All Things Guitar / HBE germania Treble Booster = Review

Germania - Treble Booster
Review By = Matt=20 gaskell
Price: $119.00=20

Company = Website: http://www.homebrewelectroni= cs.com/

They say = that=20 fashions are cyclical, and whilst we=92re all gradually consigning = our=20 multiFX floorboards of the 90s to the trash can and replacing them = with=20 single unit stomp boxes that we bought in the 80s that fact is = pretty hard=20 to argue against. One thing is for sure though, good taste simply = never=20 goes out of style. Many of the guitar giants of the past 30 years = have=20 changed very little about their setups and continue to sound = contemporary=20 and above all, as toneful as ever.

Take=20 Brian May of Queen. = 1 guitar,=20 1 amp (well lot=92s of vox AC30s actually) and 1 pedal. Brian=92s = sound is=20 rooted in these 3 components and he always sounds = awesome.

The = pedal; a=20 humble treble booster has been around a long while now, but = recently we=92ve=20 been waking up to it=92s subtle charms again. These days there=92s = no shortage=20 of quality reproductions of the famous Dallas Arbiter Rangemaster. = We=92ve=20 looked in depth at these pedals before so I=92ll try to avoid = trawling=20 through the depths of the circuit, instead concentrating on this=20 particular unit.

The Germania from HBE is a treble=20 booster. That = suggests that it=20 adds a lot of top end, but that=92s really not a helpful way = to=20 describe what this type of pedal does. Whilst undoubtedly = treble=20 boosters do brighten your tone, they are really frequency = dependant=20 gain boosters. That is to say, the higher the frequency = (higher the=20 note you=92re playing) the more gain they add. So the higher = up the=20 neck you play, the harder they push your amp. Simple=20 right?

A=20 treble booster is perfect for adding extra crunch to low = down riffs=20 and squeezing extra smooth and sweet sustain out of the high = notes.

In a market that=92s pretty much saturated with treble = boosters right=20 now, you need to be offering something a bit unique to stand out = from the=20 crowd. Well the Germania, in it=92s = glittery purple=20 livery certainly stands out from the crowd! It=92s certainly a = distinctive=20 looking unit, and when the effect is engaged, a big, bright blue = LED adds=20 extra character.

Given the=20 relative sparseness of the innards (a treble booster circuit = doesn=92t=20 require that many components) it=92s a very chunky and weighty = little pedal.=20 That=92s good because it means it=92s not going to slip around on = the floor as=20 you try to stomp on it!

The circuit board is very high quality, and the = components=20 all top notch. It=92s just a well put together = piece of=20 engineering. The pedal is warranted against failure for 1 year on = parts=20 and for life on workmanship, but my guess is that HBE don=92t see = many of=20 these returned!

Like most treble boosters the Germania is very=20 simple. An on/off stomp switch and a single gain control sit on = the top=20 face of the pedal, and you probably won=92t need to do too much = tweaking to=20 find a tone that works for you. You then set and leave well=20 alone.

One unique point about this booster is that it = offers 2=20 modes of function via a simple toggle switch set just up from the = on off=20 switch. The 2 modes on offer are HiFi and LoFi. = LoFi mode=20 offers an out and out accurate recreation of the classic = Rangemaster=20 sound. There are no surprises here, just awesome tone LoFi mode = can be=20 used to brighten up a dark sounding guitar amp combination, and = push the=20 (overdriven) amp further into saturation. HiFi mode offers a more = modern=20 interpretation of that sound. You get more low end and output in = HiFi=20 mode, and that=92s great for beefing up weedy single coils, and = really gets=20 your amp cooking nicely.

There are a=20 few slightly annoying features to this antique circuit, but = they=92re common=20 to all treble boosters so there=92s no getting away from these. = Firstly, the=20 pedal will pop a little when you turn it on (which is why I prefer = to=20 leave it on and use my guitars volume as a boost). Next up, = adjusting the=20 gain control on the fly makes a crackling noise so it=92s best to = set and=20 forget. That would be fine, but on this pedal, the gain pot is not = heavily=20 damped, so it=92s quite easy to accidentally move, especially for = the clumsy=20 footed. A more heavily damped pot would help here and wouldn=92t = detract=20 from usability, but it=92s a very small issue that many wouldn=92t = even worry=20 about.

Given the=20 hand made nature of this pedal and the extra functionality, = you=92d expect=20 the price to be, well=85=85=85 on the high side. It=92s not! Sure = it=92s more than=20 any mass made Boss or Danelectro pedal is going to cost you, but = by=20 boutique standards, the price is more than fair and the tone = available is=20 far superior to any mass produced pedal!!

Sounds
First up, = this is not=20 a distortion pedal, so sticking it in front of a crystal clean amp = isn=92t=20 going to do much. To get the best out of it you need to get your=20 (preferably valve) amp cooking beyond the point of break up or = even a bit=20 further into full on overdrive territory. Then you can use the = Germania to=20 squeeze out some extra saturation, sustain and sweet, singing = overdrive.=20 What this pedal does to your amp sound is really quite remarkable. = In LoFi=20 mode the Germania lifts a crunchy sounding amp off the floor and = gives a=20 really 3D quality to the sound. It gets your noise really bouncing = off the=20 walls and dark, muddy sounding humbuckers are given a brighter = edge, which=20 coupled with the extra output, really helps to cut through the = mix. A=20 relatively lifeless amp can really be brought kicking and = screaming into=20 the land of the living. There is also a sweetly vocal quality to = this=20 pedal, that really does make it sound like your guitar is singing, = and the=20 higher you play up the neck, the smoother and more compressed the = tone=20 becomes. Whilst it is perfectly feasible to use this pedal as a = boost for=20 solos, it=92s far too enjoyable a sound to only use occasionally. = I find=20 that leaving it on all the time works very well for me! Because = it=92s not a=20 distortion device, when you want to clean things up, you can use = your=20 guitar=92s volume control as you normally would. You can also use = this pedal=20 in front of, or behind a conventional overdrive pedal, and it = works just=20 as well, adding just the right amount of extra = saturation.

Engaging the=20 HiFi mode adds a very different dimension to this pedal. The sound = is much=20 more modern, letting more of your guitar=92s natural tone through = and=20 beefing up the output, to really kick your amp in the ass. HiFi = mode is=20 perfect for turning a weedy sounding strat bridge pickup, into a = snarling=20 edgy almost Tele type sound. The extra output helps to push things = along=20 nicely, and although it=92s never as smooth sounding as LoFi mode = is, the=20 tone is modern, aggressive and very usable. Again, you get that = sweet=20 vocal quality to the tone, and you keep the reactivity of your amp = when=20 you back off on the volume, or pick gently, but the rewards really = come=20 when you dig in hard, and make the pedal make your amp work=20 hard!!

Conclusion
There = are many=20 treble boosters out there that claim to offer the classic tones of = the=20 Rangemaster, so it=92s always tough to stand out from the crowd. = But the=20 Germania from HBE does on 3 counts. Firstly, it=92s a visually = very striking=20 pedal that really breaks the mold for a treble booster. Secondly = it offers=20 excellent versatility courtesy of the 2 function switch, and = finally it=92s=20 far too good a price for a hand made pedal to be passed up on. = That it=20 offers awesome tone goes almost without saying, and you can be = sure that=20 there is no better value treble booster on the market than = this.=20