FreeRange | Hand Wired Rangemaster and KOSSOFF Drive | Atomic Teal Nitrocellulose

Description

Hear the FreeRange in action here:

Description of Product

The FreeRange is the fullest expression of what I build.

It brings together the two circuits that sit closest to the centre of Hello Sailor Effects. On one side is a Rangemaster. On the other is the KOSSOFF Drive. Together they cover a great deal of what I value in old British gain sounds, not as fixed presets, but as circuits that react to the player, the guitar and the amplifier.

If the KOSSOFF Drive is my flagship overdrive, the FreeRange is the point where that overdrive meets the circuit that has shaped so many of the guitar sounds that inspired it.

The Rangemaster side of this particular build uses a NOS NKT72U germanium transistor with separate Boost and Gain controls. That allows you to move from the familiar focused treble booster response into a stronger, harder push depending on what the rest of the rig wants.

The KOSSOFF Drive side carries the same core character as my standalone KOSSOFF Drive. It is built around picking dynamics, guitar volume interaction and the ability to set the pedal for the fuller gain sound, then work backwards from the guitar and your hands.

Inside, the KOSSOFF side uses the same component approach as my standalone drive, including a vintage blue moulded capacitor of the type found in 1960s Fender and Magnatone amplifiers, a Mullard mustard capacitor, a Lemco silver mica capacitor and a Suflex tone capacitor.

Every FreeRange is wired individually by hand on tag board rather than produced as part of a standard run.

This particular one is finished by hand in Atomic Teal nitrocellulose lacquer with Kossoff artwork and silver aluminium control knobs.

The finish, artwork and component selection make this one its own thing from the beginning.

Description of Sound

The FreeRange works because the two sides do not simply sit next to each other.

They influence each other.

Used on its own, the Rangemaster side can tighten the bottom end, bring the guitar forwards and add that familiar vocal push which makes a good treble booster far more useful than its name suggests.

The separate Boost and Gain controls allow you to change how hard the NKT72U is working and how much level is being sent into whatever follows.

Used on its own, the KOSSOFF Drive gives you the touch responsive drive sound that sits at the centre of what I do.

Pick lightly and it settles back.

Dig in and it becomes harder, rougher and more saturated.

Roll the guitar volume back and it cleans up naturally rather than simply becoming a quieter version of the same sound.

The real point of the FreeRange is what happens when the two sides work together.

The Rangemaster can push the KOSSOFF Drive into a different part of its gain range, adding focus, urgency and bite. The KOSSOFF side in turn gives the Rangemaster somewhere musically useful to go, so the result is not simply more level, but a different response under the fingers.

That combination lets you move from articulate boosted sounds through thicker driven rhythm tones and into a lead sound with considerably more force behind it.

The guitar volume remains useful.

Picking attack still matters.

There is a wide amount of ground between cleaner and fuller gain sounds without treating either side as a fixed preset.

That is why the FreeRange sits at the top of the Hello Sailor Effects gain range.

It contains the two circuits that best represent how I think guitar pedals should work.

Real World Testimonials

“I love that I can use the Rangemaster and Kossoff Drive Channels independently.”

Guitar Pedal X

Call to Action

This is a one off FreeRange, hand wired on tag board and finished in Atomic Teal nitrocellulose lacquer with Kossoff artwork and silver aluminium knobs.

The NOS NKT72U germanium transistor on the Rangemaster side and the full KOSSOFF specification on the drive side make this particular FreeRange its own build.

I will build other FreeRange pedals.

I will not build another exactly like this one.

If it speaks to you, it is available.