Pete Cornish TB-83

The Pete Cornish TB-83 is a treble boost pedal, the original treble boost that Pete Cornish designed and built from the early 1970s and that is still in production today¹. It exists for one specific job: sitting between the guitar and the "Normal" input of an early Vox AC30, improving that channel's tone and overdrive characteristics by adding some "Dirt" and "Bite" to what is a low gain type of amp². It is the pedal Pete Cornish's own review page calls "the treble booster used by Brian May during his time with Queen"³.

What makes the TB-83 unusual among boost pedals is what it does not have: controls. There are no knobs, no switches on the standard version, nothing to set. It is a fixed circuit in a rugged die-cast box, with the circuit board encased in epoxy resin to protect it and eliminate unwanted interference³². For a player used to tweaking, that is the whole point: the pedal is voiced once, by its designer, for one amp input.

A treble boost for the Vox AC30 Normal channel

The early Vox AC30's Normal channel has no top boost circuitry, and into that input the TB-83 does its work. Pete Cornish describes the design goal plainly: the TB-83 "is designed to improve the tone and overdrive characteristics of the 'Normal Channel' in early Vox AC30s adding 'Bite' and some 'Dirt' to these low gain type of amps"². In practice that means the pedal lifts the treble and drives the amp's input harder, pushing a clean, low gain channel into overdrive with more definition than it would produce on its own.

The measured numbers behind that are a maximum output of +10dBm, output noise of -82dBm with a 10K ohm source impedance, and a signal to noise ratio of 92dB². For a boost pedal, that signal to noise figure is the one that matters at volume: the boosted signal stays clean of hiss even driving an amp hard.

The TB-83 is not the only treble boost in the Cornish range. The Pete Cornish TB-83 Extra is the second treble boost Pete Cornish built in the same era, designed to complement the TB-83 with a louder boost and more bite so solos cut through the mix, offering +36dB (63.2X) of gain before the clip point¹⁵. The Pete Cornish TB-83 Extra Duplex puts two of these boosts in one unit, each set to a different volume for two degrees of boost, combinable for up to double the gain of each individual effect, and configurable as a TB-83 and TB-83 Extra combo¹.

No controls: how it is set up and placed

The standard TB-83 has no controls of any kind. As Pete Cornish's review page puts it: "There are no controls to worry about."³ The pedal is designed to run first in line after the guitar³, ahead of everything else on the board, where it sees the guitar's raw signal.

Because there is nothing to adjust on the pedal itself, the guitar's own volume control becomes the expressive control. The TB-83 Extra's page makes the same point for its sibling: the input can be controlled by the guitar volume control, so the guitar and pedal work together as one system⁵. Rolling the guitar back cleans up the boosted signal into the amp; opening it up drives the amp's input harder.

A version with a bypass footswitch and LED is also offered, listed as "TB-83 WITH BYPASS (NO BATTERY)" on the price list⁴⁶. On the TB-83 Extra, the bypass footswitch "may be used to completely disconnect the TB-83 EXTRA from the guitar/amp circuit"⁵, taking the pedal entirely out of the signal path rather than merely muting it.

Power and battery

The TB-83 runs on a 9V battery, and the supplied Duracell Procell MN1604 "should last up to 500 hours before noticeable loss of signal occurs"¹. That extraordinary battery life comes from a very low current consumption of approximately 540 microamps¹, a fraction of what most pedals draw.

For adapter use, the specifications are a noise free, fully stabilised 9V DC supply, with a 5.5/2.1mm coax connector and the center pin negative (-VE)².

History: the original 1970s circuit, still hand made

The TB-83's lineage is unusually direct. Pete Cornish designed and built this treble boost from the early 1970s, and it is still in production¹. Now named the TB-83, "it uses the original PCB layout and identical components sourced from the same suppliers"². Pete is still using the same artwork for the circuit board, with identical components sourced from the original suppliers¹.

Each pedal is individually hand made by Pete and Lynda Cornish, from the etching of the circuit board through to the testing, with no other person involved¹. Spare parts are readily available from Pete Cornish and easily replaced³, and the warranty runs two years from the date of purchase, covering repairs of any original manufacturing fault, though it is voided if the guarantee labels are damaged or removed and is not transferable².

The review page on Pete Cornish's own site, credited to Mark Reynolds and Martin Pitcher, sums up both the build and the pedigree:

The same review identifies it as "the exact same unit that Pete Cornish has been making since the 1970's"³, which is the claim that connects today's TB-83 to the pedal Brian May used with Queen.

Versions and prices

Pete Cornish's UK price list, dated 31 March 2026, lists the TB-83 family as follows. Prices are UK only, in GBP as stated, and the maker reserves the right to change them to reflect increased material costs⁴⁶.

The TB-83 Extra is also available in two finishes, Cornish Black or a Vintage, unpainted style⁵.

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