Catalinbread Skewer Treble Booster

One of the most recognizable pieces of gear in classic rock canon is the old Hornby-Skewes Treble Booster, a version of the classic effect used by too many artists to list. While almost all of them used a Rangemaster, the Hornby-Skewes version came stock with a silicon transistor for a more biting sound that cut through even the densest of mixes. The SKEWER stays true to that circuit, giving the old JHS unit the same treatment as our Naga Viper. This lets you dial in the desired frequency range from rich and full to treble-heavy, as well as control the amount of boost. You can also vary the amount of transistor gain for some extra juice. Some players had their original Treble Booster modded to play nicer with the rest of their gear. We’ve taken the liberty of giving you that mod as well, which is fully adjustable via the trimpot inside. Further enhancements include a noise reduction filter and anti-pop switch circuitry. This one bites just a little harder than our Naga Viper, and sounds fantastic with the DREAMCOAT.

Controls

SKEW: Adjusts the frequency response of the boost, which also slightly affects the gain. When dialled fully counter-clockwise, you get full range and max gain. When dialled fully clockwise, you get the stock setting of the original H-S Treble Booster.

BOOST: Adjusts the amount of boost. Stock H-S setting is about 2/3 up.

EXTRA: Adjusts level of gain extracted from the transistor. Crank this setting to get rowdy.

Things to Consider

The Skewer sounds great going into the DREAMCOAT but you should dial the Skewer’s internal trimmer back a bit before doing so.

The Skewer operates similarly to our Naga Viper pedal, but rather than being based on the Dallas Rangemaster, it is based on the Hornby-Skewes Treble Booster.