Welcome to the Revolution

Hi there, welcome to my blog - La Revolution Deux. It's an odd name - but I like it! Here you will find all the info on my various DIY Guitar effects builds, amplifiers and guitars. Everything from a humble Ibanez tubescreamer to the holiest KLON Overdrive.

You may also find a few effects builds that I am looking to move on - usually in exchange for other effects/gear/cash. You can always check my ebay account to see what I've got up for grabs.

Have fun, enjoy the blog - Fred Briggs :-)

CONTACT ME



Feel free to get in contact with me about anything you see on this blog or with any general questions about guitars, amplifiers and effects, I'll be happy to answer! Just click the button above to email me directly or alternately my email address is fredbriggs2007 [at] googlemail [dot] com

Search This Blog

Sunday 19 February 2012

Colorsound - Power Boost / Overdriver

[Colorsound Overdriver]

[Colorsound Power Boost]

This is the classic pedal for that Beck/Gilmour tone. Build one - you won't be disappointed! Look - here's Jeff Beck with his:


Here's the Colorsound description:

"So what's the difference between the Power Boost and the Overdriver ?? Um . . . .nothing ! Except the case . The Power Boost was born in the late sixties - the idea was to give guitarists a boost . . . . . in power , and it did ! Guess it was just luck that when you turned the pedal up full it sounded like the best stack ever ! We we're really popular with glaziers in those days , windows were shattering right accross London ! Then the pedal was taken to the Dallas trade show where it was given a huge standing ovation ( like clapping - the guitars hadn't been invented yet ) and a bunch of flowers - you see the American market was ready for the sound but felt it looked a bit too . . . well . . .orange .

So , it was rehoused in a grey hammerite case , called the Overdriver , Jeff beck made 'Blow by Blow' with it , and the rest , as they say , is a mystery . . I mean history ! Recently I was lucky enough to be presented with three , unused Power Boosts circa 1968 - they we're still in their packing , never been sold - they sounded just great - just like a new one ! No kidding - I A/b tested the pedals old and new and blindfolded I couldn't tell the difference . . . well I could have felt for the master volume - we have added that - windows are expensive these days !"

And a demo video of the Powerboost/Overdriver in action:


Here's some gut shots:


And the schematics of the different variations there have been over the years:


And here's a vero layout for the Overdriver:


Here's a great article covering all aspects of the Overdriver/Power Boost: http://www.kitrae.net/music/Music_mp3_Colorsound_Sound.html

And the forum topic on freestompboxes for extra tips and discussion: http://freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1153

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are welcome on Revolution Deux. However, please do not spam links to unrelated sites - these comments will be removed! Thanks - Briggs.