Daredevil Silver Solo

The Daredevil Silver Solo is a boost pedal from Daredevil Pedals, built as a silicon transistor take on the Dallas Rangemaster treble booster. Where most Rangemaster copies use germanium transistors, the Silver Solo is what Daredevil calls "a redesigned version that uses Silicon transistors and a tone blending option," and the maker says the result has "a tighter low end, sharper bite, and more output than the usual germanium Rangemaster clones"¹.

The original Rangemaster circuit has a long recording history. Daredevil notes it was "most notably heard on the first Sabbath album, Clapton's Bluesbreakers, T.Rex, and Queen albums"¹. The Silver Solo carries that lineage into a pedal that can do more than treble boosting, because its Range control sweeps from the classic bright sound all the way to a full range boost.

A silicon take on the Rangemaster treble booster

The Dallas Rangemaster was a germanium treble booster, and Guitar World's Huw Price describes it as "a highly coloured boost, rather than a clean boost"³. Part of that character comes from how the circuit was biased: a GuitarPCB technical analysis explains that "the Rangemaster was intentionally biased on the low side so there would be mild distortion of the output signal," around 1.0V base voltage rather than the center of the linear region, which creates asymmetric gain⁴.

The Silver Solo keeps the range style gain circuit but swaps the germanium transistors for silicon. Daredevil's own description of the difference is straightforward¹:

Daredevil Pedals product page¹

For a player, that means the pedal pushes an amp harder than a faithful germanium copy would, with less of the loose low end germanium circuits can have¹.

Controls and how it shapes the sound

The Silver Solo's controls are simple but broader in range than a vintage treble booster:

That Range control is the practical difference between this and a stock Rangemaster copy. A vintage style unit is essentially fixed as a treble booster, while the Silver Solo can be dialed back toward a full range boost that lifts the whole signal, not just the highs¹.

True bypass and power

The Silver Solo uses true bypass switching with a 9V DC jack¹. The related Silver Solo Wedge adds a 9V battery option alongside the DC jack, and Daredevil describes that version as "overbuilt with 1/2 w metal film resistors, axial Mallory caps, open face Neutrik jacks, and high cycle true bypass switching"².

The Rangemaster lineage and the Silver Solo Boost

Daredevil's earlier Silver Solo Boost, covered by Delicious Audio in 2018, was "a treble booster/gain boost based on the old Dallas Rangemaster circuit from the 60's," priced at $159 at the time. Delicious Audio described it as accentuating "dynamics and texture while increasing volume, pushing your tone through the mix when you need that extra cut"⁵.

The current Silver Solo, at $169, is the silicon redesign of that idea¹. The Wedge version carries the same circuit family in a custom Hammond Wedge enclosure, offered in both germanium and silicon transistor versions; the germanium version is currently built with vintage Mullard black glass transistors until that batch runs out, after which it uses tested old stock Soviet or Japanese germanium transistors². Daredevil calls the Silver Solo "a mainstay of the lineup since 2012"².

Who plays it

Daredevil lists Jimmy Vivino, guitarist with the Fab Faux and the Conan show band, as a Silver Solo user. His words on the maker's page¹:

Jimmy Vivino, quoted on the Daredevil Pedals product page¹

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions