DIAZ TEXAS RANGER question

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bonehead1972
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Post by bonehead1972 »

hey guys,
any help would be appreciated...
i built a Diaz Texas Ranger Treble Booster. i used the exact part values and i got the proper bias voltage but it sounded to me more like a mid boost with a volume boost rather than a treble boost. and it barely distorts by itself...why is that and is it normal?

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freefrog
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Post by freefrog »

Hello,

Yes, "Treble Boosters" based on the Rangemaster recipe are actually high mids boosters and don't distort by themselves: they just... boost.

Why are they high mids boosters ? It would be long to explain correctly and in details but to sum it up simplistically, it's due to how passive pickups work: they have a resonant frequency where they deliver their maximum output then this output decreases slowly. The resonant frequency is defined by various parameters like pickup inductance + cable capacitance and is most often located in... the high midrange or lowest part of the high range.
A Rangemaster or similar circuit doesn't add the missing high range beyond resonant frequency. It doesn't boost the bass or low mids either because of its low value input coupling cap. So it promotes mostly the high mids.

I share below a pic showing the electrically induced response of a (Burns TriSonic) single coil paired with regular pots and guitar cable (in blue) vs the same pickup through a (Fryer kind of) Treble Booster (in orange). Should illustrate what I said. Upper lines = frequency response. other lines below = THD.

Image

FWIW (my 2 cents). :-)

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bonehead1972
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Post by bonehead1972 »

freefrog wrote: 03 Mar 2023, 20:23 Hello,

Yes, "Treble Boosters" based on the Rangemaster recipe are actually high mids boosters and don't distort by themselves: they just... boost.

Why are they high mids boosters ? It would be long to explain correctly and in details but to sum it up simplistically, it's due to how passive pickups work: they have a resonant frequency where they deliver their maximum output then this output decreases slowly. The resonant frequency is defined by various parameters like pickup inductance + cable capacitance and is most often located in... the high midrange or lowest part of the high range.
A Rangemaster or similar circuit doesn't add the missing high range beyond resonant frequency. It doesn't boost the bass or low mids either because of its low value input coupling cap. So it promotes mostly the high mids.

I share below a pic showing the electrically induced response of a (Burns TriSonic) single coil paired with regular pots and guitar cable (in blue) vs the same pickup through a (Fryer kind of) Treble Booster (in orange). Should illustrate what I said. Upper lines = frequency response. other lines below = THD.

Image

FWIW (my 2 cents). :-)
thanks for your answer.. i have built 15-20 different pedals so far and i thought this one should be easy... everything went smoothly but as i said it did not sound like most of the utube videos i have seen. the main reason that comes to mind is i tried it through a clean amp....anyways... big thanks one more time!

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freefrog
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Post by freefrog »

bonehead1972 wrote: 03 Mar 2023, 20:45 the main reason that comes to mind is i tried it through a clean amp....anyways... big thanks one more time!
You're welcome... and I agree with the reason evoked. :-)

IMHO, a circuit like the Diaz Texas Ranger can give really good results in a drive channel, before drive pedals or at least in a pushed clean channel, with some grit.

I really like it through a Fender style tube amp with volume @ 6, and fed by the neck pickup of a Strat whose volume pot has been slightly rolled off. Good for that glassy SRV tone... ,-)
Last edited by freefrog on 04 Mar 2023, 07:14, edited 1 time in total.

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mauman
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Post by mauman »

bonehead1972 wrote: 03 Mar 2023, 20:45 ...i have built 15-20 different pedals so far and i thought this one should be easy... everything went smoothly but as i said it did not sound like most of the utube videos i have seen. the main reason that comes to mind is i tried it through a clean amp....
In addition to the differences between pickups, there are big differences in how tube amps and solid state amps respond to the same boost pedal. An important question in testing pedals is: with what pickup and what amp?

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bonehead1972
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Post by bonehead1972 »

Thanks for your answer, mauman!
I tried it through a small solid state shitty amp just because it was in the room where I was soldering. I have a vox ac30 and I will try again:) thanks...

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Manfred
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Post by Manfred »

All these booster types are and were made for amplifiers with at least tube preamp stages.

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Post by bonehead1972 »

Manfred wrote: 04 Mar 2023, 11:05 All these booster types are and were made for amplifiers with at least tube preamp stages.
Got it! Thanks!

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