dallas rangemaster build

[owlexifry]

hadn’t actually ever tried an effect unit that runs germanium transistors before.
i had to do something about this.
not really into fuzz pedals, so i thought a treble booster could be cool.
so i had a go at this one.

ordered a couple NOS transistors online, this store claiming that apparently XA112 is equivalent to the OC44 in the original design.


parts arrived.
x1 tested at 93 hfe, the other, 218hfe.



following this layout:



built it today, tested it, played it, and wow, i understand so many things now….







initially tried it through a 2203/jcm800 clone thing. nope.

then i plugged it into a ‘BWM Chimp’, (basically a 5w fender champ, w/ pre, tone, and master controls)
- speaker out into a fryette powerstation, then into a 4x12 mesa cab

result:
- holy mother of god.
- i get it now.
- this is the tone.

i never really enjoyed the tone of the ‘wooly’ champ-style amp that i’ve got. even with all the overdrive pedals i’ve tried through it, it never really sang.

but the rangemaster just hits it right.

- beautiful rich harmonic overdrive on a hot bridge pickup (humbucker).
- both neck and bridge clean up really well with the volume controls like never before - allows real precise control over the breakup.
- big 60s and 70s tones. love it.

just need to put it in an enclosure now

 

[guitar_paul1]

Did you wind up using the 93 or 218?

 

[owlexifry]

Did you wind up using the 93 or 218?

93 hfe

 

[northernguitar]

I love how you say "I get it now". Same here. Adding a Rangemaster clone was a truly profound playing experience. Essential to sounding like Tony Iommi or Glenn Tipton. Been chasing that tone for years and the RM was the ticket. I call it the 'woof shaver'.

 

[guitar_paul1]

I've never tried this. Thanks for the info. Looking at the circuit schematic, it looks like my less than spectacular Ge transistors (gain of about 35) ought to work almost the same since 10K/3.9K is only about 2.5.

 

[k1enneth]

Nice work...any before/after sound clips?

 

[fraser]

My first build was a rangemaster.
still my favourite and most used.

i also run it into champs.

with a strat or tele, guitar tone knob backed right off,
screaming goodness...

 

[zippofan]

Cool, love the tag strip build!

Definitely my all time favorite boost/od of all time, I've built some with switchable/variable input cap to get a wider range of tone. That way I can use them with any guitar with any amp

I have been meaning to build Joe Gore's Fiendmaster schematic in an amp top version with tag strips like you've done, and try some different Ge transistors I've collected over the past 6 or 7 years . It will go with the Tweed Deluxe I've been building for two years lol. Pedals are a lot quicker to build than amps!

Here's my favorites (I have a few more, Small Bear's Oh My Darlington is a great one, so is FuzzDog's double Rangemaster):





The BYOC has a Motorola branded OC44, the Aion has a Mullard "saucer" OC44 and a charge pump, the Madbean is an AC128 with a charge pump. All are around 90 hFE on my cheapo component tester.

 

[monkeybanana]

One thing to note is that your meter doesn’t take into account leakage. So your transistors may actually be much lower gain than what you see. Obviously if your pedal sounds good then it sounds good. Just FYI.

This circuit and Fuzz Face (with guitar volume rolled off) were real aha moments for me too.

 

[Doctorx33]

Just don’t run it after a modern buffered pedal. I wondered why the RM I built sounded like crap until I ran it by itself into my AC30. WHOA!!!

 

[owlexifry]

I've never tried this. Thanks for the info. Looking at the circuit schematic, it looks like my less than spectacular Ge transistors (gain of about 35) ought to work almost the same since 10K/3.9K is only about 2.5.

give it a go, at least if it’s socketed you can always try other pnp Ge’s

Cool, love the tag strip build!

Definitely my all time favorite boost/od of all time, I've built some with switchable/variable input cap to get a wider range of tone. That way I can use them with any guitar with any amp

I have been meaning to build Joe Gore's Fiendmaster schematic in an amp top version with tag strips like you've done, and try some different Ge transistors I've collected over the past 6 or 7 years . It will go with the Tweed Deluxe I've been building for two years lol. Pedals are a lot quicker to build than amps!

Here's my favorites (I have a few more, Small Bear's Oh My Darlington is a great one, so is FuzzDog's double Rangemaster):

View attachment 940551



The BYOC has a Motorola branded OC44, the Aion has a Mullard "saucer" OC44 and a charge pump, the Madbean is an AC128 with a charge pump. All are around 90 hFE on my cheapo component tester.

cheers, i love working with tagstrips. real solid.
was considering using a chargepump pcb board with a TC1044SCPA, but decided i wanted to run it original with a 9V battery and keep the circuit simple/less noise sources.

i might do a similar thing soon with this one, with an on-off-on dpdt switch on the input (with 4.7nf and 10nf on each side to switch them in parallel with a 4.7nf in centre)

these pedals you’ve attached look very well made!

One thing to note is that your meter doesn’t take into account leakage. So your transistors may actually be much lower gain than what you see. Obviously if your pedal sounds good then it sounds good. Just FYI.

This circuit and Fuzz Face (with guitar volume rolled off) were real aha moments for me too.

thanks for the advice! i was not aware. perhaps i might like that ‘218hfe’ transistor even more…

Just don’t run it after a modern buffered pedal. I wondered why the RM I built sounded like crap until I ran it by itself into my AC30. WHOA!!!

just as well i had my fancy tuner pedal on ‘true bypass’ mode, good to know, thanks.

 

[owlexifry]

update:
it’s been fitted.
had this real nice old tobacco tin that i originally picked up for a 12V/9V DC regulated power supply that i built, but it never ended up working (despite reading a healthy 9V DC on the meter, just didn’t work) and i pushed it aside to troubleshoot later…
so with a working rangemaster, i gave the tin a purpose.

Nice work...any before/after sound clips?

soon..

 

[Hamstein]

I made one a while back and like it! After trying a few old transistors I've had sitting about for years I ended up with a AC128 in it.

 

[guitar_paul1]

Beautiful stuff!

 

[guitar_paul1]

One thing to note is that your meter doesn’t take into account leakage. So your transistors may actually be much lower gain than what you see. Obviously if your pedal sounds good then it sounds good. Just FYI.

This circuit and Fuzz Face (with guitar volume rolled off) were real aha moments for me too.

This (which most already might know about) is a handy circuit for measuring gain independent of leakage. About half way down the page:

Technology of the Fuzz Face - Frame Definition

Also, I realized my previous statement about the 2.5 ratio was for DC bias only. That was wrong, because of the 47uF in parallel with the 3.9K. Hence the treble boost. D'oh.

 

[zippofan]

Love the tin, that's really cool!

cheers, i love working with tagstrips. real solid.
was considering using a chargepump pcb board with a TC1044SCPA, but decided i wanted to run it original with a 9V battery and keep the circuit simple/less noise sources.

i might do a similar thing soon with this one, with an on-off-on dpdt switch on the input (with 4.7nf and 10nf on each side to switch them in parallel with a 4.7nf in centre)

these pedals you’ve attached look very well made!

Thank you! The BYOC (large red) was one of the first kits I built, it's been sprayed, decaled, stripped, re-sprayed and decaled again. There's no charge pump in it, just BYOC's reverse ground wiring scheme, I still can't daisy chain it even with a negative ground setup, so it goes on a separate output on my Truetone power supply. The Aion and Madbean (1590A) instructions included really good drill templates which made boxing a lot easier!

Here's guts from the gold and 1590A, can't find a photo of the BYOC:


The FuzzDog dual is really cool:


Looks like my favorite circuit lol!

 

[k1enneth]

hadn’t actually ever tried an effect unit that runs germanium transistors before.
i had to do something about this.
not really into fuzz pedals, so i thought a treble booster could be cool.
so i had a go at this one.

ordered a couple NOS transistors online, this store claiming that apparently XA112 is equivalent to the OC44 in the original design.
View attachment 940337

parts arrived.
x1 tested at 93 hfe, the other, 218hfe.

View attachment 940339

following this layout:

View attachment 940338

built it today, tested it, played it, and wow, i understand so many things now….

View attachment 940340

View attachment 940341

View attachment 940342

initially tried it through a 2203/jcm800 clone thing. nope.

then i plugged it into a ‘BWM Chimp’, (basically a 5w fender champ, w/ pre, tone, and master controls)
- speaker out into a fryette powerstation, then into a 4x12 mesa cab

result:
- holy mother of god.
- i get it now.
- this is the tone.

i never really enjoyed the tone of the ‘wooly’ champ-style amp that i’ve got. even with all the overdrive pedals i’ve tried through it, it never really sang.

but the rangemaster just hits it right.

- beautiful rich harmonic overdrive on a hot bridge pickup (humbucker).
- both neck and bridge clean up really well with the volume controls like never before - allows real precise control over the breakup.
- big 60s and 70s tones. love it.

just need to put it in an enclosure now

what is the device on your multimeter that is measuring the transisitor?

 

[6stringcowboy]

I built the Aion clone and its been on my board ever since.

 

[drmordo]

Yes, it's sad to think most guitarists have never experienced the awesomeness of a treble booster into a old tube amp.

 

[stantheman]

I like 'em a lot too.