Cream Pie vs. Red Rooster

OriginalCrash · #1 04-18-2009, 09:27 AM

A battle of the germanium boosts, of sorts... Okay, so I don't have a Red Rooster to compare/contrast against the Cream Pie, but seeing it reminded me of a thread in the past where someone was asking about germanium boosts (and NOT just a germ treble boost), I believe. So the Cream Pie is a great, germanium dirty boost/low gain drive pedal. The D*A*M Red Rooster is also a germ boost pedal with two knobs... boost and range. Anyone here familiar with it? It's based off the old Rangemaster treble boost, but the range knob allows to you to go from treble boost to full-range to bass boost. I was just curious if anyone here had tried it and could shed some light on how well it works and how effective the range control is...?

Brian

rcubed · #2 04-18-2009, 09:59 AM

You're right, the Red Rooster is based on the Rangemaster: http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1...boosteruw3.png

Both are single germanium transistor boosts. You can use the same transistor in each circuit. I built up a Rangemaster and didn't care for it on bass but I didn't do make the changes that the Red Rooster has. Looks like the range control just controls how much signal (and therefore how much bass in the signal) hits the transistor. With more signal, you should get more dirt out of it.

OriginalCrash · #3 04-18-2009, 10:13 AM

It's really intrigued me, as it seems like the range control could be just as (if not more) useful as the tone control on the Cream Pie... For that matter, does anyone know exactly what the tone knob on the Cream Pie does? Is it just a traditional, passive treble roll-off or something else? Anyway, the Red Rooster not having a separate gain knob kinda turns me off, though, as I'm not using the Cream Pie to drive a tube amp (so I rely on the gain knob to give me that low level, fat dirt). Anyway, I was just wondering...

Brian

RCCollins · #4 04-18-2009, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OriginalCrash

It's really intrigued me, as it seems like the range control could be just as (if not more) useful as the tone control on the Cream Pie... For that matter, does anyone know exactly what the tone knob on the Cream Pie does? Is it just a traditional, passive treble roll-off or something else? Anyway, the Red Rooster not having a separate gain knob kinda turns me off, though, as I'm not using the Cream Pie to drive a tube amp (so I rely on the gain knob to give me that low level, fat dirt). Anyway, I was just wondering...

Brian

the cream pie wasn't designed for bass, so its tone knob isn't particularly useful for us.

this is addressed in a very solid review of the cream pie that is currently on the front page of bassfuzz.com

OriginalCrash · #5 04-18-2009, 10:26 AM

Yep, the conclusion on that site pretty much nails my settings on the Cream Pie (site says gain between 2 and 5:00 with tone near minimun... I keep gain between 2:30-3 and tone all the way down). I just remembered a previous thread where someone was asking about other germanium boosts and thought I'd inquire about this one and if anyone had used it/could compare it to others.

Brian

rcubed · #6 04-18-2009, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OriginalCrash

It's really intrigued me, as it seems like the range control could be just as (if not more) useful as the tone control on the Cream Pie... For that matter, does anyone know exactly what the tone knob on the Cream Pie does? Is it just a traditional, passive treble roll-off or something else? Anyway, the Red Rooster not having a separate gain knob kinda turns me off, though, as I'm not using the Cream Pie to drive a tube amp (so I rely on the gain knob to give me that low level, fat dirt). Anyway, I was just wondering...

Brian

The tone stack in the Cream Pie is nearly identical to the circuit I posted in my last post. Flip the pot after the two caps.

RCCollins · #7 04-18-2009, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OriginalCrash

Yep, the conclusion on that site pretty much nails my settings on the Cream Pie (site says gain between 2 and 5:00 with tone near minimun... I keep gain between 2:30-3 and tone all the way down). I just remembered a previous thread where someone was asking about other germanium boosts and thought I'd inquire about this one and if anyone had used it/could compare it to others.

Brian

i didnt mean to discourage you - I like your post

OriginalCrash · #8 04-18-2009, 11:35 AM

That means nothing to me...

Brian

markjazzbassist · #9 04-18-2009, 11:36 AM

very interesting. i may have to give one of these red rooster's a try. i've got grygrx's cream pie on the way to me (yeah for me

), and maybe i'll pick up a red rooster in the future and check it out.

Also check out Analogman's Beano Boost. It is germanium (nkt-275, the bomb) and usuable for bass (switch) and there are clips. no volume knob, but he may be able to rig up something for you.

what company makes the red rooster? webpage?

OriginalCrash · #10 04-18-2009, 11:37 AM

Oh, no discouragement here... I was just replying, particularly to how it seems the "usefulness" of the Cream Pie on bass is probably pretty consistent settings-wise.

Brian

katri · #11 04-18-2009, 12:24 PM

Grygrx has both, maybe he could shed some light.

rcubed · #12 04-18-2009, 12:33 PM

Some changes to the Cream Pie and it can sound even better with bass. You'll have to ask Bassenstien how it sounds in a week or two.

OriginalCrash · #13 04-18-2009, 12:37 PM

That I hope I remember to do!

Brian

RCCollins · #14 04-18-2009, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcubed

Some changes to the Cream Pie and it can sound even better with bass. You'll have to ask Bassenstien how it sounds in a week or two.

WHAT

**grygrx** · #15 04-18-2009, 06:33 PM

The red rooster is GREAT on each and every instrument I've tried it on so far. I think that comparing it to the cream pie is right on. The texture of the added grit is a little different, and I would imagine the preference for one or the other would be personal.

It's quite a bit more full range across the 'range' knob, because it is BOOSTING the selected range... the full spectrum is still intact. It REALLY kicks the hell out of my tube amp, even more than the CP.

OriginalCrash · #16 04-18-2009, 06:41 PM

But would the RR be as useful with solid state amps as the CP? I can use the gain knob on the Cream Pie to get a good, fat grit out of it. As the RR doesn't have that can it still be used as a dirty boost in front of a SS amp or does it need some tubes after it to really shine?

Brian

**grygrx** · #17 04-18-2009, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OriginalCrash

But would the RR be as useful with solid state amps as the CP? I can use the gain knob on the Cream Pie to get a good, fat grit out of it. As the RR doesn't have that can it still be used as a dirty boost in front of a SS amp or does it need some tubes after it to really shine?

Brian

Unsure, I have no solid state amp currently. I'll do samples with DI to get the quality of the pedal (rather than just the amp)... will that be sufficient?

OriginalCrash · #18 04-18-2009, 06:50 PM

Plenty sufficient... Thanks!

Brian

**grygrx** · #19 04-18-2009, 07:21 PM

It will be Tues before I can get them up, I'm in Dallas right now.

markjazzbassist · #20 04-18-2009, 08:30 PM

the only problem i forsee with the RR is that it doesn't have a volume knob. the gain i enjoy (high) would make it unusable unless i can dial back the volume. same problem with the beano boost (would love to try one of those too)