Rangemaster build- anyone have this issue?

[jimbob]

This is one of 5 different projects im working on- but it was easy so i thought id give it a try. The problem is that is sounds more like a boost (germanium boost than anything) I want that cool rangemaster sound i heard at Tone frenzy! http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/geb_rm_lo_pp.gif
this is the layout i used. I see some variations that show the electro's as 25uf on some schematics. Whats the hfe needed in the rangemaster?

[MartyMart]

Jim, I built the "Fuzz Central" NPN version, but value wise, they are the same thing.
I may have used a slightly bigger input cap ( I didn't want sooo much treble )
both of those 47uf's are in mine
I used an OC140 Ge transistor, with a hfe of about 110.
I think that "Ideal" for these is between 80 and 100.
There's a nice bit of "crunch" from mine when driven hard and I'm very
happy with it
Whats the transistor/hfe in yours ?

Marty.

[jimbob]

Thats the problem. I dont know how to chk for hfe. I bought some ac128 from AMZ that i socket in it. Any good links for testing hfe ? I dont have that on my multimeter.

[MartyMart]

I dont know any other way, than with a meter !!
I paid about 10 bucks ( in £'s ) for mine, with hfe/diode checker
I think it would be worth your while to grab one somewhere ?

Marty.

[jimbob]

I thought about this Transistor - The Rangemaster Mullard OC44. Would it really sound much diff from a regular specified pnp germm?

[bwanasonic]

It completely and totally depends on what amp you are driving, as any *crunch* comes from the input stage of the amp. Use an RM with a silverface twin or an Acoustic SS head, and you will just get an earbleed (ie. if your amp has a lot of clean headroom, the RM will not *do it's magic*). Are you using a tube amp?

Kerry M

[formerMember1]

I am somewhat of a beginner at this but i think i could give you advice here.  I tried different transistors and always came back to the black mullard OC44 transistor that small bear sell for 8 bucks.  You can't find ones like the original mullard OC44's used in the old rangemasters.  I tried various input caps and adding a 220 pf cap to pot from signal to ground(as mentioned on arons' simple mods and tips) but always came back to the original schematic.  I built mine according to geofx.   I use a hendrix strat clone though, so you probably use a different guitar so you might want something else.  I didn't try my pedal out with a humbucker equipped guitar yet though.(i am replacing a pickup and still waiting for it to come in)
at first i thought my pedal was to tinny, but i learned to adapt myself to it and use my strat's tone knobs for a lot of different sounds.  My pedal does not have a tone knob like the organge bass and treble booster.  I heard it makes the pedal lose gain.  And plus i am the kinda guy would likes to control as much as possible from the guitar.  For blackmore and cream i rolloff my tone knobs down to 3 for rythym then for lead i turn tone up on full so i could "cut" thru and get that more clearer sound.
For neil young type music i keep tone on full but work the volume for different crunch to clean settings.   Mine cleans up really well.

Go to the geofx site and look for how to test transistors for hfe.  Even if your multimeter had a hfe function(like mine does) i wouldn't use it since it doesn't sift out the leakage that Ge's have.  In other words it would give you a false reading.  The method on the geofx site sifts out the leakage so you "can" get a true reading.

Mine does sound like the rangemaster, i started out not liking it but began to "adapt myself to it"

i even occasionally use it before or after a fuzz in my signal chain to boost and saturate the fuzz for a lot of sustain.  Only plroblem with that is it doesn't clean via the knob but you can then just bypass the fuzz.
i use an amp that crunches realy nicely, my marshall 60 watt is to clean for me to use the rangemaster on it.  At low amp volume my pedal sounds like a Tubescreamer.
That is a tubescreamer set at low drive.

hope i helped ya
i am just trying to give back to the forum like everybody has helped me.

[jimbob]

Im using the new Peavey Triple XXX Tube Amp. Its an awsome amp for metal ect...but the clean side is a little thin ( and its the clean side i often test my effects with. I came to the conclusion that Ge trannies are Special(at least to me) I think illl spring for the mullard oc44 and see how that goes!
thanks all