bmusic - Product News and Reviews

BSM Treble Booster range, exclusively handcrafted by BSM in Germany for you. Take a ride to a new territory of musical tone and flexibility.

The first of the ever growing range of BSM Treble Boosters (many of which people would likely know better as "overdrives") arrive soon in Australia. First four to hit our shores will be the four most popular BSM pedals, the BM-Q, a reproduction of the orginal silicon transistor as used by Brian may in mid-era Queen, the RM based on the British Range Master Germanuim Treble Booster, the OR based as per the Treble & Bass booster made in the late 60's in England and used by David Gilmour in Pink Floyd, HS-C, based on the British HORNBY-SKEWES unit produced between 1967 and 1969, as used by Ritchie Blackmore.

We take a detailed look at each of these four below.

Click HERE for pricing and availability of the BSM Model BM-Q.

Brian May from Queen used in his early days the British Range Master Germanuim Treble Booster, a unit produced between 1965 and 1969. This model is rebuilt as RM by BSM. In the mid-phase from Queen, Brian May switched to a silicon Treble Booster design for more bite, now reproduced by BSM with the orginal silicon transistor and called BM-Q.
Almost all British rock guitarists using single coil pickup guitars used a Treble Booster from the late 60s to the mid 70s. By the end of the seventies, the Treble Booster was replaced by a new circuit from Japan, the so called Tube Screamer and other similar overdrive circuits. These were based on the old Treble Boosters and therefore had a very similar frequency response. The boosters on the other hand, sadly fell into oblivion despite their unique and inimitable sound.
The BM-Q Treble Booster has been specifically designed for single coil and humbucking pickups with a relatively low/medium inductance, such as pickups in Fender, Gretsch, Burns or Gibson guitars. On these pickups, the BM-Q produces (with the volume control of the guitar turned up to the max) a fat, biting and penetrating lead sound, minus any shrill characteristics. By lowering the guitars volume control, many shades of crunch can be easily dialed in. Another thing to consider is that when a guitar amps volume is turned up (reaching saturation), the power amp normally begins to mute the highs, which results in a duller sound. At an amps full tilt, the BM-Q Treble Booster allows a more transparent tone (covering the entire frequency range) to shine through. The presence control on the amp need only be minimally used (if at all). When vintage amps are used (such as the Fender Deluxe, Fender Bassman, Vox AC30, Marshall JTM 45 or Marshall Plexi) it is amazing what effect the use of a good treble booster has.
It is also of interest to note that Brian May used a couple of VOX AC30 combos with the BM-Q in front of the „Normal channel by volume setting three quarter of full. The Treble Booster is inserted between guitar and amplifier, not into the FX loop. The magical tone is achieved by the interaction between guitar pickup, treble booster and amplifier. The unit is powered by a 9V battery with a current consumption of aprox. 500 µA. The average output level is 10dBm, the maximum output voltage when the strings are struck really hard is 7V max.

The BSM RM model is based on the British Range Master unit produced between 1965 and 1969, as used by Eric Clapton in John Mayall´s Bluesbreakers. Eric also used the booster when playing in the legendary group Cream. Its biting, powerful sound is clearly in evidence on the Bluesbreakers "Beano" album. Blues rocker Rory Gallagher, Heavy Rock pioneer Tony Iommi and Brian May from Queen were also heavy users of the orginal Range Master unit. The long yearned for new edition, now issued under the name RM from BSM, includes the same OC44 germanium transistors as the the original 1965 version.
Almost all British rock guitarists using single coil pickup guitars used a germanium Treble Booster from the late 60's to the mid 70's. By the end of the seventies, the Treble Booster was replaced by a new circuit from Japan, the so called Tube Screamer and other similar overdrive circuits. These were based on the old Treble Boosters and therefore had a very similar frequency response. The germanium boosters on the other hand, sadly fell into oblivion despite their unique and inimitable sound. The RM Treble Booster has been specifically designed for single coil and humbucking pickups with a relatively low/medium inductance, such as pickups in Fender, Gretsch, Burns or Gibson guitars. On these pickups, the RM produces (with the volume control of the guitar turned up to the max) a fat, biting and penetrating lead sound, minus any shrill characteristics. By lowering the guitar's volume control, many shades of crunch can be easily dialed in. Another thing to consider is that when a guitar amp's volume is turned up (reaching saturation), the power amp normally begins to mute the highs, which results in a duller sound. At an amp's full tilt, the RM Treble Booster allows a more transparent tone (covering the entire frequency range) to shine through. The presence control on the amp need only be minimally used (if at all). When vintage amps are used (such as the Fender Deluxe, Fender Bassman, Vox AC30, Marshall JTM 45 or Marshall Plexi) it is amazing what effect the use of a good treble booster has. It is also of interest to note that Eric Clapton used a new 2 x12" Marshall combo (Model 1962 with KT66 output tubes) with the Bluesbreakers, and 100 Watt Plexi heads with Cream. Brian May used a couple of VOX AC30 combos with the RM in front of the "Normal" channel.
The Treble Booster is inserted between guitar and amplifier, not into the FX loop. The magical tone is achieved by the interaction between guitar pickup, treble booster and amplifier. The unit is powered by a 9V battery with a current consumption of approx. 250 uA. The average output level is 10dBm, the maximum output voltage when the strings are struck really hard is 7V max. Note: The positive pole of the battery is ground. By turning the volume pot, the special circuit design makes noises - just like the orginal does!

Click HERE for pricing and availability of the BSM Model RM.

Click HERE for pricing and availability of the BSM Model OR.

The BSM OR model is based on the Orange Treble & Bass booster made in the late 60's in England, as used by David Gilmour in Pink Floyd. The OR model includes a tone control which allows an extraoridinary amount of versatility. When set to maximum, the unit produces a very glassy tone. When a middle setting is dialed in, the result is a punchy tone with a mids emphasis. When set to minimum, the unit produces a very bassy tone with a fat bottom end. When used with a good tube amp, the unit is capable of producing the tone which helped create epochal masterpieces such as "Umma Gumma"(1969), "Meddle" (1971) and "Dark Side of The Moon"(1973). Wishbone Ash"s Andy Powell and Ted Turner were also dedicated users of the original Orange Treble & Bass booster, which helped create the band's searing dual guitar harmonic rock style like on the famous album "Argus", which was voted in british polls as "Best Album of the Year" (1972) or "Live Dates" (1973). The long yearned for new edition, now issued under the name OR from BSM, includes the same germanium transistors as the original 1960's version.
Almost all British rock guitarists using single coil pickup guitars used some type of germanium booster from the late 60's to the mid 70's. By the end of the seventies, these boosters were replaced by a new circuit from Japan, the so called Tube Screamer and other similar overdrive circuits. These were based on the old boosters and therefore had a very similar frequency response. The germanium boosters on the other hand, sadly fell into oblivion despite their unique and inimitable sound. It is of interest to note that David Gilmour used the Orange Treble and Bass Booster to drive a new 100 watt Sound City stack, later replaced by a 100 watt Hiwatt stack. Andy Powell and Ted Turner used 100 watt Orange stacks.
The Treble and Bass Booster is inserted between guitar and amplifier, not into the FX loop. The magical tone is achieved by the interaction between guitar pickup, booster and amplifier. The unit is powered by a 9V battery with a current consumption of approx. 400 uA. The average output level is 9dBm, the maximum output voltage when the strings are struck really hard is 7V max. Note: The positive pole of the battery is ground.

The BSM HS-C model is based on the British HORNBY-SKEWES unit produced between 1967 and 1969, as used by Ritchie Blackmore, the brilliant and impulsive guitarist of Deep Purple. The unit produces a powerful and biting sound that was used to help create the epochal masterpieces e.g. "Deep Purple In Rock" and "Fireball". The long yearned for new edition, now issued under the name HS from BSM, includes the same germanium transistors as the the original 1967 version. The HS-Custom model includes a volume control (like Blackmore's modification). When dialed about halfway, you will achieve Blackmore's sound on the Deep Purple album e.g. "Machine Head", "Burn" and early Rainbow records.
Almost all British rock guitarists using single coil pickup guitars used a germanium Treble Booster from the late 60's to the mid 70's. By the end of the seventies, the Treble Booster was replaced by a new circuit from Japan, the so called Tube Screamer and other similar overdrive circuits. These were based on the old Treble Boosters and therefore had a very similar frequency response. The germanium boosters on the other hand, sadly fell into oblivion despite their unique and inimitable sound. The HS Treble Booster has been specifically designed for single coil pickups with a relatively low coil inductance, such as pickups in Fender, Rickenbacker, Burns or Vox guitars. On these pickups, the HS produces (with the volume control of the guitar turned up to the max) a fat, biting and penetrating lead sound, minus any shrill characteristics. By lowering the guitar's volume control, many shades of crunch can be easily dialed in. Another thing to consider is that when a guitar amp's volume is turned up (reaching saturation), the power amp normally begins to mute the highs, which results in a duller sound. At an amp's full tilt, the HS Treble Booster allows a more transparent tone (covering the entire frequency range) to shine through. The presence control on the amp need only be minimally used (if at all). When vintage amps are used (such as the Fender Deluxe, Fender Bassman, Vox AC30, plexi Marshall 100w or Marshall Major) it is amazing what effect the use of a good treble booster has. It is also of interest to note that Ritchie Blackmore used modded Marshall Major 200 heads and played on "Made In Japan" with the following settings: Presence 0; Bass4; Middle 5; Treble 6-7; Volume 7-8.
The Treble Booster is inserted between guitar and amplifier, not into the FX loop. The magical tone is achieved by the interaction between guitar pickup, treble booster and amplifier. The unit is powered by a 9V battery with a current consumption of approx. 250 uA. The average output level is 10dBm, the maximum output voltage when the strings are struck really hard is 7V max. Note: The positive pole of the battery is ground.

Click HERE for pricing and availability of the BSM Model HS-Custom.