Na sag nur, daß kann unsere eierlegende Wollmilchsau nicht mit Standardsachen.........
Hier mal Infos zum Booster - leider auf englisch, aber sehr umfassend:
http://www.brianmayworld.com/BrianMaysound.htm
The Treble-Booster is a very simple battery powered device employing up to three transistors to boost the guitar signal, and a simple network of resistors and capacitors to shape the sound and give it the right frequency balance. All of the three-boosters below act to perform this same task. By boosting the guitar signal by up to 32dB (from typically around 500mV, the signal from a ‘hot’ humbucker to several volts), the relatively low gain of the Vox AC30 becomes unimportant as the signal has already been significantly amplified.
It is important to realise the difference between a Treble-Booster and an Overdrive or Distortion pedal. The Treble-Booster takes a small totally clean and fully sinusoidal input signal from the guitar, and simply increases its amplitude – all of the tonal nuances coming from the guitar pickup are preserved, as is the full sinusoidal nature of the waveform. This huge increase in amplitude further overdrives the valves, creating more of the highly desirable valve distortion. This is very different from the latter Overdrive or Distortion pedals, which simply convert the sinusoidal guitar signal into a square-wave signal, with approximately the same amplitude. As the signal level itself has not increased (only its shape having changed) there is no increase in the amount of the much preferred valve-overdrive tone the amplifier generates. Thus a Treble-Booster causes the amplifier to give more of its natural valve distortion.
Also, the levels of boost present from Treble-Boosters, generally 25-32dB, are far greater than the increase in levels associated with the tone-controls on most amplifiers. These typically only change the tone response by around 3-8dB. Hence, simply increasing the treble-response using the amplifier controls will not replicate the action of adding a treble-booster to an amplifier.
Finally, the term ‘Treble’ is added to the title, as although all the frequencies and harmonics present in the guitar signal are greatly boosted, the treble end of frequencies is boosted a little more, to reduce the otherwise heavy Bass response of the AC30.
Thus the pre-amplifier section of the AC30 achieves full saturation, where normally it does not, and this much larger signal is then fed into the power-amplifier causing further distortion and an increase in the favoured power-amplifier overdrive component in the final tone. This then allows Brian to drive the AC30s into giving overdrive tones comparable to that that achieved by much higher gain amplifiers.
Below are described the main characteristics and tones associated with the three types of treble-booster Brian May has commonly employed.
The Rangemaster (used by Brian May on Queen Recordings Queen I, Queen II, A Night at the Opera
The Rangemaster is perhaps the most famous Treble-Booster produced. Employing a Germanium transistor, it has a distinctive raw metallic sound, similar to that produced by a half-cocked Wah pedal. Although not as full sounding as the Cornish or Fryer boosters, or able to produce quite the same boost levels (estimate around 25dB),
The use of Germanium has produced a highly distinctive tone – examples include the opening of Sweet Lady, Great King Rat and Brighton Rock.
Brian’s original Rangemaster pedal was lost around early 1976, and Brian then approached Pete Cornish to construct him a new Treble-Booster.
The Pete Cornish TB83 Treble-Booster (used by Brian May on all Queen recordings not included above, Starfleet Project, Back to the Light.) Available from
http://www.guitarexperience.com, 180 pounds.
The Pete Cornish TB83 featured on virtually all of the Queen albums, and hence is the Treble-Booster of choice for producing the Queen tone. It uses Silicon transistors, and offers a much greater boost then a Rangemaster, at 32dB the greatest of the three here. It also offers less treble-boost and more general boost, providing a fatter tone.
There are many examples of this tone – including The Hero (Flash Gordon), One Vision, Hammer to Fall, Tie Your Mother Down, as just tracks with a prominent guitar part, and many many more.
The Greg Fryer Treble-Booster (used by Brian May on Another World and all subsequent performances). Available from Greg Fryer. See
http://www.brianmayworld.com/GregFryer_products.htm
This booster is now Brian’s favorite. A similar Silicon design to the Cornish, but offering slightly less boost (around 30dB), less noise, and a little more treble-response and bite. This is the pedal for anybody wishing to produce Brian’s current favourite tone.
Examples of the Fryer Booster include – SideBurns (specially commissioned track to showcase the tone of the Burns Red-Special guitar, hence a boosted guitar level on this track), Cyborg and Business (the latter tracks featuring on Brian May’s 1998 solo album Another World).
Mist, lag ich knapp daneben.
