Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Personal Stand-alone RangeMaster / Treble Booster Capsule Collection
Key Points
14 stand‑alone RangeMaster/Treble Booster units in a reference collection; ~30 total including combo pedals. Six are on the board, including HSE Rebel Leia, Strymon Sunset and DryBell Unit67.
Selected pedals and prices: Bispell TOR — As of when new, the price was £180. Expresso FX OC44 — As of 2019, the price was £164. Hello Sailor CV7001 — As of when new, the price was £250.
About half are discontinued as germanium transistors ran out. Notable transistors include OC44/CV7003, OC45, OC41 and МП16Б/AC128 equivalents. Next targets: Gigahearts Project X, BMG KAT, Expresso OC141, Fulltone Ranger, Reeves Electro May.
In the wake of my recent RangeMaster rundown I thought it would be fun to list those stand-alone units which ended up in my reference collection. I have a huge affinity for treble booster - where the majority I own are on combination pedals - including Plexi-Range types and Fuzz-Ranger types - overall around 30 treble boosters of various guises, and mostly in Germanium format.
My purely stand-alone RangeMasters / Treble Boosters kind of number 14 - while the CTC Constellation is kind of a Multi-Fuzz - where I own 3 variants - all with different transistor and the grey one with CV7003 / OC44 Transistors onboard has the perfect specs for a RangeMaster - to that one gets included here too.
Right at this minute I have 6 different Treble Boosters on the board - one is part of my HSE Rebel Leia Fuzz-Ranger, another is onboard my Strymon Sunset, and the DryBell Unit67 is currently sort of permanent too - like the Sunset. Added to that are my 3 most recent ones - as appear at the base of this article / visual. The KMA Machines Strokkur, Black Country Customs TI-Boost, and Spaceman Effects Atlas IV Preamp / Boost.
RangeMasters / TrebleBoosters are some of my favourite tone enhancers - particularly following after a number of my favourite gain pedals. They work great in front too - so I strategically have at least 2 on my board at any given time - one at the front - and one sort of in the middle. I really like the RangeMaster on the Carl Martin Plexi-Ranger - would be cool for them to issue that as stand-alone. I still have a number of these on my wishlist - including the Brian May BMG KAT Treble Booster and Fulltone Custom Shop Ranger Treble Booster and a few others. I still have a couple of Brian May style Treble Boosters to pick up too!
Here’s the full list of 14 as pictured :
- Bispell Audio TOR Silicon Transistor OC44 Emulating Expanded RangeMaster [discontinued] - £180 when new ($238)
- Catalinbread Skewer John Hornby Skewes style RangeMaster [discontinued] - $179 when new
- Constellation Multi-Fuzz V2 CV7003 (OC44 Ge) Edition [discontinued] - €299 when new ($344)
- Drunk Beaver Hoverla Rangemaster (Π402 Ge) - $150
- Drunk Beaver Pedal Drop #10 Sumy Germanium Treble Booster (∏416B GE) [discontinued] - $150
- DryBell Unit67 RangeMaster / EQ / 1176 type Compressor (OpAmp) - $289
- Expresso FX Germanium Boost (OC44 Ge) - £164 when acquired ($219), more now!
- Hello Sailor Effects Brian May Style Germanium Treble Booster (CV7001 Ge) - £250 ($330)
- Hello Sailor Effects Dual Hybrid RangeMaster (2N4060 Si + CV7001 Ge) - £320 ($420)
- Hello Sailor Effects Tribal Fabric Sziklai Pair Hybrid Dual Transistor RangeMaster (OC45 Ge + BC107) - £250 ($330)
- KMA Machines Strokkur Treble Booster (МП16Б Ge) [discontinued] - €210 when new ($239)
- Black Country Customs Tony Iommi Signature TI-Boost - £140 ($185)
- Spaceman Effects Atlas IV Preamp Booster - $279
- ThorpyFX Secret Project-2 / Have Blue RangeMaster (2N type Ge) [discontinued] - £249 ($330)
Interestingly of those 14 - around half are discontinued in parts as one of those brands is no longer around, but mostly because those brands ran out of suitable germanium transistors.
Two of those have proper OC44 original RangeMaster transistors or mil-spec variants thereof (CV7003) - otherwise it’s a pretty broad playing field. Some of these are reverse board circuits - where it’s difficult to see what’s onboard - particularly some of those silicon varieties.
That select of 14 is already pretty killer - but I normally continue until I have around 20 of that genre, and then I sort of take my foot off that accelerator for a while. Next one up is my friend Ian of Gigahertz’s newest pedal - which should be out later this month - if all the parts turn up on time!
Bispell Audio TOR Silicon Transistor OC44 Emulating Expanded Range Master [discontinued] - £180 when new ($238)
Controls - Bass-Cut, Mid-Cut, Treble-Cut, Volume, Mid Boost, Lift, Mid Boos Frequency : 870Hz / 2.1kHz / 440Hz. Gain (+10dB) : On/Off.
One of my all-time favourite Silicon RangeMaster - using several Silicon Transistors to emulate the tone and timbre of a classic original Germanium OC44 RangeMaster. While this one has a lot more shaping abilities and a larger overall range Alas this brand is now defunct - which is a real shame as Bispell's Thomas was a fantastic engineer and was destined for greater things. While he didn't really believe in social media - which is a massive disadvantage in this computer age. Hopefully Thomas will return to this again at some future time - with a more capable marketing partner - all pedal brands need a healthy social media profile to sustain interest and presence!
Catalinbread Skewer John Hornby Skewes style RangeMaster [discontined] - $179 when new
Controls - Skew (Frequency Response of Boost : stock > full range), Boost (Amount of Boost), Extra (Gain level)
A Silicon Transistor take on the rarer John Hornby Skewes type of RangeMaster - this came as a Richie Blackmore Box Set with the Dreamcoat Preamp. For sure a distinct take on the RangeMaster, and only available for a limited time, cool to have this in the reference collection - a pretty neat looking pedal.
Constellation Multi-Fuzz V2 CV7003 (OC44 Ge) Edition [discontinued] - €299 when new ($344)
Controls - Volume, Gain, Mode : Fuzz Face / Vox Tone Bender / Tone Bender MKI.V / Tone Bender MKII / RangeMaster / RangeMaster into Fuzz Face.
I have all 3 version of the Constellation that Crazy Tube Circuits created, the original OC45 edition, the follow-up OC41 edition, and the final CV7003 / OC44 edition in grey - which is perfect for OG RangeMaster applications - featuring the mil-spec CV7003 - 0C44 Equivalent Transistor/s onboard.
Drunk Beaver Hoverla Rangemaster (Π402 Ge) - $150
Controls - Range, Master, Impedance (for Pickup Simulator), Pickup Simulator Off / On, Bias, Bias Volage Display (3.15 > 0.63).
The second of Drunk Beaver's RangeMaster / Treble Boosters - slightly more expanded than the Sumy, and with a different Germanium transistor on board - the Π402 on this occasion. Sounds even more impressive than the Sumy - which was already pretty decent!
Drunk Beaver Pedal Drop #10 Sumy Germanium Treble Booster (∏416B GE) [discontinued] - $150
Controls - Boost, Range, Impedance, Pickup Simulator : On/Off.
This was Drunk Beaver's first Germanium Treble Booster - featuring a ∏416B transistor onboard - a really decent first take, while I prefer the later Hoverla - while there's not much in it - a really decent take for sure - made in extremely limited and now long since discontinued. As one of Vitalii's rapid prototyping projects, there was never a demo for one of these - but you get an idea - from the above Hoverla!
DryBell Unit67 RangeMaster / EQ / 1176 type Compressor (OpAmp) - $289
Controls - EQ : 1/0, Boost, Input : High / Low, Range, Low, High, Sustain.
A very distinct expanded RangeMaster - actually an OpAmp circuit for a change, and features 1176 compressor and additional EQ controls onboard. It's at the start of my 'Boost' trifecta - one of my essential permanent tone-enhancers - and performs beautifully - really potent! I'm lucky to have the rarer Red Edition - which is now sold out, while the original pearlescent sparkle edition is just as pretty really!
Expresso FX Germanium Boost (OC44 Ge) - £164 when acquired ($219), more now!
Controls - Level, Range : Low > Mid > High.
Actually my very first RangeMaster - acquired in 2019 - this one has the original OC44 Germanium Transistor onboard - the same as that featured in all those OG RangeMasts. My friend Sof had long since run out of his stock of OC44's - but I think I actually prefer his OC141 variant - which is one of my current targets!
Hello Sailor Effects Brian May Style Germanium Treble Booster (CV7001 Ge) - £250 ($330)
Controls - Level, Transformer.
The first of my Hello Sailor Treble Boosters - all of them are special editions - and this CV7001 (NKT275 equivalent) version is further augmented by a transformer, great sounding Brian May style Treble Booster, leather-bound, and with a King George 6 pence coin on the front!
Hello Sailor Effects Dual Hybrid RangeMaster (2N4060 Si + CV7001 Ge) - £320 ($420)
Controls - SILICON } Boost, Range : Hi / Mid, Gain; GERMANIUM } Boost, Range : Hi / Mid, Gain, Footswitch per Channel.
Me second HSE RangeMaster has Silicon circuit on the left, and Germanium circuit on the right - that can be stacked for a proto-fuzz style output. Germanium transistor once more a CV7001 mil-spec equivalent to a NKT275.
Hello Sailor Effects Tribal Fabric Sziklai Pair Hybrid Dual Transistor RangeMaster (OC45 Ge + BC107) - £250 ($330)
Controls - Boost, Range.
The 3rd of my HSE RangeMasters - which makes use of unusually low gain Transistors - by pairing them up in a Sziklai arrangement which acts as a multiplier - and thus making the pair perfect for use as a Treble Booster. Really potent sounding for sure!
KMA Machines Strokkur Treble Booster (МП16Б Ge) [discontinued] - €210 when new ($239)
Controls - Treble, Bass, Range, Boost.
The first of my most recently acquired ones - named after Iceland's famous active geyser - and originally has AC128 transistors onboard, while my evidently later edition has a soviet МП16Б transistor onboard - which is equivalent to 2N404, and AC125-AC128 transistors - so a suitable alternative for sure. Most of my favourite Spaceman Effects fuzzes have Soviet transistors onboard. In a similar way to the DryBell Unit67 - this one adds Treble and Bass controls into the mix - a great take for sure.
Black Country Customs Tony Iommi Signature TI-Boost - £140 ($185)
www.laney.co.uk/effects/guitar-effects/bcc-pedals
Controls - Drive, Mid : Hi Mid / Flat / Lo Mid, Volume, Lows, Highs.
Tony Iommi's Signature Treble Booster - with a fairly unusual Rangemaster component - split into a 3-way Mids Controls plus variable Lows and Highs. Great Silicon take, has been on the acquisitions list for a while - glad to have it in the collection at last, as it's been out for a number of years now.
Spaceman Effects Atlas IV Preamp Booster - $279
Controls - Boost, Thrust : More Harmonics On/Off, Axis : Shift (Treble Booster) / Origin.
A really smart Preamp Boost that becomes a Treble Booster when you flip up both the switches, the first adds the harmonics, and the second adds the frequency accent.
ThorpyFX Secret Project-2 / Have Blue RangeMaster (2N type Ge) [discontinued] - £249 ($330)
Controls - Boost, Range.
A fantastic sounding Classic Germanium transistor RangeMaster only fairly recently discontinued as those transistors ran out. I have it in the rarer Secret Project-2 edition vs Have Blue general release.
Final Thoughts
These 14 are fantastic RangeMaster / Treble Boosters already, with supremely wide coverage - I don't really need any more here - these 14 are more than enough - and I have other combination versions - for a total of around 30 RangeMasters in the reference collection.
As mentioned - I really like the RangeMaster half of the Carl Martin Plexi-Ranger - they should release that as a stand-alone pedal!
For the individual pedal categories - I normally keep going until I hit 20 or so - before I slow down significantly - and these are my 5 most likely next RangeMaster / Treble Booster targets :
- Gigahearts Project X - £TBC
- BMG KAT Brian May Treble Booster Classic [Si] - £275 ($363)
- Expresso FX OC141 Germanium Boost [Ge] - £239-£279 ($368)
- Fulltone Custom Shop Ranger Frequency Boost [Ge] - $249
- Reeves Electro May Boost [Si] - £360 ($475)
