Tru-Fi Colordriver

The Tru-Fi Colordriver is a handmade recreation of the vintage Colorsound Power Boost / Overdriver circuit, built to deliver classic British-style overdrive, boost, or fuzzy-drive tones¹. Depending on settings and playing dynamics, it can push a clean amp harder, drive fuzz pedals, or work as a standalone overdrive/boost¹. Tru-Fi builds it as a true Power Boost replica down to the correct vintage transistors, with one upgrade the original never had: a side-mounted master volume knob¹².

A handmade Colorsound Power Booster recreation

The Colordriver traces back to the Colorsound Power Boost, a clean, high-headroom booster designed to push the front end of guitar amplifiers, originally created around 1968 by Gary Hurst⁵. It was first sold in 1970 by the Macaris music store in London as a transistor-based boost/drive pedal with a two-band tonestack⁶. After the Power Boost was taken to a trade show in the United States and generated strong interest, per Macari's, it was renamed and revised as the Overdriver, with only minor component value tweaks to the same basic circuit⁷⁶.

Tru-Fi's recreation follows that lineage closely. The 9V Colordriver is a hand-made recreation of the famous Colorsound 9 Volt Overdriver, which Tru-Fi notes was used by the likes of Jeff Beck and David Gilmour². The 18V version is built to the original 18-volt Power Boost spec from 1969-70³. Both are 100% handmade, with the 18V version using old school brown carbon resistors²³.

One thing the original sorely lacked was a true volume control: users set the gain knob and the output volume became enormous⁷. Tru-Fi adds a side-mounted master volume, mounted on the side just like the original's layout, so you can dial the output down to a boost, an overdrive, or a full-on fuzz/drive level¹². A 1996 reissue Overdriver had incorporated an output volume pot, but it included a minimum-volume resistor that prevented it from going to zero⁷.

The controls

The control set follows the original Overdriver layout: drive, treble, and bass⁸. On the mini versions, Tru-Fi labels the gain knob Drive and adds the side-mounted Master Volume plus a 9V/18V toggle switch⁹¹⁰.

On the original Overdriver, the bass and treble controls allowed a wide range of tonal options, including a full-on treble boost¹¹. In his Guitar.com review of the Mini '71 Colordriver, Richard Purvis found the tone controls highly responsive, writing that "the combination of treble, bass and master volume knobs does allow for some extremely tweakable boosting with the gain s"¹².

9V and 18V versions

The Colordriver comes in two circuit versions, matched to the two eras of the original pedal. The 9V version uses three vintage BC109 transistors, the same type as the 1969 original, while the 18V version uses three vintage BC184 transistors²³¹⁰. Tru-Fi says the 18V "will give it a tad more headroom and transparency, plus this version used different transistors so the tone" is a bit different from the orange 9V Colordriver³¹³.

The mini versions combine both characters in one pedal. The Mini '69 ColorDriver and the ColorDriver '71 Mini each carry a 9V/18V toggle switch, running on a standard 9V center-negative supply with a charge pump stepping the voltage up internally when 18V is selected⁹¹⁰. Tru-Fi describes the difference in playing terms: "Run it at 9V for compressed, gritty vintage growl. Flip to 18V for more headroom, clarity, and punch."¹⁰. The '69 and '71 minis are siblings, with Tru-Fi noting that "Where the '71 ColorDriver gets nasty and aggressive at full gain, the '69 stays warm, round, and musical."⁹. The '71 uses BC184 silicon transistors and the '69 uses BC109, per Guitar.com¹². The 18V version has also been available in a series of different colors, including a Clown Barf Sparkle finish¹³.

Reviews and demos

Delicious Audio covered the 18V Colordriver, confirming it as a true Power Boost replica done to the correct BC184 transistors, true bypass, with an LED and manual included¹³. Guitar.com's Richard Purvis reviewed the Mini '71 Colordriver, noting the toggle switch between the two voltages and finding "with 18v sounding that little bit bigger and clearer than 9v"¹².

The Colordriver was featured on That Pedal Show in their look at outside-the-norm fuzzers, with the intro at 9:08, sounds from 10:48, and its use as a clean boost from 14:45¹⁴. In an earlier That Pedal Show video, Mick fielded a viewer question about "what happened to the color sound the power booster type pedal," discussing the Colordriver's lineage¹⁵.

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RockBoard's PedalPedia also lists a demo by Gilmourish alongside the Delicious Audio review¹.

Where it sits next to other Tru-Fi pedals

Tru-Fi builds the Colordriver alongside other vintage-circuit recreations, including the Tru-Fi Treble Boost Rangemaster and the Tru-Fi Newton overdrive. Where those follow other classic circuits, the Colordriver is the company's Power Boost/Overdriver line, covering boost, overdrive and fuzz territory in one box depending on where the gain and side volume are set¹.

Videos

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Questions