Colorsound Power Boost

[analog_bham]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

I've been in a deep Big Muff rabbit hole lately and came across the Colorsound Power Boost when reading about David Gilmour's use of the Muff. I pulled up the PPCB schematic and figured I would breadboard it to give it a try. I ended up liking it enough to try my hand at a stripboard layout of it today.

I have a love/hate relationship with stripboard. It looks great to me, but I swear I can't seem to get one to work to save my life. Undaunted, I decided to give this one a try today.

I had to adjust a few values for parts on hand, including 5uf and 20uf electrolytics instead of 4u7 and 22. Some resistors were changed, but given that they were carbon comps, I found ones that were at least within tolerance of the original component.

To my surprise, this one worked right out of the gate (after asking some questions here in the stripboard forum). I did take my time and was meticulous about checking and rechecking continuity to ensure there weren't any unintended solder bridges. I triple checked layout of parts and found a couple of things that I had done incorrectly, but found them early so fixing them was easy.

The boxing isn't the neatest. I think that's what I struggle with the most with stripboard/tagboard/turret layouts. The wiring just feels like contained chaos instead of being tidy. I tried out a new paint color for the enclosure. It's a "Fluoro Red" that honestly is awful. It's an Ironlak paint that no matter how long I shook it still came out as a mix of dust and liquid globs. I had to sand it pretty extensively and so the end result is kind of a "relic" type paint job. Last week, I mistakenly ordered these giant Boss knobs. They're absolutely ridiclous but worked out ok on this... 3 knobs down, 12 more to go!!!

Anyway, the pedal actually sounds great. Really pleased with it.

I used BC109c transistors and then the usual litany of my feel-good, aesthetic component choices.

It's definitely worth a go if you haven't played one before. It's a really great boost that then all of the sudden turns into a fuzz pedal.

Also, this was my first use of the PPCB charge pump board. Love it!! Running the Power Boost at 18v. I will know next time to solder the electrolytics to the other side of the board though...

This is also my first use of the Lumberg 1/4" jacks. Totally sold on those. They're fantastic!

John

 

[owlexifry]

fuck yeah. great work

 

[MattG]

Since you only have three knobs, I'm assuming that's the OG Power Boost circuit, i.e. without a master volume? When I've built this circuit, I've "simulated" the original by turning the master all the way up. And in that case, even with the gain all the way down, there's still a noticeable jump in volume between bypass and engaged. I'm assuming you get this too, i.e. the lowest volume is still a jump above bypass volume?

 

[analog_bham]

Since you only have three knobs, I'm assuming that's the OG Power Boost circuit, i.e. without a master volume? When I've built this circuit, I've "simulated" the original by turning the master all the way up. And in that case, even with the gain all the way down, there's still a noticeable jump in volume between bypass and engaged. I'm assuming you get this too, i.e. the lowest volume is still a jump above bypass volume?

Definitely!

 

[genXslacker]

It's an Ironlak paint that no matter how long I shook it still came out as a mix of dust and liquid globs. I had to sand it pretty extensively and so the end result is kind of a "relic" type paint job.

It looks great from the pictures, but I like relicked finishes.

+1 for vero
+1 for tootsie rolls
+1 for tropical fish
+1 for axial caps

Lumberg 1/4" jacks. Totally sold on those. They're fantastic!

I'm another huge fan. They tend to fit when others don't. I like the open Switchcrafts, too, when there's room... which is rare for me.

(SBP's are great for the ground reliability, but the prongs aren't ever even and it always makes the frames a little cattywampus in the enclosure. I have a ton of those in stock, but don't plan to replenish when I use those up.)

Is the lettering a water slide?

 

[analog_bham]

Is the lettering a water slide?

No. I use a Cricut machine with their permanent vinyl. I “weed” the extra bits out and then use transfer tape to apply to the pedal surface. This has been the most reliable way for me to do this lately.

 

[HamishR]

I think you're being a bit hard on yourself - that looks great!

There are a few tricks I use to make things look as neat as possible and you're already doing most of them! Running wires along the corners of the enclosure is a good way to keep them straight and quiet. I like to place the board on top of the pots which hides some of the connections but of course you need pot condoms or something so that the board doesn't sort out on the pots. I like the way you have connected the wiring to the board too. Cloth covered wire can be difficult to make look neat at the ends though.

This pic shows what I mean about placing the Vero over the pots:




As this is a 1590B sized enclosure I'll usually make my Vero boards 19-20 columns wide. That wide they fit neatly inside the box and cover any messy bits. Another thing I try to do is arrange the layout so that the connections to off-board components are close by. For example in the pic the yellow wires top left of the board are for the gain pot which is the pot directly below them, so they are very short lengths of wire. The blue wire top right goes to the volume pot, which is right underneath that side. The white wires are for the tone controls which are the lower two pots.

And you are miles ahead when it comes to graphics! The box looks fab,

 

[analog_bham]

I think you're being a bit hard on yourself - that looks great!

There are a few tricks I use to make things look as neat as possible and you're already doing most of them! Running wires along the corners of the enclosure is a good way to keep them straight and quiet. I like to place the board on top of the pots which hides some of the connections but of course you need pot condoms or something so that the board doesn't sort out on the pots. I like the way you have connected the wiring to the board too. Cloth covered wire can be difficult to make look neat at the ends though.

This pic shows what I mean about placing the Vero over the pots:


View attachment 117209

As this is a 1590B sized enclosure I'll usually make my Vero boards 19-20 columns wide. That wide they fit neatly inside the box and cover any messy bits. Another thing I try to do is arrange the layout so that the connections to off-board components are close by. For example in the pic the yellow wires top left of the board are for the gain pot which is the pot directly below them, so they are very short lengths of wire. The blue wire top right goes to the volume pot, which is right underneath that side. The white wires are for the tone controls which are the lower two pots.

And you are miles ahead when it comes to graphics! The box looks fab,

thanks for this reply! this is great! I spent a lot of time last night looking at other vero layouts now that I've tasted success with one. HA HA!!

what electrolytics are you using in that picture? I like the look of them and am obviously swayed by aesthetics