The Power Boost was heavily featured on the Wish You Were Here album, including Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Have a Cigar. Another favourite of mine is the Ontario, Canada June 1975 show. One of the best references for David’s Power Boost tones is the Wembley 1974 show released on the 2011 Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here extended versions. The Power Boost was used on 1972-75 live performances of Time (rhythm) and Any Colour You Like as well as early versions of Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Have a Cigar, You Gotta Be Crazy (Dogs) and Raving and Drooling (Sheep). Based on the album alone, it probably wasn’t, although this is just speculation. It’s uncertain whether the Power Boost was actually used on the recording of Dark Side of the Moon or not. The pedal was also used on the 1972 Obscured By Clouds recording sessions. This coincided with the stage premiere of Pink Floyd’s new Eclipse suite, which was later turned into Dark Side of the Moon. Notice the Colorsound Powerboost lying on the floor together with a Dallas Arbiter BC108 Fuzz Face, Binson Echorec foot switch and a DeArmond volume pedal and UniVibe (out of picture).ĭavid Gilmour started using the Power Boost in January/February 1972. David Gilmour and the Power Boostĭavid pictured at the premiere of Eclipse/Dark Side of the Moon at Rainbow Theatre, London, UK Februplaying slides on the third black Strat, – a 1971 model with a bullet truss rod maple neck. The silicon transistor based circuit creates a fat low end and glassy top, with lots of sweet sustain.
Its open and transparent tone is really the secret to be able to drive those old Hiwatts and Marshall heads for smooth, singing overdrive and distortion. The Power Boost has a distinctly scooped tone, meaning that there really isn’t much mid range nor compression going on. The Power Boost also made it possible to achieve overdrive or distortion on smaller amps, without having to drive the pre-gain tubes. You could drive the front end of your amp and use the treble and bass controls to shape your tone or compensate for anything lacking in your amp. The early models didn’t have a master volume, but the 18V powering provided plenty of headroom and power. The Power Boost is a pre-amp booster and EQ in one.
The effect is subtle but like how David Gilmour would use his, the Power Boost acts similar to an EQ, enhancing the tone. The Power Boost is placed after the Muff. In this clip I’m using a 9V master volume Colorsound Power Boost for boosting a mid 70s Electro Harmonix Ram’s Head Big Muff. Once overdriven, the tube and speaker compression leveled out the top end. The amps had a huge headroom and proper overdrive was only produced at high volume level as they didn’t have a master control. While guitarists demanded bigger and louder amps, there really seemed to be no limits, they also had a hard time taming these beasts. The Power Boost was very much designed out of need. Guitarists didn’t really have a lot to choose from and while you could use your fuzz pedal to create overdrive, like Hendrix, it was still a fuzz with its limitations. Boost, overdrive or fuzz?īoost, overdrive and fuzz was somewhat overlapping in the late 60s. See Kit Rae’s run-down of all the different models here.
There has been many reissues over the years, with different features including 9V or 18V powering, leds and master volume control. The actual circuit was, according to Macari’s, identical to the original Power Boost. The early versions of the Power Boost was powered by 18V but later changed to 9V.Īpparently, the orange coloured design didn’t go well with the American distributers and by 1971 the Power Boost was repackaged in a grey box, with 9V powering and renamed the Overdriver. Gary also designed the legendary Sola Sound Tone Bender. The Power Boost was designed by Gary Hurst around 1968-69 (depending on who you ask) and sold by Macari’s Musical Exchange in London, UK. In this feature we’ll look at the history of the Power Boost and compare some of my favourite models. Both using it to create their signature sounds in the early 70s. It offered a wide range of tones and soon became a favourite among guitarists like Jeff Beck and David Gilmour. The Colorsound Power Boost was one of the very first overdrive pedals to hit the market.
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