Treble boost vs a Tube screamer in front of an amp

[Acid Test]

Just wondering what to expect by going to a treble boost in front of an amp instead of a tube screamer. What do you think?

[Stacco]

Stack 'em, they work beautifully together

[machine gunner]

Stack 'em, they work beautifully together

+1 I run my Germania into a Blue Boy Deluxe (and others) w/ great results. Of course it will sound awesome into an amp on the edge also, just don't run into a clean amp

[Agreed]

Treble boost gets way more upper harmonics going than a TS. Where they overlap is in the attenuation of bass and emphasis on upper mid and treble of the existing frequencies, but the Tubescreamer is capable of significantly more clipping, while the Treble Booster (if it's a good one) has more of an output level amplification and does its magic by adding in a lot of delicious upper harmonics which are then amplified/distorted by whatever comes afterwards.

 

Which is also why a TS sounds good into a clean amp, while a Treble Booster sounds rather shrieking. When the output signal hits the amplification & clipping stage of whatever's giving you your primary overdrive/distortion/fuzz, the big contribution of the Treble Booster is that it has a very rich range of harmonic content which gets naturally compressed as part of the regular process of clipping. So what sounds absurdly bright clean becomes a very harmonically rich, but more even, distorted signal (and overdrive of course produces more harmonics itself).

[ZoomRmc]

I vote for treble booster!

 

Also love Menatone Red Snapper with cut ccw and bite fully cw.

[machine gunner]

Treble boost gets way more upper harmonics going than a TS. Where they overlap is in the attenuation of bass and emphasis on upper mid and treble of the existing frequencies, but the Tubescreamer is capable of significantly more clipping, while the Treble Booster (if it's a good one) has more of an output level amplification and does its magic by adding in a lot of delicious upper harmonics which are then amplified/distorted by whatever comes afterwards. Which is also why a TS sounds good into a clean amp, while a Treble Booster sounds rather shrieking. When the output signal hits the amplification & clipping stage of whatever's giving you your primary overdrive/distortion/fuzz, the big contribution of the Treble Booster is that it has a very rich range of harmonic content which gets naturally compressed as part of the regular process of clipping. So what sounds absurdly bright clean becomes a very harmonically rich, but more even, distorted signal (and overdrive of course produces more harmonics itself).

Great description.

[Stacco]

+1 I run my Germania into a Blue Boy Deluxe (and others) w/ great results. Of course it will sound awesome into an amp on the edge also, just don't run into a clean amp

 

Indeed. I run a Germania into a Jacques Tube Blower, which is basically a Tube Screamer with an active tone stack, so i have i set pretty bassy, the combination of the two is delightful and womderfully responsive to dynamics and volume changes. Watch where you put yur Treble Booster tho, germanium ones don't like buffers at ALL.

 

I've also found that, if its a low wattage class a amps, you CAN get away with putting them in with the amp run clean. They'll drive the power amp beautifully.

[machine gunner]

I've also found that, if its a low wattage class a amps, you CAN get away with putting them in with the amp run clean. They'll drive the power amp beautifully.

I haven't tried that, but I will w/ my Palomino. Treble boosts also mesh extremely well w/ Ge fuzzfaces.

[Agreed]

 

Indeed. I run a Germania into a Jacques Tube Blower, which is basically a Tube Screamer with an active tone stack, so i have i set pretty bassy, the combination of the two is delightful and womderfully responsive to dynamics and volume changes. Watch where you put yur Treble Booster tho, germanium ones don't like buffers at ALL. I've also found that, if its a low wattage class a amps, you CAN get away with putting them in with the amp run clean. They'll drive the power amp beautifully.

 

 

Absolutely, any time your amp is close to being over the edge a treble booster will do the trick in a special way. So many great sounds in classic rock were achieved with a treble booster into an amp that was right on edge - Brian May of Queen being perhaps the perennial example. The circumstances where treble boosters can be over-the-top and shrill involve very high-headroom amps with innately bright tonalities, especially Fender Twins, modern Bassman, etc.

 

Edit: I know the Bassman isn't usually considered an especially bright amp, but its treble tuning is such that using a treble boost with it while it's clean opens up a lot of the treble that's sort of "almost there" in the circuit anyway and it can be a little piercing.

 

But of course as with anything else in this wonderful low-fi world of guitars there are no hard and fast rules, the sound that pleases you is what to aim for no matter what path you take to achieve it.