The Fulltone Custom Shop CS-Ranger may just be the greatest Rangemaster-style treble booster pedal. What brings us to this conclusion? Well, first off, the CS-Ranger is Fulltone’s meticulous reimagining of the classic Rangemaster pedal of the ’60s, and it sounds wicked. If you’re rocking humbuckers into a dark-sounding overdriven guitar amp, the CS-Ranger adds the perfect treble edge to balance out your tone and cut through the track. Second, the pedal’s germanium transistor-based circuit (as used in the original Rangemaster) delivers smoother, more ear pleasing natural distortion than many silicon transistor designs.
What is a Rangemaster — and why do I need one?
An effect born of necessity, the Rangemaster has a colorful history that dates back to the 1960s. When driven hard, certain popular tube amps tended to become dark and wooly sounding, especially if you were playing a guitar with humbucking pickups. So, English company Dallas Musical came to the rescue with the first Rangemaster, a germanium treble booster box that perked up your tone, adding top-end chime and its own brand of distortion to deliver the iconic brash and bratty breakup that defined the British Invasion.
If you play with a fair amount of overdrive and wish your notes had more definition, the CS-Ranger is for you. There are as many reasons as there are electric guitar tones to add a Fulltone Custom Shop CS-Ranger treble booster pedal to your tone arsenal.
Operationally, the CS-Ranger is a work of art, with a 6-position rotary switch that selects from six different classic tones, including the storied Dallas Rangemaster 1 and Rangemaster 2 — the original pedals that kicked off the treble booster craze in the 1960s. The CS-Ranger even has an adjustable transistor bias trimmer to fine-tune your tone to be harder/softer or more/less chimey. Tune it by ear — it’s impossible to make the Fulltone Custom Shop CS-Ranger treble booster pedal sound anything other than amazing!
We already mentioned the über-cool adjustable transistor bias trimmer. But the CS-Ranger has other niceties on tap for you, including a proprietary low-current-draw power system that allows it — a PNP (positive-to-ground) pedal — to be powered by any standard NPN (negative-to-ground) power supply, which means you can use literally any power supply. Quite accommodating! Then there’s the top-mounted jacks and DC port — very convenient! And let’s not forget that alluring amber jewel pilot lamp. Handcrafted at the Fulltone Custom Shop in Los Angeles, the CS-Ranger looks gorgeous and is built like a tank for years of faithful service. Guitarists here love it. We're sure you will, too.
- Meticulous reimagining of the legendary Dallas Rangemaster
- 6-position rotary switch; 6 different sounds, including Rangemaster 1 and Rangemaster 2
- Amber jewel pilot light
- Top-mounted jacks and DC port
- Adjustable transistor bias trimmer
- Low current draw
- Can be powered by any standard 9V power supply or internal battery
- True bypass
- Handcrafted at the Fulltone Custom Shop in Los Angeles
