Strap-mounted Treble Booster

[mkstewartesq]

So, a couple of things people have probably gleaned about me from my prior posts: first, I had never picked up a soldering iron before February 2023; and second, I am a big Brian May and treble booster fan. So far I’ve built about five boosters and like all of them for a different reasons, but they’re just taking up too much space on my board that I could use for other types of pedals. I’m also expecting to get a wireless system as a gift this Christmas.

Given all that, I decided to build a strap-mounted treble booster so that I could still get “the sound” while taking all of these boosters off my board.

• I started with a tiny Fuzzdog Treble Boost Deluxe board and modified some of the values to better match those used with the BC149 transistor, which is the transistor used in Brian May’s 1980s Cornish booster. I didn’t have any BC149s, but the BC239C is a pretty close match if you keep it on the lower end of the hFE range. I ended up going with an hFE of 512, and probably would’ve gone even lower if any of my transistors on hand had a lower hFE. The case is just a project box from AliExpress.
• I’ve wired this up with a USB rechargeable 9 V battery so I can just plug it in and recharge whenever needed, and also an LED because I am a forgetful soul and I’d like some visual indication that I have forgotten to turn it off. I used a 3PDT toggle switch between the battery and the power to the board because I wanted the power switch to not only disconnect the battery and LED when off but also allow for true bypass since this will always be on my strap with the wireless hooked into the output of the booster. One note about USB rechargeable batteries – I had a devil of a time finding a brand where the USB charging port did not inject unacceptable noise into the signal. I finally found some under the Reacell brand name on Amazon that are dead quiet.
• I hardwired the input cable from the guitar and then covered it in shrink wrap and molded it to match the curvature of the guitar. Not only does this give it a better look, it will hopefully also avoid any damage to the guitar from a cable slapping into it repeatedly.

Soundwise, I really like it – I think it sounds better than the other “Brian May booster clones” that I built from PCBs by Musikding etc. I think this comes down to the fact that I received good advice on altering certain component values from people who have actually seen and handled the boosters Brian used in the 1980s. Still, as noted above I think it could still sound even better if I was able to get a BC149 transistor with an hFE somewhere between 450 and 500 – but that’s a goal for another day.

This was more of a proof of concept; I think I’m gonna try again with a smaller enclosure now that I know how everything is laid out and how much space tolerance I have.

Thanks for looking, and sorry for the number of pictures.

Mike

 

[Harry Klippton]

Cool project. I love to see stuff like this. It's personally relevant to you and a little out of the ordinary

 

[Coda]

That’s great. Well done…

 

[jessenator]

As has been said, cool solution for your needs!

 

[Feral Feline]

Looks totally pro-custom-jobber, very coolio.

 

[music6000]

Thanks for looking, and sorry for the number of pictures.

MikeView attachment 63917


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Cool, there have been a few Brian May Red Special's from various sources, which version is this one?

 

[UtilityBeltFX]

So cool!

 

[mkstewartesq]

Cool, there have been a few Brian May Red Special's from various sources, which version is this one?

This is actually a Burns replica from around 2000 – I sent it to someone here in the US (RSConversions) who did major modifications to make it more accurate – routing out the pickup cavity, spacing the pickups more accurately, and, most importantly, installing an accurate knife edge tremolo. He also replaced the pots with more accurate 250K pots and made an accurate scratch plate and used accurate knobs.

That being said, I’ve been waiting about two years for a replica made by Dansan Guitars, which is even more faithful to the original guitar. That’s one reason I left additional slack in the cable from the strap mounted booster. On the original guitar (and on the Dansan) the output jack is actually a bit more forward on the body than it is on the Burns, so I put a little extra cable in so I can still use this booster when I get the more accurate copy.

Mike

 

[UtilityBeltFX]

That being said, I’ve been waiting about two years for a replica made by Dansan Guitars, which is even more faithful to the original guitar.

That thing looks incredible. Can't wait to see it, and hopefully hear a demo of all your treble boosters with it!