This is the Analog Man Beano Boosttm, a simple looking yet effective pedal.
This pedal is based on the 1960s British Dallas Rangemaster, which was best at the time to give a treble and gain boost to the dark British amps. This allowed them to get a sound more in tune with the time, as guitars were starting to become a loud, bold, lead instrument. This pedal is a type of BOOSTER, not really a distortion pedal nor a clean boost- it does modify your sound quite a bit. It excites certain frequencies and pushes your amp to allow it to create rich tube distortion. The pedal colors your tone, with a crunchy overdrive, boosting certain frequencies, and warming the tone with NOS germanium transistors. It does not have a lot of compression and sustain like most OD pedals, but a more raw, open sound.
This pedal has three tone settings from the tone switch- Center is a treble boost, the same as the original Dallas Rangemaster. UP is a fuller-frequency mid range boost (MID setting). Down is a LOW range, also quite a full frequency sound. Optionally we can install a push/pull switch (built into the volume knob) for 2 tone selections (treble and mids) but this option is not as good so we rarely build them.
The Beano Boost is spectacular into an amp that is already cranked up pretty well. It will also work well into a clean amp, but you probably need to turn the volume on the pedal up, to make the tone thicker by hitting the amp harder and making it work more.
At 9:00 the Beano Boost is unity gain and may not sound very special into a clean amp. At 12:00 it starts to boost the volume and get thicker. At 3:00 it should be waking your tubes up like a passing jet plane.
So if you use a clean amp, it's not something you can just turn on and get a great sound at the same volume. However most of the time when you want more crunch you want more volume, so it may work out fine. The clips on my site are into a clean fender amp.
The John Mayall Blues
Breakers album is often credited as the first major use of the
Les Paul guitar with a crunchy, distorting Marshall amp, which
would become an icon in the following decade and it still one of
the most popular sounds with today's bands. Eric Clapton plugged
his '60 Les Paul sunburst into a combination Marshall amp with
two 12" speakers (now called the "bluesbreakers"
model!). In addition to those two pieces of equipment, many people
believe that Eric also
plugged into a Dallas Rangemaster on a few of these tracks
to get his unique tone.
Here is a closeup of Eric on the cover,
which is why this album is often called :
Nobody can seem to prove that a Rangemaster was used on this album, so I won't claim that it's positively true. But I AM certain that YOU can get his exact tone a lot easier by using our Beano Boost, and that's all that really matters. When you first try one, a lightbulb will turn on in your head- you will see how SO MANY guitarists got their awesome tones, and now you can too.
This is an original Dallas Rangemaster (with our sticker on the front so it does not turn up for sale on EBAY by some scammers). They were not a pedal at all, but a tabletop unit with on/off switch and volume knob. The input jack was on the front and there was a built in cord on the back to plug into your amp. These are selling for very high prices, well over $1000, and much more with original boxes for collectors. Here's some trivia - the original Rangemaster was NOT true bypass, with the BOOST switch off, quite a bit of high-end is rolled off, like an old wah.
Eric is not the only one who used this effect for his tone - Brian May used one or a modified version on nearly all his guitar parts in Queen, which is how he got such a sweet tone out of his Red Special through walls of AC30s.
Here are some cool pictures of Marc Bolan of T Rex with his Rangemaster and a review from a fan of his who got our Beano Boost.
Billy F Gibbons seems to hold his Dallas Rangemaster in high regards, one of his Holy Grails. In 2008 he called to tell me that his new Beano Boost was even a little better, and maybe the old box was best for a museum. We should hear his new Beano Boost on the album they are working on in 2008, Mr. BFG is always at the cutting edge, with the best tones, while revisiting vintage gear and making it fresh again.
Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple also used these quite a bit. Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath was another heavy user of this effect - his SG's through Laneys got boosted to create the original HEAVY METAL rock guitar sound, a sound that still holds up today as one of the best tones ever. In June of 2001 Mr. Iommi's guitar tech Mike Clement told me that Tony was looking for another Dallas Rangemaster as his was lost years ago. I did not have any to sell, so I offered and make him a clone, our first BEANO BOOST. Last I heard he has it in his home studio along with our Chorus and modified TS9 tube screamer.
At that time I was not interested in making a production model as Cesar Diaz was making an excellent version called the Texas Ranger. But when Cesar and his pedals left us, and due to heavy customer demand, we came up with our own unique version in early 2003. Diaz pedals are available again (you can order from their website, highly recommended) but I will keep the Beano Boost available as long as I have excellent transistors for them, as we have already invested a lot for their production. We feel we can make a more authentic Rangemaster than the several (maybe DOZENS now!) other clones now on the market, as we had reverse-engineered and studied our original Dallas Rangemaster in depth years ago, while most of the other builders simply copy the schematics which are available on the DIY effects pages. We sold our original Rangemaster a few years back when someone offered what we thought was a lot for it, but now we are glad to have a NOS rangemaster back in our museum in 2007 and it's not going anywhere.
Ours is also the only clone that I know of that is built with the original style point-to-point wiring rather than on a circuit board. It takes a lot longer to build them this way, and much more skill from the builder. Our circuit is seen below:
Most people who build things this way are making very expensive boutique amps, and they will tell you that hand wiring this way will sound MUCH better than the other guys who use circuit boards. We won't be that boastful, a good circuit board can sound good, but point to point wiring like our Beano Boost cannot be beat. It seems to be QUIETER too for some reason.We started using the large "Orange Drop" capacitors in 2012, they are huge but fit ok in the normal size Beano Boost and sound very similar to the original large caps used on the Rangemaster.
The Rangemaster type pedals are not only for blues or classic rock. George Lynch used one, and said this in an interview:
The European version of the first record which is out of print, has the
sound. When I played on that record, all it was was an old Marshall head,
an old Super 100 Marshall cabinet with a cane front, and a Rangemaster
Treble Booster which Ritchie Blackmore uses. They don't make it anymore.
That's how I recorded that record, and it's actually the best tone I've
ever had. Terrible-sounding record- it's a horrible mix, and the
vocals are too loud, but the original tone on the first record is
really cool.
The American version is not as good. They remixed it and added some
bits. After doing six records, that was the best tone I ever had,
and I would love to go back and get that tone.
We were able to come up with a truly exceptional version of this pedal due to the tens of thousands of New Old Stock (NOS) transistors we have bought for our Fuzz Face mods and Sunfaces. Up to mid 2008, we usually used selected British (not the skinny, terrible sounding USA version) Newmarket NKT275 germanium transistors which we used in our SUNFACE fuzz as we had a lot of them in stock. In 2014 we started to provide some Beano Boost pedals to a company that installed actual yellow Mullard OC-44 transistors and sold them on eBay (very expensive, great mojo but really don't sound different from our normal Beano Boosts). Unfortunately he copied our Beano Boost design exactly, and now has someone else build them for him. No good deed goes unpunished.
We heard from someone in the UK that in the 1960s some Rangemasters came with NKT transistors. Here is a Picture of an old Rangemaster from the UK that appears to be original with an NKT (not NKT275). Here is a Picture of a real OC-44 transistor, you won't find these in any of the normal Rangemaster clones. Here is a picture of a NOS rangemaster that had a Mullard OC71 inside.
We now use several transistor types, including some cool
old 1960s USA made General Electric transistors, NOS pulled out of 40-year-old
Baldwin organ tone generator boards. We test these in several ways, and most of these
transistors can be used as the gain range is excellent and the noise is very low.
Chuck from moe. seems to like these a lot (more than the NKT275). We ran out of the NKT275 transistors
in 2011, they were a little low gain for the Beanos, a bit weak sounding, but
people liked them. The ones we use now are silver or black, we also use some "W" logo silver germaniums
that are the same specs as these, or some old RCA transistors that we are also
using in the Sun Face. We also use the Japanese NOS 2SB171 and 175 transistors as they
have low noise and sound awesome. Some of the Russian transistors we use in the Sun Bender MKIV
also test in the Rangemaster range so we use those sometimes too.
All the transistors we use now sound about the same, as they are tested to the same specs of gain, leakage,
noise, and tone. But the "standard germanium" transistors listed above are the quietest, the sometimes available optional
British ones can be a bit noisier.
In 2019 we got a batch of "Black Bullet" transistors, made probably in the 1960s for Amperex in the USA,
in Holland by Mullard/Philips. These are OC71 transistors with the US version part number on them of 2N280.
These sound quite similar to our other transistors (NOS USA made germaniums) but maybe a bit less polite,
a bit more of a sharp, throaty snarl. Some original Rangemasters came with OC71 transistors as seen
here.
This pedal is often used with Humbuckers and British amps, if that is your setup you will be thrilled by the tones of this pedal. With Fender type guitars and amps this pedal can also be used for some excellent tones, especially with the tone setting in the mid or low range boost mode. Blackmore, Brian May, and Rory Gallagher (live youtube sample, you can see it on his AC30) all used single coils with their Rangemasters. Brian and Rory used them with VOX AC30 amps (Rory turned Brian onto that combo!).
While doing the R & D for this pedal, I tested the other versions of British boosters to see which features and sounds were best. The Orange Treble and Bass booster, and the Apollo version, have a TONE control for Treble and Bass tone. This is just a passive tone control on the input of the effect, it works just like turning down the tone control on your guitar. It does not really sound good when used, and you already have a passive tone control on your guitar, so we left that feature off, like the original Dallas Rangemaster. We found the way to get the tastiest tone was through the input capacitors, which is how our tone switch works. All your tone gets through, none is bled to ground like a passive tone control.
We use much more expensive 2% tolerance capacitors, so our pedals are more consistent in tone than the normal 5% capacitors.
We also tested the "Brian May" boosters which are Silicon based and have 2 knobs. They sound quite good but a bit bright, so we are sticking to germanium for now. The 2nd knob on the Brian May pedals and clones of these is for "gain". This Gain knob is just a passive volume control on the input. This is just like turning down the volume control on your guitar, and a feature we have as a trim pot on the SUNFACE fuzz. But the Dallas Rangemaster type pedals sound best when you can turn your guitar all the way up, so we don't see the need for this knob. Do use your guitar's volume control to control the gain, and you will find many shades of crunch from the pedal. They clean up quite a bit by backing the guitar down.
New in 2013 - MINI BEANO BOOST
I am not a fan of tiny pedals as I have human size feet, but some people really like them. They are also great when using loop-based switchers. So Analog Alex built up some Mini Beano Boosts for a customer request. There is no room for a battery but they work fine on a good power supply. Also the ON/OFF volume pot is not available for the mini as there is no battery to save by turning it off. We can sell them for the same price as the normal Beano with power jack. It's more labor but a little less cost in the box.
My drummer got the little Class 5 amp and I tried it at his place. It has no clean sounds with my Les Paul but a pretty cool distortion. But it got lost when he and the bass player played. Running the Beano Boost into the amp brought it to life - crunchy, singing classic rock tones, with some CUT to bring the guitar out and make it heard. The Class 5 (and most of these types of amps) also gets flubby in the low end when cranked, so a pedal like the Beano Boost tightens it up and makes it work a lot better. This is a great pedal to use with a dirty little amp - a match made in heaven!
Our BEANO BOOST features:
While we can't keep track of all the kitchen builders of pedals who are selling BEANO BOOST type pedals, some who just about stole our company name, rest assured that we are the real deal. We have been around MUCH longer than them, and will continue to make the absolute best pedals and support you long after most others get bored with making pedals.
Here are some quick samples I made of the BEANO BOOST with a Strat
with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage pickups through
a blackface Deluxe Reverb with no other effects. The amp is set clean,
not distorting at all.
Off, then turned ON in normal (treble boost) mode
Off, then normal (treble boost) mode, then MID RANGE mode.
Here is a sample with a Les Paul through the Beano in treble
mode into a tweed Fender Champ amp. I think this shows that
Jimmy Page could have used a Dallas Rangemaster when recording (He's very secretive).
Lemon Song
Here is a clip from Doug Doppler which will be on his GET KILLER TONE dvd series. it's a Les Paul into our Beano Boost through a Metro JTM-45 Marshall style amp into a Marshall cabinet. The guitars (how many can you count?) are stacked as Brian May did with Queen. Beano for Queeno
Marc Ford got a Beano Boost and Sun Lion for the Black Crowes'
warmup tour in early 2005 and used them at the run of shows at the Hammerstein
Ballroom in NYC. He pretty much leaves the Beano Boost on all the time, to
brighten up his Roccaforte amp and add crunch.
Here is his
pedalboard, with our SUNLION. He was still using the Beano Boost
when I saw them in July 2006 and on his solo tour in 2007.
You can hear some
of their live shows from NYC on the
Black
Crowes website , click
on Black Crowes Radio Online and you can listen. Most leads and left
side guitar is Marc. Rich Robinson will be heard on the right
and is playing our Sunface NKT and Maxon SD9/super.
Someone asked me how it sounds on bass guitar... seems odd
but actually sounds really cool! And has good low end in the LOW
position. The clip on the left is our normal Beano Boost in
LOW position, into an Ampeg tube amp.
We made a BASS BEANO BOOST for Tony Levin in late 2007 and he loves
it on his stick so he ordered another one. We can make
you a Bass version for the same price as the normal ones.
The tone selections start about at the normal LOW setting and
get lower, the lowest setting has no low end loss at all
but also not as much CRUNCH.
Here is a clip showing the dynamics and cleanup aspect of rolling down the volume knob on your guitar with the Beano Boost. It's from Chris McKeon from The Afterbangs playing his Fender '52 RI Tele with Fralin Blues Specials, into a Dr. Z Z28 with the Beano Boost at MID setting with level @ 2:00. Beano Boost guitar volume changes.
Chuck Garvey of moe. is another heavy user of the Beano Boost, which he got in 2003 and is using now more than ever. He also has a Sun Lion which he uses when he wants both the Beano Boost and Sunface. Chester Kamen got one in mid 2008 for the Roger Waters tour, I hope I can catch them as they have been playing Dark Side Of The Moon live!
BEANO BLUES
Here is a live video of Joe Barborich and The Katz Sass Blues Band. Joe
is using a Strat into a Super reverb. He has his Analog Man
Comprossor and Beano on all the time. He also
adds a tube screamer (OD9/silver, TS-808, or Boss SD1)
for solo boosts, into a Boss DM2 analog delay.
Alternative, heavy sample:
Check out grandfather for
some really cool sounds, totally unlike most on this page. It's recorded
by Steve Albini at his studio, a 62 Reissue Strat into an original 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb (volume on 5).
Click on It's good enough now to hear that song, the Beano Boost
is featured at the solo towards the end, about the 3:00 mark which you can jump
to if you are short on time. You can also hear it on "The Outcome" Solo.
Audley Freed (Cry of Love, Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow, etc) got a Beano Boost in 2007 and wrote me :
Got the pedal and it rocks like I knew it would!!! It's going on my pedalboard for the Frampton tour!! Thanks one million, I hope to see you this summer at a gig. In the summer of 2015 I heard from him that it's still going strong. Audley said: On another note, I see your stuff everywhere down here in Nashville on gigs and sessions for what it�s worth. I have to say one of my fave sounds with the Beano is for solos with a Tele and the volume rolled back just a bit, super clear and sustainy. People love it in the studio.
TONEQUEST REPORT magazine had an article on the Beano Boost in December 2005 in the CREAM at MSG section:If you're thinking the last thing you need is "treble boost", think again. The Beano Boost is really a remarkably versatile Boost with three very useful EQ settings that create killer tones and tube distortion with both humbucking and single coil pickups. We have yet to hear another effect that comes close to delivering the range of tones the Beano Boost offers, and if you rock, the Beano Boost will become one of your favorite and most often-used pedals.
It is astonishingly good with our Les Pauls, of course, but paired with a Tele or Strat it also creates a thick, rich, blustery tone in the Low setting and normally lame neck pickups rip with a fat, stinging bite reminiscent of Albert King with the Beano Boost set at the middle position at Treble Boost. The levels of distortion are intense, yet ultra-smooth and very dimensional with no hint of trashy overtones. The Beano Boost also works seamlessly with the volume and tone controls on your guitar for additional ranges of EQ emphasis and cleaner tones with the volume cut. We can't recommend this pedal too highly.
Scott Henderson, who is one of the true tonemeisters of today's music, got one of these pedals in March 2003. Scott wrote :
SOLD!!!!!!!!! This Beano Boost is AWESOME!! It's exactly what I'm looking for!
My MXR micro amp is cool but it accents the bass too much when the knob is above 2 o'clock and the mids get thinner. The Beano Boost gives a much more even boost all over the range of the guitar. And the tone is sweet! You rule dude!!!!
I don't wanna bore you but I'll just tell you a quick story of how the Beano Boost changed my life.... I've been using the TS-9/Voodoo combo with my three single coil strat, and using the MXR micro for the clean sound. Lately I've been really tempted by my other Strat with a humbucker in the treble position and the Ibanez SD-9/808 mod you sold me, which is a beautiful tone... but the SD-9/808 is a little brighter, so when I turn down the treble for that pedal, the micro amp is unuseable.... anyway, enter the Beano Boost and all problems are solved!! Now I'm using the SD-9/808 for higher gain sounds and the TS-9/808/Silver for fatter rhythm pickup bluesy sounds. The Beano Boost kicked my micro amp AND Voodoo out of my rack!
I'm using the MID range boost - I don't have a use for the treble boost yet but it's nice to have that option for recording.
Greg Martin from the Kentucky Headhunters is enjoying his Beano Boost with his vintage Les Pauls, Strats, and Marshalls.
Al wrote :
I've gone from being a "plug straight in guy" for the past 45 years to being a "Beano always on guy." Here's my story:
I quit using pedals back in 1971, and while I tried tons of them over the past 45 years, I never found one that sounded better or that was as responsive to playing dynamics as plugging straight in. For me, pedals had no magic and I was more than happy being a "plug straight in" dinosaur, especially with a Fender Tweed/clone, cranked or even at "at home" volume levels.
But I kept a pretty open mind for a dinosaur, and after reading lots of the comments that you guys posted on the TGP (and on the Telecaster forum), I tried a Beano last week. Holy Smokes!
I'm too old and skeptical to get ga-ga goofy over a pedal. But the Beano has left me amazed, floored, and stunned. The Beano is a treble booster that subtracts nothing, and instead, adds crunch, presence, and sizzle, especially to the mid and upper frequencies. It increases the harmonic content of the frequencies (selected with the toggle switch) while injecting very likable clarity, note separation, and an overall punch that my amps had never before delivered.
It colors tone just as it's designed to, but more importantly, it does so while retaining the full character of the guitar and amp. It makes all of my amps (mostly tweeds/clones with a few silver and blackfaces) more alive, more responsive, and more fun.
With single coils, P90s, or humbuckers, I reach and re-reach the same totally counterintuitive conclusion: My guitar and amp sound more like a guitar and amp with the Beano engaged than without it. I didn't believe that the old analogy of "like taking a blanket off the amp" could apply to simple, time-proven Fender tweed circuits that were equipped with carefully selected tubes and speakers. But the Beano has removed the blanket that I never knew was there.
The Analogman site says, "At 9:00 the Beano is unity gain and may not sound very special into a clean amp." Actually, even at bedroom volume, it adds some magic at or even below unity level and the cool thing is that it makes the amp more responsive to playing dynamics.
And the fun multiplies when the Beano or amp are turned up!
Richard Wrote :
This cool pedal pulls the wonderful sound I was looking-for out of
the Marshall TSL 602 all-tube combo I'm using.
Even _better_ than advertised!
Tom wrote:
I got the Beano Boost yesterday and it's great. Just what I needed. I'm
using that Carr Mercury as an amp most of the time these days, and I
find it a bit dark and muddy, especially on the neck pickup of my Les
Paul and it just evens it out. I like to play the neck pickup at about
half volume for rhythm and it just sounds great. It also works really
well on the bridge pickup at full volume, loads of harmonics.
Paul wrote :
Got the Beano Boost yesterday...you are right it definitely sounds
fantastic with a Marshall and a Les Paul (following the British +
humbuckers formula)...the dial at 12 o clock gives everything from Queen
to even the new sounds of today...but I like the crunch and harmonics
it gives to the neck pick up which normally is hard to dial...
You know what i like about the Beano Boost...you can add it just to
any pedal, amp or guitar and you can't go wrong with the sounds...if
its too bright turn the knob down..if its too dull turn the
knob up...one knob does it all!...and I even forget there
is a push/pull knob...there is just nothing that can make your
sound ugly or shrieky...not unless your set up is too trebly
already...but then its an all around thing!...it gives whatever your
set-up doesnt have!...its that something that your set-up OR you
have wished for but you just cant get around finding it...now its
here and affordable...
Again thanks...this is another one great one from you...you outdid
yourself on this one again...congratulations.
Brad wrote :
I Just wanted to let you know that I recently purchased your Beano
Boost and also had you do a mod on my Maxon OD808 and I'm very
pleased with both. The Beano has taken a little adjustment period
to find the right volume ratios with my amp and other pedals.
I'm playing a '61 SG reissue > wah pedal > Beano Boost > Distortion pedal
> echo > Vox AC15TBX. I've found that if I
keep my guitar volume around 6.5 for rhythm, etc.,
I can crank the hell outta' that little box and match it with just
about any setup I can come up with. Then for leads I crank the
guitar volume and the Beano goes into blister mode. I've always
wanted that early 70's British sound (Marc Bolan, Brian May,
Mick Ronson, Jimmy Page), And now I've got it, "out the wazoo,"
as they say.
He later wrote back : When I purchased the Beano Boost you mentioned in one of your emails that it might not sound as good with a Strat as it would with my SG reissue. I'm playing into a Vox AC15TBX. Buddy I've gotta tell ya! I played it with a new band last night and the Strat > Beano > Vox setup sounds dynamite! For my taste, the Beano mid range setting for single coils is every bit as good as the treble setting for the humbuckers. Both kick ass and I'm really pleased. Please contact me if you ever decide to discontinue that product as I'll want to by extras.
Roger from Oz wrote:
I ordered my Beano Boost on a Tuesday and I got it the next Tuesday! Not bad all the way to Australia! It's great! I love it. It's everything I thought it would be. However, I think you're being too modest about it on your site. I wouldn't say it favours humbuckers over single coils at all. I'm using a Squier Silver Series Stratocaster loaded with a set of Kinman aged vintage noiseless blues pickups and it sounds brilliant with the Beano Boost! It even sounds great on the original Dallas Rangemaster treble booster setting which shouldn't be all that surprising given that Blackmore, May and Rory Gallagher were all single coil users... I'm playing through a Peavey all valve Classic 20 so the sound is already pretty hot but wow, when you jump on that Beano Boost - lovely crunchy distortion and astonishing chord definition on rhythm work and sustain 'til next Sunday and controlled feedback for soloing. It's like an extra gain stage on your amp. A nice quiet pedal too. Just brilliant! Classic vintage vibe with a major mojo factor!
He emailed me back four years later :
Hey, I just ordered another Beano Boost pedal from you (for a bandmate actually) because mine has been so awesome. Remember, I wrote a paragraph or two about it on the Beano Boost site? It's still using the same battery!!!
Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem wrote in early 2010 :
I just picked up one of your Beano Boost pedals for our new record we're recording down here in New York City, and we were all truely astounded this morning when I plugged it in to my amp, It's really an amazing pedal and it's my secret weapon for all my tracks on the whole record. We thought we had great tone before, but this just takes it to another level. You've really done something special, as I'm one of those snobby, no pedal guys, I even thought the XXXX and the YYY and all that are total hype. But this one I can't not use. Congrats to you.
good work mike!
Another customer wrote me:On another note, just to give you a compliment, I've got hundreds of pedals. Out of all of those, your Beano Boost left on all the time is unbelievable with a vintage Tweed amp. I literally use my volume knob on my guitar, the beano boost with the switch up to mids position, and a tweed amp, and I can get through a whole gig if I need to. I know it's a treble booster but the cleans you get with the volume knob rolled back on my strat are unbelievable. Just like to give credit where it's due!
We are phasing out the push/pull option as we had a batch of boxes professionally silkscreened with the MID LOW logo for the toggle switch. We can use these boxes with the PUSH PULL option but will still have the MID LOW logo on the right of the knob. Ask for availability of the push pull.
For easy ordering, check out our new website buyanalogman.com . The new website uses a shopping cart for everything so it's very easy to buy multiple items and choose any Beano Boost options. It allows using paypal in addition to several other payment methods including credit cards.
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