Brian May Treble Boosters: Varieties, How They Work + Build Your Own Kit
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- In this video I explain how treble booster effects pedals work and why you need one if you want to emulate Brian May’s distinctive Queen live and studio tones. I show you eight variants associated with Brian May then assemble a KAT Treble Booster Plush kit which you can find here:
deacyamp.com/products/kat-kit...
Links to Other Videos Mentioned:
Jamie Humphries’ Review of the Fryer Sound Touring, Deluxe and Plus Treble Boosters for Issue 40 of Guitar Interactive Magazine
• Brian May Treble Boost...
Nigel Knight’s KAT TB Plush Assembly Video
• Building a KAT TB PLUSH
dsgb Video on the KAT RED-18 Treble Booster and KAT Superpot
• Brian May KAT RED-18 S...
Links to Treble Boosters Featured in This Video:
fryerguitars.com/category/tre...
fryerguitars.com/treble-boost...
fryerguitars.com/treble-boost...
shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/bm...
Links to Guitars Featured in This Video
Guyton RS Transporter No. 9 of 25 (Serial 0817154)
www.guytonrstransporter.com
Custom made 3/4 Scale Brian May Red Special replica:
dsgb.net/projects/1975rs/
Custom made Brian May Red Special replica:
dsgb.net/projects/redspecial/
Links to the Book featured in This Video:
Electronics for Guitarists by Denton J. Dailey. Springer, ISBN 978-3-031-10758-0
link.springer.com/book/10.100...
link.springer.com/book/10.100...
00:00 - Introduction.
00:19 - Brian May on what treble boosters do for him (Star Licks).
01:02 - Demonstration of enhanced clarity and presence in the upper mid frequencies using a KAT Ringmaster treble booster, my Guyton RS Transporter guitar and KAT Studio-One amplifier.
01:36 - Demonstration of overdrive using a KAT Ringmaster treble booster, my 3/4 scale Brian May Red Special replica and KAT Studio-One amplifier.
02:21 - Demonstration of boosted noise floor using a KAT Ringmaster treble booster, my home made Brian May Red Special guitar and a Vox AC30 TBX.
02:58 - Treble booster circuit discussion (Dallas Rangemaster).
04:28 - Show and tell with eight treble boosters (No. 1: Fryer Guitars treble booster Super).
04:57 - Show and tell with eight treble boosters (No. 2: KAT/Fryer Ringmaster).
05:22 - Show and tell with eight treble boosters (No. 3: 1980s BM pedalboard BC149 booster). I erroneously refer to this as a "Cornish style TB-83 booster" in the video commentary.
05:55 - Show and tell with eight treble boosters (No. 4: KAT/BMG Treble Booster Classic).
06:33 - Discussion of the boost/frequency response curves for six treble booster variants.
07:17 - Show and tell with eight treble boosters (No. 5: KAT RED-18 strap mounted treble booster and Sennheiser wireless transmitter body pack).
07:45 - Show and tell with eight treble boosters (No. 6: Vintage Pedal Workshop Dallas Rangemaster replica).
08:30 - Show and tell with eight treble boosters (No. 7: Fryer Guitars Treble Booster Deluxe).
09:01 - Show and tell with eight treble boosters (No. 8: KAT Treble Booster Plush).
09:19 - How to order a KAT Treble Booster Plush kit from the KAT website
09:52 - KAT Treble Booster Plush assembly instructions review.
10:30 - Unboxing the KAT Treble Booster Plush kit.
11:09 - Equipment for assembling and testing the electronic components.
11:34 - Testing and laying out the capacitors, resistors (passive components)
12:22 - Testing and laying out the silicon BC239 transistor.
12:42 - Loading and soldering the resistors onto the printed circuit board.
13:36 - Loading and soldering the capacitors onto the printed circuit board.
14:14 - Loading the soldering the 1/4 inch mono input and output jack sockets onto the printed circuit board.
14:53 - Preparing the battery connection wires and soldering them onto the printed circuit board.
15:18 - Soldering the battery connection wires to the battery box terminals.
15:26 - Loading the assembled circuit board and battery box into the enclosure.
16:00 - Screwing the two parts of the enclosure together.
16:15 - Applying the self-adhesive rubber feet to the underside of the unit.
16:33 - Closing remarks and outro.
#brianmay #treblebooster #guitar #effectspedals
4:54 "Potting compounds are general-purpose types of sealant that can offer environmental, mechanical and physical protection to circuit boards and electronic assemblies. Used in electronics, potting is a process of filling a complete electronic assembly with a solid or gelatinous compound. The potting compound, once applied, cured and hardened encases your electronics in a solid mass providing a barrier which provides protection from moisture, vibration, thermal or physical shock and general contamination. The mechanical protection enables the components to maintain high performance under extreme conditions."
uk.rs-online.com/web/c/adhesives-sealants-tapes/sealants-resins/potting-compounds/
GREAT Video Doug. Well done again. These are the videos I wish we had al that time ago..
Hi Jon. Thanks for your support. I try to make the videos I wanted to see when I joined the Brian May Red Special enthusiast community in 2013. 👍🏻💜
great video!!!
Thanks Frank. I'm pleased that you like it. 👍🏻😀
@@dsgb keep your great work!!!
I love mine Kat May Treble booster , but I don't hear much difference when I change the settings of the switch... or maybe I need the Brian May type electric guitar with out of phase pickups setting to hear more .
The tonal variations between different treble boosters can be quite subtle and discernible only as more or less overdrive and presence. Some types, such as Dallas Rangemaster replicas/clones and the Fryer range, e.g. Fryer TB Super also have a bell-like chime to the tone. They will work with any guitar but the improvement and differences between variants is most noticeable with Tri-Sonic type pickups such as those fitted to Brian May guitar models because their raw output is somewhat indistinct.
I have 2 questions:
1) do you happen to know if in the 1986 magic tour brian used the treble booster "fireplace" BC149 or the TB-83? because if I'm not mistaken in the pedalboard made by pete cornish, which brian used in '86, there was the Fireplace, and if I'm not mistaken the Fireplace is the original TB-83, but I'm not sure.
2) where did you buy the BC149 treble booster?
Firstly, I mistakenly referred to the BC149 booster in the video as a Cornish TB-83 style booster when it isn't. The TB-83 booster is a modern (post year 2000) product which has a higher output and is thicker sounding than the vintage BC149 and BC182L boosters. I bought it from a friend and fellow Brian May enthusiast who made it. He advised me that the large pedalboard which Brian used at Wembley '86 had BC149 based treble boosters in it.
Check out this article which is authoritative:
fryerguitars.com/history-of-brian-mays-treble-boosters-and-pedalboard-used-with-queen-from-1970-to-around-1986/
@@dsgb thank you very much
5:23 is the TB I want to (hopefully) have, but does it have the same circuit of 2:59 (except for having the BC149 instead of the OC44)?
I don't know. Clearly one significant difference is that the Rangemaster circuit has a variable gain potentiometer but this BC149 booster does not.
@@dsgbre:Mark Reynolds, I heard he recommends the BC149s made by "Lee Speight"
Lee is a perfectionist who makes very high quality guitar electronics on a par with any professional.
I see I see@@dsgb
Hi I have a Greg Fryer Treble booster deluxe. Is it Germanium? Also, how do the internal trim pots work and where are they? Is it OK to experiment with them?
Thanks
Modern Fryer treble boosters all use silicon transistors to the best of my knowledge and do not have internal trim potentiometers. This is certainly true of the Deluxe which I show in this video from time index 08:32. The older Ringmaster, based on the Dallas Rangemaster circuit used a germanium transistor.
If you want more detailed information on Greg's range of treble boosters, please check out his website or contact him directly:
fryerguitars.bigcartel.com/category/treble-boosters
So if it's silicon then I guess I don't need to have the treble booster 1st in my chain?
I use a wireless system.
The treble booster should always be placed first in the signal chain for the effect to work as intended. Nigel Knight who designs and assembles Brian May's treble boosters explains here:
shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/bmg-electronics/bmg-tb-classic.html
It is because of the relative impedances of the guitar pickups and the treble booster. I paraphrase this on my FAQ:
dsgb.net/gear/trebleboosters/
The yellow KAT could be so much smaller with that tiny circuitboard
As my video illustrates, treble booster circuits are straightforward with a small number of passive components and one transistor.
Therefore the circuit board can be fitted by default into a standard pedalboard sized enclosure at low cost or into a custom sized smaller enclosure (e.g. to enable it to be mounted to a guitar strap) which inevitably increases the cost to the consumer. However, the housing still needs to contain a battery which physically limits how small the unit can be.
The KAT treble booster Plush is marketed as a budget self-assembly kit for the cost-conscious Brian May enthusiast hence why Nigel supplies it with a low cost standard pedalboard sized enclosure.
The circuit components themselves can be miniaturised to allow the PCB to be mounted inside a guitar control cavity as Nigel designed for the Guyton RS Transporter.
Nice boosters though, all fryer inputs about treble boosters are deleted
I don't know what you mean by "all fryer inputs about treble boosters are deleted". 🤷🏻♂️
@@dsgb there was a page made by Greg, it had some other treble boosters beside Brian's, like a guy named Nick Thurn and all schematics needed, the page is non-existent now
@@dsgb another question, have you tried the guild twin transistor treble booster?, uses two same treble booster stages inside, I wonder if that Guild twin transistor treble booster is way more powerful
No, I haven't tried the Guild treble boosters. I have more than enough flavours of treble booster to cover every requirement. If you're seeking a powerful, fat and rich tone, the Fryer Treble Booster Deluxe delivers satisfaction. 💜
The page containing Greg's experimenter's treble booster circuit is not at its original URL. I posted the circuit diagram and text here:
www.tapatalk.com/groups/rsbuildersassociation/treble-booster-fryer-t145-s10.html
"Suggested range of values for the experimenter's DIY Treble Booster schematic: alter component values and transistor types to suit your musical tastes and amplifier requirements.
Capacitors: C1: 1.0 to 22 nF, C2: 10 to 100 nF, C3: 10 to 470 microF electrolytic, C4: 10 to 220 microF electrolytic.
Resistors: R1: 100 k to 1 M, R2: 100 to 470 k, R3: 22 to 68 k, R4: 4.7 to 10 k, R5:1 to 3.9 k, R6: 22 k to 1 M, R7: zero to 1 k.
Other things to try: resistor R"X": zero to 2.2 k. This will tend to change the upper mid "focus" of the booster sound with values closer to 2K2 smoothing out this mid focus and lower values (esp 0 ohms) giving a harder more direct rangemaster type focus. Like all things, alter to suit your taste. Capacitor between transistor base and emitter 100 pF to 2.2 nF, series resistance between C2 and R6, capacitor between output and ground, R6 resistor as a output level pot, R1 as an input level pot, series resistance up to 1K at input C1 to assist with RF rejection, R4 collector resistor configured as 10 kOhm level pot as per original 1960s Dallas Rangemaster booster circuit.
Transistor Q1: 2N3904, 2N5088, 2N5089, 2SC1815, 2SC732, BC107, BC108, BC109, BC182, BC183, BC184, BC149, BC173, BC546, BC547, BC548, BC549, MPS8098, MPSA05, MPSA06, MPSA18, MPSA20 as well as other suitable NPN transistors."
Me believes the black epoxy is not about robustness, but is a "mystery factor", so people don't easily copy this 10 component effect...😊
This seems to be a popular conspiracy theory but as I have replied numerous times, the Fryer Ringmaster circuit was based on the straightforward and well known Dallas Rangemaster circuit so there was no 'mystery' and no 'secret'. Any electronics hobbyist could replicate it at low cost and modify it with minimal intellectual effort.
These hand made treble boosters were designed for professional stage pedalboard deployment and it is normal for such electronic equipment to be epoxy encapsulated.
The anti-piracy argument further doesn't stack up because the determined reverse-engineer could remove epoxy resin fairly easily. It isn't as permanent as some people think it is.
Really good video! Loved it. But don't whitewash please... Nobody is potting electronics to make them more robust. They're potted because there is a huge Brian Man fanbase market to sell to and they don't want their circuits copied (despite themselves copying from others, like most guitar gear producers).
Thanks. 👍🏻😀 Deterring replication is certainly part of the reason. It was not my intention to 'whitewash' information; I try to be diplomatic and factual in my videos. Where I do not have proof of intent, I avoid speculation and saying anything controversial which would annoy guys like Nigel Knight and Greg Fryer.
@@dsgb I understand, and I appreciate it, but be honest with you viewers. Everybody in the business knows what's the intended purpose, and nobody's business would be hurt if you mentioned that. But no epoxy potting is protecting any electronics. Maybe only from meddling fingers or curious eyes. We are all adults in this playground. It was their (and other makers') choice to hide their circuits. It's not your responsibility. That all said with huge respect and appreciation to Mr. Knight & Mr. Fryer, and other makers in the crowded guitar gear sphere
This is not strictly the case and I respectfully reject your assertion that I'm not being honest with my viewers. Please bear in mind that Greg and Nigel have published a lot of information on how to make their circuits (including the featured Ringmaster) so they are not hiding much even if that is their primary motivation for epoxy potting as you claim. See below:
fryerguitars.com/pedals-tech/
Also, Greg did not pot the circuit on his hand-assembled Fryer Deluxe that I showed in the video and, to the best of my knowledge, the commercial TB Plus, Touring and Deluxe units are not potted either. How do you rationalise this decision?
Treble boosters are straightforward electronic devices that are easy for any amateur enthusiast or boutique effects pedal maker to make and sell. The market for them and profit margins are not significant enough to spend time and money trying to protect minor intellectual property gains in my considered opinion.
@@dsgb that's absolutely true and as I said I do hold these two gentlemen to the highest regard, but the potting and secrecy in the Brian May community came years before the (relatively recent) sharing & open sourcing of the information
Possibly. These epoxy potted treble boosters date from 2013 and 2015. I think that non-potted boosters were available from Fryer Guitars at this time too but am not certain.
Because Nigel designs his KAT equipment to be physically robust and over-engineered to withstand professional use, my judgement was that the epoxy potting was primarily for this reason. Not revealing details of exact component values in the circuit was a secondary consideration.
Good debate though. 👍🏻😀
Doug