Analog Man Beano Boost Mini

The Analog Man Beano Boost Mini is the small-box version of the Analog Man Beano Boost, a germanium treble booster that recreates the Dallas Rangemaster. Analog Man describes the Beano Boost as "an awesome, improved recreation of that pedal," built with original style point-to-point wiring rather than a circuit board, and hand made in the USA¹. The Mini arrived in 2013 and carries the same circuit as the larger box version²³.

What the pedal does is boost, not distort. Analog Man is explicit that it is "a type of BOOSTER, not really a distortion pedal nor a clean boost"². It is a treble booster in the Rangemaster tradition: it pushes the input of a tube amp harder while emphasizing the upper frequencies, which tightens up flubby low end on cranked small amps and fattens up dirt pedals it feeds².

A Rangemaster-style treble booster

The original Dallas Rangemaster was a germanium treble booster, and the Beano Boost follows that circuit topology⁵¹. Analog Man fits a NOS germanium transistor "selected for best tone and low noise"⁶. The pedal is often paired with humbucker-equipped guitars and British amps; aNaLoG.MaN (analogman.com) says that if that is your setup, "you will be thrilled by the tones of this pedal," while noting it sounds great with almost any guitar and amp, using the full range setting for less treble².

Placement matters with a pedal like this. Analog Man recommends running it directly into the input of a tube amp with a minimum of buffers in the signal path². You can also run it into almost any dirt pedal to fatten it up².

The controls

The control set is simple: a volume knob and a three-way tone toggle²⁷⁸.

On That Pedal Show, Dan and Mick described the switch in practical terms: "this switch on here gives you lots of bass or at least a lot more low mid... But the middle position is the original"⁹.

On the standard Beano Boost, Analog Man also offers an optional push/pull volume pot that allows two tone settings, though the maker lists it as "not recommended"; with the volume knob at 9:00 the output level is about the same on and off². That option does not exist on the Mini, covered below.

Power, battery and the Mini's differences

The Mini is defined by what Analog Man left out and what comes standard:

• No battery. "There is no room for a battery but they work fine on a good power supply"².
• No on/off volume pot. The push/pull option "is not available for the mini as there is no battery to save by turning it off"².
• Power jack standard. A Boss style power jack is a $10 option on the standard pedal but standard on the Mini².
• Same price. Analog Man sells the Mini "for the same price as the normal Beano with power jack"².

With the power jack fitted, the pedal can use any normal Boss type 9V power supply with no reverse polarity issues, and Analog Man adds power filter circuitry to reduce power supply noise². Beano Boosts with the DC jack option are built with negative ground like a normal effect, so a standard center negative plug works and daisy chaining is no problem⁸. Older Beano Boosts without the adaptor jack are positive ground in the British tradition and cannot share an adaptor with another effect; you can tell the versions apart by the battery wire color, black to the input jack for negative ground, red for positive ground⁷. On the Mini, with its standard jack, the negative ground arrangement applies.

History and versions

Analog Man came up with its own version of the Rangemaster circuit in early 2003². The Mini Beano Boost followed in 2013². The standard pedal comes in a durable gray hammertone powdercoated cast alloy case, like the original Rangemaster², and a Bass Beano Boost version is available at the same price as the normal ones².

JHS, writing about Analog Man's pedals, noted the two sizes: "I have the miniature version, but there is a larger box version, same circuit"³. JHS also called the Beano Boost "the best kind of pedal replica"³, and in a separate piece described it as "a really nice germanium treble booster"⁴. Pedal of the Day reviewed the pedal in 2015, covering it as a boost pedal from Analog Man¹⁰.

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