tell me about colorsound power boost and maybe tonebender

[tchen]

so after hearing for a long time about all these old pedals an not really paying much attention, ive recently become interested in a power booster/overdriver clone... more specifically the throbak odb. would this circuit provide a good basic overdrive? from what i hear it sounds like people use it for boost, drive, distortion, AND fuzz. also, im curious if there is a relationship to the tone bender.

is there a website or thread somewhere that would give me a good overview of the tonebender and others (buzzaround, power boost, etc.), the relationship of them all, and how theyve evolved?
i guess im more particularly interested in how all these pedals compare to each other in character and tone than i am in all the technical/circuit stuff.

[LPDude]

The circuit of an Overdriver/Power Boost has absolutely no relationship to the Tonebender.

[devnulljp]

The circuit Overdriver/Power Boost has absolutely no relationship to the Tonebender.

Exactly. the Power Boost/Overdriver is a booster with tone controls, not a fuzz (although the dirt it produces can get kinda fuzzy). It is frikkin loud.
A lot of the different Tone Benders don't really have that much to do with each other either. Best place for this stuff is the DAM forum, the DAM website, and Graham Green (the guy with this fuzz collection) is putting up the definitive Tone Bender history to go with his book. Have a look at http://decadeoffuzz.com

[tuffteef]

all the benders sound different


that fuzz collection guy would have one crazy death estate sale

[Jero]

Graham Green (the guy with this fuzz collection)

Talk about needing more patch cables.

[masked elwood]

Graham Green (the guy with this fuzz collection) is putting up the definitive Tone Bender history to go with his book. Have a look at http://decadeoffuzz.com

wowie zowie...that's alotta tone bending!
good to see other so fuct up.

elwd

[nbabmf]

Tonebenders are 3 transistor Ge fuzzes with the first stage blasting to saturate the second and third transistors. They are loud, brash, and Jimmy Page in a box.. among others. The Power Boost/Overdriver are similar in architecture but tuned very differently. They use silicon transistors and only really saturate as you turn them up. They also have separate treble and bass tone controls (think of splitting the Big Muff control in two) so that the third stage won't totally saturate. The PB/OD'r can get raunchy, but not like the TB.

I've built both, and the TB wins out for me big time.

[Toonster]

The circuit Overdriver/Power Boost has absolutely no relationship to the Tonebender.

Exactly. the Power Boost/Overdriver is a booster with tone controls, not a fuzz (although the dirt it produces can get kinda fuzzy). It is frikkin loud.
A lot of the different Tone Benders don't really have that much to do with each other either. Best place for this stuff is the DAM forum, the DAM website, and Graham Green (the guy with this fuzz collection) is putting up the definitive Tone Bender history to go with his book. Have a look at http://decadeoffuzz.com

I hope he has a nice looking (grand)daughter!