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The Colorsound Power Boost- My favourite David Gilmour tones
In this video I’m presenting one of my all time favourite pedals. The Colorsound Power Boost. I bought mine new in 2005 at Macari’s in London, UK. The Power Boost was David Gilmour’s main overdrive unit in the 70s and it was used on several Pink Floyd albums, including Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and Animals.
This is not a proper review of the pedal but an attempt at sharing some of my favourite settings and tones.
Hi, Bjorn. I was just curious about something. I have the Buffalo FX Power Boost as well as the Retro-Sonic Flange. Do those 2 pedals play well together to you or are you getting some strange r2d2 robotic noises from the flanger with the power boost engaged at the same time?
Thanks for all your help! Long time fan!
All Electric Mistress style pedals has some strange oscillating noises. It’s the circuit and you can probably Google it to get a better understanding. The Power Boost goes well with the pedal but being a booster, it will amplify the noise.
Love my 1974 Colorsound Overdriver! I made a few clones with NOS 60s and 70s components and sold a couple to Chester Kamen a few years back. He wanted a spare for his 70s one but non of the commercially available clones were quite right for him.
Bjorn, this may not be the appropriate place to post this, but I’m interested in your opinion as to how Gilmour gets the low-end “growling” tone in the solos in the live version of “On an Island”? Is it a Cornish pedal of some kind, or the Triangle Muff with a Colorsound Overdrive, or something else altogether? This is one of the most iconic tones I have ever heard and I’m sincerely interested in your opinion…;) Thank you!
Not sure what you mean by low-end growl but I guess the Hiwatt plays a big role. It has a very focused high mids character and tight low end that cuts through especially when you crank the amp. David’s also using pedals with a lot of lows, like Big Muffs and Tube Drivers. This low end doesn’t really start to cut until you play loud.
Hello Bjorn!
Thanks for all your great advice, you have heavily influenced by gear! (All for the better :D )
What boost would you recommend for the bedroom setup? I would still like to keep that vintage tone as as my goal-tone right now is the 1977-tour. I have been longing to get the Powerboost but I’m afraid I wont be able to get the full tone out of it. I’m right now playing at a Vol10 on my Blackstar Ht5 aswell as my guitar and I’ve already been given complaints from my neighbor upstairs.
How would I go about getting that vintage tone while keeping the volume down?
Best Regards, Adam
Try the BD-2 or a modified clone. Hard to beat. Nice vintage tones that sound great on any volume.
Nice to see you explain the settings. You should keep this for further pedal reviews. Playing is great, as always.
Thanks!
Great review Bjorn full marks , I love my Power Booster its never off ..
Thanks!
Hi Bjorn! Great post, i love power booster sound! I have a buffalo fx power booster, in you’re opinion what’s the best setting for the “cigar” sound in this video?
Thanks a lot!
Cheers
Simon
Thanks! I did mention my settings in the video so you can try those as a start. The Buffalo has a bit more headroom and a slightly darker tone, so you might want to tweak those a bit. Also, the settings depends on your pickups and amp.