Benson Amps - Germanium Boost
Please use the tabs below to read through the information about this product.
About
Stocking Benson products has truly been a bucket list item for me, one of those brands I have really admired and hoped I could stock one day, and I'm so proud to say that has finally happened! I first tried their Pre-Amp pedal courtesy of a friend that owned one and was not one bit disappointed. That playing experience has stuck with me ever since, it's a pedal that's on my personal wish list, and a pedal that I've wanted to stock here too!
When designing the temperature controlled fuzz, Benson tried some weird approaches. One of the things they tried was utilizing a voltage controlled error correcting circuit to bias a single germanium transistor. It ultimately didn’t work for the fuzz, since that circuit is comically sensitive to transistor gain attributes.
They did find a place for it though.
It turns out it was PERFECT for achieving a germanium clean boost that, (like the Benson fuzz) is impervious to component drift, leakage, and temperature....moreso in fact. They also fixed a couple other issues preventing the germanium transistor from being used as a convincing linear boost...they increased the input headroom (even a normal guitar signal will drive a germanium transistor into unwanted input distortion without some tweaks) and increased the input impedance (a BJT transistor would normally thin out bass frequencies and interact neg- atively with whatever flows into it).
The result is a germanium clean boost where you can utilize a germanium transistor WITH- OUT the weird artifacts that were previously accepted as part of the deal...temperature sensitivity, drift, and sub-optimal input impedance and headroom.
It takes about 10 seconds when the boost is first powered up for the error correction circuit to bias the germanium transistor. After that it gets interesting....we can hear how it makes guitar signals sound more musical...even when set at the same volume as the bypassed tone. It seems to bring out the attack of the guitar while simultaneously smoothing out notes, like a compressor but different. It’s hard to describe. It appears to cut the bad parts of a signal and enhance the good. It’s killer on bass. It helps acoustic guitar pickups sound more natural. And of course it’ll push your amp into a frenzy.
Specs/Power
This pedal is for use only with a 9vdc Boss syle center negative power supply. There is space for a battery which is activated when a cable is plugged into the input, and there is no power supply plugged into the DC jack.
Please do not subject this pedal to more than 9vdc or the pedal or power supply could be destroyed.
WARRANTY INFORMATION:
2 years excluding modification or damage. Visit www.bensonamps.com for more information.
Demos
Do you have these in stock?
The Ge Boost is in stock!
Ordering/shipping
Local pickup - If you are local and wish to collect any items or order in advance for collection on a specific day, then you can still place an order online and select local pickup at the checkout. Or drop me a message and I'll reserve the items ready for your visit.
For online ordering and dispatch - In stock, non made to order items are processed and dispatched 4 days a week; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday.
For orders that are placed on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday I have an order cut off time of 14:00GMT (with Royal Mail shipping services only) to allow me chance to process, pack and dispatch your order same day.
For non dispatch days (Saturday, Sunday, & Thursday) there is no order cut-off time, and these will be processed, packed and shipped on the closest following dispatch day.
I will always endeavor to fulfill orders as quickly as I can and if you have specific requirements for a delivery date please do let me know and hopefully I can help.
If you have more queries regarding order placing, processing, fulfillment or general shipping then please see the FAQ page HERE
Please use the tabs below to read through the information about this product.
About
Stocking Benson products has truly been a bucket list item for me, one of those brands I have really admired and hoped I could stock one day, and I'm so proud to say that has finally happened! I first tried their Pre-Amp pedal courtesy of a friend that owned one and was not one bit disappointed. That playing experience has stuck with me ever since, it's a pedal that's on my personal wish list, and a pedal that I've wanted to stock here too!
When designing the temperature controlled fuzz, Benson tried some weird approaches. One of the things they tried was utilizing a voltage controlled error correcting circuit to bias a single germanium transistor. It ultimately didn’t work for the fuzz, since that circuit is comically sensitive to transistor gain attributes.
They did find a place for it though.
It turns out it was PERFECT for achieving a germanium clean boost that, (like the Benson fuzz) is impervious to component drift, leakage, and temperature....moreso in fact. They also fixed a couple other issues preventing the germanium transistor from being used as a convincing linear boost...they increased the input headroom (even a normal guitar signal will drive a germanium transistor into unwanted input distortion without some tweaks) and increased the input impedance (a BJT transistor would normally thin out bass frequencies and interact neg- atively with whatever flows into it).
The result is a germanium clean boost where you can utilize a germanium transistor WITH- OUT the weird artifacts that were previously accepted as part of the deal...temperature sensitivity, drift, and sub-optimal input impedance and headroom.
It takes about 10 seconds when the boost is first powered up for the error correction circuit to bias the germanium transistor. After that it gets interesting....we can hear how it makes guitar signals sound more musical...even when set at the same volume as the bypassed tone. It seems to bring out the attack of the guitar while simultaneously smoothing out notes, like a compressor but different. It’s hard to describe. It appears to cut the bad parts of a signal and enhance the good. It’s killer on bass. It helps acoustic guitar pickups sound more natural. And of course it’ll push your amp into a frenzy.
Specs/Power
This pedal is for use only with a 9vdc Boss syle center negative power supply. There is space for a battery which is activated when a cable is plugged into the input, and there is no power supply plugged into the DC jack.
Please do not subject this pedal to more than 9vdc or the pedal or power supply could be destroyed.
WARRANTY INFORMATION:
2 years excluding modification or damage. Visit www.bensonamps.com for more information.
Demos
Do you have these in stock?
The Ge Boost is in stock!
Ordering/shipping
Local pickup - If you are local and wish to collect any items or order in advance for collection on a specific day, then you can still place an order online and select local pickup at the checkout. Or drop me a message and I'll reserve the items ready for your visit.
For online ordering and dispatch - In stock, non made to order items are processed and dispatched 4 days a week; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday.
For orders that are placed on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday I have an order cut off time of 14:00GMT (with Royal Mail shipping services only) to allow me chance to process, pack and dispatch your order same day.
For non dispatch days (Saturday, Sunday, & Thursday) there is no order cut-off time, and these will be processed, packed and shipped on the closest following dispatch day.
I will always endeavor to fulfill orders as quickly as I can and if you have specific requirements for a delivery date please do let me know and hopefully I can help.
If you have more queries regarding order placing, processing, fulfillment or general shipping then please see the FAQ page HERE