MODEL
RM metal
BSM would like to congratulate you on the purchase of your RM Metal Treble
Booster!
The RM 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 Gal-
lagher, Heavy Rock pioneer Tony Iommi on his first Black Sabbath recording and
Brian May from Queen were also heavy users of the original Range Master unit.
The long yearned for new edition, now issued under the name RM from BSM, inclu-
des the same germanium transistors as the the original 1965 version. RM Metal is
a modified `69 RM model like Mr. Iommi´s unit, which he has used on his second
Black Sabbath record „Paranoid“ and later.
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 and the RM Metal 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
Metal 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.
Made in Germany
It is also of interest to note that Tony Iommi used a new 100 Watt Laney stack with
Black Sabbath.
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. 250 µA. 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.
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