Colorsound - Power Boost / Overdriver

Discussion regarding early stompbox technology: 1960-1975 Please keep discussion focused and contribute what info you have...
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bettsaj
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Post by bettsaj »

and here's the end result.....
board 1.jpg
board 2.jpg
board 3.jpg
pedal.jpg
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mcentee2
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Post by mcentee2 »

.Mike wrote:I did another layout for the CSOD, and I forgot to share it here!

Super easy build. Board-mounted pots w/ gain control, made to fit very comfortably in a 1590BB.

[ Image ] [ Image ]

Here are the ExpressPCB pcb/sch files and PDF toner transfer: http://www.justonemorebuild.com/project ... morebuild/

Please let me know if you build one! :D

Mike
Hiya - apols for the necro reply! I am looking at various builds/layouts of the Overdriver/Powerbooster with respect to the orientation of the electrolytic cap coming back from Q3 collector.

It seems various builds have this one way or the other - I am intrigued as to reading your linked schematic which has the +ve side facing away from Q3c, and your PCB layout which seems to have it correctly +ve facing the Q3C - as confirmed correct by Electric Warrior and how the new Casteldine's are built.

Which way around did you build yours in practice vs that schematic ?

Thanks

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roce
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Post by roce »

Hello All,

I've built this stombox using the schematic available here http://revolutiondeux.blogspot.com/2012 ... river.html.

Unfortunately sound is really scratchy just at first stage exit and this scratchy sound occurs suddenly when strings are hit hard with HB pickups in particular.
Have you by chance faced similar issues? Have you got any ideas or suggestions to give me?

Thanks a lot!

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mgeek
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Post by mgeek »

I've got a version of this from the 90s, no master volume, a friend won it in a guitar magazine competition and gave it to me.

It has 'prototype' written inside the casing in pencil, which fits I guess with a magazine giveaway. Pots are dated 95.

The question I have, I guess is- are they all like this?

Mine kind of performs mostly the same as others I've read about - most of the action happens at the last 5% of the knobs, but this thing is *SAVAGE* and will make anything feed back if you take a break from playing, even when DI'd, which I'm not sure others do? I get why people would want to tame it with the master volume, but it sort of defeats the whole point of the pedal imo.

Are others the same as this? I used an 18V clone in a studio and was expecting the same (or better) results but it was significantly tamer

Any ideas? I've gigged this thing pretty hard and now realising it could have been nicked at some point, I'm wondering about cloning it, cos it's pretty much 'my guitar sound'

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RnFR
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Post by RnFR »

I would guess the 18v version would be cleaner due the higher swing available from the power supply.
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resynthesis
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Post by resynthesis »

The brand owners and experts on Colorsound hang about on Dave Main's forum at stompboxes.co.uk. Ant Macari should be able to put you in the picture.

BTW for those who didn't know, Macari's London shop has now closed and they're relocating to Haywards Heath.

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Electric Warrior
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Post by Electric Warrior »

mgeek wrote: 17 Jul 2020, 22:00 I've got a version of this from the 90s, no master volume, a friend won it in a guitar magazine competition and gave it to me.

It has 'prototype' written inside the casing in pencil, which fits I guess with a magazine giveaway. Pots are dated 95.

The question I have, I guess is- are they all like this?

Mine kind of performs mostly the same as others I've read about - most of the action happens at the last 5% of the knobs, but this thing is *SAVAGE* and will make anything feed back if you take a break from playing, even when DI'd, which I'm not sure others do? I get why people would want to tame it with the master volume, but it sort of defeats the whole point of the pedal imo.

Are others the same as this? I used an 18V clone in a studio and was expecting the same (or better) results but it was significantly tamer

Any ideas? I've gigged this thing pretty hard and now realising it could have been nicked at some point, I'm wondering about cloning it, cos it's pretty much 'my guitar sound'
Feeding back when DI'd? I guess something is oscillating here.

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Post by freefrog »

A side note about clones...

I've bought one to a relatively famous vendor. Neither the schematic nor the bill of materials mentioned the 100nF cap going across the bass pot.

The circuit works without this cap but it makes the bass pot necessarily not selective enough...

So, let's share a corrected version of the schematic as I've received it:

Image

Looks closer now to the original schematic:

http://www.kitrae.net/music/Images_Secr ... ematic.jpg

I've also put a cap across the output volume pot, in order to mimic the parasitic capacitance of a long cable. Reason: like Fuzz Faces, Muffs and others, this circuit can sound pretty harsh through a patch cable just before a buffer... i've opted for a solid 1680pF (mimicing 11 to 14m of standard straight cable / 6m of coily cord) but the choice is yours. :-)

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bdhact1
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Post by bdhact1 »

I have the 18v breadboarded. After looking at the Q3 voltage readings from other postings, I don't see how the Q3 3.9k Collector resister can drop the voltage from 18v all the way down to between 10v - 11v without using a voltage divider. Anyone else experience this issue?

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