Ordered A New Top Boost For My Custom RM2

...what can I expect gain wise, say compared to the Tweed and/or Plexi (the only others I've played)?

I do want to use it for mid-gain sounds as well as cleans, mostly with Strats, will it be able to do both stock (will it clean up nicely with the volume)?

Thanks...

Doug

Sorry, I don't know anything other than what I've read here about the Top Boost.

Can you talk about your RM2? That sounds really interesting.

Scott

I just bought a Top Boost and play a Suhr Pro Series. I bought it for a Voxy clean sound and to me it has too much gain. I tried modding it to reduce the gain (user the top boost mod article) and it helped some but the 100K resister gave me some nasty sounding pick attack. I'm still monkeying with it to get it right because the tone is in there some where. I just need to figure out how to get it out.

Good luck and let me know your thoughts.

Hi, thanks for the reply...

I have mine now and it is quite a gainy, even with my Strats. Luckily I was planning on using it for mid-gain applications primarily (rather than chimey cleans), so it might be fine for me?

If you do get a nice mod to reduce the gain without nasty artifacts please let me know, thanks...

Doug

turbolx5oh said:

I just bought a Top Boost and play a Suhr Pro Series. I bought it for a Voxy clean sound and to me it has too much gain. I tried modding it to reduce the gain (user the top boost mod article) and it helped some but the 100K resister gave me some nasty sounding pick attack. I'm still monkeying with it to get it right because the tone is in there some where. I just need to figure out how to get it out.

Good luck and let me know your thoughts.

Click to expand...

A friend and I built our RM2 as we could not find anything MTS out here on the west coast (SF, CA). How about some dealers that stock MTS out here guys (Randall/Egnater)?

We had our own tube power amp design that we wanted to do something with, so our RM2 has two slots and our power section in it. I shouldn't talk too much about it other than to say that it sounds and feels the same at any volume (from a whisper thru a fully cranked 50W), and that it weighs in at only 12.5lbs fully loaded.

We went with the Randall MTS/Egnater style preamps because as ya'll know, they're fantastic!

Doug

mesa-vht said:

Sorry, I don't know anything other than what I've read here about the Top Boost.

Can you talk about your RM2? That sounds really interesting.

Scott

Click to expand...

djdayson said:

A friend and I built our RM2 as we could not find anything MTS out here on the west coast (SF, CA). How about some dealers that stock MTS out here guys (Randall/Egnater)?

We had our own tube power amp design that we wanted to do something with, so our RM2 has two slots and our power section in it. I shouldn't talk too much about it other than to say that it sounds and feels the same at any volume (from a whisper thru a fully cranked 50W), and that it weighs in at only 12.5lbs fully loaded.

We went with the Randall MTS/Egnater style preamps because as ya'll know, they're fantastic!

Doug

Click to expand...

WOW, at 12.5 lbs(How did you manage THAT?), color me interested! Are these accepting dual modules, or just singles?

What's the Tube compliment on the power section? I'm sure this will never reach the real world as a product due to legalities, but still curious. Exciting to know it can be done!

OK - I wanna see pictures of what this RM2 is!!!

Without pics, it doesn't exist.

jimosity said:

OK - I wanna see pictures of what this RM2 is!!!

Without pics, it doesn't exist.

Click to expand...

I'm with Jim on this one,sounds sweet though............

Really?

It's in a 2U black Hammond project box from an electronics supply store, two slots on the left, three knobs and the power switch on the right, you really need a picture of that (no pix of the guts, sorry)?

Doug

jimosity said:

OK - I wanna see pictures of what this RM2 is!!!

Without pics, it doesn't exist.

Click to expand...

[/u]

djdayson said:

Really?

It's in a 2U black Hammond project box from an electronics supply store, two slots on the left, three knobs and the power switch on the right, you really need a picture of that (no pix of the guts, sorry)?

Doug

jimosity said:

OK - I wanna see pictures of what this RM2 is!!!

Without pics, it doesn't exist.

Click to expand...

[/u]

Click to expand...

Definitely would like to see pics!
This is something that some of us have been wanting for a while now and if you found a way to actually get one together, it would be quite interesting to learn more about.

Wait...wouldn't 2U make it the same height as a normal RM4?

Yes, 2U is the same as the RM4/M4, though again our's has the power amp built in.

If you'd like to make a 1U 2 Slot version without a power amp, then you'd most likely need a custom transformer as I couldn't find one off the shelf that would fit in 1U (read more expensive), though you could hang it off the back perhaps?

I'll take some pix when I get some time, thanks...

Doug

jimosity said:

djdayson said:

Really?

It's in a 2U black Hammond project box from an electronics supply store, two slots on the left, three knobs and the power switch on the right, you really need a picture of that (no pix of the guts, sorry)?

Doug

jimosity said:

OK - I wanna see pictures of what this RM2 is!!!

Without pics, it doesn't exist.

Click to expand...

[/u]

Click to expand...

Definitely would like to see pics!
This is something that some of us have been wanting for a while now and if you found a way to actually get one together, it would be quite interesting to learn more about.

Wait...wouldn't 2U make it the same height as a normal RM4?

Click to expand...

It looks to me that the Randall Top Boost has an extra stage of gain when compared to a real Vox TB, so my solution so far has been to use a 12AU7 in the module's first tube socket (the left one when looking at the module from the front).

This change has made the Top Boost about equal to a stock Tweed as far as gain goes, with no ugly artifacts. A 12AU7 is approximately 20% as powerful as a 12AX7, so it's quite a dramatic change.

We also added Card Guides to our RM2 at long last, so now we can swap out modules without taking it apart, very cool!

Doug

turbolx5oh said:

I just bought a Top Boost and play a Suhr Pro Series. I bought it for a Voxy clean sound and to me it has too much gain. I tried modding it to reduce the gain (user the top boost mod article) and it helped some but the 100K resister gave me some nasty sounding pick attack. I'm still monkeying with it to get it right because the tone is in there some where. I just need to figure out how to get it out.

Good luck and let me know your thoughts.

Click to expand...

I just run the gain fairly low and I don't use high gain pickups thru it. In this way, Its chimey..and cleans up alot when I turn my volume knob down,at the guitar. Also, don't strike the notes so hard...its a sensitive module and does distort easily if you HIT it...but thats called responsiveness.
I really think its a great module. And I would like a wide usable range of gain..its a very minor problem for me. Bear in mind, I am not obsessed with it sounding EXACTLY like a VoxAC30,ok?

Glad you like it, though others have mentioned it has too much gain, ok?

GtrGeorge! said:

I really think its a great module. And I would like a wide usable range of gain..its a very minor problem for me. Bear in mind, I am not obsessed with it sounding EXACTLY like a VoxAC30,ok?

Click to expand...

It looks to me that the Randall Top Boost has an extra stage of gain when compared to a real Vox TB, so my solution so far has been to use a 12AU7 in the module's first tube socket (the left one when looking at the module from the front).

This change has made the Top Boost about equal to a stock Tweed as far as gain goes, with no ugly artifacts. A 12AU7 is approximately 20% as powerful as a 12AX7, so it's quite a dramatic change.

We also added Card Guides to our RM2 at long last, so now we can swap out modules without taking it apart, very cool!

Doug

turbolx5oh said:

I just bought a Top Boost and play a Suhr Pro Series. I bought it for a Voxy clean sound and to me it has too much gain. I tried modding it to reduce the gain (user the top boost mod article) and it helped some but the 100K resister gave me some nasty sounding pick attack. I'm still monkeying with it to get it right because the tone is in there some where. I just need to figure out how to get it out.

Good luck and let me know your thoughts.

Click to expand...