Get that Brian May Queen Tone ⚡️ Reeves Electro May Boost (Rangemaster / Treble Booster)
If you love Brian May or Mick Ronson tones, the Reeves Electro May Boost might be your new mid-hump secret weapon. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
The Reeves Electro May Boost pairs with the Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R8 Historic — Ron Ellis LRP Humbuckers, Emerson Custom x Edge of Breakup Prewired Kit — into the Milkman Sound 10W Tweed with a Scumback S75-PVC speaker. The Effectrode Tube Vibe joins from 06:05.
Get the Emerson Custom x Edge of Breakup Les Paul Prewired Kit: https://emersoncustom.com/products/eob-les-paul-prewired-kit-premier-pro?sca_ref=6282128.5O9h8BhMpG
The May Boost is Markus Reeves' Brian May-inspired silicon Rangemaster-style circuit — an NOS Micro Electronics C1016R Red Dot transistor dating back to December 1984, hand-selected and expertly tuned to avoid the icepick highs some treble boosters are known for, delivering snarling mids instead.
The secret weapon is a built-in input transformer wired to act as an inductor right at the pedal's input. This acts as a pickup simulator, meaning you can place other pedals in front of the May Boost without it destroying your tone — a genuinely unusual capability for a treble booster. It also creates a specific resonant peak around 900Hz, the exact frequency behind that classic Queen guitar bite. First-in-chain placement is still the classic move for the most glassy volume knob cleanup, but the transformer opens up placement flexibility most Rangemaster-style boosts simply don't have.
Two voicings via toggle switch: Laser Beam mode (traditional lean low end with bright, searing high mids — explored from 02:22 and again at 07:41) and Dynamite mode (a darker boost, better suited to already-bright amps and pickups — explored from 05:07). Volume knob cleanup explored from 03:44, with the Effectrode Tube Vibe joining from 06:05 for added movement.
Run it into a cooking tube amp, or stack it into a low-gain drive — that's when it really comes alive.
🎛️ Reeves Electro May Boost: https://reeveselectro.co.uk 🔊 Milkman Sound: https://milkmansound.com 🎸 Ron Ellis Pickups: https://www.ronellispickups.com
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🎸 2002 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R8 Historic | Ron Ellis LRP Humbuckers | Emerson Custom EoB LP Kit 🎛️ Reeves Electro May Boost | NOS Micro Electronics C1016R Red Dot (Dec. 1984) | Built-In Input Transformer/Inductor | Laser Beam/Dynamite Voicing | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🔊 Milkman Sound 10W Tweed | Choke-Filtered Class A | Scumback S75-PVC 12"
