BBE Frequency Boost

Plug in, turn knob to desired level.

I have seen this pedal getting bashed for it's Strat sound and I must disagree - I run a _very_ nice single coiled, rosewood fretboarded Strat through an '87 JCM800 combo (the 2205). Just imagine my surprise at plugging in, going neck pickup, having a widdle, and getting the Hendrix lead tone from 'Who Knows' (youtube it)! And through a shitty Marshall!

What I'm getting at is that the treble booster seems to have been a secret weapon of the greats. There is no 'shaping' of the tone, it's just that when a signal is naturally amplified its volume doubles every octave - giving a perceptible treble boost. I suppose that's why this pedal gives such a natural 'singing' sound. And hiss...but you barely notice it.

I don't know how it breaks up, I haven't tried that (just using it on 2 or 3 for the treble).

One more thing - true bypass!

Seems solid - hasn't given me trouble. Bought it second hand and it still feels new. Looking at the circuitry it looks very well made, except that the knob is soldered onto the circuit board. And that knob is pretty easy to accidentally stamp on...

I play many types of music, but for me this pedal is all about getting a singing overdriven lead tone (Hendrix, Clapton off the Beano album), and a cutting heavy metal rhythm tone (Iron Maiden, Metallica, does it all).

If you want to milk the tone out of your bassiest pickup, as we all do, buy this pedal. But beware - once you've tried it, you will NEVER be able to stop using it. Dust will gather on the footswitch and you will yearn for the simple days, the easy days, the days of a guitar, a lead and an amp.

One knob is as easy as it gets. No manual and not needed. It's a treble booster...very straightforward. They included a power adapter, which is a nice touch.

My favorite artists are Hendrix, Clapton, Page, etc. I've tested this out with my Strats and an Epiphone Elitist Les Paul Standard through a Reeves Custom 6 1x12 combo so far. Not noisy in my book.

I was not happy with this pedal with my Strats, which have pickups which are on the bright side. Was starting to think I made a mistake. But plugging in the Les Paul was excellent. I had my amp turned down to almost nothing and cranked the BBE and was rewarded with some really happening power tube type of grind. Very natural sounding. My Les Paul sounded big and bad and that's what I was going for. Makes sense that HB's sound better with this type of circuit, since the LP's tend to be darker sounding to begin with. Thinking about it, I think many of the guitarists I like who used treble boosters were doing so with HB guitars into (darker sounding) Marshall circuits. I think that's the strong point of this pedal. My rating is for sound with HB only. For an SC guitar, I'd give it a 4 or 5.

Solidly built. Switch feels solid. Knob feels a bit grainy in rotation. Can't comment on the reliability but it's not flimsy by any means.

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I've been playing guitar for over 20 years. My amps include Germino, Reeves, Fender Blues Jr., Peavey Delta Blues 1x15, Matchless Lightening and Marshall 18 watt EF86. My pedals include nearly all the Fulltone drive and fuzz pedals, EH Big Muff, Voodoo Labs Tremolo and Vibe.

I like this pedal alot. I think it will be a staple for me when using a Les Paul. Very nice to be able to get good power tube grind at true bedroom levels. Not sure I'd buy it again, as I have lots of nice boutique drive pedals already and there's probably some overlap between this pedal and something like my OCD. Still I like the simplicity of this pedal and will likely use it for gigs either in a small rig or as a backup.

Dead easy - one knob!

This is mythird t reble booster and can comfortably say it does its job quite well. One of the reviewers below complained that it removed bass - well that's what it's supposed to do! Like most Treble Boosters, it was designed to accentuate the upper mids without booster (and perhaps even cuttin) some of the lows so that the overdrive you get is focused and devoid of any flabbiness. This of Brian May's tone: It's really heavy in the mids and upper mids, with warm top end (i.e., no shrillness) and no booming bass. For all intents and purposes, the tone you'll from this pedal is the opposite of the 80s and 90s scooped sound, assuming you run it into an already overdriven amp - otherwise, it's rather pointless.

The pedal does produce some hiss once you've passed 1 or 2 o'clock on its volume dial, but this is very normal (my other two boosters do this as well).

I use this particular pedal with my Strat (using the bridge and middle pickups combined in series, not parallel, just like Brian May does with his guitar) through an Orange Tiny Terror, which feeds an Avatar 2x12 cab. It sounds phenomenal. A big fat saturated tone that slices through the mix when playing rhythm, and individual notes that scream and sustain when soloing, particularly towards to top of the neck. Pinch harmonics come out very easily and will sustain for much longer than they would without the booster. Makes sense right? It's a treble booster and I'm picking a very trebly note/harmonic.

I play hard rock and blues rock (Queen, ZZ Top, Iron Maiden, CCR, etc.). I've been playing for about 20 years and have owned a crap-load of gear. I'm having a lot of fun with my current rig, which the Freq Boost is part of.

VERY easy to use, one knob, and I nice one too.

OK First things first....IF you don't have at least 1 12-inch speaker on your amp, and better yet some tubes, HOW can you expect any decent BASS in the first place? Hmmmm?

So why would you want to boost the highs, hmmmm?

Price is WAY better than competitors.

I LOVE this pedal. It really boosts the highs, with VERY LITTLE decrease in lows, just use a REAL amp. I am a huge Rory Gallagher fan, and I don't buy into the vintage pedal overpriced hype, so I couldnt buy a rangemaster on clear conscience. And I never looked back, cause this tone is where its at for leads.

Very sensitive, more than enough boost, but if you are a sloppy rythym player like me, turn it off during your chords.

Tone is very Brian May, beautiful sustain with zero distortion, very singing, very clean.

Its a BBE.

never needed

One knob, I guess no knob would be easier.

The BBE Freq Boost is supposedly based on the classic Rangemaster. I don't have any experience with a Rangemaster, so I can't really compare. I will say that the BBE is a pretty mediocre pedal. I've actually had two of these, and my experience has been the same with both. I run into a Vox AC30, so I was checking out treble boosters for that classic sound. The BBE definitely pumps the treble with some gain, which is nice, but you lose nearly all of your bass response. I get that a treble booster should boost treble, but I didn't like that my tone got extremely tinny. Might work well with trying to focus another pedal for leads, but just wasn't doing it for me. Anything over 5 is extremely shrill and thin.

Excellent build quality.

I really wanted to like this pedal (obviously, I bought it twice), but didn't like what it did to my tone. I'll look elsewhere, but maybe treble boosters aren't my thing.

So simple a small adolescent monkey could use it.Modeled along the lines of the Dallas Rangemaster as used by May,Clapton etc. One volume/level thats it.

I cant believe Im only the second person to write a review on what is probably one of the best pedals I have ever used.
The site tells you to be critical but, Ive tried and I cant.Your ears dont lie.OH!! CAME WITH A US POWER SUPPLY. THERE I DID IT.
This pedal,from what I can hear seems to add a fair amount of compression with very little noise.(Natural compression) Sounds fantastic with my Heritage H170 (or any humbuckers) Probably not so good with Strats or other single coils.Into a valve amp this thing absolutely sings. You wouldnt beleive the sustain available.Really pushes the tubes into the old style compressed gain area. Ive read about people using Boss CS3s in this manner and it makes sense, Ive tried it and the sound is seering but, too out of control and noisy to be practical. Freq Boost adds compression gain in such a nice way. Really tightens mushy humbuckers up. Think Brian May circa 1975. Also makes rhythm work stand out with a little tweek of the guitar volume. This will not give you raging marshall in a box. It gives you the Sweetest natural overdrive and Blusey crunch you ever heard.Crancked up its undescribably good.Not tone sucking as its true bypass which, actually helps the othyer pedals in your chain by acting as a buffer.The other surprising by product is that with the freq boost you can practice at quite low bedroom levels and still get most of the harmonics and over tones of a crancked tube amp. Still be better to buy an attenuator though.

They put it in a nice sturdy box but, Im still gonna buy five. Not cos I think theyll break but, its just that they are SO BLOODY GOOD.

Seem to have a pretty good web site but, not had to deal with them. BBE are quite a renowned company so, I expect them to be able to handdle any problems.

Ive waffled enough but, think the golden age of the great lead players and THEIR tones and your in the right teritory. Its a top boost pedal pure and Oh so simple. Not as good for single coils but, try it with hummers and youll think you were transported back 35 years.Also works pretty well on tranny amps (lord knows why)

Getting a good sound could'nt be easier.It only has one knob for volume which makes the manual pointless.

I'm not necessarily going for a particular artist sound.I just wanted to enhance the amps natural distortion.I've just started tinkering with it and it sounds fantastic.I'm using a 73 Strat and an early model Musicman 65 head through a Marshall 4-12 cab.I highly recommend it to anyone using single channel and non-master volume amps.

BBE products seem to be well constructed and I would,and will,gig with it.

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I mainly play blues and rock and this effect fits like a glove.I've been playing for over 25 years and,at one time or another,have owned or played just about everythig.You know the story.If it were lost I would buy another.Keep in mind that I've only used it with the Strat and Musicman rig but MAN! what a sound!The amp is set so it will crunch just slightly when the guitars volume is on 10.I can back it down to 7 and it cleans up nicely.Crank it back to 10 and hit the Frequency Boost and it will give you goosebumps!I've always been curious about the old "Rangemasters"from the sixties and this is BBE's version of that effect.FWIW that last review I posted on this site was in 1999 and until today have'nt seen,heard,or played anything I would take the time to review.