Hornby-Skewes Treble Booster - Vintage Inspired Replica by Dave Egea of Tone-AR Pedals - LIMITED RUN 8/10

HORNBY SKEWES – TREBLE BOOSTER

Vintage Inspired Replica by Tone-AR Pedals

       This is a Vintage Inspired Replica of the 1966 John Hornby Skewes (JHS) Treble Booster TB.1, one of the earliest, rarest, and most interesting UK-made boxes.

       By the mid-1960s, the brownface and blackface Fender amps that American players were using were plenty bright enough. In contrast, early British guitar amps sounded comparatively dark – especially pre-top boost Vox amps. Consequently, British players would struggle to replicate the sounds they were hearing on American recordings without buying a very expensive Fender amp. Treble boosters, however, offered a convenient and affordable solution.

       Artist like Eric Clapton used it in the beginning. Then came Marc Bolan, Rory Gallagher, Ritchie Blackmore and Tony Iommi. Brian May has never stopped using treble boosters with his AC30s.

       Treble boosters lingered on because guitarists discovered they could be used to push the front ends of valve amps into cutting but creamy valve overdrive and sweet, singing sustain. As such, treble boosters were fundamental to the evolution of blues-rock and classic metal tones.

       There were relatively few guitar effects manufacturers during the mid-to-late 1960s, so there weren’t many treble boosters to choose from. John Hornby Skewes offered one to complement and brighten up its Zonk Machine fuzzbox; while early Hornby Skewes Treble Booster units used a germanium transistor, the later, better-known version features a silicon transistor.

       This pedal it is prominently featured on Jetho Tull’s Aqualung album. It was also used by Ritchie Blackmore during the 1960s until 1974, when it was replaced by a modified AIWA tape recorder. The use of this Treble Booster by Marc Bolan is well-documented, and it helped define T. Rex's iconic fuzz-driven sound.

David Egea of Tone-AR Pedals recreate this Treble Booster for you, choosing the components and calibrating it by ear, taking care of the final sound.

The HORNBY SKEWES – TREBLE BOOSTER features:

• 100% Hand-built
• Hand-sprayed with a custom hammerite paint
• Silver-plated PREMIUM wires (aerospace grade | MIL16878)
• DPDT Red Switch like the original
• Vintage “unobtainable” 2N4061 transistor
• Tube Amp Doctor Capacitors
• Styroflex Capacitor (on Ritchie Blackmore Mod)
• Carbon Composite Resistors
• 60’s / 70’s style hand-applied decals

[Ritchie Blackmore Mod]

There is a black jumper pre-connected as CLOSE inside the pedal.

CLOSE: for Ritchie Blackmore kind of sound.

OPEN: for original Hornby Skewes Treble Booster version.

Thank you so much for supporting our brand!

David Egea

***YOU WILL RECEIVE ONLY ONE TREBLE BOOSTER, #8/10***

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