Description
The RM Velvet traces its lineage straight back to the original British Range Master units built between 1965 and 1969 — the boxes that gave Eric Clapton his biting Bluesbreakers “Beano” tone and later fueled his work in Cream. Rory Gallagher, Marc Bolan, Tony Iommi, and Brian May all leaned on the same germanium circuit to cut through single-coil and low/medium-output humbucker rigs alike.
BSM built the Velvet in response to players chasing the ultimate Blues booster. Instead of the OC44 found in the standard RM, it’s loaded with the same carefully selected OC76 transistor used in BSM’s OR model, giving it a noticeably smoother, silkier response — rounder and warmer than a stock Range Master, and tailored for players who want fat, singing lead tone without any harshness.
Place it between guitar and amp, not in an effects loop — the magic happens through the direct interaction of pickup, booster, and amp input. With the guitar’s volume rolled up full, expect a thick, penetrating lead voice minus any shrillness; roll back the guitar volume and a wide range of crunch tones opens up. It’s especially effective at pushing vintage-style amps (think Fender Deluxe, Fender Bassman, Vox AC30, Marshall JTM45 or Plexi) into a more transparent, full-range breakup, cutting through the dulling effect that happens as power amps saturate — often with little to no need for the amp’s presence control.
- Runs on a 9V battery, drawing roughly 250 µA
- Average output level of 10dBm; max output around 7V on hard picking
- Note: positive battery terminal is ground
- Turning the volume pot produces a faint noise by design — true to the original circuit’s character
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