Controls
The Volume knob sets the output level of the left side, AC30, channel. Depending on your guitar, amp, and
other effects used, you’ll find unity (pedal off about the same volume as pedal on) between noon and 3:00.
The Treble and Bass tone controls utilize the exact same tone circuit (tone-stack) as that used in an actual
AC30. They are very interactive (meaning adjusting one will affect the behavior of the other) and a key part of
the AC30 sound. The Treble control allows you to dial in just the right amount of AC30 brightness and the Bass
control gives you the right amount of body. But remember they are interactive - so if you adjust the Treble
control, you should also sweep around with the Bass knob to find your sweet spot. As mentioned in the Quick
Start section, Treble at 1:00 and Bass at 11:00 is a good starting point.
The Galileo was voiced specifically to get the cranked AC30 tones of Brian May’s live work. So go ahead and
set the Gain at maximum and back it off if you feel necessary (to compensate for hot pickups). Otherwise, set
the Gain to max and use your guitar’s volume control to go from crunch to clean!
This controls the boost circuit’s output level and is engaged from the right side footswitch. The Top Boost
boosts the Galileo’s AC30 channel just like plugging a Rangemaster into an AC30.
But since Top Boost is independently selectable, you can use it on it’s own without the overdrive channel on!
Why would you do that? If you have the luxury of being able to crank your amp to crunch levels then you
could use the Top Boost to boost your amp. If you actually own an AC30 and you can crank it then you could
use the Top Boost to treble-boost your AC30 into the same soaring Brian May tones. This is cool because if you
are playing in a low volume situation you can use the Galileo’s overdrive section, boost it with Top Boost and
get juicy, sustained epic rock sound at a very reasonable volume. Then when you get to crank your amp you
can use just the Top Boost to get the epic soaring sounds at epic volume levels. Quite handy!
If you use the Top Boost by itself into an amp set clean you may or may not like the sound - it is voiced specifi-
cally to boost already overdriven sounds further. Go ahead and try it and decide what you like!
Another option with using the Top Boost by itself is to use it to boost another overdrive pedal other than the
Galileo.
Experiment!
Note: When the Top Boost and overdrive channel are both on you will experience a certain level of hiss. This
is the nature of the beast of the basic Rangemaster treble-booster architecture and changing things to make
it have less self-noise would diminish the juicy harmonics the boost provides. In fact, I read something where
Brian May’s tech also stated the same thing about hiss and treble-boosters. So there ya go. It’s rock and rollllll
babeeee!
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