Kind of a shame to not demonstrate how dramatically a treble booster cleans up with the guitar’s volume knob. That’s what makes it a killer always-on pedal.
OK - so this is the best honest no nonsense video i have seen in a long time. Data driving what we are hearing in the frequencies .I tested these hypotheses on my own rig and they proved out .. this cleared up a LOT of confusion for me ..Anyone else would have been self-serving and slanted it where the Tunmus was the key factor , but instead this was scientific , unbiased and appreciated ! In fact I have never owned a Wampler pedal but they are on top of my list because of this guys approach- i am confident they are of good quality because of the engineer/engineering behind it …
Excellent breakdown of the types of boosts. Ive not really branched away from all my mid range honkers like the boss OD2 and the like. Your spectrum diagrams really helped somebody like me, an electronics technician by trade for 20 years, understand that there are actual differences in thee boosts. I have designed many filter circuits myself and never really thought about how the top boost was really a high pass with an unusually high cutoff. this has my full attention because I have been battling honk and woof my entire 20 years of guitar tinkering. I assumed the top boost would just pile on treble on top of the mud I already had. Thanks again for your insights and clear explanation!
Awesome vid! Been looking for ever to see an in depth explanation of the GE-7, love how you always go the extra mile and show the graphs and interactions the knobs have on the overall sound. Awesome channel, looking forward to buy one of your pedals soon. Cheers!
That Boss eq pedal was my secret weapon for my guitar sound for the whole last half of the '80s. I loved how you could really put some definition on a lead tone with it without cranking the overall volume if you didn't want to.
I don’t know which one I like the best but I know I just purchased that Tumnus Deluxe and I am really looking forward to it 😁 Great explanations in the video as always
The Boss EQ pedal is the best overall pedal I have. Sometimes it's difficult to cut through the mix in a full band situation. This pedal can finetune the mids just enough to cut through, without increasing the overall volume. Highly recommended for a low price.
It's a good pedal with lots of uses but if it's the "best" pedal you have, you need to try some others. I wouldn't even say that boss makes the best eq pedal.... but with this all being said, it's s all subjective....
@@McMagpie the point is that they're using the EQ correctly (IMO): Letting the right freqs come through without constantly just pushing levels. Personally I've always preferred a 32-band rack EQ for fine-tuning to the room/band mix (it's the only rack "effect" I ever kept, actually) but those just don't seem very popular these days. Everybody loves stompboxes.
I always appreciate your insight and the comments section is helpful as well! I’m trying to sort out the boost world at the moment, so thank you very much!
I absolutely love the Boss EQ-200. Having two separate 10 band EQs in one pedal is amazingly flexible. I put the channel A EQ before the effects loop, and the channel B EQ after. So powerful. But other than the EQ pedal, I pretty much have a Wampler pedal board. The Tumnus Deluxe is the best overdrive I have ever used, and I absolutely love the Ego compressor. I’m saving up for the Terraform, and excited to try your delay and reverbs as well.
I appreciate how your Bravado amp is really neutral yet crunchy when pushed. It’s not Fender or Marshall or Vox but a kind of just in the middle not skewed in any tonal direction. I own your Tumnus and tweed57 pedals. Love your videos and the fact you share your knowledge. Thanks! Tim
I've been repairing and building amps for several years. I've done a fair share of pedals and have done a LOT of switching systems and helped players put pedalboards together. I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've looked at a players board and they had a half dozen ODs, couple boosts and preamps. They have ALL of those, but no EQ or compression. My reaction is almost always "dude, forget the OD, you essentially already have it on your board, buy a fu¢king EQ." It would literally render half their gain pedals redundant. A good EQ and compressor can make 2 overdrives cover the ground of anything you may need. For years the high gain tone I used with Strats (with vintage type and output singlecoil) was a Triangle era Big Muff, with an EQ or TS style overdrive adding midrange. Using the EQ after the Muff was my "Gilmore" lead tone, and what I finally discovered after chasing that sound, was his he got his Comfortably Numb lead. If I ran the EQ before the Muff it sounded like a dimed Marshall stack. It makes the thin singlecoil bridge pickup sound massive. If you heard it and I said it was a Les Paul into a Marshall you'd have no reason to doubt me. My advice to someone starting a board from scratch would be to get a Timmy and Klon type overdrives, a good EQ (for going into the front end I've been using a Source Audio programmable EQ for years, I typically use a different one in the loop though), and a compressor; preferably something with a Wet/dry blend control. At that point, anything you buy afterwards is going to be SO much more useful, but honestly I don't think you'll have the need for half of them.
Top Boost, or Treble Boost, is what I have been missing on my Tone Quest in life. I do want to hear the Piano sound of the wound strings and the chimey sound of the plan strings!!! Well done. Bless you for sharing your wisdom with your community!!!
I use a Black Country Customs Iommi treble booster. When I use it with the EVH 5150 overdrive the results are what I want. My Boss GE 7 did not give me the sound I wanted when I combined it with that overdrive, at any setting. You did a great job explaining why this is the case. Thank you so much! :)
holy crap. you have a custom shop bender. omg. i have yet to play one and might just pull the trigger and get one one of these days. love your tumnus! by far the best of the klon style circuits out there.
Ahh that endless quest for the ultimate tone, a journey that many of us share. Thanks BW for making that journey much more enjoyable. Oh and please, package up that treble booster and put me down for one.
Compressors can also make great boosts. Set the compression to somewhat less than max to keep a bit of dynamics, and crank the volume. Can bring out the best in whatever drive pedal or overdrive channel you use.
I use my sp compressor kind of like this, but not really to boost leads. Rather set a little bit past the point where the pedal made up the gain and is pretty equal with the volume level when turned off. It slightly pushes the amp in a pleasant way. The sp compressor is the only compressor I’ve owned and I love it’s versatility and pedal size!
I was using an EQ as a boost. However lately I have been running a Klon-style with the gain low (not off), treble at 1:00 or Mostortion clone with gain low and bass 9:00, Mid 2:00, treb 3:00. Either of those into a Pantheon with cleanish gain have been some of my favorite tones. I'm going to find a Treble booster to try out soon! I am in the process of borrowing a Tumnus Deluxe to try the three band EQ to see if I like that better. FWIW I'm stacking three gain pedals, Klon-type low gain into Pantheon (low gain) into Klon-type higher gain. I have been pretty happy these days!
This video explains why my Beano Boost made its way to first in the chain on my board. i knew it sounded best there, but I didn't know why. Now I know why. Thanks!
I work as a data visualization professional with a background in sciences - I really appreciate your frequency charts! They really hammer home the point!
I use a Matchless and mostly Wampler pedals, I’m very happy with my tone. Your demo here is awesome and your amp sounds phenomenal, you really demo the different frequencies correctly. Another great video by you! Thank you
Very interesting! I would’ve expected that the bands on the GE7 would have a wider Q, so the frequencies would overlap more. Still, it’s an amazing tool every guitar player should have! I like more subtle settings anyway. Thanks for the insight!
If you like EQ and perhaps especially if you like the more subtle settings, work with a 32-band rack graphic EQ for a while. Run it in your FX loop if you have one. Stomp box EQs are indeed helpful, but if you're really into overall tone-shaping and fine-tuning your tone to suit a room and/or band mix, once you learn to use a halfway decent 32, the pedals will seem kind of like a toy in comparison. There's also a whole different thing between running an EQ on the pedalboard and into the preamp like almost everyone does, and running it after all the pedals and your amp's preamp section. I sincerely think a LOT of players would be better served to learn more about EQ and stop spending so much time and money chasing down the perfect OD or distortion box.
@@dogslobbergardens6606 yes exactly! I like having an EQ on my board though, so I can run it into my drives, allowing me to shape the tone that hits the clipping circuit. If you were to run an EQ into a neutral drive with different clipping options and then onto another EQ, you could have pretty much any drive tone your heart desires.
@@mrblablablabla yeah, both is good too :) In a dream world it might be fun to play around with a good EQ before every pedal etc and really really shape each one... but that could get mighty awkward and expensive. Your idea is more reasonable.
@@dogslobbergardens6606 a 32-band rack eq is highly impractical for the majority of players though. How about parametric eq pedals like the empress? What’re your thoughts on those?
Thank you so much Brian for explaining this, I've always loved my Boss EQ but noticed that it is different than my tumnus mini or my Keeley Katana boost regardless of how I played with the EQ settings.
I tried many boosts and ended up with Black Country Custom (Laney) TI boost. Always learn something new on your channel especially about the eq pedal. Thanks
Brian would be the perfect science teacher! Treble boosters are really cool, but not always practical for bedroom/living room playing (unless using it just for high-end sparkle).
Had to make a 2nd comment to say that a treble booster into a klon is a match made in heaven. The warm full klon being boosted by the bright, tighter treble booster sounds really great!
It was really insightful seeing the frequency response spectrum for each circuit. There is not much information out there about the frequency response of the Dumble “skyline” tone stack. Would be interesting to see something similar about that circuit. Thanks for all you do!
The TUMNUS (mini)is my favorite pedal, period ! I have 2 on my board, 1 for my KLON type overdrive which you can get identical to the K.T.R. (because I have one) the 2nd. one is at the end of the chain, I have the gain set to about 7 (just a touch on) and I leave the pedal on all the time. The TUMNUS also set this way but with the volume up is a great boost pedal. Really gives it that punch. Idea for you , TUMNUS , Version 3 - 2 mini TUMNUS in one "double" pedal. To me size is getting more & more important. Like I said earlier, your mini TUMNUS replaced my K.T.R because,1) I could get the same sound (at least to my ears) 2) It was about 1/3 the size. Another great "double pedal" I would buy in a heartbeat would be the TUMNUS on one side and the EGO compressor on the other or something like Keely's work station. It would be perfect if it just sounded a little better. (not a fan of the "Red Dirt" to "knife in the chest" IMHO. Imagine, If you did 3 effects, compressor, TUMNUS overdrive, and a heavier overdriv(or even 2nd. TUMNUS in one small box you sell a million of them. You have great circuits and sounding pedals. I know the biggest problem is the price point. With say the new Line 6,POD Go for $450.00 its hard to compete. Look at what you get in that package for $450.00. Look at the size of the HELIX Stomp for what you get. I think its no bigger than the Brent Mason pedal. But on the other side I just spent $420.00 for the new GLADIO pedal but was disappointed.There even on backorder for 3 months. In closing, all I'm really trying to say , if possible please keep the size down on pedals like the mini TUMNUS if your keep the WAMPLER sound outstanding and think about more double (or triple) pedals in a small enclosure. DONNER does a great job at this if the pedals would sound a little better. Board Real Estate is getting more important everyday and I'm getting to old to carry a big pedal board around. Side note, I just ordered a Jetter GS- 248, its 2-GS-124's (the 2nd. one is a little more beefed up) in one box. Keep the great pedals and your great video's coming. Tell Brent Jimmy Mac said hello when you see him. Aloha
I love treble boost. My all time favorite distortion sound that I've had was using the treble boost side of the Roland BeeBaa clone that my buddy helped me build into my Silvertone 1484. I sadly don't have that amp anymore but I still use that pedal to get my distortion sound. I now just run it into whatever slightly overdriven sound I have (either from amp or pedals). They are so simple but so good, just makes it fun to play guitar. The explanation you gave about the EQ pedal was really helpful to understand the difference in frequency response. Thanks!
That Tumnus is such an incredible, fun, versatile pedal, that turns any amp I’ve used it on (right when the amp was starting to break-up into a crunch setting) into a classic hard-rock beast. Per Brian’s suggestion I picked up an EQ (Boss EQ 7) to use on a SLO 30 to try and tighten it up a bit, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the SLO sounds with either one (or both) those pedals. I grabbed his Ego compressor, as well (just on a hunch), given that a bit of compressor always seem to enhance those killer “brown-ish” tones….. GREAT video, Brian! Thank you!
The life size Boss Waza Craft Metal Zone at the end of the video made me laugh. So unexpected. The accompanying music was hilarious and perfectly fittingly. I use my Tumnus Deluxe or EQD Plumes as my clean boosts. I use a bit of hair on the Tumnus but it’s barely perceptible.
My search for the perfect boost lead me in a circle, from a Laney TI Boost to the Dual Fusion to an MXR thing then back to the Laney. Nothing is quite like a treble booster.
Tumnus for the WIN ! Imagine a Double German Chocolate Cake... Then ADDING a generous layer of Chocolate Fudge Icing over the top of it. It's like that. If you were playing thru a Tumnus at the same time. Thanks Professor Wampler! Mine is no longer velcro'd down. It's permanently epoxy'd to the board.
Recent bought a treble booster. Love it into crunchy and high gain amps and pedals. Really as a solo boost. I also love tube screamer with low gain into a overdriven amp. Haven't tried a klon yet.
Love treble boosters! And love the Klon circuit! Brian, I like how you don’t want to be blunt with anyone who for some reason happens to prefer a buffer before a treble booster. I’ll do it, though… If you prefer a buffer into your treble booster, you’re doing it wrong. :)
Great video, very informative about how eq pedals work. I actually like my Clarksdale as a boost better than the Tumnus mini, Clarksdale into Greer Lightspeed is glorious. Tumnus is cool but it's so subtle I could probably live without it, but it looks so cool I can't take it off my board.
Bluesbreaker2020 the tumnus does look cool! I have a TS mini at the front of my chain for a mid-boost into other drives, and a tumnus near the end (before delay) mainly as a volume boost for when my drummer is drowning me out.
Really like this kind of content! The Frequency Analysis was icing on the quake! I love treble boosters as a boost, but I struggle to balance their output or set them up to work nicely with a driven amp (I.e., I always get more gain than level). In the meantime, I really like a TS style pedal as a boost or an EQ pedal/Boss LS-2.
Took me a while to find the sound I wanted, experimenting with a range of pedals. Finally got there, exactly as Brian mentions here: Guitar > Treble Boost > OD and other pedals works best for me...and bring down the bass on a driven amp 👍. Makes such a difference to an inherently warm/thick guitar tone (e.g. humbucker/semi-hollow) and a 'woofy' drive amp 😂.
Hi and God bless!!! Always impressed at the quality of knowledge you impart on your videos. Really helpful. P.S. There is NO way to make a Tumnus sound bad. It just ain’t happening. 👍🏻🇵🇷
Thanks again Brian for answering that question. I love treble boosters, but hate the temperamental Germainium transistors. I’ve been trying to find a replacement for my treble booster to get away from that Germania transistor, but I haven’t found anything yet. What I found, though is my treble booster into the Wampler Gearbox tones for days. Thanks again for crafting amazing tone boxes.
@Wampler Pedals Super cool and informative video! I play into an AC30 and people always say I should use a treble booster, but this is the first time I feel like I actually understand what that circuit does. I use a Source Audio EQ2 with midi presets as my main boost tone, often with high and low pass filters at 100Hz and 16k and boosts around 2.5k for solos. Also have Tumnus as a gain stacking boost and dB+ to balance out difference when switching between humbuckers and single coils.
I love a top boost into a high gain amp. That tight, thick, saturated wall of sound is so addictive. That breadboard circuit at the end sounded great without the buffer.
LOL. Well I think you covered how people feel about treble boosters. "Some love it, other people don't understand the use of them, and other people don't care one way or another." (Paraphrasing,)
I really liked this video. There were some cinematic aspects that might be worth incorporating more often in future videos. For example, when you "Take a deeper look at the Boss EQ pedal for comparison" (4:11), you change locations, angels, depth of field, etc.; plus, you step into the frame. It indicates that something different is happening. I found it more engaging and enjoyable to watch. Regardless, thanks for the insight into boosts. Oh, about the boosts, I don't really know. However, I think you're right about the treble boost having it's own kind of magic. But I just ordered a Tumnus Deluxe and am so excited to give it a try. Blessings on you, Brian
I’ve been thinking about purchasing a Tumnus for awhile now. Though, I never considered a treble boost until this video... 🤔 All crunch tones are really inspiring in this video 😎 high five ✋🏼
Treble boosters like the Range Master are great, like Brian said, without a buffer or anything before it. Two other boosters that I like are the EH LPB-2 (or LPB-1 now) and the boost section of the ZVex Box o' Rock, something about those two that really get a vintage amp cookin', been hearing a lot of good things about the Xotic EP boost but never tried. Have fun boosting!
Just ordered anotha Fender Engager Boost, 100€s, buffered/true bypassed option, very quiet! EQ: bass/treb/mids: 400/800Hz switch..........................., doesnt change your guitar tone but kinda brings it to life not even boosted!,dead quiet, I can boost/eq some mid and hi of some of my favourute pedals which have bass ( which I really like...), HEARTILY RECOMMENDED!! most of the eq pedals add hiss/hum and the tiny knobbies are hard to adjust on the fly..., this Fender is a keeper!!
Thanks for this video Brian. I was sitting here just last night thinking about if I were to ever get of rid my Boss EQ(which is modded and great btw), could I survive with a treble booster. The answer is yes I think. I never use the EQ pedal like many session cats do which is maybe to get a small little radio type sound or say transform a guitar into sounding like another etc. My point is I never mess with more than one of the 6 bands and even then it’s not drastic. I actually love how my guitars and other od’s sound different from each other. But I’ve got the Drybell unit 67 and I find I use it in place of say an Rc boost, Mk 4.23, Cali 76 and EQ pedal because it doesn’t have extra stuff I’d never use, it has exactly what I need. I find a treble boost is more beneficial than 6 band eq for me. Especially since a front of house guy or a studio engineer is going to carve out eq’s anyways. If I get the tone “I” wanna hear then I get inspired to play and that’s what really matters. Nice video Brian. 👍🏻
Love your channel man...soni was surprised by the fender engager boost pedal in front of my dual rec 100 watt so head....turned it into a flame thrower!
If you pin every fader on the BOSS, that’s what I would expect to see. Just as you showed with the raw data. I would imagine it would look similar if the EQ was not on. I don’t know if you rectify the rod data spikes like I have done with other types of research. And even though I could do it myself, I kind of wish you would have dialed in a close a tone as you could on the EQ, to the treble boost circuit. Maxing out the mids and treble on the EQ seemed like quite a jump… a lot of gray area in between. But great stuff as always man, I’ll go back and finish the rest of your video. I’m just thinking out loud, ha ha. Keep up the great work. 🤘🏻😝🎸🇺🇸
I tested the xotic rc booster, tc spark mini, and even the legendary timmy as a lead boost pedal and the best result I had was without a doubt with the tumnus (mini). The way he cuts the mix, adding well-defined midrange and not making the sound “woofy” is unique! (my problem now is that I need a new tumnus at the beginning of the chain jejejejeje...)
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
the Tumnus pedal actually transformed my playing. I worship that tiny golden box!
Brian, PLEASE put that treble booster into production. I'll order one straight away. That crunch was sublime!
Treble boosters are amazing! I use one as an always on pedal, simply into an AC30 with a little Chorus, perfect.
@@bilkywaygalaxy Made one from a kit. At first I thought it was not 'an always on pedal'...soon changed my mind 🤘.
💯
Kind of a shame to not demonstrate how dramatically a treble booster cleans up with the guitar’s volume knob. That’s what makes it a killer always-on pedal.
Nigel Knight makes some amazing treble boosters
Q is rarely mentioned in the pedal world, except maybe wah pedals. Thanks for doing this!
I’m starting to notice Q being mentioned in politics. Scary shit, those q anon weirdos want to kill us americans
You see it more frequently with parametric EQs too
Well...I'm glad you pair of nerds are lathered up over "Q" -
But for headbangers like my good self...we ain't got the foggiest!
Check Stone Deaf pedals - They're making the most of EQ in the modern market.
There's a reason they call television the idiot box.
OK - so this is the best honest no nonsense video i have seen in a long time. Data driving what we are hearing in the frequencies .I tested these hypotheses on my own rig and they proved out .. this cleared up a LOT of confusion for me ..Anyone else would have been self-serving and slanted it where the Tunmus was the key factor , but instead this was scientific , unbiased and appreciated ! In fact I have never owned a Wampler pedal but they are on top of my list because of this guys approach- i am confident they are of good quality because of the engineer/engineering behind it …
Learned a new thing about how EQ pedals work - thanks Brian!
Same here! That was my biggest take away from this video.
Excellent breakdown of the types of boosts. Ive not really branched away from all my mid range honkers like the boss OD2 and the like. Your spectrum diagrams really helped somebody like me, an electronics technician by trade for 20 years, understand that there are actual differences in thee boosts. I have designed many filter circuits myself and never really thought about how the top boost was really a high pass with an unusually high cutoff. this has my full attention because I have been battling honk and woof my entire 20 years of guitar tinkering. I assumed the top boost would just pile on treble on top of the mud I already had. Thanks again for your insights and clear explanation!
Awesome vid! Been looking for ever to see an in depth explanation of the GE-7, love how you always go the extra mile and show the graphs and interactions the knobs have on the overall sound. Awesome channel, looking forward to buy one of your pedals soon.
Cheers!
💥mind blown💥 For me trying to dial in that ever elusive "TONE" This was most helpful sir.
That Boss eq pedal was my secret weapon for my guitar sound for the whole last half of the '80s. I loved how you could really put some definition on a lead tone with it without cranking the overall volume if you didn't want to.
I don’t know which one I like the best but I know I just purchased that Tumnus Deluxe and I am really looking forward to it 😁
Great explanations in the video as always
The Boss EQ pedal is the best overall pedal I have. Sometimes it's difficult to cut through the mix in a full band situation. This pedal can finetune the mids just enough to cut through, without increasing the overall volume. Highly recommended for a low price.
It's a good pedal with lots of uses but if it's the "best" pedal you have, you need to try some others. I wouldn't even say that boss makes the best eq pedal.... but with this all being said, it's s all subjective....
@@McMagpie the point is that they're using the EQ correctly (IMO): Letting the right freqs come through without constantly just pushing levels.
Personally I've always preferred a 32-band rack EQ for fine-tuning to the room/band mix (it's the only rack "effect" I ever kept, actually) but those just don't seem very popular these days. Everybody loves stompboxes.
This video is an audio lesson. I came to this video because I received my Tumnus today. Very satisfied.
I always appreciate your insight and the comments section is helpful as well! I’m trying to sort out the boost world at the moment, so thank you very much!
I absolutely love the Boss EQ-200. Having two separate 10 band EQs in one pedal is amazingly flexible. I put the channel A EQ before the effects loop, and the channel B EQ after. So powerful. But other than the EQ pedal, I pretty much have a Wampler pedal board. The Tumnus Deluxe is the best overdrive I have ever used, and I absolutely love the Ego compressor. I’m saving up for the Terraform, and excited to try your delay and reverbs as well.
Bless you for educating me about a true Treble Booster sound that I have loved for so many years!!!
I appreciate how your Bravado amp is really neutral yet crunchy when pushed. It’s not Fender or Marshall or Vox but a kind of just in the middle not skewed in any tonal direction. I own your Tumnus and tweed57 pedals. Love your videos and the fact you share your knowledge. Thanks! Tim
I've been repairing and building amps for several years. I've done a fair share of pedals and have done a LOT of switching systems and helped players put pedalboards together. I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've looked at a players board and they had a half dozen ODs, couple boosts and preamps. They have ALL of those, but no EQ or compression.
My reaction is almost always "dude, forget the OD, you essentially already have it on your board, buy a fu¢king EQ." It would literally render half their gain pedals redundant. A good EQ and compressor can make 2 overdrives cover the ground of anything you may need.
For years the high gain tone I used with Strats (with vintage type and output singlecoil) was a Triangle era Big Muff, with an EQ or TS style overdrive adding midrange. Using the EQ after the Muff was my "Gilmore" lead tone, and what I finally discovered after chasing that sound, was his he got his Comfortably Numb lead. If I ran the EQ before the Muff it sounded like a dimed Marshall stack. It makes the thin singlecoil bridge pickup sound massive. If you heard it and I said it was a Les Paul into a Marshall you'd have no reason to doubt me.
My advice to someone starting a board from scratch would be to get a Timmy and Klon type overdrives, a good EQ (for going into the front end I've been using a Source Audio programmable EQ for years, I typically use a different one in the loop though), and a compressor; preferably something with a Wet/dry blend control.
At that point, anything you buy afterwards is going to be SO much more useful, but honestly I don't think you'll have the need for half of them.
This is what I really like about Wampler we're not just hearing the sound but we can see how it works. Thank you sir
Top Boost, or Treble Boost, is what I have been missing on my Tone Quest in life. I do want to hear the Piano sound of the wound strings and the chimey sound of the plan strings!!!
Well done. Bless you for sharing your wisdom with your community!!!
Your channel is the shit. Straight to the point and no nonsense just like your products. Awesome stuff Brian
You posted this on my birthday! And you're still schooling us. Thank you for all you do, Sir.
I use a Black Country Customs Iommi treble booster. When I use it with the EVH 5150 overdrive the results are
what I want. My Boss GE 7 did not give me the sound I wanted when I combined it with that overdrive, at any setting.
You did a great job explaining why this is the case.
Thank you so much! :)
holy crap. you have a custom shop bender. omg. i have yet to play one and might just pull the trigger and get one one of these days. love your tumnus! by far the best of the klon style circuits out there.
Appreciate the breakdown on how EQ pedals work. Answered a lot of questions for me. Cheers
Ahh that endless quest for the ultimate tone, a journey that many of us share. Thanks BW for making that journey much more enjoyable. Oh and please, package up that treble booster and put me down for one.
Compressors can also make great boosts. Set the compression to somewhat less than max to keep a bit of dynamics, and crank the volume. Can bring out the best in whatever drive pedal or overdrive channel you use.
I use my sp compressor kind of like this, but not really to boost leads. Rather set a little bit past the point where the pedal made up the gain and is pretty equal with the volume level when turned off. It slightly pushes the amp in a pleasant way. The sp compressor is the only compressor I’ve owned and I love it’s versatility and pedal size!
I boost a swollen pickle with a dyna comp. Sounds killer
I used to use the old Menatone JAC compressor that way
The Warden by Earthquaker works great for this.
Just tried the Tumnus last night and really like it. I also really like your Treble Booster and would like to see you put it in production!!
I remember that by changing the opamp on the boss EQ, like a quality burr brown, you can make it a lot less noisy.
I knew those EQs were spiky vs smooth! Glad to finally see it
I was using an EQ as a boost. However lately I have been running a Klon-style with the gain low (not off), treble at 1:00 or Mostortion clone with gain low and bass 9:00, Mid 2:00, treb 3:00. Either of those into a Pantheon with cleanish gain have been some of my favorite tones. I'm going to find a Treble booster to try out soon! I am in the process of borrowing a Tumnus Deluxe to try the three band EQ to see if I like that better. FWIW I'm stacking three gain pedals, Klon-type low gain into Pantheon (low gain) into Klon-type higher gain. I have been pretty happy these days!
This video explains why my Beano Boost made its way to first in the chain on my board. i knew it sounded best there, but I didn't know why. Now I know why. Thanks!
Nice explanation on Q. I wish I had those screen shots when doing an explanation on that a few months ago.
That sound with Treble booster is to die for
I had an MXR pedal eq with a built in boost and it treble boosted a tube amp into HEAVEN
I work as a data visualization professional with a background in sciences - I really appreciate your frequency charts! They really hammer home the point!
I use a Matchless and mostly Wampler pedals, I’m very happy with my tone. Your demo here is awesome and your amp sounds phenomenal, you really demo the different frequencies correctly. Another great video by you! Thank you
“It sounds kinda woofy”
Kudos to the editor
I thought he said the “Wednesday area” not the “1k area” and now I’m convinced someone needs to make a pedal called the “Mid-Week Hump”
capitol idea! or maybe call it "hump day"
Okay, I’ve watched this another 3 times….it’s so good!
I love the mxr 108, hands down my favorite pedal eq
Very interesting! I would’ve expected that the bands on the GE7 would have a wider Q, so the frequencies would overlap more. Still, it’s an amazing tool every guitar player should have! I like more subtle settings anyway. Thanks for the insight!
If you like EQ and perhaps especially if you like the more subtle settings, work with a 32-band rack graphic EQ for a while. Run it in your FX loop if you have one.
Stomp box EQs are indeed helpful, but if you're really into overall tone-shaping and fine-tuning your tone to suit a room and/or band mix, once you learn to use a halfway decent 32, the pedals will seem kind of like a toy in comparison. There's also a whole different thing between running an EQ on the pedalboard and into the preamp like almost everyone does, and running it after all the pedals and your amp's preamp section.
I sincerely think a LOT of players would be better served to learn more about EQ and stop spending so much time and money chasing down the perfect OD or distortion box.
@@dogslobbergardens6606 yes exactly! I like having an EQ on my board though, so I can run it into my drives, allowing me to shape the tone that hits the clipping circuit. If you were to run an EQ into a neutral drive with different clipping options and then onto another EQ, you could have pretty much any drive tone your heart desires.
@@mrblablablabla yeah, both is good too :)
In a dream world it might be fun to play around with a good EQ before every pedal etc and really really shape each one... but that could get mighty awkward and expensive. Your idea is more reasonable.
@@dogslobbergardens6606 a 32-band rack eq is highly impractical for the majority of players though. How about parametric eq pedals like the empress? What’re your thoughts on those?
Had no idea eq pedals work like that. Makes so much more sense now. Thanks.
As usual lots of good advice along with a great pedal. Thank ya!
very nice demonstration, I have never really understood Treble Booster before this.
Thank you so much Brian for explaining this, I've always loved my Boss EQ but noticed that it is different than my tumnus mini or my Keeley Katana boost regardless of how I played with the EQ settings.
I tried many boosts and ended up with Black Country Custom (Laney) TI boost. Always learn something new on your channel especially about the eq pedal. Thanks
Great demo, Brian. Now I get it; regarding the EQ vs "Treble Boost". --- Thank you
Brian would be the perfect science teacher! Treble boosters are really cool, but not always practical for bedroom/living room playing (unless using it just for high-end sparkle).
Had to make a 2nd comment to say that a treble booster into a klon is a match made in heaven. The warm full klon being boosted by the bright, tighter treble booster sounds really great!
It was really insightful seeing the frequency response spectrum for each circuit. There is not much information out there about the frequency response of the Dumble “skyline” tone stack. Would be interesting to see something similar about that circuit. Thanks for all you do!
The TUMNUS (mini)is my favorite pedal, period ! I have 2 on my board, 1 for my KLON type overdrive which you can get identical to the K.T.R. (because I have one) the 2nd. one is at the end of the chain, I have the gain set to about 7 (just a touch on) and I leave the pedal on all the time. The TUMNUS also set this way but with the volume up is a great boost pedal. Really gives it that punch. Idea for you , TUMNUS , Version 3 - 2 mini TUMNUS in one "double" pedal. To me size is getting more & more important. Like I said earlier, your mini TUMNUS replaced my K.T.R because,1) I could get the same sound (at least to my ears) 2) It was about 1/3 the size. Another great "double pedal" I would buy in a heartbeat would be the TUMNUS on one side and the EGO compressor on the other or something like Keely's work station. It would be perfect if it just sounded a little better. (not a fan of the "Red Dirt" to "knife in the chest" IMHO. Imagine, If you did 3 effects, compressor, TUMNUS overdrive, and a heavier overdriv(or even 2nd. TUMNUS in one small box you sell a million of them. You have great circuits and sounding pedals. I know the biggest problem is the price point. With say the new Line 6,POD Go for $450.00 its hard to compete. Look at what you get in that package for $450.00. Look at the size of the HELIX Stomp for what you get. I think its no bigger than the Brent Mason pedal. But on the other side I just spent $420.00 for the new GLADIO pedal but was disappointed.There even on backorder for 3 months. In closing, all I'm really trying to say , if possible please keep the size down on pedals like the mini TUMNUS if your keep the WAMPLER sound outstanding and think about more double (or triple) pedals in a small enclosure. DONNER does a great job at this if the pedals would sound a little better. Board Real Estate is getting more important everyday and I'm getting to old to carry a big pedal board around. Side note, I just ordered a Jetter GS- 248, its 2-GS-124's (the 2nd. one is a little more beefed up) in one box. Keep the great pedals and your great video's coming. Tell Brent Jimmy Mac said hello when you see him. Aloha
I love treble boost. My all time favorite distortion sound that I've had was using the treble boost side of the Roland BeeBaa clone that my buddy helped me build into my Silvertone 1484. I sadly don't have that amp anymore but I still use that pedal to get my distortion sound. I now just run it into whatever slightly overdriven sound I have (either from amp or pedals). They are so simple but so good, just makes it fun to play guitar.
The explanation you gave about the EQ pedal was really helpful to understand the difference in frequency response. Thanks!
Super explanation of an extremely versatile pedal! Thanks for what you do Brian! Your tone always curls my toes :D
That Tumnus is such an incredible, fun, versatile pedal, that turns any amp I’ve used it on (right when the amp was starting to break-up into a crunch setting) into a classic hard-rock beast. Per Brian’s suggestion I picked up an EQ (Boss EQ 7) to use on a SLO 30 to try and tighten it up a bit, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the SLO sounds with either one (or both) those pedals. I grabbed his Ego compressor, as well (just on a hunch), given that a bit of compressor always seem to enhance those killer “brown-ish” tones….. GREAT video, Brian! Thank you!
I watched this video and I approve this message. The end really cracked me up, nice touch.
Thanks Brian. Love your vids. Not all your pedals work for me, but the Tumnus is crazy good.
Thank you for this video! I learned more about eq in a few minutes thank I had ever knew.
The life size Boss Waza Craft Metal Zone at the end of the video made me laugh. So unexpected. The accompanying music was hilarious and perfectly fittingly. I use my Tumnus Deluxe or EQD Plumes as my clean boosts. I use a bit of hair on the Tumnus but it’s barely perceptible.
It got me thinking: what a fun DIY project it would be, to spice up a man-cave fridge so it looks like a Metal Zone.
I love this video Brian. I have about 20 boosters
That treble boost circuit sounds SO good
My search for the perfect boost lead me in a circle, from a Laney TI Boost to the Dual Fusion to an MXR thing then back to the Laney. Nothing is quite like a treble booster.
Just what I needed these days. Thanks, Brian!
Tumnus for the WIN ! Imagine a Double German Chocolate Cake... Then ADDING a generous layer of Chocolate Fudge Icing over the top of it. It's like that. If you were playing thru a Tumnus at the same time. Thanks Professor Wampler! Mine is no longer velcro'd down. It's permanently epoxy'd to the board.
I really like the ep booster, but I also am a huge fan of the Tumnus- great pedal !!!
The naga viper trebble booster is my always on secret weapon. Love it !
Recent bought a treble booster. Love it into crunchy and high gain amps and pedals. Really as a solo boost. I also love tube screamer with low gain into a overdriven amp. Haven't tried a klon yet.
Love treble boosters! And love the Klon circuit!
Brian, I like how you don’t want to be blunt with anyone who for some reason happens to prefer a buffer before a treble booster. I’ll do it, though…
If you prefer a buffer into your treble booster, you’re doing it wrong. :)
Great video, very informative about how eq pedals work. I actually like my Clarksdale as a boost better than the Tumnus mini, Clarksdale into Greer Lightspeed is glorious. Tumnus is cool but it's so subtle I could probably live without it, but it looks so cool I can't take it off my board.
Bluesbreaker2020 the tumnus does look cool! I have a TS mini at the front of my chain for a mid-boost into other drives, and a tumnus near the end (before delay) mainly as a volume boost for when my drummer is drowning me out.
Really like this kind of content! The Frequency Analysis was icing on the quake! I love treble boosters as a boost, but I struggle to balance their output or set them up to work nicely with a driven amp (I.e., I always get more gain than level). In the meantime, I really like a TS style pedal as a boost or an EQ pedal/Boss LS-2.
Took me a while to find the sound I wanted, experimenting with a range of pedals. Finally got there, exactly as Brian mentions here: Guitar > Treble Boost > OD and other pedals works best for me...and bring down the bass on a driven amp 👍. Makes such a difference to an inherently warm/thick guitar tone (e.g. humbucker/semi-hollow) and a 'woofy' drive amp 😂.
Nice tones!
Hi and God bless!!!
Always impressed at the quality of knowledge you impart on your videos. Really helpful.
P.S.
There is NO way to make a Tumnus sound bad. It just ain’t happening. 👍🏻🇵🇷
His was great Brian! Thanks for the clarity. Helps explain why I like a treble booster so much.
Holy 💩 that treble boost sounds awesome! I am currently using a Hardwire CM-2 as a boost. I love how it bonds with and complements the amp distortion.
Thanks again Brian for answering that question. I love treble boosters, but hate the temperamental Germainium transistors. I’ve been trying to find a replacement for my treble booster to get away from that Germania transistor, but I haven’t found anything yet. What I found, though is my treble booster into the Wampler Gearbox tones for days. Thanks again for crafting amazing tone boxes.
@Wampler Pedals Super cool and informative video! I play into an AC30 and people always say I should use a treble booster, but this is the first time I feel like I actually understand what that circuit does.
I use a Source Audio EQ2 with midi presets as my main boost tone, often with high and low pass filters at 100Hz and 16k and boosts around 2.5k for solos. Also have Tumnus as a gain stacking boost and dB+ to balance out difference when switching between humbuckers and single coils.
Love the Tumnus! ❤ I got the mini and the Deluxe. Great pedals. Thanks, man!
My two main pedals are the Tumnus and the Boss GE7. Match made in heaven. ❤️🤙🎸
I love a top boost into a high gain amp. That tight, thick, saturated wall of sound is so addictive. That breadboard circuit at the end sounded great without the buffer.
Great, now I want a top boost XD. Very informative Brian, thanks!
Thx for posting Wampler. Good info!
LOL. Well I think you covered how people feel about treble boosters. "Some love it, other people don't understand the use of them, and other people don't care one way or another." (Paraphrasing,)
Treble boosters are definitely underrated.
Man, those random dog photos when you say woofy gives me the giggles every time..
I really liked this video.
There were some cinematic aspects that might be worth incorporating more often in future videos. For example, when you "Take a deeper look at the Boss EQ pedal for comparison" (4:11), you change locations, angels, depth of field, etc.; plus, you step into the frame. It indicates that something different is happening. I found it more engaging and enjoyable to watch. Regardless, thanks for the insight into boosts.
Oh, about the boosts, I don't really know. However, I think you're right about the treble boost having it's own kind of magic. But I just ordered a Tumnus Deluxe and am so excited to give it a try.
Blessings on you, Brian
I’ve been thinking about purchasing a Tumnus for awhile now. Though, I never considered a treble boost until this video... 🤔
All crunch tones are really inspiring in this video 😎 high five ✋🏼
Treble boosters like the Range Master are great, like Brian said, without a buffer or anything before it. Two other boosters that I like are the EH LPB-2 (or LPB-1 now) and the boost section of the ZVex Box o' Rock, something about those two that really get a vintage amp cookin', been hearing a lot of good things about the Xotic EP boost but never tried. Have fun boosting!
Just ordered anotha Fender Engager Boost, 100€s, buffered/true bypassed option, very quiet! EQ: bass/treb/mids: 400/800Hz switch..........................., doesnt change your guitar tone but kinda brings it to life not even boosted!,dead quiet, I can boost/eq some mid and hi of some of my favourute pedals which have bass ( which I really like...), HEARTILY RECOMMENDED!! most of the eq pedals add hiss/hum and the tiny knobbies are hard to adjust on the fly..., this Fender is a keeper!!
perfect explanation, dude...PS: I love your book as well...
Thanks for this video Brian. I was sitting here just last night thinking about if I were to ever get of rid my Boss EQ(which is modded and great btw), could I survive with a treble booster. The answer is yes I think. I never use the EQ pedal like many session cats do which is maybe to get a small little radio type sound or say transform a guitar into sounding like another etc. My point is I never mess with more than one of the 6 bands and even then it’s not drastic. I actually love how my guitars and other od’s sound different from each other. But I’ve got the Drybell unit 67 and I find I use it in place of say an Rc boost, Mk 4.23, Cali 76 and EQ pedal because it doesn’t have extra stuff I’d never use, it has exactly what I need. I find a treble boost is more beneficial than 6 band eq for me. Especially since a front of house guy or a studio engineer is going to carve out eq’s anyways. If I get the tone “I” wanna hear then I get inspired to play and that’s what really matters. Nice video Brian. 👍🏻
The mini Tumnus is the best pedal I own for boosting :) don’t need anything else
Love your channel man...soni was surprised by the fender engager boost pedal in front of my dual rec 100 watt so head....turned it into a flame thrower!
Very interesting demo. Thanks
If you pin every fader on the BOSS, that’s what I would expect to see. Just as you showed with the raw data. I would imagine it would look similar if the EQ was not on. I don’t know if you rectify the rod data spikes like I have done with other types of research.
And even though I could do it myself, I kind of wish you would have dialed in a close a tone as you could on the EQ, to the treble boost circuit. Maxing out the mids and treble on the EQ seemed like quite a jump… a lot of gray area in between.
But great stuff as always man, I’ll go back and finish the rest of your video. I’m just thinking out loud, ha ha. Keep up the great work. 🤘🏻😝🎸🇺🇸
Brian! We've missed you! Hope everything is going well. Thanks for sharing your awesomeness!
Excellent explanation; really learnt some stuff here! Thanks!
I tested the xotic rc booster, tc spark mini, and even the legendary timmy as a lead boost pedal and the best result I had was without a doubt with the tumnus (mini). The way he cuts the mix, adding well-defined midrange and not making the sound “woofy” is unique! (my problem now is that I need a new tumnus at the beginning of the chain jejejejeje...)
I love how that Tele sounds so MONSTROUS....what a great rock tone.
Thanks I’m glad to learn why I like all of these.
Thank you! This is a good video to how treble boosts differ (and I'm sure, confirmation bias here) why I like them so much.