Vintage Pow - Colorsound Overdriver / Power Boost

From the vendor

New version as of May 2023...

A hunka hunka burning vintage overdrive tone right here.

The Power Boost was one of the major components of Gilmour's sound around DSOTM, with luscious, rich overdrive on just the right side of saturation overload.

This kit offers the choice of making the Power Boost, which likes 18V or the Overdriver, which runs at 9V. They both sound great, but the Power Boost has a lot more headroom to play with, so you get more oomph with less clipping.

Both versions can be built with either BC169C, BC184L or BC109 transistors, but opinion around here is the PB is best with 169 or 184, OD with 109. The board has been designed so you can use either without any leg twisting, despite their different pinouts.

There's an optional on-board charge pump so you can get your 18V from your standard 9V supply. Result!

The kit is supplied with vertical-mount pots which have round shafts, so you'll need set-screw fitting knobs.

If you want the PCB without parts there's a link for that at the bottom of the page.

Partial kit: PCB, all board-mounted components, pots.

Full kit: As above, plus footswitch and appropriate daughterboard/components for your selected bypass type (see Downloads section for details of those), jack sockets, DC socket, battery snap, hook-up wire, LED.

Enclosure (pre-drilled) is available as an option with full kits, and will not take a battery. Knobs are not included.

Inspired by: Colorsound Overdriver / Power Boost

Difficulty: Medium

PCB size: 50 x 40mm

Knobs required: 4

Enclosure: 1590B

Direct-Connect compatible (4-way)

Download the INSTRUCTION PDF