Rangemaster clone not liking some great vintage tube amps?

[Doug_H]

I have found with my Rangemaster that it sounds best with my amp set up dark, otherwise it can sound harsh. But with the treble and mids rolled back on my amp, it sounds very sweet. It cleans up real easily with my guitar volume too, and has a good clean sound with the amp set up like this.

You have to remember that the original Rangemasters were not "stompboxes". They didn't have footswitches and were not intended to be "switched on at solo time" like a tube screamer or something. They were a unit that sat on top of the amp, and the guitarists pretty much left them on all the time. For clean they could roll down their guitar volume or use a different amp, etc.

I have not tried it but I suspect a BF Fender with the wide mid scoop and brightness would not be a good fit with a Rangemaster. It seems to want good midrange content and darker highs. With my amp tone controls rolled back, and my preamp gain set to the verge of breakup, the Rangemaster gives me controlled octave blooms and a sweet distortion tone. Rolling back the guitar volume gives me a clean sound that is brighter, but not too thin- very full.

Remember to use passive pickups and don't stick any buffers or buffered devices between the Rangemaster and your guitar. Part of the sound (and the cleanup) comes from the way it loads your pickups. It may seem kind of like a quirky one trick pony, in the way it forces you to set up your rig around it. But it's a very good trick...

Doug

[cd]

If the problem is only the 68K resistor, then it would be easy enough to put a jumper around it and test it...anyone? I don't have a Fender.

It's not.  Tweed Fenders have the same 68k resistors, which are in fact paralleled to 34k, and they sound great.  Same goes for old Marshall Super Leads, 1987 Plexis, JTM45, etc. (basically any pre-JCM800 Marshall).  It's all in the amp voicing.

[Doug_H]

It's not.  Tweed Fenders have the same 68k resistors, which are in fact paralleled to 34k, and they sound great.  Same goes for old Marshall Super Leads, 1987 Plexis, JTM45, etc. (basically any pre-JCM800 Marshall).  It's all in the amp voicing.

I agree. I have a 68k input resistor on my octal fatness (set up like mentioned above) and it sounds great. The 68k may limit the ability of the input tube to go into grid conduction (per R.G.'s article) but what we're talking about here is a basic voicing problem.

Doug

[robotboy]

I tried my rangeblaster on my stepdad's master volume silverface twin the other day after having read this thread a while ago. It produced some seriously painful tone. Bwanasonic is correct. Using the two together, you can totally nail the classic "icepick in the ear" tone. No big deal though. Every pedal obviously won't be suited for every amp. I highly recommend the sparkleboost through a twin silverface. Sounds fantastic.