Rangemaster Appreciation Post

[chrisq206]

It's the sound I looked for for years. I used to think it was giong to be some kind of cocked wah, but the Range does it much better for me. I have a lot of cool old amps, but for live stuff I use a Soldano Hot Rod 50. Great sounding amp, very versital, all of my guitars sound good w/ it, but sometimes it sounds a little like a stereo. The Range helps put the hair back in there. I've built a few, but right now it's the Beano Boost, although I'll probably switch to one of my own soon.

[tekbow]

It's the sound I looked for for years. I used to think it was giong to be some kind of cocked wah, but the Range does it much better for me. I have a lot of cool old amps, but for live stuff I use a Soldano Hot Rod 50. Great sounding amp, very versital, all of my guitars sound good w/ it, but sometimes it sounds a little like a stereo. The Range helps put the hair back in there. I've built a few, but right now it's the Beano Boost, although I'll probably switch to one of my own soon.

Soldano love here too, same amp as me. Never come across the "stereo sound" problem though. Do you mean it sounds a little too pristine when clean? how are you running it? a lot of soldano guys ramp up the bias a little because they're biased on the cold side. I've never had any issues with either pristine or processed sounds from it. have you got it cranked? am assuming yes if it's being played live, but those things come alive at 7 (even though they go to 11 lol) a good attenuator helps a lot. Also Is it a recent build? i believe that from about 05 all of them have the hardwired XL mod for bottom end. it's worth having it removed because it tames the midrange a bit, and for me makes the low end sound a bit too flabby and boomy.

Just suprised me was all, Soldano's are known for their midrange, they're voiced for it in fact

[Dr Tony Balls]

I like the rangemaster circuit too but it really does need the amp to be pretty cookin for it to do its thing

for sure, and a good reason why i'm so obsessed with mine is my primary platform is a 50W plexi clone. PERFECT for that. Last night I was splitting signal after my rangemaster into said plexi and a Sunn Model T which was set nowhere near peak. It did very little for the model T, but through the plexi it basically did this:

[modeerf]

There are a few transistors commonly used in the rangemaster circuit, I'd be interested to know what your favorite is and what the different characteristics are between them. I haven't kept track of the different transistors in the various versions I've had but I do remember them all sounding very different.

I've had a love/hate relationship with the RM over the years, mainly I think because I usually can't play with my amps cranked so I don't get the most out of it. I enjoy the RM in combination with fuzz alot though, even at lower volumes it does some nice things. The creepyfingers sugarboost in particular was great for that. Don't remember what was in it though.

[Dr Tony Balls]

My fave in there is the same Soviet MP38A that I normally use. Love those things. I've built OC44 rangers, and some other variants as well.

[Laundromat]

Too many words, not enough sounds...

[chrisq206]

The "stereo" sound on the Soldano is a minor point. Comparedto my Marshalls, Hiwatts, my Gibson it sounds a little less open. It's a litle hard to explain and for playing live it actually makes the amp easier to play. It's a small trade off for an amp that can cover all of that ground so incredibly well. I can also use the clean channel for fuzz. It's also much less particular about what guitars and pickups sound good w/ it, which means I can play a lot more of my guitars through it. I run the clean gain at 7 and the overdrive at around 5. Both masters at 6 or 7. Mine has the depth knob. The mids are great, but the RM gets me more into hairy cocked wah territory. It's too bad they don't seem to have the cred in germanium circles, but then again they're built to a different standard and asthetic.

[Cocked Wah]

Blunders Rangie seriously kicks. I always get at least somebody after every show coming up to me asking,"What was that?"

[Dr Tony Balls]

BUMP. Still love these things.

[daCod]

blunder rangemaster - win
red rooster RR09- win
red rooster RR10 - win
toneman rangemaster - win
basic audio si rangemaster - win
pigdog heavy load - win
dogpig competition driver - win
pogdig range driver - win

across the board rangemaster WIN !!!