   And are you sure you have the transistor's pinout oriented properly?  You say volume jumps up well....that suggests it's working.  It's a boost, not a distortion     Did you use the .005u input cap? (I see options for a rotary switch...)

If you had a pretty low gain transistor in there, I could see 'it doesn't distort on its own'...it should, a BIT, esp. when cranked (mine does!), but being only 1 stage, not anything to write home about - might take a scope to really see it.  It should have a noticeable treble boost, kind of a c(*&ed wah sound.   What it DOES do is PUNCH the front end of a tube amp...do you have a tube amp to punch and see what you get?

With a strat into a fender amp set kind of 'overdrivey', I get a Pete Townshend chimey sound...more distortion on the amp, it's like Page's sound on the BBC Sessions, "Communication Breakdown".  Amp is doing the heavy lifting, the boost is giving it that nasal tone...  HTH

[bonehead1972]

If we take into account  I use a strat with 6k pickups set quite low...that could be the reason.. anyways.. I tried a dozen of transistors without  measuring them at the exact moment, but I have done that before- all of them  low leakage  in 60-100 hfe range. The one that nailed the exact 7V target was 2sa269. I tried a few of the others randomly but they sounded  very close so I stuck with the one that set at 7V with the stock  part values. 

[Sparky]

The treble-boost sound that most people recognize is Queen or Rory Gallagher.  Both those  [especially Queen] are due to playing the TB through an already loud tube amp  [mainly Vox].   I get a bit more kick from a silicon TB but it still needs an amp that has some gain  [either from being set loud or having a pre-amp that is driving the front end of the amp].   They sound great under these circumstances.  See if you can find the Pete Cornish treble booster schematic.  It's the circuit that May uses.

[GibsonGM]

I made a 'real' Rangemaster, only sub is using a Russian NPN germanium transistor; this it's the same circuit as the Texas Ranger.  Mine is also at 7v.  It makes my Fender amp sound quite a lot like Page on the BBC Sessions with a tele or strat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnfgRfhdpeQ

The gain setting on the amp is actually quite low when I use it, so it clearly has a lot of gain to punch the input with.  Not Brian May by any means!  Too gritty for that IMO.  Can't say about a TB or Cornish treble boost, those are probably much smoother.

[Sparky]

The Rangemaster [or any of the British fuzz or booster circuits] were designed with British amps in mind.   I have a germanium Rangemaster [OC- 44 transistor] that sounds perfect with a Vox or Marshall but not so perfect with a Fender amp.  However, the newer Fender amps all have more pre-amp and gain controls that boost the distortion quotient way up from an original [older] circuit].  This makes the Rangemaster more usable with  the Fender amp.   I tend to put my Brit pedals through Brit amps and American pedals through American amps.   A Mosrite Fuzzrite through a Marshall loses some of it's inherent character.

[GibsonGM]

It's a Hot Rod Deluxe, 'classic' tube circuit, nothing TOO modern, LOL.  Drives the daylights out of it.  Yes, it does have a gain control, tho.

I have no doubt the audio experience would be very different with a Tonebender vs. a RANGEMASTER, which is what the OP is building...that would be fuzz vs. boost...I wonder what he's using for an amp...RM should be ~38dB gain, which SHOULD be pretty obvious   Especially tonally...

[Sparky]

It's a Hot Rod Deluxe, 'classic' tube circuit, nothing TOO modern, LOL.  Drives the daylights out of it.  Yes, it does have a gain control, tho.

I have no doubt the audio experience would be very different with a Tonebender vs. a RANGEMASTER, which is what the OP is building...that would be fuzz vs. boost...I wonder what he's using for an amp...RM should be ~38dB gain, which SHOULD be pretty obvious   Especially tonally...

Oops... I meant "Rangemaster".    I got stuck on "TB".     I'll go edit the post!   [although one of the worst sounds I ever heard was playing a germanium Fuzz Face through an old Twin Reverb amp..........]

[GibsonGM]

I could see there being a little less 'oomph' using a 'vintage Fender amp' Vs. a 60s marshall or an AC-30, for sure...how about a Hi Watt?  hee hee

"Worst" sounds in a good way, or bad?       I know what you mean...